Advice request re landlord, repairs, deposit protection

SerialRenter

bris wrote: »

He just needs to protect the deposit when you send the papers and your claim will fail.

Incorrect, this loophole was closed in 2012 when the localism act came into force.

Sausage11

Hello All,

As an update to this thread:

I asked the LL which deposit agency that my deposit was protected with. He sent back an email with the details of the protection (which showed that it had only just been protected).

He also makes a number of accusations, all of which are utterly untrue. He will be able to provide no evidence to support any of these allegations.

(As an aside, much of my career has been in financial services in regulated positions. Being convicted of fraud would be extremely detrimental to my career!).

Here is his letter:

"Please find enclosed details of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, certificate code XXXXX protected on 2nd September 2014 and bank account details, Account Number:XXXXX.



We would like to amicably end the tenancy with yourselves now. There has been a break down in trust and we would simply like you to vacate our property so we can regain possession.



We are willing to overlook the fraudulent activity that you have been party to, namely calling out an emergency plumber from XXXXX on Friday18th July 2014 charging us via rent deduction to the amount of £131.80 and later admitting to our independent plumbing contractor that no work was actually carried out, when we sent him out to fix the same problem that you had called the emergency plumber out for. [I have a text message from the landlord confirming it was okay to reduce the rent to cover this charge. The plumber I called out made a temporary repair so that the shower worked but informed me that it would need sorting our properly. The plumber from the landlord was there to sort the issue out on a more permanent basis. I have full receipts from the company that came out and the work that they conducted.].

We are willing to return your deposit to you in full with no deductions for the mentioned fraud when you vacate the property, bringing an end to this relationship.

We can arrange to meet you at the property on the day you are vacating so deposit and keys can be exchanged.



We are reluctant to provide you with our home address as we fear you will escalate the current level of harassment. You currently inundate us with phone calls and text messages at all hours and so we do not wish to put our personal safety or that of our residence at risk. 
 [This is nonsense.]. However at the point of responding to your request which clearly gives us 14 days to respond, we have been made aware that you are in contact with XXXXXX Letting Agents who no longer represent us, trying to obtain personal information.
 [I asked the Letting Agent that had originally represented them for their address as they had refused to provide it.].

You have at every opportunity tried to gain money from us in the form of compensation, for any minor inconvenience that comes with the territory of repairs, adding to delays as the contractors could not contact yourselves . [I have never asked them for compensation and I have always paid my rent on time and in full. I have an answerphone on my mobile and am never uncontactable in that they can always leave a message if they try to call me.].

Recently you reported us to Environmental Health for works which we were in the process of sorting out and which have since been addressed. In relation to roofing works, you have desperately tried to get our contractor to say there is a safety issue, pressing the point, despite being told there is no danger. [2 contractors claimed the roof was unsafe. The issue with the roof had persisted for more than 5 months and I only contacted EH after several warnings.]. This further deepens our belief that you are trying to start a malicious campaign against us

I once again request that we part ways amicably and avoid lengthy, stressful legal proceedings, that can arise in fraud cases.



Please can you email your reply, we once again reiterate that we are not providing a postal address due to personal safety concerns, should you or any of your representatives arrive at our property we will call the police immediately.



Yours sincerely
"

I did not reply to this as I thought I would take action once my renovation was complete.

Since sending this letter I have had cause to report an issue with the bathroom tiling - nothing has been done over nearly 2 months. Just over a week ago I emailed to say the oven had stopped working and that, whilst I did not think there was immediate danger in terms of gas, I was now sleeping with the kitchen window open as a precaution, and that I would appreciate his immediately addressing the issue. He ignored it completely.

I have now moved out. The house was much cleaner than when we moved in. (We were promised it would be clean when we agreed to rent but it was dirty and the check in inventory substantiates this.). He wants me to send him my bank details and I believe he wants to repay the deposit in full.

I would very much appreciate general advice. I would like to sue him for not protecting the deposit. I also believe he has breached the contract by not conducting essential repairs and therefore depriving me of my right to quiet enjoyment of the property. (5 months of water leaking through the ceiling despite numerous promises that a repair will be done. No oven and concerns over gas for the last week of the tenancy.). He has also libelled me. (Not to mention the correlation of Atrial fibrillation and psoriasis given the stress of dealing with these people.).

If I send my bank details and he repays the deposit in full would this prejudice my ability to seek damages? What damages do you think would be reasonable in this situation?

Thanks to anyone that has had the patience to read this post!

RAS

Start by going to the deposit scheme and reclaiming the deposit in full.

As for damages. I really do not think it is going to be worth the hassle.

However, once you have the deposit back, you can start the claim for 3 times for non-protection; I would make sure you have the deposit before antagonising further.

As for his allegations; the courts will not be interested. They want to know when the tenancy started, when the deposit was protected and when the prescribed information was sent.

Sausage11

Thank you.

Do I need to 'go to the deposit scheme'?

The LL offered to write me a cheque. I said he could do a bank transfer. Can he simply transfer to me?

Pixie5740

TDS is an insurance backed scheme so your LL still has physical custody of your deposit. Yes he can do a bank transfer, if it were me then I'd prefer that option that receiving a cheque.

You should expect to receive their deposit within ten calendar days of requesting it from your LL. If you do not receive your deposit within this time frame, talk to your LL. If you still haven't received the deposit, you should consider raising a dispute with TDS.

If your LL tried to make deductions you disagree with then you can raise a dispute with TDS for that too.

You should probably forget about getting money for "damages" but by all means go ahead with compensation for them not protecting your deposit.

Your LL sounds absolutely clueless but ignorance is no defence, they are running a business after all and should be professional. Would it have killed them just to do some research before becoming a landlord?

jamie11

I agree with RAS, this is a case where you CAN have your cake and eat it, just allow him to return your deposit in full, (don't forget to say thank you).

You then have the whole of the next six years to sue him for non-compliance.

But don't sign anything that can be construed as accepting the deposit 'in full and final' etc etc.