Rental deposit return

FBaby

You talk about how you feel but seem confused about the law. What I expect CAB has told you is that you are entitled to your deposit back UNLESS they have a case to withold it. So that's what needs to be established.

You haven't confirmed what it is that you have in writing agreeing to only be charged for £30 nor what's in your contract in regards to breaking the terms of the ast.

You also say that a new tenant moved in 24h later. Can I ask how you know that? Maybe they said they would but at the last minute didn't sign the lease and chose another home.

It sounds that due to the short timescales your LL didn't break the law so indeed write to them requesting to know their reasons for withholding the deposit. You might have a case to take them to court but be prepared that they might have a case for defense that you might still not be aware of.

FBaby

Also being upfront about your reasons is irrelevant. If after 3 weeks being there they had told you that they needed to move back in the property brcause they got made redundantand that you had to leave with good grace because they were upfront with their reasons?

bonnand

Thanks again, I apologise for being a bit short.

The law seems to say, has the tenancy ended with agreement of both parties, in this case yes. Please return my deposit. It is irrelevant when it ended but it ended with the agreement of the LL and his agent.

Thank you

bonnand

FBaby wrote: »

Also being upfront about your reasons is irrelevant. If after 3 weeks being there they had told you that they needed to move back in the property brcause they got made redundantand that you had to leave with good grace because they were upfront with their reasons?

Yes I would have!! I would have spoken and had a discussion as we did in our case and been honest and open and not lie to my face as LL has done in this case.

Laws and rules are there to govern us but surely you can talk between the lines and discuss situations and come to amicable agreeembt and stick to it. That is what's happened in our case.

Thanks

FBaby

Laws and rules are there to govern us but surely you can talk between the lines and discuss situations and come to amicable agreeembt and stick to it. That is what's happened in our case

If you actually quoted what was said in your email and response, as it's been asked, the expect would be able to tell you how the law applies in your case.

G_M

FBaby wrote: »

If you actually quoted what was said in your email and response, as it's been asked, the expect would be able to tell you how the law applies in your case.

Thanks FBaby.

I gave up asking before I lost the will to live.

Guest101

Just to again reinforce the point. The LL doesn't need to have a loss to keep your deposit if that's what was agreed and it's very common in early surrenders.


So again it's important to know if this was ever said

saajan_12

bonnand wrote: »

Hello,

A quick run through:

The agent is not a LA, he is acting on behalf of the LL and the agent works for him in another capacity.- irrelevant, LA='lettings agent', any other capacities do not concern you.

We sent the agent an email explaining openly and honestly the reasons why we needed to end the tenancy early. - irrelevant, these are your problem not the LL's . You hand a legal obligation to pay rent, and are lucky the LL agreed to terminate that at your request. During the two weeks of discussions and us doing viewings for the agent, no mention was made that we would not get our deposit back. - This was a surrender of the tenancy OVERRIDING the original tenancy. If you expected deposit back, that should have been part of the agreement, the omission of 'it will be withheld' isn't enough If he had done, and especially when I asked about its return on at least three occasions, then we would not be on here asking for advice and still be in the property.

I have spoken with CAB and explained all in detail and they have advised that I have a solid case and I send the letter and I feel that this is now the only course of action. I will email the letter to the agent later today to back up my hard copy of the letter. - Then why are you still posting here. You're welcome to trust them, but if they turn out to be wrong you'll be left holding the bag (or extra court costs).

All along, I just want to get back our money. And I stress again, there was no inconvenience or financial loss to the LL at all in any capacity. - irrelevant As for costs of referencing, £40 for a couple, £30 for relisting and there was no inventory to do. Still doesn't add up to £700 does it? - irrelevant I also know for a fact that when we filled out our referencing form, he did not contact my employer or previous LL which I think says a lot about this agent and LL as being very unscrupulous and thinking they can screw someone over.- irrelevant, you chose that property with that LL.

I apologise for above but you must understand I am out of pocket and have bills to pay which that money was going towards.- irrelevant

Thanks

I understand it is never easy losing money, but you wanted to move out within 3 weeks, and that flexibility comes at a cost to you. The LL was legally owed the rent for the full 6 months, and if you want to alter that, they can demand anything they like. Their costs / losses are irrelevant.

At this point the legal framework has been outlined to you in as many ways I can think of. Its up to you to take onboard what I understand what might be difficult to accept. If you want sympathy then posters may support but please stop arguing the same legal points about the LL's losses or your expenses are these are irrelevant.

bonnand

Hello,

This is a long one.

