HELP! Unfair charges on Unregistered Deposit. Let Only tenancy that Ended 2010.

ed84

Hi Forumers,

I have a question about appealing for unfair charges on our deposit.

Background (I'll keep it brief)
- We moved in Sept 09 on 12 months contract. Moved out Sept 10.
- It was a 'Let Only' property managed by LL
- £2150 deposit handed over to LA. Mydeposit 'Information' sheet was signed by us and LL. (small print said 'Certificate to follow')
- £1900 deducted from the most absurd things.
- LL ignored appeal for months after pursuing for proof
- We were sent a breakdown from her "Accountant". No contact information, spelling mistakes and questionable grammar.
- LA not interested because it was a let only

Now, I know it's a few years after the tenancy ended but we tried for a year to contact the LL. Returned recorded mail and ignored our emails/phone calls. I'm now back in the UK and would like to pursue this further so I contacted the LA and said - "We handed the money to you and signed the deposit information sheet. Surely it's your responsibility to ensure it was registered?".

I even quoted from their website - "The safest way to ensure your return of deposit is to rent via a reputable ARLA letting agent. (THE AGENT) checks that the landlord has a rental deposit certificate."

They replied saying it was let only and I should have pursued this 3 months after the tenancy ended.

Can they get away with this? Who should I chase? LA or LL? If I take this to a small claims court, will the LL even be contactable then?

I hope that covers what you need to make any responses. All very much appreciated by the way.

Thanks!

benjus

If the deposit was correctly protected and you were given the prescribed information ( http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/797/article/2/made ) then you cannot claim for failure to protect the deposit. Did you receive this information? The presence or absence of a certificate is irrelevant if you did receive the information set down by law.

The LA is irrelevant in this - your contract was with the LL.

What "appeal" did you make? What was the outcome?

I'm assuming England/Wales... is this correct?

chanz4

take him to court

ed84

We appealed the deductions with the LL. She was not interested and then ignored our calls, emails and letters.

The deposit was not registered to any of the TDS companies. I contacted all who also confirmed the address was not registered at all.

We handed the money over to the LA who in return gave is a "deposit information certificate" which had the details of who the deposit was 'going' to be registered with. Clearly states "will be registered with MyDeposits.

benjus

Please confirm where in the UK the property was as the laws vary. I'll continue to assume England/Wales.

I believe you can still sue for the penalty for failure to protect the deposit (1-3 times the deposit) for up to 6 years from the date the deposit was due. You can certainly claim the deposit itself back, which may be a simpler process. The penalty claim should generally be submitted to the courts on the "multi track" which is an expensive and complex process (although you should get the money back if you win) - however some courts appear to accept these claims via the much simpler "small claims track" which you can submit online. Call the local county court to ask.

Do you believe that the LL is still at the address that you have for them? If so, use that on the claim. If not you might want to check (e.g. look up the land registry details for that address for £3) or use a people tracing service to get their current address (I've used Finder Monkey successfully in the past). Sending documents by recorded delivery is unnecessary and counterproductive - just send first class post from a post office and obtain proof of postage. Send 2 copies from different post offices if you want to bomb-proof evidence that you send the documents. (or you could try the technique mentioned on here recently - send it via recorded/special delivery in a big parcel).

Whatever you decide to do, send a "letter before action" to the LL to invite them to settle the matter with you before going ahead with the claim.

ed84

Much appreciate Jusben.

Just to confirm the property was in the UK. I left the UK to work in 2011 and have just returned. I made many attempts to resolve this issue before I left but had no success.

After doing some extensive research online, it seems that the LL still owns the property and uses it as her registered company address.

Is it worth contacting the Property Ombudsman?

I'll follow your instructions on sending a letter before action. I'll keep you posted on any advances.

Thanks so much again!:j

jjlandlord

Forget about non-protection. It's too late.

Focus on getting the money back: Send a letter before action demanding it, then start a money claim if they don't pay (and if you think you have a good case).

ed84

Thank jjlandlord.

How long do you have to claim for non-protection after the contract ends?

Tigsteroonie

benjus wrote: »

Please confirm where in the UK the property was as the laws vary. I'll continue to assume England/Wales.

ed84 wrote: »

Just to confirm the property was in the UK. I left the UK to work in 2011 and have just returned. I made many attempts to resolve this issue before I left but had no success.

I believe you'll need to clarify further, OP, as Scotland has a separate legal system to England & Wales.

booksurr

jjlandlord wrote: »

Forget about non-protection. It's too late.

citation required

jjlandlord

ed84 wrote: »

How long do you have to claim for non-protection after the contract ends?

In your case: 0.