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Landlord dissappeared - Trying to recover tenancy deposit
shahc
Posts: 7 Forumite
My son let's call him Tom and his friend lets call him Bill rented a flat as students for a year from a private landlord. Their tenancy completed about 5 weeks ago. We have been trying to contact the landlord to recover the deposit. We have tried to search on all 3 tenancy deposit schemes and cannot find any trace of it being protected. Also he did not provide incoming or outgoing inventory. He did not provide his contact address. All we have is his mobile no and email address and the bank account details where they have been paying the rent. The last few text messages he claimed to be very ill and in hospital. This has all the hallmarks of a fraudulent landlord. My question is how do we bring a small claims against him if we do not have his address?
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Comments
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Instruct a tracing agent to find him.0
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Your son should have been provided with tenancy deposit paperwork at the start of the tenancy agreement.
The tenancy agreement should have within it, an address for the service of notices. Thats your first start before you try anything else.
Is there an address for service?
K0 -
Most of the tracing agents seem to do basic checks on the internet searching social media and 192 etc. Which I have done myself and there is not much to go on there. He has been planning this right from the start. So has covered his tracks very well. Does anyone know if they have more powers then ordinary people as we now have GDPR rules as they seem to protect from being scammed but also the scammers!0
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That's the trouble ...the LL has 30 days with in which to register but unfortunately no one chased it up!Your son should have been provided with tenancy deposit paperwork at the start of the tenancy agreement.
The tenancy agreement should have within it, an address for the service of notices. Thats your first start before you try anything else.
Is there an address for service?
K
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Do you know the area where he lives? Try social media. Local groups can be a source of information.I'm a Forum Ambassador on the housing, mortgages & student money saving boards. I volunteer to help get your forum questions answered and keep the forum running smoothly. Forum Ambassadors are not moderators and don't read every post. If you spot an illegal or inappropriate post then please report it to forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com (it's not part of my role to deal with this). Any views are mine and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.com.0
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They don't have special legal powers but they often have friends in the right places to get the info.Most of the tracing agents seem to do basic checks on the internet searching social media and 192 etc. Which I have done myself and there is not much to go on there. He has been planning this right from the start. So has covered his tracks very well. Does anyone know if they have more powers then ordinary people as we now have GDPR rules as they seem to protect from being scammed but also the scammers!0 -
Most of the tracing agents seem to do basic checks on the internet searching social media and 192 etc. Which I have done myself and there is not much to go on there. He has been planning this right from the start. So has covered his tracks very well. Does anyone know if they have more powers then ordinary people as we now have GDPR rules as they seem to protect from being scammed but also the scammers!
buy the deed for the property they rented from the https://www.gov.uk/search-property-information-land-registry site and check the names match. If it does you have an asset and address to serve court documents to.When using the housing forum please use the sticky threads for valuable information.0 -
Do you know the area where he lives? Try social media. Local groups can be a source of information.
That's just it... He knows every trick in the book !! Covered all his tracks very well ! I did find something from about 3 years a ago. But cannot seem to verify it. I suspicion is that he was renting himself and just floating about with no fixed address.0 -
If the LL did not provide an address in Eng/Wales for serving notices, why did your son pay rent? (Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 S48). Ah well - too late now.
If you have no address and sice the deposit is not protected, sue the landlord
a) for the depositt and
b) fr the penalty for non-protection.
Use tthe property address.
If/when you win, if payment is still not forthcoming, place a charge on the property.
However - if the LL is responding to texts, ask which hospital and for the name/address of someone (next of kin?) who can help him. If he's genuinely in hospital a bit of leeway might be in order.0 -
Whilst it could be a scam, you seem to have jumped the gun a little bit. There's a slight chance he could actually be in hospital. A few questions:
When did your son last hear from the LL? Is he still responding to communications?
Are there new tenants in the property that your son has just vacated? Has your son spoken to them if so?
Did the LL use a letting agent to advertise the property? How did your son first become aware of it?MFW - OP 10% each year to clear mortgage in 10 years!
2019: £16,125/£16,125
2020: £14,172.64/£14,172.64
2021: £12,333.62/£12,333.62
2022: £10,626.55/£10,626.55
2023: switched tactics to saving in a higher interest rate account than mortgage interest rate
2024: mortgage neutral!0
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