DPS question - did my landlords submit my deposit correctly?

mildredalien

I started renting my current house in July 2012 through private landlords - sent them our deposit, they agreed to place it in a deposit protection scheme. I assumed that this had happened straight away although had noticed I couldn't find any confirmation of the scheme.

Anyway fast forward to last month and I get an email from the DPS (deposit protection service) to say that my agent/landlord has successfully submitted a deposit. Obviously this is over a year since I actually started renting the house and paid a deposit. The email confirmation includes the following information:

The details provided by your agent / landlord are as follows:
Deposit ID: XXXX
Rental property: XXX
Name of lead tenant: XXX
Name(s) of other tenant(s): None Advised
Agent / landlord trading title: XXX
Agent / landlord address: XXXX
Start date of tenancy: 01 July 2012
Tenancy period: 12 months
Deposit amount: XXXX
Date deposit received: 19 May 2012

I can't find anywhere in the email or on the website when the deposit was actually submitted to the DPS. I am assuming that the 'date deposit received' is just when the landlord told them we gave them the deposit, not when the DPS received it? Or is this incorrect? Is there any reason that the DPS would have sent me email confirmation 17 months after the tenancy started? Has anyone else had delays in the confirmation? I suspect that the landlords have only just deposited it (which of course would make our deposit fully refundable as they should have submitted it within 14 days of receipt).

anselld

The only reason the DPS would resend the email is if you requested a reminder. If you didn't do this then it is a fair assumption that it was submitted late, but phone DPS to confirm for sure.
It is only fully refundable if the LL wishes to use s21 to evict you. If you are otherwise happy with your tenancy then it is not worth making an issue at this stage.

mildredalien

Thanks, that's what I thought, I will give them a ring to check.

There aren't any issues with the tenancy or the landlords but if/when we do move out, what would happen should the landlords want to deduct anything from the deposit? Are they still entitled to do so if they did not submit it correctly? I'm wondering whether I should query with the landlords now when they submitted the deposit or just leave it until we decide to move or they want us out. They are currently abroad so it is a possibility that they could want to return to the UK and live in the property at some point, we are on a rolling monthly contract now.

anselld

Late submission does not release you from your obligations to return the property in the appropriate state and to pay for any damages.
Query with the scheme, not the Landlords; there is no advantage to alerting the LL to your suspicions.

mildredalien

We're not intending to leave it in a state and refuse to pay However I suspect that the LLs are inexperienced and I just want to get my facts straight before any issues arise. For example, we never received a detailed inventory and never signed anything regarding the state of the property. Hopefully there will be no issues and I am perfectly prepared to pay for any damages outside of reasonable wear and tear... but you never know what will happen at the end of a tenancy!

molerat

mildredalien wrote: »

We're not intending to leave it in a state and refuse to pay However I suspect that the LLs are inexperienced and I just want to get my facts straight before any issues arise. For example, we never received a detailed inventory and never signed anything regarding the state of the property. Hopefully there will be no issues and I am perfectly prepared to pay for any damages outside of reasonable wear and tear... but you never know what will happen at the end of a tenancy!

Something to your advantage, the LL will need to provide a dual signed inventory if they wish to claim for damages.

anselld

mildredalien wrote: »

We're not intending to leave it in a state and refuse to pay However I suspect that the LLs are inexperienced and I just want to get my facts straight before any issues arise. For example, we never received a detailed inventory and never signed anything regarding the state of the property. Hopefully there will be no issues and I am perfectly prepared to pay for any damages outside of reasonable wear and tear... but you never know what will happen at the end of a tenancy!

You already have the upper hand; no inventory can only be to your advantage. You have the additional threat to sue for up to3x deposit if you so choose.