Withholding Holding Deposits?

crystalw

Hi all, I'm afraid I'm in a bit of an odd situation where I'm not sure how to proceed.

I was in talks with a private landlord to view their property and unfortunately I let myself get pressured into paying a Holding Deposit, without asking for some kind of written agreement. Sadly I was naive, it's my first time living away from home and I don't yet know all the do's/don'ts. It was £600, which was to go towards my security deposit once I signed the tenancy agreement. All I have is her word over email that she would refund if I decided not to rent from her.

I got a bit paranoid after paying this and talking with my parents, who told me I should never pay anything before viewing the property. I asked the landlord if she would refund me and I would happily repay after viewing (this is not through an agency, this landlord contacted me via Gumtree). She stated that she had placed the deposit into a Deposit Protection Scheme and if I really needed the money back, she would withdraw her personal money and give back to me in cash at viewing. I felt kind of guilty about this, so decided to leave it until meeting her at the viewing. My parents told me that a DPS is for security deposits, not holding deposits.

Unexpectedly, a property was offered to me by my local council which fit my needs much better, and was much cheaper. I intended to cancel the viewing so sent the landlord quite a long email explaining and apologising for wasting her time, and that I would appreciate if she could discuss with me refund of the deposit. Next day...no response.

I texted her asking if she had seen my email, and about 2 hours later she gave me an odd response along the line of 'sorry for the late reply, let's go out for dinner after the viewing and I'll pay' which showed me that she had not read the email. I stated the situation to her again, asked if we could discuss the deposit, and I have now not received a response for 2 days despite more texts and attempting to call her.

I'm scared by this as I will need that deposit to put towards my new home, but I'm not sure what I can do about it from a legal standpoint as there was no signed paperwork regarding this deposit and I was not yet a tenant.

Any advice would be appreciated, I can't begin to explain how much stress this has caused me. Thank you.

Comms69

You've been scammed.

crystalw

I'm fearing as much but what can I do about it?

Exodi

crystalw wrote: »

I'm fearing as much but what can I do about it?

As you have their contact details, keep trying to contact them for the return of your deposit.

As Comms has said though, I fear you've been scammed. As it's you who has authorised the payment, I'm not sure the bank will be of much use either...

crystalw

Well everyone, I'm afraid I have been scammed.

I tried all day yesterday to reach this person, but they have either blocked me or discarded their phone. They have cut off email contact too. So I contacted my bank's fraud department, reported the matter (they gave me their bank account details for the transfer so they are at least able to contact that branch and investigate. I have also reported to Active Fraud, as I am also afraid of them having my home address (the bank suspects they most likely were adamant about me attending the viewing/the weird dinner proposal to make sure that I wasn't home, to rob my house.) Thankfully I won't be living here much longer.

Thanks all for your advice, and while I'm not totally sure if I will be able to get my money back this is a lesson learnt May this also be a warning to anyone who tries to conduct any kind of business on Gumtree.

saajan_12

Whilst this probably is a scam because they never had a property to let, in general if they did have a genuine property and you placed a holding deposit before subsequently pulling out, it would NOT be refundable.

need_an_answer

saajan_12 wrote: »

Whilst this probably is a scam because they never had a property to let, in general if they did have a genuine property and you placed a holding deposit before subsequently pulling out, it would NOT be refundable.

I agree with this although its worth pointing out that a holding deposit can now be no more than the equivalent of 1 weeks rent.

OP please read up about tenancies going forward, gumtree and places like that may be a cheaper way of finding accommodation, but it leaves you very exposed to scams.

Since 1st June new legislation has come in to stop letting agents charging for things that would usually have made them expensive to deal with...you might now want to consider using a proper agent going forward