Getting my rental deposit back

[Deleted User]

Are you in a position to get legal aid? Or pay for a soliciitor. It would seem that getting a divorce would solve a lot of the problems you are facing in the long term, although this won't help immediately.

Women's Aid should be able to assist with the present situation. They often have one stop shops with a solicitor present who gives advice.., see where your nearest one is. The solicitor would be able to give you advice on where to start dealing with these difficulties.

booksurr

1. you have a joint tenancy which is currently still in its fixed period so you cannot end the tenancy until the fixed period ends

2. the fixed period will end in Oct at which point you want the tenancy to end, but your ex may or may not want it to end

3. after the end of the fixed period ONE person in a joint tenancy CAN give notice to end the tenancy and this ends it for both you and your ex therefore he may be "somewhat" uncooperative in terms of vacating the property and therefore the timing of when you would get (your share of) the deposit back

4. once the tenancy rolls over into a Periodic Tenancy you must give your LL written notice which is correctly dated - see the shelter website for advice on what to put in the letter and the dates to use (assuming you are in England/Wales)
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/private_renting/ending_a_tenancy/ending_a_periodic_agreement

Kynthia

Shelter might give you better advice than the CAB as it's their specialty.

Just so you know only one tenant in a joint tenancy can't end it until the fixed term ends and it becomes an SPT. Therefore the day after your fixed term ends you should serve notice on the landlord, and this notice will end the tenancy in November. However if your husband doesn't move out then it becomes tricky unless both he and the landlord agree to a new tenancy in just his name. Plus there's no guarantee the landlord will return the deposit to you and not your husband as both of you are 'the tenant', although if your name was used as the lead tenant on the deposit protection certificate then that's promising.

breaking_free

Brilliant advice from you all and much appreciated. Booksurr, you are right: I'll contact Shelter rather than the CAB.

I know my husband will keep the flat in good order: no problem there. Ideally I just want my name off the lease and the deposit back.

Kynthia, I am indeed the "lead tenant" as I was the person who found the flat, organized all the paperwork, had my name on everything first and did all the dealings with the landlord AND the letting agency.

When I write to the landlord I will provide him with a copy of my online bank statement showing that the deposit was provided by me alone - that *should* be enough to convince him to return it to me, and not my husband. It would be a ridiculous situation (for me anyhow) if I had to keep my money tied up in a rental deposit scheme for however long my husband wants to keep his lease - once I've got my name taken off it that should be enough methinks. Hope I'm correct.

HappyMJ

The landlord doesn't have the money to return the deposit they release it online for the deposit scheme to give it to you so as long as you have all the names and passwords for that then you should be able to get them to credit it back to your account.