Forgot to put tenants deposit into the deposit scheme

Jay_D

Hi,
Looking for some advice. My mum is a landlord and has been sent a letter by her last tenants that have left that they want £4k because she did not put their deposit in the deposit scheme. She said she had. She came home yesterday frantically looking for the account and realised that somehow she had not. Her error, she has never forgotten to do it before. She genuinely thought she had and was horrified last night to find she hadn't. My mum suffers with fibromyalgia, was a foster carer and cares for my nan who has serious dementia. Her plate has been full and she has not been coping very well. She should have checked at some point but didn't. She has tried to call the tenants to explain her mistake and see if they could come to some sort of arrangement but neither are answering their phones. She does not have that sort of money and is struggling herself financially. Could anyone give me any advice that would help her please? I am worried for and fear she is having a breakdown at the minute and would really appreciate any help or advice please? Thank you.

theartfullodger

Sorry to hear of family problems.

Tenant has the right to sue for up to 3xdeposit for you mother's unfortunate failure to comply with law.

Best try negotiation. You really don't want their legal fees added if they involve a solicitor.

Unfortunately medical issues do not change the legal position.

BorisThomson

theartfullodger wrote: »

Sorry to hear of family problems.

Tenant has the right to sue for up to 3xdeposit for you mother's unfortunate failure to comply with law.

Best try negotiation. You really don't want their legal fees added if they involve a solicitor.

Unfortunately medical issues do not change the legal position.

They'd be very silly to involve a solicitor, costs for cases below £5K are capped at £80.

I agree on the rest though, best to negotiate before it escalates, and don't try to play the disability/ carer/ poor card.

00ec25

nothing you say will alter the fact that the law is on the side of the tenants
and your tenants are very obviously aware of that fact

the only thing your mother can do is calculate whether x3 the value of the deposit + court fees is more or less than the £4,000 "demanded". If less then she should "allow" the tenants to take her to court and see if the court will award less than x3 + fees so that overall your mother will pay out less money than settling out of court

real life problems do not provide an excuse for ignoring your landlord responsibilities however stressed and/or forgetful that may make you. Perhaps it's a wake up call that she should de-stress by letting go of her landlord activities?

aneary

How much was the deposit and did she give it back in full when they left?

giraffe69

So, if the deposit was paid back on time and without deduction will any judge really award 3 times this deposit for the failure to protect it?

saajan_12

The penalty of 1-3x deposit is due (plus return of deposit less valid deductions) and the tenants will get that if they sue. Where on that scale depends on a few things:

- If it was protected but a technicality incorrect e.g. PI / dates / names wrong / protected slightly late then lower end.
- If it not protected at all and LL tried to unreasonably withhold tenants money then higher end.

In your case, mother did not protect at all so I'd expect mid - high end of the 1-3x penalty. Did she return the deposit promptly after the tenancy ended? Did she provide a breakdown of any deductions and were these valid and clearly evidenced? If no then I'd expect full 3x penalty. However only a court can decide for sure.

G_M

As others have said - the law is the law.

However, I assume that the deposit has now been returned, in full (?), since the tenancy has ended, rght?

So if the tenant went to court and claimed the penalty it is unlikely to be 3 x the deposit. The court might simply award 1 x the deposit, especially if mitigating circumstances were presented. But the court has no discretion below that.

of course, if there were dispute over deductions from the deposit too, that would increase the penalty, as wuld happen if the deposit has not been returned.

So how much is the deposit?
How much is the tenant asking for? £4K

Court fees would be added of course, but minimal legal fees.

SeduLOUs

If she paid the deposit back, presumably from her own funds, how has she only now realised that the deposit hadn't been protected?

G_M

SeduLOUs wrote: »

If she paid the deposit back, presumably from her own funds, how has she only now realised that the deposit hadn't been protected?

She might normally use an insurance based scheme.

Car1980

Pay back the deposit and do nothing else. If it went to court there’s every chance a judge would find it difficult to award punitive damages when the claimant can prove no loss, no matter what the law says. Small claims is a lottery.