Can the Letting Agent Keep the Deposit?

dibdabable

Pixie5740 wrote: »

The tenancy agreement should contain an address for the serving of notices.

Yes the Landlords address was in there. The fact he hasn't responded to the Letter before Action I'm a bit concerned and as we have asked the Letting Agent to confirm the Landlords address with no response, That he may no longer live there,we'll just have to wait and see.

RAS

How about downloading the deeds for his house from the Land Registry? Costs £3.

And regardless of whether he is living here or not, you issue the papers to the "last known address" which in your case is plainly the one on the tenancy agreement.

If he does not respond, he gets the CCJ by default.

dibdabable

Quick update.
Landlord has responded to the claim. He states that he had nothing to do with the bonds and that it was all done by the Letting Agent. He also makes it obvious that all his information as it is, has come from the LAs, so he doesn't really know anything, stating that my daughter was told 3 times that her deposit was sent, this didn't happen. He states that her deposit was sent to another tenant and that the LA states that she gave her permission for them to do so.
What's interesting here is that there is no way on this earth that she would have given this consent because that particular tenant was the subject of a police investigation so he's the last person in the world she would let have her money!!
Anyway at the end of the day she still hasn't received her deposit. I don't believe it's her job to chase up this deposit. There was no reason for them to send her money to someone else when we were in regualr contact with the LAs. It seems they would have done this because if they had acknowledge her email they would have also had to answer the question about the deposits and I believe for what it's worth they are avoiding that question at all costs.
My daughter has not had her deposit back, she has no way of checking if the deposit has been received by someone else even if the LAs can prove they have sent it and we are pretty definite that the deposits were never placed in a scheme.

She has to tick a box saying she is happy and doesn't want to continue or that she does want continue. I feel she should continue, but would, just out of interest, like to know what others would do. Thanks.

GobbledyGook

dibdabable wrote: »

Quick update.
Landlord has responded to the claim. He states that he had nothing to do with the bonds and that it was all done by the Letting Agent. He also makes it obvious that all his information as it is, has come from the LAs, so he doesn't really know anything, stating that my daughter was told 3 times that her deposit was sent, this didn't happen. He states that her deposit was sent to another tenant and that the LA states that she gave her permission for them to do so.
What's interesting here is that there is no way on this earth that she would have given this consent because that particular tenant was the subject of a police investigation so he's the last person in the world she would let have her money!!
Anyway at the end of the day she still hasn't received her deposit. I don't believe it's her job to chase up this deposit. There was no reason for them to send her money to someone else when we were in regualr contact with the LAs. It seems they would have done this because if they had acknowledge her email they would have also had to answer the question about the deposits and I believe for what it's worth they are avoiding that question at all costs.
My daughter has not had her deposit back, she has no way of checking if the deposit has been received by someone else even if the LAs can prove they have sent it and we are pretty definite that the deposits were never placed in a scheme.

She has to tick a box saying she is happy and doesn't want to continue or that she does want continue. I feel she should continue, but would, just out of interest, like to know what others would do. Thanks.

I would continue.

Whilst the landlord may have handed over the handling of deposits to the letting agent it is HIS responsibility to ensure they are protected and handled correctly.

Your daughter had a contract with the landlord and he has certain legal responsibilities. The fact he hired a third party to do some of the work for him doesn't mean he can just say 'nowt to do with me'.

Pixie5740

The LL is talking a load of Horlicks. Just because he employed a LA this does not mean that he wasn't ultimately responsible for protecting the deposit because he was. He absolutely was.

It is possible that the deposit was returned to the lead tenant and that the prescribed information was sent to the lead tenant. The lead tenant may very well be the one who is currently under police investigation. If this is the case then your daughter would need to sue the lead tenant.

The whole thing is a bit of a mess really and your daughter is being given the run around by the LA and the LL. It's time the LL pulled his finger out and found out what the LA he is paying is actually doing for their money.

Has your daughter spoken with the other tenants to find out what's going on? I'd also check what the LL is claiming that the LA told him with the LA.

I'd follow up the letter before action by taking the LL to court. That might make him lurch into action.

anselld

dibdabable wrote: »

There was no reason for them to send her money to someone else when we were in regualr contact with the LAs.

The usual reason is that "someone else" is the lead tenant in a joint tenancy.

Have you established who is the lead tenant as advised 2 months ago in post 2?

topdaddy_2

dibdabable wrote: »

Quick update.
Landlord has responded to the claim. He states that he had nothing to do with the bonds and that it was all done by the Letting Agent. He also makes it obvious that all his information as it is, has come from the LAs, so he doesn't really know anything, stating that my daughter was told 3 times that her deposit was sent, this didn't happen. He states that her deposit was sent to another tenant and that the LA states that she gave her permission for them to do so.
What's interesting here is that there is no way on this earth that she would have given this consent because that particular tenant was the subject of a police investigation so he's the last person in the world she would let have her money!!
Anyway at the end of the day she still hasn't received her deposit. I don't believe it's her job to chase up this deposit. There was no reason for them to send her money to someone else when we were in regualr contact with the LAs. It seems they would have done this because if they had acknowledge her email they would have also had to answer the question about the deposits and I believe for what it's worth they are avoiding that question at all costs.
My daughter has not had her deposit back, she has no way of checking if the deposit has been received by someone else even if the LAs can prove they have sent it and we are pretty definite that the deposits were never placed in a scheme.

She has to tick a box saying she is happy and doesn't want to continue or that she does want continue. I feel she should continue, but would, just out of interest, like to know what others would do. Thanks.

The LL is saying nithing to do with them, say "thats fine but Im sueing you" and they'll soon start to look into it. The LA is the agent of the LL so acting on the LL's behalf. Its clearly the LL who needs to do something. And your daughter would be a fool to leave it at this stage. Does she have money to give away, most students dont.

dibdabable

Hi there. Anselled. A lead tenant was named. The lead tenant's name was the one on the utility bills and that sort of thing and for general contact whilst they were tenants, but the deposits were originally paid directly to the LA not through the lead. At no time was my daughter asked to allocate a lead to receive her deposit, despite the fact that she and myself were in regular contact with the LA and they had ample opportunity to tell her that they had sent the deposits to someone else, but they failed to do that. They didn't give her any information other than a one lined email, saying the deposits been returned, they didn't say when or where and as siad ignored everything else in our email to them.
In any event it isn't the lead tenant that the LAs have apparently sent the money to. The other tenant my daughter has been in contact with hasn't had their deposit either. The reason it's "2 months ago" is because as you will see I've used this same post rather than starting a new one each time, so the post has covered a longer period of time than normal. It gives better continuity this way.

Thanks everyone for your time.

dimbo61

With a Joint and several AST all the tenants are liable for the rent and you NEED a Lead Tenant.
The deposit may have come from all the tenants but many landlords pay the full deposit back to the lead tenant who then pay all the other tenants.
One person the " Lead Tenant" talks to "one person" the Letting Agents or the Landlord about any problems or deductions for damage or rent arrears etc
If your daughter checks the 3/4 deposit schemes for the address she lived at on the dates she stayed there and finds the deposit was not protected then SUE the Landlord via the Small Claims Court.


http://www.tenantstips.com/Home/Students#.VJWxZsBZsGD

dimbo61

http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/sites/default/files/images/mydep%20Joint%20%20Sev%20Tenancies%20Guide_landlordsV1_3073%20%284%29.pdf


From MyDeposits re Lead Tenant and return of Deposit