Tenants haven't paid the deposit and refuse to do so

grumiofoundation

Jimmygg7 said:

Annisele said:

Jimmygg7 said:

I explained to them the reasoning behind the deposit in lengthy emails, how it protects both sides and it's secured by a third party and gave them tips on how to leave the property come the end of the tenancy to guarantee they will get it back.

I'm struggling to see how the deposit protects the tenants. How is it better for the tenants to pay money now rather than at the end of the tenancy - especially as they'd only have to pay anything at the end if they'd damaged something/breached the contract somehow.

From a practical point of view, you want them out and they're far more likely to go if you give them the reference they want.

If you wanted you could include in the reference "they didn't pay a deposit, I didn't chase them for ages and then they woudn't pay" - but that wouldn't hurt the tenants, and might just make you look a bit silly.

It protects them, because, without an adjudicator in place from TDS, the LL can prosecute the tenants personally for virtually anything that he thinks needs to be remedied. Technically, if they paid anything that they damage/cleaned, or pay a deposit, is the same thing. Securing a deposit adds an extra layer of protection for the tenants and the LL.

As above the deposit doesn't protect the tenants from said prosecution or protect them in any way. 


Although the tenants should have paid the deposit at the start (assuming they were actually asked for it) and probably 'should' now I would be somewhat reluctant to.

Being honest I would assume any landlord/agent chasing for this now was at best incompetent and at worse trying to scam me and in neither situation would I hugely that comfortable handing over money.