Tenancy Deposit Missing between the change of Letting Agents

saajan_12

kaboo said:

Thank you. I have very politely reminded him about the Housing Act 2004 and its further amendments as we as the Tenant Fees Act. Luckily he cc'ed in the Landlords in one of the emails recently, so now I include them in all the communications. Previously I only had their postal address.

Few more things got added. If the property is not cleaned to professional level (btw, I am absolutely ok to hire a professional to clean the place. I tried to suggest that we can clean it but its fine if LL wants professional cleaning) then they will arrange a contractor to clean.- you don't have to clean professionally and the LL can't demand it. If you're able to clean to the same standard as it was when you received it, then thats plenty and the LL has no loss to claim for. 
In addition to contractor's fees, agent wants to charge me £30+/hour for arranging a contractor and having to deal with them. - personally I think that's fair enough as it does take time to arrange things, which is a cost to the LL if the agent charges. But a) only if the contractor is necessary, not if you left the place clean and b) deposit schemes don't really agree with me and expect LL's to take the hit. So you can likely dispute this and win. 

Then he wants to schedule viewings for prospective tenants. That is absolutely fine by me. I suggested can we do it on weekends, he said nope because he doesn't work on weekends. I offered - ok pick two days in the week and we can leave the house for 1-1.5 hours for viewings. He started arguing even without discussing with LL and started accusing me of restricting access and how it is in breach of the tenancy agreement. - the tenancy agreement likely gives them REASONABLE access, not unrestricted access. If you said 0 access that might be a breach, but weekends and 2 blocks on days in the week is plenty reasonable. Next he'll say you can't restrict access to your bathroom while you're in it! 
Suggests that we dont have to leave the house as infections are too low now and they will wear masks. And that no body wants to view houses on weekends, our request is totally unusual. Which is totally opposite to what we have been seeing in the neighborhood. Our street has lots of rented houses and many of the several houses that changed tenants agreed similar arrangements with the LLs. Even for us when we were viewing houses for purchase over the last 6 months, Saturday was the busiest day and sellers preferred block viewings always - because everyone is working from home. 
I have tried to very politely say that my wife and I work from home, we both have not had our jabs yet, moreover we have unfortunately lost several of our family members over the last year due to this stupid pandemic. So at the moment we are just very risk averse and not at all comfortable to be in a confined space with multiple strangers. - even in normal times, your offer would be reasonable. During pandemic, even low infections, you still have people working from home, reducing contact indoors when possible, etc so you're being eminently reasonable. 

I think we have all the tools and arsenal to fight back and we will. But its just so exhausting. Instead of getting excited about our first house we are having to deal with this bully. Thank you all for your valuable advice, its comforting to know that we are in a strong position.

They're wrong on both fronts. If you clean to the same standard, it doesn't matter who does it or whether you pay for it. Also your tenancy agreement would give them reasonable access, not unrestricted access. Weekends and 2 weekdays in blocks is plenty reasonable and not a breach. 

I would keep it to email, don't let them harp at you on the phone.
Dear beloved agent,
We will of course clean it to a good standard, which will not leave the LL with losses or need for further cleaning. Per the tenancy agreement, we're happy to allow reasonable access for viewings two days a week in block bookings, with 24 hours notice. Unfortunately due to working from home advice and ongoing pandemic, more frequent access would excessively impede our quiet enjoyment. 
Thanks
kaboo

If they keep going back and forth, then just ignore, as you've covered yourself by showing you were reasonable should they try to claim damages in future. 

ciderboy2009

OP - as I said before - you are in a very strong position because of the deposit not being protected.  What else haven't they done that they should have?

It's time that you started to be the one calling the shots:

Put something in writing to both the landlord and the agents confirming that you only consent to viewings on weekends with a minimum of 24 hours notice.  If you send this by email then follow it up with a real pen & ink letter - hand it over at a Post Office and ask for proof of posting.

Insist on the immediate return of the unprotected deposit in full.

Ask the agents to provide you with a copy of the original check-in inventory (if they haven'y got a copy then they have no way of proving any damages).  Although, after 6 years there's likely to be a fair bit of wear and tear anyway.

If the agents continue with their stupid demands then I would send a letter before action to the landlord (with a copy to the agents) by post (not email).

kaboo

Thank you. Our tenancy will actually come to an end by the end of June. So we still have 1 month to go. Can I still demand immediate refund of the deposit? Sorry sounds like a stupid question.

moneysavinghero

Yes you can demand the deposit back. There is no legal requirement for a deposit to be taken so nothing to stop it being returned to you. The law does say that any deposit that is taken must be held in a deposit protection scheme - as it is not then the LL would either have to return it to you or protect it.

GDB2222

kaboo said:

Thank you. Our tenancy will actually come to an end by the end of June. So we still have 1 month to go. Can I still demand immediate refund of the deposit? Sorry sounds like a stupid question.

Hi. I posted a link to check that the deposit is not in the DPS. Did you check that? There's no point getting heavy if, in fact, the deposit is exactly where they said it is.

saajan_12

moneysavinghero said:

Yes you can demand the deposit back. There is no legal requirement for a deposit to be taken so nothing to stop it being returned to you. The law does say that any deposit that is taken must be held in a deposit protection scheme - as it is not then the LL would either have to return it to you or protect it.

To clarify, you can demand it (ie ask), but they don't have to return it early. 
There might be other implications eg whether they can evict you or whether penalties are due, but if they're not evicting then not relevant and penalties might be due anyway if not protected.  

No benefit in demanding something you have no right to, they'll find it bizarre and will never agree to it. 
Just deal with it when you leave - either claiming the full penalty or negotiating prompt, undisputed return of deposit . 

kaboo

moneysavinghero said:

Yes you can demand the deposit back. There is no legal requirement for a deposit to be taken so nothing to stop it being returned to you. The law does say that any deposit that is taken must be held in a deposit protection scheme - as it is not then the LL would either have to return it to you or protect it.

They suggested that they can protect it now

kaboo

saajan_12 said:

No benefit in demanding something you have no right to, they'll find it bizarre and will never agree to it. 
Just deal with it when you leave - either claiming the full penalty or negotiating prompt, undisputed return of deposit . 

Sorry I dont understand, why do I have not right to my deposit? If I understood the language of the Section 213 Housing Act 2004 correctly then if there is a deposit it has to be protected. If its not protected it cannot be deposit. Moreover Tenant Fees Act 2019 prohibits any other type of payment. So under which pretext can LL keep my money?
I will think over the weekend, and then decide next week. I am likely to wait until the end of tenancy but it will depend how much more stupid this agent is going to be.

kaboo

GDB2222 said:
Hi. I posted a link to check that the deposit is not in the DPS. Did you check that? There's no point getting heavy if, in fact, the deposit is exactly where they said it is.

I did - called TDS (where old agent registered it), called DPS (where new agent committed to register) both confirmed that there is no deposit registered with them for our tenancy. New agent has already confirmed to me that he never registered it. 
I called old agent and they refuse to discuss this with me. 
I am now done dealing with agents - will directly communicate with the LL.

Slithery

kaboo said:

saajan_12 said:

No benefit in demanding something you have no right to, they'll find it bizarre and will never agree to it. 
Just deal with it when you leave - either claiming the full penalty or negotiating prompt, undisputed return of deposit . 

Sorry I dont understand, why do I have not right to my deposit?

You misunderstand. You don't currently have a right to your deposit, you have to wait until after the tenancy has ended.