Rental deposit not returned, need advice

dalore

Hi Everyone,

We are having trouble getting our rental deposit returned so I'm turning to the collective helpful minds of the MSEs.

Ok I'll start at the start (good place to start):

Back in December 2004 we moved into a place up at Finsbury Park through Ludlow Thompson. We Paid them our months rent in advance, a months rent as a deposit, and a weeks rent service charge. They setup the standing order for the monthly rent, gave us our keys, contract, phone number for the landlord and away we went.

In the contract it states that the property will be managed by the landlord and the deposit will be held with the landlord also. In the contract it gave us the address and name of our landlord. I'll use first names (unless I should be naming the full names and addresses, or on request I'll give details if it helps). The name stated was Sunhil.

Things went along ok for a couple of months and then we needed to call the landlord for some reason. So we gave the number a call, took a few days and constant calling to eventually get someone on the line. We eventually got someone (who wasn't the person named as the landlord, but acted as if he was, so we assumed the landlords agent).

A year or so goes by and this guy (Richard) calls us up and says the new official address is this new address (a business park) with the name of the company SD Investments. So we jot this down for future reference. We also got a letter from SD Investments with letterhead showing that they now claim to manage the property.

Ok 2 years and abit since we first moved in and we decide we want to move to a better place closer to my partners work. We give our months notice and decide to the correct way of paying the last months rent and collecting the bond minus any expenses (which we hope would be none). I know some of you are saying silly, should of just not payed the last month, which I regret not doing now (hindsight is 20/20). But we wanted a reference for our new place.

Well a sidenote about the reference, our guy Richard promised to give one, our rental agent (and I) constantly called him up for one which he promised to fax over etc (but never did). So without our reference it was harder to move into the new place (they requested 2 months deposit etc), but we eventually did it.

When we moved out we got professionaly cleaners into clean our our old place, with reciepts to prove it. We also cleaned up all the marks and stuff we could. Everything else seemed reasonable wear and tear.

This Richard guy in the days prior to us moving out gets some rental agents to case the place (for photos etc) and wanted us to give the keys to them. Well we gave on set of keys to a rental agent who came round and took photos for their website, said it looks reasonable etc. We still had a few days to go on our lease and one of the light bulbs needed changing (one of them special hard to find low energy 3 pronged light bulbs) so I asked the rental agent (as an offical representive of the landlord) that can we give him the last set of keys on the offical hand over date. He said he wont be available but we can just leave the keys in the flat.

So on the last day, we fix the lightbulb, leave the keys along with our forwarding contact details, a copy of the reciept from the professional cleaners and away we went. This would of been mid March 2007.

I guess you can tell where this is going.

A month scrolls by with no contact from the landlord. So we add to our todo list to chase it up. Another month scrolls by (we are pretty busy) before we finally write a letter asking whats the go and to give us our deposit, or at least a list detailing charges etc. We send this letter to the guy originally on our lease at the addres given (Sunhil) and also to the new address SD Investments given to us by Richard.

So a couple of months go by with no contact from either. So we draft a bit more of a threathening letter suggesting court action within 14 days. This we send again 2 both address we've been given along with a cc to ludlow thompson and a copy emailed to SD Investments, didn't bounce. I've been loathed to try phoning as he hardly answers his phone and I want written evidence of what goes on.

Well it's been the 14 days we promised so now it was time to do as I said we do and take them to court. The trouble is who do I name on the court documents and how do I know if those people actually exist at those address named.

I've got a few options and I would like your help in telling me exactly what I should do. I got reciepts from Ludlow showing how much I paid them in bond etc.

So who do I name on the court documents:

A) Name the mysterious Sunhil as he was the original person on my lease. Trouble is, a search on 192.com shows he doesn't exist. I've never met/spoken to him and the address given is almost 3 years old now.

Name the SD Investments company who have so far failed to respond to the letters.

C) Name Ludlow Thompson as they were the ones who actually took our money and which we have a reciept for.

D) Ask Ludlow Thompson who they actually forwarded the deposit onto see if they can give me the name of the person whose bank account it went into. (Assuming Ludlow can/will give me this info, reading about agents on this board doesn't give me hope).

E) Checking my bank history I found that the standing order for rent was set to a bank account in the name Finsbury Heights. Now I found them listed in 192.com (but with a ltd appended) and I have no idea if this is guy to send to. The address is a new one, I've never seen it before. Are business names unique? Don't you need some proof of your business registration to open a bank account in a business name. So should I name this business on the court document or give them a chance first and send them the same letter with 14days to respond to?

F) If possible should I name everyone potentialy involved (can you do this or is it only one name on the court documents)?

Help please, I'll buy you all a virtual beer in advance, since you made it to the end of my long writeup.
Much appreciated.

dalore

olly300

The person to name on the court documents is the landlord. Ludlow Thompson are agents for the landlord and are not liable to return your deposit. You can ask Ludlow Thompson who the landlord is.

