Tenancy deposit deductions

applesyumyum

Hello! I'm looking for a bit of advice

(A bit of back story; I signed my tenancy with an Estate Agent and paid £350 bond in January 2013. A year later the landlord was about to be repossessed so the estate agents offered me another of their properties. I took it and they said they'd transfer my bond to the new property. Everything was fine since then and I've now ended the tenancy, left the property and requested my bond back via the Deposit Protection Service. However, I've noticed the bond is still registered under the first address.

I'm not sure where I stand regarding this, and to be honest I'd rather just offer to have less bond refunded than to drag something out and have a fight on my hands with the estate agents. They aren't very professional and could make life hard.)

What I'm wanting advice on is how much of a deduction is acceptable for an iron burn mark on a carpet? I fully admit, I did it accidentally and had forgot about it when I requested the full bond back. Should I edit my repayment request to something smaller? If so, how much is acceptable?
Deduction of £30, £100? I have no idea

Guest101

U realise ur deposit strictly speaking wasn't protected and they must refund the whole amount.

U could sue your LL for upto £1050 for this.

Pixie5740

What would be a reasonable deduction depends on the age and condition of the carpet at the start of the tenancy.

applesyumyum

Carpet wasn't new when I moved in but it was good condition, no marks etc.
They've also mentioned the inner door lock is damaged. I've never used the inner door's lock as there was an outer door I locked so never had to use the internal one. I noticed the damage a few months ago which I emailed them about just to make them aware of it and never got a response.

Should I email back and state I would like my full deposit back as it's not currently protected? Could they simply switch it from the old address to the new address (as they should have done before) without permission from me or something? I don't know what to do

applesyumyum

The property has been sold and a new agent/landlord will be taking over the tenancy. Can we transfer the deposit?
No. A deposit cannot be transferred to a different agent/landlord. You should mark the deposit as closed and ask the new agent/landlord to register the deposit in line with the legislation.

Found this on the DPS website. The previous landlord is not the new landlord so the deposit can't just be shifted over, if I'm right?

Could anyone advise on what to do next? I feel I may be in a good position but I don't know how to go about it

Guest101

applesyumyum wrote: »

Found this on the DPS website. The previous landlord is not the new landlord so the deposit can't just be shifted over, if I'm right?

Could anyone advise on what to do next? I feel I may be in a good position but I don't know how to go about it

As I said

Step 1 ring them and tell them it's not protected and should be released same day.

If they don't, contact the DPS and tell them what's happened.

Next write a letter informing the LA and the LL - one letter each. That u intend to pursue court action if not sorted within 10 working days. Mark the letter 'letter before action'

applesyumyum

Thank you just to clarify, does LA mean letting agent?

Guest101

applesyumyum wrote: »

Thank you just to clarify, does LA mean letting agent?

yes - post must be over 10 chars

G_M

Tricky.

Scenario 1:

* You paid a deposit to Landlord1 via his agent in 2013
* The deposit was properly registered with DPS
* you moved out (2014)
* your deposit was not returned
* you moved into new property with LL2 and did not pay a deposit
* you have now moved out - there is no deposit to be returned by LL2

You should write to LL1 (copy the agents) requesting he return your deposit without delay.

Scenario 2

* You paid a deposit to Landlord1 via his agent in 2013
* The deposit was properly registered with DPS
* you moved out (2014)
* your deposit was transferred (returned to you/repaid by you) to LL2, but the agent failed to update DPS
* LL2 (+ his agents) failed to send you the 'Prescribed Information' regarding your deposit
* you have now moved out

You could take LL2 to court for failing to issue the Prescribed Information or (properly) registering the deposit.

Who to claim off.... who to claim off....

If I was LL2 in this position, and you took me to court, I'd say you never paid me a deposit....

Questions:
1) - did you receive the 'Prescribed Information' when you moved into property 2?
2) What written evidence have you that the deposit from property 1 was was to be used for property 2?
3) what does your tenancy agreement for property 2 say about deposit?

applesyumyum

Thank you for taking the time to help

1- I didn't receive any prescribed information for property 2
2- The letting agent suggested they could transfer the deposit over for me, over the phone, I agreed. The only written acknowledgment of it is in the tenancy agreement
3- Tenancy agreement regarding the deposit states '£350 - to be transferred from previous tenancy or paid in full within 28 days'

(I'm now in no doubt why written documention is essential for everything. I know I've been a fool!)

applesyumyum

Is it the landlord or the letting agent that has control of the bond through the DPS?