Deposit refused pending bills

mrginge

Dorian1958 wrote: »

Not all landlords are charlatans;

Who said they were?

the point has been made about tenants moving out and leaving the LL to sort out the utility bills at their expense.

Not a valid point. The LL doesn’t have to sort anything out at any expense.
If the LL is too stupid to pay a bill in someone else’s name then that’s their problem.

To protect against this the AST may state something about the the deposit being used to cover non payment of bills, and the DPS reasons for being withheld will be similarly specified. It is simple really, prove the bills have been paid and get your deposit back. No need for anyone to get angry.

Have you reviewed the DPS advice before making this statement?

https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/resources/files/Adjudication%20Digest%20No%207%202011.pdf

chappers

FBaby wrote: »

So if you'd been a tenant and not bothered, you could have told the company that you'd moved sooner and not only the landlord could have been liable for what you actually used, but the over-payment too.

Why should the LL take the risk of being left with paying something that has nothing to do with them, or having to then take the tenant to court, when you might find it impossible to do because they've made sure not to leave an address behind to do so?

that's up to the LL to protect himself.
When I used to let property, on move out day I would sign together with my tenants a declaration that the tenancy had ended and that they had vacated the property, contained within that document were the meter readings.

gingercordial

I have used the TDS arbitration service successfully as a tenant and it is a great thing. However it does take time. IIRC we moved out of our flat at the start of October, came to an impasse with the landlord and opened a dispute within ten days, and finally (after the required periods for one side then the other to provide a written submission and evidence and then the period for the TDS to consider and rule on the case) we received notification that we'd won whilst travelling to my parents' house for Christmas; the money arrived about a week later. So over two and a half months from opening the formal dispute and three months from moving out.

If there's nothing else in dispute it's probably quicker to just settle the bills even if that takes a month. The TDS won't get you your money any faster than that.

wantonnoodle

We had the same situation - however, as the LL/LA had used the insurance protection for the deposit rather than custodial, a dispute with mydeposits would have had no effect as they didn't have the money to hand back. So we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Even after we had proved the bills were all paid, the LA needed a piece of paper signed by the LL to confirm she was happy (she refused to provide it until the bills were paid) and this took 3 further weeks. As such, a deposit that we should have had early May (tenancy ended 22nd April) ended up taking til July to get.

Having said that, I don't know if it was a mistake, but the LA also refunded our changeover fee we had paid up front, so that was a nice little bonus.

Comms69

wantonnoodle wrote: »

We had the same situation - however, as the LL/LA had used the insurance protection for the deposit rather than custodial, a dispute with mydeposits would have had no effect as they didn't have the money to hand back. - really? that's what you think? It's an insurance based system, they would pay you out and then pursue the landlord..... So we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Even after we had proved the bills were all paid, the LA needed a piece of paper signed by the LL to confirm she was happy (she refused to provide it until the bills were paid) and this took 3 further weeks. As such, a deposit that we should have had early May (tenancy ended 22nd April) ended up taking til July to get.

Having said that, I don't know if it was a mistake, but the LA also refunded our changeover fee we had paid up front, so that was a nice little bonus.

Do you seriously think that physically holding £x is all it takes to avoid the protection of the deposit schemes?

wantonnoodle

Comms69 wrote: »

Do you seriously think that physically holding £x is all it takes to avoid the protection of the deposit schemes?

When we contacted the deposit scheme we were told that it was between us and the LL as they had not been notified of any deductions to be made, and so did not see valid cause for dispute. They instructed that given the LL had stated they were happy to fully refund once evidence of bills etc, there was no dispute to answer. So we were stuck.

Comms69

wantonnoodle wrote: »

When we contacted the deposit scheme we were told that it was between us and the LL as they had not been notified of any deductions to be made, and so did not see valid cause for dispute. They instructed that given the LL had stated they were happy to fully refund once evidence of bills etc, there was no dispute to answer. So we were stuck.

YOU start the dispute, via a single claim

Reue

chappers wrote: »

on move out day I would sign together with my tenants a declaration that the tenancy had ended and that they had vacated the property, contained within that document were the meter readings.

A tenancy does not need any such declaration to end.

My previous landlord tried this "hold deposit until proof of utility bills paid" rubbish on us. We just went to the deposit scheme and had it paid out that way. The schemes have confirmed time and time again that landlords cannot withhold deposit while waiting on viewing of a contract they are not party to.

Marvel1

Reue wrote: »

A tenancy does not need any such declaration to end.

My previous landlord tried this "hold deposit until proof of utility bills paid" rubbish on us. We just went to the deposit scheme and had it paid out that way. The schemes have confirmed time and time again that landlords cannot withhold deposit while waiting on viewing of a contract they are not party to.

So once again some typical landlords have no clue and attempt to screw tenants over.

FBaby

Have you reviewed the DPS advice before making this statement?

Have you? Because if you had, you would picked up that part ' the electricity bill was primarily a matter between a tenant and the utility supplier, unless there was evidence of loss suffered by the landlord'

When I made a claim, I showed the evidence that the tenants had provided the utility company with the date they claim they left, which was 2 months before the end of the tenancy and that they had used utilities during that time (I think their adult children remained in the property longer) and that the utility company was charging ME for it because they were going by what the tenants had told them. The ADR agreed in my favour.

If the LL is too stupid to pay a bill in someone else’s name then that’s their problem.

You're not getting it. The problem is when the tenants provided a wrong end date that problems arise so the bill is addressed to them, not to the tenant. If they don't pay, they get the ccj.