Help with return of security deposit

Leanna86

Please can somebody give me some advise on what to do as I have never had this situation before, always had my security deposit returned to me within a week of vacating a property.

Our tenancy ended 28th November, we received the end of tenancy assessment on the 5th of December which was conducted on the 29th of November and the letting agent (countrywide) advised they also sent this to the landlord and will write to us by post to advise of any deductions requested, and to reply with forwarding address and bank details for the deposit to be paid in to. I responded the day after on the 6th.

In regards to the assessment I’m happy with 70% so expecting to receive an offer of a deduction, but can’t dispute the other 30% until I have received the offer to what the landlord has requested.

I have since heard nothing! I have emailed chasing up progress every week and my partner has tried calling their office about 5 times but just gets an answer machine.

Our deposit is £950 and is protected on my deposit as I’ve checked, I’ve emailed a final time to the letting agent to say I want full return of my deposit by the end of this month otherwise I will raise a dispute, also reading the terms if they don’t reply to me they can be charged 1-3 times the deposit amount, is this correct or is this only if I take them to court? And is that worth it as I can imagine it will cost me? Also as it’s taken so long with zero communication, can they now come back to me asking for deductions or do they have to now return my deposit in full?

Sorry for all the questions, like I said never been in this situation and would never expect it with a letting agent, surely that’s why you pay them annual fees to take away issues like this from happening!

Would appreciate any advise or if anyone has had this happen to them, and what they experienced!

Thanks

Leanna

Arleen

You will have to give us clause in full that you think allows you to claim 1-3 times the deposit, that is absolutely not standard for such things. The only thing it is common for is when the deposit is not protected at all, but that isn't the case.

And what to do? Check what time do they have by your contract to respond (and terms of deposit scheme used), when that clocks out escalate the demand with the protection scheme and it will be over in a matter of weeks/days after that. No reason to stress around it, just have to wait it out and proceed with the case.

Leanna86

Hi Arleen,

Thanks for your reply.

This is what it states in the original agreement I signed:


Penalties for landlords who fail to comply

You can take your Landlord to Court if they fail to comply with the legislation. They may face the following penalties:
 Be required to return the deposit to you or lodge the full deposit with the custodial scheme in 14 days.
 Be fined between one and three times the deposit amount.
 Be unable to serve a section 21 notice to regain possession of their property.

I know I shouldn’t stress but it’s hard as with moving to a new property I of course paid another deposit which was my bank float, hoping to receive all or a proportion of this deposit back, so stressful having no backup if something ‘comes up’

Arleen

If your deposit is protected in a scheme, and there is no s21 violation, it doesn't give you any right to 1-3 times the deposit, this is the usual clause I've mentioned before and has nothing to do with damages/return of deposit.

And the best you can really do is chuck it to experience and make sure to budget for deposit delays in your next move, really, nothing more to do at this point. That and think about that you will be able to quickly replenish it somewhere in January, as I imagine they have the default month before you can elevate it to deposit protection scheme to get it back. And once it's there, they usually resolve it fast, like up to two weeks.

Margot123

Raise a dispute with the company holding the deposit.
Once you enter into negotiations with your landlord or their agent, you cannot retract any evidence you may have provided to support THEIR claim.
It is up to them to provide evidence of why they are withholding any part of your deposit.

FBaby

I have no experience of 'My Deposit', but with DPS, it's up to either the LL/agent OR the Tenant to start the process to release/keep the deposit. Many LL/agents leave it to the tenant to do so. You have to go on their website, get your tenant id number or whatever it is call and say that you want X of your deposit back. You can then either demand your full deposit and expect the LL to respond back that they will only agree to release Y, or you can make a suggestion that they can keep Z, in which case, you write to them, say that you will agree to Z but this is your final offer, they either accept, or you'll go to dispute.

If you agree on the amount, the process can take only days. If you don't agree, it can take months as they will encourage you to come up with an agreement before agreeing to take to the ADR.

Again, this is the process with DPS, can only assume it is similar with the other two.

G_M

Leanna86 wrote: »

I have emailed chasing up progress every week and my partner has tried calling their office about 5 times but just gets an answer machine.
1) Write to the landlord

....I’ve emailed a final time to the letting agent to say I want full return of my deposit by the end of this month otherwise I will raise a dispute,
2) Write to the landlord
3) Why wait till end of month?

also reading the terms if they don’t reply to me they can be charged 1-3 times the deposit amount, is this correct
4) No
or is this only if I take them to court?
5) No
And is that worth it as I can imagine it will cost me?
6) why go to court? Raise a dispute with the depost scheme.

Also as it’s taken so long with zero communication, can they now come back to me asking for deductions
7) Yes
or do they have to now return my deposit in full?
8) No

Leanna

Read:

* Deposits: payment, protection and return