Requesting urgent assist with deposit

Zyx

Hi,
My tenancy is ending soon so I went on the 3 main deposit sites to look for my deposit.
I entered the information correctly in different formats but was unable to find anything.

Does this mean the landlord did not actually protect my deposit?
I mailed him and he gave me a call a few minutes later which I of course did not answer as I wanted to be sure to record the call as he may be trying to avoid giving me written evidence that the deposit is not protected.

Seeing as I was unable to find the deposit on the 3 main sites, how safe is it to assume that the deposit is not protected?
How easy is it to get him to pay me twice or three times the deposit? Is it a difficult process?

Please provide me with support as it is the first time for me encountering this problem.

Thanks.

Crashy_Time

Zyx wrote: »

Hi,
My tenancy is ending soon so I went on the 3 main deposit sites to look for my deposit.
I entered the information correctly in different formats but was unable to find anything.

Does this mean the landlord did not actually protect my deposit?
I mailed him and he gave me a call a few minutes later which I of course did not answer as I wanted to be sure to record the call as he may be trying to avoid giving me written evidence that the deposit is not protected.

Seeing as I was unable to find the deposit on the 3 main sites, how safe is it to assume that the deposit is not protected?
How easy is it to get him to pay me twice or three times the deposit? Is it a difficult process?

Please provide me with support as it is the first time for me encountering this problem.

Thanks.

You are supposed to receive written confirmation that the deposit is protected at the START of the tenancy, not the end (In Scotland anyway) Where are you?

Zyx

London
I understand that I am supposed to but I have not.
There is a page in the AST stating that the deposit is protected at the following website.
I have visited the site and entered the information correctly but nothing came up.

As far as I know it is not my duty to remind the landlord and therefore me not making an effort to remind the landlord to protect the deposit should not stop me from complaining about it not being protected.
Can you confirm?

The deposit was officially paid to the agents but as far as I know the money goes to the landlord and therefore he should be protecting the deposit.

lewishardwick

You should have received a certificate or some forum of document saying is protected. You should check all you documents relating to the property, make sure it's there, or not....

Why is your tenancy ending? Served a section 21? If so, with no protected deposit, sit tight and watch LL squirm.

It's down to them to prove is protected...

lewishardwick

Sorry for the bad grammar / spelling. This phone is awful!

Zyx

The tenancy is ending due to me not renewing tenancy.
I have definitely not received any further documents regarding the tenancy.

Should I be visiting a citizen's advice bureau to get legal support once the landlord has admitted to not protecting the deposit?
Should I be letting him know that I will be seeking legal aid to receive a payout as he has broken the law and denied my right to my deposit being protected?

lewishardwick

What do you want?

If he has indeed not protected the deposit, he can be made to pay up to three times the deposit (and return the original) to you.

I was in a similar situation about a year ago. When it came to vacating the property, I was given my full deposit back. I cost to not pursue it further, it wasn't worth it. That and I doubt a judge would order them to pay much to 'compenaste' you.

I would keep it in your arsenal for any deposit disputes then blow him out the water!:cool:

Crashy_Time

Zyx wrote: »

The tenancy is ending due to me not renewing tenancy.
I have definitely not received any further documents regarding the tenancy.

Should I be visiting a citizen's advice bureau to get legal support once the landlord has admitted to not protecting the deposit?
Should I be letting him know that I will be seeking legal aid to receive a payout as he has broken the law and denied my right to my deposit being protected?

Most landlords will want to do a walk through of the flat with you on the final day (or their agent will) to see if there is any damage that they should deduct from the deposit, until they actually passed the legislation here in Scotland that it had to be "protected" (I think it is more to do with giving the council some extra funds myself) you kind of had to rely on the landlord being upfront about this, I only had problems twice, but eventually the deposits were returned with only small deductions. Have some faith in human nature! One landlord actually came round to my new address with a tenner for me because he said I had left that amount in the electric card meter, they are not all bad!

Zyx

Can I demand the full deposit to be repaid to me before the tenancy ends as he failed to protect my deposit?
I did not pay him deposit so he can collect interest on it.

bobbymotors

OP what you actually need to do is use the fact that its not protected to ensure you get it back in full and then get on with your life rather than seeking compensayshun for what may well be an oversight.

Is the landlord decent? If so, move on with your life after getting your deposit back.

If your deposit was £1000 then the LL will have earnt a huge £10 in interest over the year.