Moved out - deposit return?

niceguyed

If the LL hasn't registered your deposit then the only thing that applies is they need to return it in full and hope you don't make a court claim. I'm not sure if your former LL is naive, stupid, greedy or all of the above. You've already been given great advice, and honestly you've let this drag on more than the LL deserves. You hold all the cards here. If you can afford to wait a bit longer I'd say teach the LL the lesson they deserve and take them to court. More details here; https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/ending-your-tenancy/taking-your-landlord-to-court-if-they-havent-followed-the-deposit-rules/

Slithery

niceguyed said:

If the LL hasn't registered your deposit then the only thing that applies is they need to return it in full and hope you don't make a court claim.

Not quite.

If the OP claims in court for the penalty they will win and receive between 1 and 3 time the deposit in compensation. However, the LL can still take the OP to court to claim for any damages as it is a separate and unrelated claim.

NotReallyNorthern

Thanks for your reply, I've not been wasting time, there has just been so much happening 🙈 also whenever I contacted my landlord through her partner, I consistently got the answer "they would sort it this weekend"... Which never happened 🙄
 I agree she has no idea what she is doing and that ignoring deposit protection is inexcusable. My letter is ready for the post, thank you for your reply 🙂

macman

Which, for the cleaning of a cooker, would be likely to be no more than £100 awarded to the LL, should they win. It's simply not going to happen, even with her level of stupidity.

niceguyed

Slithery said:

niceguyed said:

If the LL hasn't registered your deposit then the only thing that applies is they need to return it in full and hope you don't make a court claim.

Not quite.

If the OP claims in court for the penalty they will win and receive between 1 and 3 time the deposit in compensation. However, the LL can still take the OP to court to claim for any damages as it is a separate and unrelated claim.

Sorry if I wasn't clear, I meant in the context of the only sensible course of action left to the LL to redeem their situation. Yes, they can counterclaim, by the sound of the LL they may even think it worthy for the sake of contesting an oven clean. 

niceguyed

NotReallyNorthern said:

Thanks for your reply, I've not been wasting time, there has just been so much happening 🙈 also whenever I contacted my landlord through her partner, I consistently got the answer "they would sort it this weekend"... Which never happened 🙄
 I agree she has no idea what she is doing and that ignoring deposit protection is inexcusable. My letter is ready for the post, thank you for your reply 🙂

Make sure it's a letter before action. If ever a LL needed teaching a lesson this is it. Your call but I hope you do end up following through with a CC claim. Good luck!

NotReallyNorthern

Thank you! As far as I'm concerned what the LL is taking issue with, aside from the cleaning of the kitchen which i accept was not perfect but I have photo and video evidence of how it was when I left, she does not have any legal ground to stand on. 

The only issue my landlord (well her partner who deals with the flat, I've never met the LL herself in over 3.5 years 😮) raised within 10 days was the oven, so surely they can't add the cost of other stuff on top 2 months after the tenancy ends. She has said she has been waiting for invoices, but she only raised the issues with me today. Would she have grounds to claim for those?

Marvel1

macman said:

Even if she were to retain the full deposit, you would be far better off with up to 3 times the deposit. Stop wasting time and send an LBA as advised 6 weeks ago. Your LL is an incompetent amateur. Most likely your deposit will magically appear within a few days of receipt of the LBA. There is no defence against non-protection, you will win, so point this out to her.
Why do so many people ignore deposit protection until it's time to move out?

And when it does appear, proceed with claiming up to 3x for non protection, they messed you around.

nyermen

Marvel1 said:

 And when it does appear, proceed with claiming up to 3x for non protection, they messed you around.

In reality, I believe they normally award 1x unless its a serious breach.  But I recall the wording says the court "will award between 1 and 3 times", its not optional, 1x is the minimum.  Send the letter - I suspect the LL would at that point return the full deposit and hope thats it, but you could still go for the award (and potentially then have a discussion about the cooker).

Lately I've been a little more sympathetic to some LL as current legal situation can be harsh if a tenant isn't paying.  However bad apples need reminding that while its their asset, its the tenants home. 

Rachlou_25

I would look into the remedies available to you for non protection as well.  A leasing agent did this to me a few years ago, when we handed in our termination notice we all of a sudden received a notification from my deposit Scotland saying our deposit had been registered.  In Scotland, landlords have 30 days to protect the deposit and if they don’t, the tenant can claim back the full deposit plus damages/interest.  After letting the LA know this, we received the full deposit back immediately.  Find out what you are entitled to and tell your landlord you’re going after it! It’s really unfair of her to do this to you