Return of rental deposit...

yeovilmac

Hi there,

My girlfriend was living with her husband back last year. They moved into a house in August and she paid, by cheque, the deposit of £1,780, a months rent of £850 plus a deposit of the same amount plus a landlords fee of £80.

She was forced to leave the marital home last month due to 'unacceptable behaviour' by her husband. How does she stand legally as regards to getting her deposit back from him? Is she likely to be able to force him to pay the deposit back now or will she have to wait until the husband leaves the property?

As she paid by cheque, it is easy enough to get written proof of the payment even though the account is now closed.

Many thanks in anticipation

YM

thelawnet

Contract should be ending now, after one year (I asusme this was the contract length), and providing she informed the landlord she was leaving, the state of the property should be assessed and the deposit returned. The husband would then enter into a new contract as a sole signatory with his own deposit. She should get in touch with the landlord to say this.

Presumably she was co-signatory to a 1 year contract, as this will now end, she is no longer party to a current contract, even if the husband remains.

yeovilmac

I think this will be where the thread endeth...

The contract was for six months then they signed for another six months, so you are correct to say that in August the tenancy will be up for renewal. My g/f suggests that the ex will be staying in the property for a while longer.

Unfortunately she paid the money ( by cheque ) but was never on the tenancy agreement with the landlord. Her ex-OH is named as the sole person even though they were married at the time.

I appreciate this puts a vastly different complexion on things now.

scrummy_mummy_2

The deposit will be being held by the Agent or by the Landlord.
It is not up to either party (which ever one holds the money on behalf of the tenant) to make assessments of where a tenant gets their deposit money from....the money (when the ex OH concludes his tenancy) will LEGALLY be returned to him as he is the tenant....and the money in question is HIS deposit.

If she wants her money, she will have to pursue legal action against ex OH in
small claims court and prove she gave it to him to recover it, but will probably have to wait until his tenancy concludes and he fails to return it.
If she wants the money before then, I suggest she writes to him enclosing copies of all of the cheque receipts/bank statements and identifies that she requires payment of the money which is rightfully hers now their relationship has concluded and she no longer shares a marital home.
If he refuses to pay, it might be appropriate to then write again and tell him that she will expect it when his tenancy conludes, otherwise she will begin court action to recover it......it's all about laying a paper trail that will help your case as/when it goes to court.
It might be more worthwhile (I pressume she will eventually divorce him) to get the money back as part of a final settlement during the divorce proceedings?

Bottom line...agent/LL not required to give the money back to her as she is not the tenant. He is.
Her case is against ex OH