Landlord not returning deposit after not protecting it properly

RAS

Nothing to stop the OP doing both.

Making proper efforts to regain the current deposit through the scheme doesn't preclude taking the LL to court for late registration. 

pinkshoes

The less stressful option would be to dispute the full amount in with the protection scheme and ask for it all back.

THEN... also write to the LL stating that unless your current deposit is returned promptly in FULL, you will be suing him for failing to protect the deposit in year 1 and year 2 of the tenancy along with failing to carry out gas safety checks, and will be asking the court for 3x the deposit which you are legally entitled to do.

Hopefully the LL will see sense and return deposits quickly in full. 

RAS

Any letter needs to be very carefully worded. Threatening adverse action if you don't get your own way can be blackmail

kbubbles61

RAS said:

Nothing to stop the OP doing both.

Making proper efforts to regain the current deposit through the scheme doesn't preclude taking the LL to court for late registration. 

Apologies for all the questions, but if I continue with the deposit resolution through the current scheme and it’s resolved, am I also able to take the LL to court for previous years of non-protection? 

I only ask as they have been horrific landlords and I believe they are doing this scaremongering to multiple tenants. 

RAS

Absolutely. Nothing to prevent you taking them to court for all three years.

Just if the court would have made them repay all three deposits plus a 1 times penalty for each, they are likely to deduct the amount you have received back from the award. Acknowledging that the LL has returned the most recent deposit in part or in total does not alter the fact that they were late registering it and failed to register previous ones. And you have shown that you have taken action to mitigate your loss.

You do need to get on with reclaiming the deposit promptly as there may be a time limit. 

If you think this LL is a serial offender, you really should try speaking to the private tenancy officer at the local Council and the Health and Safety Executive. They may already know the LL but I believe they are the responsible party who prosecute for gas safety failure. If none of the tenants ever report the LL, no-one who can take action will ever know.

RHemmings

kbubbles61 said:

Hi everyone,

Hoping someone can help me as feeling overwhelmed by all the information online! I have recently moved out of a property on an AST tenancy. My landlord has responded about the deposit saying they won't be returning any of it and that we in fact owe them around £1000 on top (but kindly offered a discount if we don't dispute!). 

Others have handled this, but I just wanted to say: The nerve of the landlord offering a 'discount' if you let them take all of the deposit. 

My vote is for applying for the return of the deposit, waiting for that to complete, and then applying for the penalty for not returning the deposit. I believe that the time limit for taking action is six years from when the breach occurred. So, keep an eye on the clock. (Sorry if this has already been mentioned and is well in hand. EDIT: @RAS mentioned the six year limit.) 

Also, please keep us informed as to what happens. 

ThisIsWeird

How many deposit companies are there? And how easy is it to check 'your' deposit with them?
Could this LL be potentially liable for compensating each tenant individually?

RHemmings

ThisIsWeird said:

How many deposit companies are there? And how easy is it to check 'your' deposit with them?
Could this LL be potentially liable for compensating each tenant individually?

It should be easy for a tenant to check the deposit schemes to see if their deposit is protected. Using TDS as an example, provided that a few details are known, which the wider public are unlikely to know, then it's a simple search.  https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/is-my-deposit-protected/ My only ever protected deposit was in this scheme, and I used the form and it worked. (I already had full details, but I checked out of idle interest). 

There are three deposit schemes in the UK, and Shelter lists the phone numbers for each. I believe there have been previous postrs where people have said that they phoned each of the schemes and found that their deposit wasn't protected by any. https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/check_your_tenancy_deposit_is_protected

I'd like to know the answer to your (@ThisIsWeird's) last question too. I have a vague belief that it depends on the type of tenancy, and am watching for more information on that. 

RAS

Easy enough to check. I once did for a family member with limited on-line access.

In this case, there have been three tenancy agreements (appear to be joint) with different deposit amounts required each time. 

Based on previous threads here I anticipate the LL having to return all three (even through the same money was rolled forward with an add-on each year) plus at least one times the amount each year as a penalty. Although different judges might think differently.

The fact that the LL has registered this year, albeit late, makes me wonder if they or an acquaintance have been taken to court by another tenant. Just speculation.

kbubbles61

Hi everyone,

So reached out to the schemes and one has come back with the certificates for all three years so it was protected, however we never received any communication on this - which I believe they're also required to do by law? Advice on this seems a bit vague as anything I can find is about if they never protected it at all, rather than if they did but never gave any information on it. 

At this point, I just want my deposit back and to not also owe them an extra £1k on top for fair wear and tear (which I would dispute in the scheme). Shelter seems to suggest I can tell them they didn't give me the information and to return my deposit in full or I could take them to court?