Unfortunately if the landlord is a company you are likely to be wasting your money filing a court claim. Companies have limited liability under the law which means a county court judgement against them will mean very little. Directors of bad companies have a habit of closing down the company, and forming a new company if the original company has too many CCJs or creditors chasing them. Even if the company doesn't the directors will try sorts of tricks i.e. stating that property is personal property rather than company property to bailiffs to avoid paying fines.

If you were chasing an individual acting as a landlord, it would be worth spending effort to at least get a CCJ against their name as this will affect their credit worthiness.

Have a read of this article- doesn't mention landlords but does mention problems with small claims court http://money.guardian.co.uk/consumernews/story/0,,2088192,00.html and eagerlearner's thread about chasing an individual landlord - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=227606&highlight=eagerlearners



I would:
1. find out the director's name of the company have a look a companies house http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/
2 contact the relevant area trading standards http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/consumers/consumers.cfm to see if the company or directors have any history of doing this. (If they are notoriously then the trading standards would know.)

Guy_Montag

Bl00dy hell that's complicated - I think SD Investments (SDI) is your best bet.

I would take a drive past their place (& that of Finsbury Heights Ltd), it may turn out to be a Mailboxes Inc. type establishment. Even go in & ask for Richard or, in the case of Finsbury Heights Ltd, try to work out what they are/do & if they are the same as Finsbury Heights.

While you're at it, you could get in touch with Ludlow T. & see what they have to say about the matter. Get them to confirm that they are acting for SDI, that they passed your deposit on to Sunhil, but that since SDI have taken over they are responsible for the deposit. Ask them who to chase, if they are not forthcoming, pay a personal visit to their premises on a busy day, politely kick up a stink, or cry a bit, make yourself such a pest (in a courteous manner) that they tell you what you need to know just to stop you worrying potential clients.

dalore

Thanks for the information guys.

I looked up 192 and did managed to find a Sunil (without the h) with the same last last name (but different address). He did sign his name without the h so I believe that's just a typo from the agent.

I'm going to send the new address a last and final letter (registered post). If if don't get a response, (or I get a response that leads me to believe he is the one) I'll name him as the person in the small claims.

I'll go after Sunil as he is the one whose signature is on the lease agreement I have and the one I'm most likely to get my money back from.

Failing that I'll try contact Ludlow or try chase SD Investments.

Cheers

Itch1

Hi there

Just wondering whether you had any luck getting your deposit money back? Some friends of mine are in almost the exact situation as you i.e. dealing with Sunhil (Sunil) and Richard.

Really hoping you were successful and didn't have to go to small claims court.

Thanks in advance.

Also thank you to Olly300 and Guy for their advice

dalore

Just to let everyone know that they eventually paid up. Thanks moneyclaim.

We filed a claim through the govt's money claim service online specifing sunil as the defendant. That must of scared him as close to the end period of when they must take action we got a letter from his solicitors saying they intend to defend against the claim. They must of realised he didn't have a leg to stand on because a week later or so a cheque came for the full amount plus interest with a copy of his submission to the court saying he has paid.

Came just in time for xmas too. :T

kingstonstudenttenant

Hi - I've registered to inform people that these people (Sunil Dhown and Richard Elby) are now operating under the name IRD Homes (probably for the reason olly300 gave). They're no long taking deposits for their properties, presumably due to the change in law regarding the way deposits have to the handled which prevents them from withholding the deposit as they did with the original poster.

I've been made aware about their behaviour with students who have let several of their flats in Kingston, Magnum House. I'm going to post the following message in the student forum but I'll also post it here:


"I've been informed by a few students living in flats owned and managed by IRD Homes, Sunil Dhown and Richard Elby that they have had a particularly bad experience in Magnum House which they own and manage. Essentially they have only had 6 months tenancy in their flat due to a £100 or so pound rent increase which being students on a limited and fixed income they cannot pay. This has lead to students needing to find alternative accommodation, which is particularly stressful with exams looming.

Aside from these tenancy issues, there are also issues with the actual state of the building, particularly the communal entrance and hall ways which are poorly lit and stink of urine. The letterboxes for the individual flats do not have locks on them and one of the entrance doors have a window missing which enables anyone to access the building. This has been that way since August 2009. Presumably because of this, a homeless man now lives in one of the electricity cupboards and local kids have been witnessed using the stairwell to loiter. Tenants have notified IRD Homes but nothing has been done and contact details for property management have since be removed from their website.

A cursory Google search brings up other issues with these people stretching back several years (when they operated under the name SD Investments) which suggests their negligence and general behaviour has not changed.

Students, please be warned before you enter into any tenancy with these people and don't be fooled by no deposit being required. Try to stick to the advice given by the Kingston University Accommodation department to save you pain in the future."