Deposit dispute

princessandboo

• We paid 2 months rent in advance.
• After leaving the property the landlords letting agent charged us for 'damages' amounting to just over £1,000 - no invoices just a quote from their 'handyman' for all different services.
• We politely and reasonably disputed these individually with concise and fair reasons for each item, our offer totaling approx £300.
• The agent took over 3 months to reply saying to pay full amount or court action. They have also now included a summary of all our rent payments saying we owe some rent too, we weren't aware of this but as it stands we do and we are completely happy to pay what is rightly owed (although 5 days less than they claim).
• The statement shows our account in debt despite payment in advance, which is quite confusing and reads really poorly e.g.
  25/10/16 debit £675 total -675
  25/09/16 credit £675 total 0
  My point in this is that it adds weight to the fact that they haven't accurately reflected that we paid 2 months rent in advance, and actually have this money described as a deposit in the notes of the rent statement.

So my questions are:
If the statement says the monies paid were a deposit, but it was supposed to be rent in advance can we actually pursue that this money should have been deposited into a rent deposit scheme? It wasn't of course.

Is there a set amount of time that this should have all been resolved within? As it has now been 5 months since we moved out and they've only just replied to our letter of counter offer from over 3 months ago.

We obviously do not want to have to go to court, but feel we have quite a strong case regarding what is owed (we are not trying to wriggle out of genuine money we owe)- is it common that court action is taken for this amount of money, or is that asking how long a piece of string is??!

Thanks in advance for any advice.

G_M

Was a deposit take as well as the 2 months rent in advance? Was it protected?

Either it was rent in advance, in which case (without seeing all the accounts) it appears you are not in arrears. Indeed, you may have over-paid rent andd e due a refund.

Or it was a deposit, refundable at the end (subject to appropriate deductions) in whichh case it should hve been protected, and if it was not then the penalty could be claimed.

why you've waited 3 months is incomprehensible.

If you cannot agree on the deductions, raise a dispute with the depositt scheme or go to court.

But: assuming no other deposit was taken, I would

1) Give the landlord the benefit of the doubt and treat it as rent

2) draw up yyour own account of the rent showing
* start date of tenancy
* date of each payment
* period each payment covered
* end date of tenancy

From that it will be clear if you have over-paid or under-paid. Demand a repayment of rent if over-paid, showing your calculation.

3) if on the other hand the LL wishes tto treat it as a deposit from which he can make deductions, then you can claim 3 times the 'deposit' for failure to protect it.

See also
* Deposits: payment, protection and return

princessandboo

I know exactly what we owe for rent, this is not my problem or query. The money in dispute is for so called damages.

I wrote that the money we paid was supposed to be rent in advance not a deposit, and no deposit in addition, and no it wasn't in a deposit scheme.

However, the account statement reflects it as a deposit.

So if we go to court over the damages can I dispute that this money should have been in a deposit scheme?

What else could we have done in the 3 months while waiting for a response from the agent? seems an incompressible time for them to do nothing not us.

princessandboo

The statement shows our account in debt despite payment in advance, which is quite confusing and reads really poorly e.g.
25/10/16 debit £675 total -675
25/09/16 credit £675 total 0/QUOTE] this is meant as an example of rolling debt month on month, not upon leaving the property. As stated reflects that our extra month rent in advance (in addition to usual month in advance) was accounted for as a deposit.

davidmcn

I would have thought it unlikely the landlords would actually go to court unless they're very confident of (a) winning and (b) that you've got the money to pay them if they win. They'd also have to pay their own legal costs, even if you lost.

G_M

Sorry - I wasn't sure if you were trying to reclaim money ( the advance rent) or they were trying to claim off you (the rent & damage).

Since it is the LL claiming you owe them, then no, beyond contesting their claim there was nothing to do during the 3 months.

They have, of course, 7 years to make their claim.

actually have this money described as a deposit in the notes of the rent statement.

Given that you have writtten evidence from them that a deposit was taken, you could either

* do nothing, wait and see if they start legal action, and then counter-claim for the deposit penalty, or

* write to them pointing out that they failed to protect the deposit and suggesting that provided they write stating that they are satisfied that they've received full payment in relation to the tenancy, you will take no action.

On the other hand you may have shot yourself in the foot:

I wrote that the money we paid was supposed to be rent in advance not a deposit,

By admittting it was rent, you reduce the likelihood of a court awarding you the penalty.

I'm also unclear about this advance rent: What period does it cover? If you paid 2 months in advance at the start, did you then

1) continue to pay 2 months rent, every 2 months?
2) not pay rent the following month (as it was covered by the initial 2 month payment)?
3) pay one months rent a month later, and every following month, but not pay at the start of the final month as this was covered by the initial payment?
4) pay one months rent a month later, and every following month, AND pay for the final month?

3) above would imply it was rent.
4) above would imply that either it was a deposit, or you paid double rent which the landlord had not demanded.

Again, th answer to that will suggest whether it was rent or a deposit.