Deductions from rental deposit issue

NewShadow

Basically, the landlord requested the deposit back - your friend said 'no', the LL didn't provide evidence, so their request wasn't taken forward.  

Now your friend has to request the deposit back - and be prepared for the LL to say 'no'... but this time if the LL does reply they'll have to submit evidence. 

I wouldn't recommend a visit to the agent given you've started the dispute proceedings - I tend to find that tea and cake are great before things get to this point, but once they do it's best to keep all contact/ conversations in writing. 

swingaloo

NewShadow said:

Basically, the landlord requested the deposit back - your friend said 'no', the LL didn't provide evidence, so their request wasn't taken forward.  

Sorry, Im confused by this bit? My friends (the tenants) requested the deposit back, the agent said they were holding on to part of it (they later changed their mind about the figure and increased it by over £100). My friends opened the dispute

Now your friend has to request the deposit back - and be prepared for the LL to say 'no'... but this time if the LL does reply they'll have to submit evidence. 
My friends have requested the deposit back and the landlord has said 'no' he is keeping part of it, but, they have not submitted any evidence to back up the claim for deductions to be taken. They are just ignoring the dispute process. My friends told the agents they were going to start a dispute with the DPS and the agent agreed to that but they will not submit evidence to move the dispute on to a conclusion

I wouldn't recommend a visit to the agent given you've started the dispute proceedings - I tend to find that tea and cake are great before things get to this point, but once they do it's best to keep all contact/ conversations in writing. 

I quite agree, its the woman at the DPS that has suggested to them that they go and talk to the agents. As things are I cant really see any point in having a Protection Scheme as it seems it serves no purpose.

NewShadow

Sorry, my mistake.

It doesn't make a difference, but are you sure your friend requested the deposit back from the DPS rather than requested it from the agent? I assumed from your earlier posts the agent started the DPS process and your friend was informed of the proposed deductions and raised a dispute. In my experience if it were your friend who requested the full deposit back from the DPS then it would be for the LL to dispute the claim, not the other way around. 

Either way, the next step is the statutory declaration which is basically your friend making a legal statement to the effect that there is no cause for deductions/there are only grounds for specified deductions - that's the only way to get it back via the DPS if the LL isn't engaging at all with the DPS process and it returns the money to the tenant after 14 days if the LL doesn't reply. 

swingaloo

Type your comment    Thanks for the reply. No, my fiends first asked the agent for the deposit back. The agent said they were making a deduction which my friends disputed. They told the agent they were going to open a dispute with the DPS and the agent replied that they were happy to agree to that.  A few hours after the agent was told that my friends were opening a dispute the agent emailed again to say that they were now going make a larger deduction than they had first said. 

Thank you for your help.