Landlords and Students

waylett

I am a mother of a student who is 1 of 5 students who's tenancy finished in August and the landlord has been very difficult in refunding the deposit. I have put in a dispute with the mydeposit scheme and await to see what the outcome is. While looking into this I have realised that the landlord may have not complied with the scheme rules and I would like some guidance on this. When the deposit was given to the landlord on the 19th Aug 2016 he did not protect it with the TDS scheme until the 16 Oct 2016 , I believe that the monies should have been protected within 30 days. Also the landlord should have provided the tenants with the scheme details , on checking the paperwork he only supplied a limited amount of information . he did not provided a leaflet with the terms and conditions or the certificate number . I would like to ask what action we can take.

Wanderingpomm

I've never had a leaflet when I've rented. Usually just an email from the scheme. All they need to give you is the reference number I believe. Audi although the money should be lodged within 30 days as long as it's in there there isn't a lot that can be done.
Mydeposits are usually fair as long as you have evidence to back
Up the before and after condition of the property

Le_Kirk

You might be better off sending a PM to a board guide and asking them to move this to house buying, renting and selling. Board guides are Chickabiddybex and Dizzy Ditzy

flashg67

It's possible you have a claim but may prefer to wait, presuming you get the deposit back & are happy .
Don't use a claims firm though!

This might help - https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_protection_rules

stuartJo1989

Just curious but did your son cause any damage (or allegedly damage) which would reduce the deposit refund?

waylett

There was no damage, and we expected to pay for the garden to be tidied up as the students left in June and the tenancy ended in August . My son has now finished uni so we have done this before and expect to pay for some deductions .

DoaM

As per above ask a board guide to move this to The House Buying, Renting & Selling Board. You'll get the (accurate) help you need over there.

In summary ...

1. Deposits must be protected (by law)
2. The landlord must tell you which protection scheme was used
3. If the deposit isn't returned within 2 weeks (ish) after end of tenancy then the tenant can make a claim directly with the scheme for the full amount - the landlord would then have to raise a dispute to retain some of the amount.
4. If the deposit wasn't protected then the tenant can sue the landlord for up to 3x the value of the deposit.