Tenant deposit

casflash

Hello,

I've had a tenant living in a property I own for just over a year and she has been an absolute nightmare.

She was given a section 21 notice back in August, but has constantly dispute it, getting a housing charity to send letters intimidating letters.

Firstly that the notice was not on the correct form and secondly disputing the fact she received deposit scheme information. So herself and the charity have always insisted that she has not breached the tenancy agreement, as the notice wasn't valid.

I was in the process of starting court proceedings but have been having a very stressful time lately apart from this, so that's the reason it hasn't already happened.

She then sent a message on Thursday evening saying she would like to speaking about moving and said she would be leaving 2 days later on Saturday. The rent has been paid up until the 25th of this month.


I have since been to the property, which is really quite dirty and has items missing.


My question really is how to dispute her deposit claim on dps, in which she has requested the full deposit back.


Can the money be claimed for the month and a half that should be left on her notice had she given the correct amount. As she was claiming the notice was invalid, these would still be the terms of her tenancy agreement. I obviously don't have anybody else lined up to move into the property because of her not leaving, so will be losing out moneywise.


I would like to put all the reasons on the claim, but these are more than the deposit. I understand I wouldn't be able to get more than the original deposit but would like to have all of the reasons in the case that they dispute any.


This was the first time I have rented a property and was doing it to live with my partner, rather than to become a property mogul, so may have been quite naïve in it all, but I have defiantly found one of the bad tenants and would like to limit my loses.


Thanks

chunkytfg

Has she given notice as per her TA?

I would assume her Notice period will be a full months notice from the TA start date?

G_M

1)have you actually served a valid S21 Notice?
Not sure? See
S21 checklist (Is a S21 valid?)

2) has she actually served proper notice on you as per the tenancy agreement? (usually requires it to be in writing to the postal address you provided, but may permit email etc)?

3) does the notice she served align with the rent she has (or will) paid?

4) you can make deductions from the deposit if rent is owed (including for periods when proper notice was not served)

5) you can make deductions from the deposit if there is damage or dirt, when the condition of the property at the start of the tenancy is compared with at the end (usually by reference to inventory and check out inspection).

6) if you propose to make deuctions, write to her after the tenancy has ended and she has left, clearly explaining how much, and for what (itemised, and ideally supported by quotes for eg repairs, cleaning etc).


Contact your landlords association for more help. If you are not using a letting agent, you have joined a LL's Association, yes.......?

jonnygee2

As she was claiming the notice was invalid, these would still be the terms of her tenancy agreement.

Was a valid section 21 notice issued, and if so when did it expire?

In fairness to your tenant, you wouldn't be in as bad a mess if you had followed the correct legal procedures. You can't blame them for using the law to their own advantage when you were trying (but failing) to do the same thing!

chunkytfg

jonnygee2 wrote: »

Was a valid section 21 notice issued, and if so when did it expire?

In fairness to your tenant, you wouldn't be in as bad a mess if you had followed the correct legal procedures. You can't blame them for using the law to their own advantage when you were trying (but failing) to do the same thing!

Are they in a mess? We have no idea if the S21 notice was valid only what the tenant claims?

I could tell a housing charity I never got my DPS notification and they would be none the wiser and fight my corner.

IS there such a thing as a 'correct S21 form' or does the letter you send the tenant just need to meet certain criteria to count a valid S21 notice?(I have no idea thats not rhetorical!)

casflash

The notice period in the tenancy agreement was 2 months, she has provided 2 days notice.

The section 21 was served correctly and legal procedures followed.
A letter was originally sent, to which I had to retract and fill out a section 21 template from the gov website.

Her notice was served in the form of an email.

jonnygee2

The section 21 was served correctly and legal procedures followed.

Has it expired? If no, when does it expire?

casflash

No it hasn't expired, the 6 months point would have been up at the start of February.

jonnygee2

No it hasn't expired, the 6 months point would have been up at the start of February.

Sorry, I mean, has the two months notice (or whatever you gave them) expired? As in did you ask them to leave on or before the date they are actually leaving?

casflash

Oh sorry, yes it expired 2 months ago.

jonnygee2

Oh sorry, yes it expired 2 months ago.

Okay, well you probably need G_M to confirm but my understnading is that in between the date they've been asked to leave with a valid S21 notice and the date that notice expires, the tenant can leave at any point as long as they tell you in writing the date they are leaving. So by that understanding you would bot be able to deduct rent for any notice period from the deposit.