Landlord - deposit refunds student tenancy

jobaz7

Hi, I wonder if anyone can give me some advice.
My son has just finished his tenancy from his student uni house in York.
The landlord has deducted money from his deposit with no communication with us. He was in a shared house 2012/13 with the same landlord and she carried over the deposit to his new tenancy house in 2013/14. There was no inventory in either house, despite my son requesting one, and was told she doesn't do them. Naively as 1st time tenants we accepted this.
After leaving the second house she has deducted money for a new toilet seat ( which she says had glue on the lid ) and a new kitchen cupboard door ( which she says had a split in ) from the first tenancy in 2012/13 and a hefty £75 because we left some black bin bags and cardboard for recycling. She claims the bags had maggots and there was loads of cardboard. My husband double bagged the bin bags and there was a small amount of cardboard packed neatly together ( we did take a photo of this).
She has sent no evidence of purchasing items or of rubbish removal, and just informed us she has taken the money.
Could the seat and cupboard door be wear and tear or is she entitled to buy brand new ones?
Not sure what my next step is or if we have one.
Thanks

antrobus

jobaz7 wrote: »

....
Not sure what my next step is or if we have one.
Thanks

Normally you contact the relevant tenancy protection scheme and raise a dispute.

fishpond

Was the deposit in a protection scheme?

booksurr

if the deposit was not ina registered scheme that that is the angle of attack as that is a lot easier to prove than whether glue on a seat (ie damage not W&T) or a new door (ie. betterment with no adjustment for W&T) in the face of no inventory is contestable

jobaz7

Thanks for your replies.
My son has no idea whether a protection scheme was used - she was very vague on this and providing an inventory. Is she entitled to claim for a house on a previous tenancy agreement?

RAS

Hi

England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?

In England not only does the deposit have to be regsitered but the tenant has to be provided with the prescribed information within 30 days.

Failure to comply renders the LL open to a penalty up to three times the deposit value.

Edit: Rules here https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/overview

jobaz7

It was in York, so i guess I need to ask her for the protection scheme she supposedly put the deposit in.

jobaz7

The landlady is now declaring she has no receipts for any of the deductions and I can find no record of the deposit in a tenancy scheme she says she has used. Quoting pages from the actual university handbook for the price of rubbish removal which has nothing to do with the private tenancy agreement.

RAS

The landlady does not NEED receipts for any deductions. She is entitled to claim money for real damage and use it as she wishes.

However you are not getting very far at the moment.

Rather than playing piggy in the middle, can you get your son to answer the following questions:

1. When was the deposit taken?

2. When did each tenancy start and end?

3. Was this rental of a room in a house or a joint tenancy between several students?

4. Was he ever given details of the scheme in which his deposits (for both places) were secured?

5. If so, on what dates were the deposits secured and when was he given the prescribed information?

6. Was there an inventory for each property? Did he agree and sign the inventory in each house?

A little light reading below (from G_M):

Deposits (Rules on deposit protection)

Localism Act 2011 (section 184 - updates to deposit scheme rules) Plain English explanation!

Prescribed Information (RLA links to various deposit schemes' documentation)

ACTION:

1. Write (pen and paper not e-mail or phone) to the landlady at the address for the serving of notices (on the tenancy agreements) and ask in which scheme(s) the deposits were secured and on what dates. Give her 10 days to respond.

Two copies of the letter, first class from two different post offices with free certificates of posting.

2. Read up on the Localism Act. Does your son understand that if the LL did not secure the deposit, he can sue her for up to 3 times as much as a penalty (any time in the 6 years after the deposit was handed over)?