If you had read the previous postings, I am trying to reclaim our deposit, I sent the following LBA approx. 10 days ago on the advice of CAB:

"As it has not been possible to resolve this matter amicably, and it is apparent that court action may be necessary, I write in compliance with the Civil Procedure Rules
The facts of the situation are that we asked to move out of above referenced property before the end of the 6 month fixed term tenancy agreement. We believe that we gave clear and honest reasons for the request to end the tenancy.
You agreed to relist the property on the Openrent property website and that the fees for this would be deducted from our deposit on its return. On at least two occasions, once by email and once verbally, you confirmed that the deposit would have to be requested from a tenancy deposit scheme. It now appears this was not the case and this has come to light when requesting an update on the return of our deposit.
We vacated the property on the 31st March 2017 and the new tenants moved in on the 1st April 2017, this would indicate that they had paid the same deposit as we did and first months rent.
I have taken extensive advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau and other legal sources and even though the tenancy was ended early, we are still entitled to the return of the deposit. You personally checked the property with myself on the afternoon of the 31st March 2017 and declared that you were happy. We also discussed the return of the deposit and I advised that if this could be done with 7 days it would be beneficial but understand that it could be 14 days as you had to request return from a tenancy deposit scheme. Further investigation also reveals that any deposit must be returned within 7 – 10 days. I have also learned that you are correct that the landlord has 30 days to register the deposit however, he must advise us which scheme it will be registered with as soon as possible at the start of the tenancy, which was not done and that this is in breach of the rules on tenant deposits.


At this stage we are claiming back our rental deposit of £700.00 less the listing fee for Openrent of £30.00.
I have calculated this sum based on the initial deposit I transferred to your bank account on the 28th February 2017, and information given by yourself and also by checking the Openrent website.
With regards to documentation, I can produce emails between ourselves with regards to the discussions we had, starting with the initial email advising we wished to end the tenancy early through to discussions about handling viewings for prospective tenants on your behalf and requests for the deposit return.
In closing, I would draw your attention to the Practice Direction which gives the courts the power to impose sanctions on the parties if they fail to comply with the direction including failing to respond to this letter before claim.
I look forward to hearing from you within the next 14 days.
Should I not receive a response to my letter within this time frame then I anticipate that court action will be commenced with no further reference to you."

This is the reply I have received today from the LL's agent in reply to the various goings on, I have taken out our names etc:

"Hi My name,

I can confirm to you that the reason why we had not returned the deposit to you is for the following reason's.

It is not as simple as finding a new tenant it cost both myself and the landlord time on advertising the property and letting it.

I had confirmed to both yourself and wife that we will have to take deductions from your deposit to cover the cost and you both agreed to this, please see below a breakdown:

The Tenant find cost for the new tenant was £200

There was no mention of this at all, agent only advised that there would be a £30.00 fee for putting on to listing site

Drawing up of new AST contract's £100

If it was the same as our one, it consists of a standard tenant agreement consisting of 5 double sided sheets which the LL's agent filled in himself before we arrived, (and I now realise was not witnessed), we signed the agreement and initialed each page

Advertising the property was £29 - This was as agreed

Inventory inspection that the landlord had asked to be carried out at a cost of £50. The LL's agent walked around with me and confirmed he was happy with everything

I also had to make Two visit to yourself costing £25.00 each visit.No mention was ever made of this fee and nothing is mentioned in the tenancy agreement

When you left the property you did show me a stain to the carpet in the hallway and said this was water from the washing machine as you had moved it and that it will dry, i have since found out this is not a water stain this is dirt on the the carpet and has cost £50 to have the carpets cleaned. This I accept, I was hoping that this would clear up when dried out

Both Myself and the landlord feel we where very accommodating by letting you move out of the property early when you had only been in there one month and we could still recover 5 months rent from yourself and wife. This was discussed openly and genuine reasons for wanting to exit early were given, I have long stated that if we were told of extra costs, no deposit return etc; thgen it would be a different matter and we would not be on here!!

I look forward to your response.

Kind Regards


I am debating whether to answer the comments accordicly as I see them and ask back for the desposit less the costs but I feel the costs for the visits and drawing up of the AST are excessive.

If someone could give a bit of advice as outr CAB is not open for the next two days.

Thank you

Icecannon

You haven't been short.

You have clearly explained the situation.

Pick out the replies on here that have read what you have wrote and understood it and listen to those.