LL not returned full deposit

RAS

G_M wrote: »

Claim for 3 x £750 = £2,250 for failure to protect, plus £100 for the disputed deduction.

As per G_M. Letter before action.

If the LL coughs up the £100 they still have another 5 years or more to take action if they want.

gadgetmind

How's this?
[FONT=&quot]Letter before action: Failure to return deposit for [/FONT][FONT=&quot]B][I]add address of property[/I][/B[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Myself, along with xxxx and yyyy, are the former assured shorthold tenants of the above address. Our tenancy started on B][I]add [/I]date[/B and ended on B][I]add date[/I][/B. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We are writing concerning the deposit of £750 we paid to you on B][I]add date[/I][/B as a security against our obligations under the terms of my tenancy agreement. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We have contacted you on several occasions since vacating the property regarding our deposit, and it has taken over two months to a response and a partial repayment. We therefore request that, within 14 days of receiving this letter, you pay us the remaining sum of £100 being the outstanding amount of the deposit paid to you.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The property was left in good order and the rent was fully paid to the end of our tenancy. We have evidence of the state of the property including but not limited to professional cleaning receipts, photographs of the state of the property, and even photographs of the cleaners at work. We are certain that this evidence is sufficient to refute the points raised in your recent email, but we feel that these arguments are best made more formally at a later time.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If we do not receive payment or a substantial response from you by B][I]add date allowing 14 days from receipt of your letter[/I][/B we will issue court proceedings in the county court without further notice. We reserve the right to include a claim for interest, on the amount of the unreturned deposit. We will also be asking for an order to cover our costs.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Additionally, we have reason to believe that our deposit was not protected in an approved scheme within 30 days of receipt. We believe this as we did not receive i) a copy of the deposit scheme certificate, ii) the 'Prescribed Information', iii) a scheme leaflet. We have also checked with the three schemes

and none of them have a record of this deposit.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Should this matter go to court, we will be requesting that in addition to the outstanding deposit, compensation of between one and three times our deposit is paid. As you are a “professional” landlord, who should be aware of your duties, it’s our understanding that the courts tend towards the higher end of this scale, which could be a sum of £2250 given that the original deposit was £750.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We will be relying on the Court Civil Procedure Rules Practice Direction: Pre-action Conduct. We must therefore draw your attention to paragraph 4 concerning the court's powers to impose sanctions for failure to comply with the Practice Direction, and inform you that ignoring this letter before action may increase your liability for costs.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot][/FONT]

gadgetmind

Of course, now we need to work out who to take action against! The landlord names on the agreement died years before the agreement was signed (he's the one with a rich legal and internet history!) His agent is the guy they've dealt with throughout, and they think rent is going to his sister, but the address on the contract for him is in Lincolnshire but he lives in Nottingham!

Agent signed the contract, so he'll get the letter. Somewhere!

Guest101

gadgetmind wrote: »

Of course, now we need to work out who to take action against! The landlord names on the agreement died years before the agreement was signed (he's the one with a rich legal and internet history!) His agent is the guy they've dealt with throughout, and they think rent is going to his sister, but the address on the contract for him is in Lincolnshire but he lives in Nottingham!

Agent signed the contract, so he'll get the letter. Somewhere!

Check on LR who owns the house at present.


As for who to sue, it would either be 'the estate of' the now passed away owner, or the new owner (his sister for example)

gadgetmind

She's going to chat to student advice centre this week and see what they recommend. GOK what's going on as the contract clearly names the dead guy and not his estate.

Search for "anthony carroll landlord" for the horror stories.

Guest101

gadgetmind wrote: »

She's going to chat to student advice centre this week and see what they recommend. GOK what's going on as the contract clearly names the dead guy and not his estate.

Search for "anthony carroll landlord" for the horror stories.

They'll be as useful as a chocolate fireguard!


Check land registry, name that person as a co-respondent.

Pixie5740

How did a dead man manage to be named as a landlord on a tenancy agreement created after he had died? :huh:

gadgetmind

Dunno! Agrement "signed as a deed" by agent, and they think rent was going to agent's sister. It was all done via a renting agency, which introduces another layer of opacity.

Guest101

gadgetmind wrote: »

Dunno! Agrement "signed as a deed" by agent, and they think rent was going to agent's sister. It was all done via a renting agency, which introduces another layer of opacity.

Signed as a deed - who witnessed it?


Agent might be committing fraud here - should contact 'actionfraud' with your concerns.


It sounds like the "estate of" X was renting the house out. So need to find out the executors too.

gadgetmind

Thanks for all the advice. I'll pass on to daughter, but as I say, there's only so far that I can stick in my nose.