Advice with landlord trying to claim full deposit following end of tenancy.

gazfocus

saajan_12 said:

gazfocus said:

As a side note, I’ve just noticed that on the DPS website, it says the tenancy was for 6 months and ended in October 2023 which is obviously incorrect. Is it likely that the LA have done that to try and gain an advantage in the adjudicator deciding whether the wear and tear is reasonable over a 6 month tenancy instead of a 2 year tenancy?

Its probably a mistake. The adjudicator would plainly see that we're in 2025 not 2023, else they wouldn't help for a tenancy that ended 1.5 years ago. 

Are you sure its not saying 6 month fixed term and then rolling? Either there is another separate period of protection that isn't showing on your view, in which case its all fine. Or it wasn't protected for the full period and you can claim the penalty of 1-3x the deposit on top. 

At this stage, I would dig around the DPS website or even contact them and the other two schemes or as a last resort ask the LL to prove it was protected Oct 2023- end of tenancy. If they can't, then you have two choices:
- Offer to settle for £0 deduction so full deposit return within x days in return for not going after the penalty
- continue this process about deductions, and then file a claim for non protection. This will likely be more profitable but more hassle. 

This is what the DPS portal says on the claim. I shall do some digging as suggested. 

RAS

If there was no incoming inventory, then it's almost I possible for the LL to evidence anything beyond fair wear and tear. Certainly not cleaning.

Use the Rightmove photos as evidence that the decorating was done whilst the LL was resident and you are the second set of tenants. In the absence of any more up to date evidence, any redecorating is betterment.

Reclaim everything.

newsgroupmonkey_

My spidey senses think that the deposit may not have been protected properly, hence the 2023 thing.

Either way, claim everything. Without an incoming inventory, they can't prove jack.

Say that the oven was cleaner than when you moved in. The house was much cleaner than when you moved in and there were no lightbulbs. They have absolutely no leg to stand on.

gazfocus

Ok so I spoke to DPS and they confirmed that the deposit is still protected and that the date shown is just the expiry of the initial 6 month term.

I have submitted my evidence with a document outlining why I don't agree to the amounts claimed, and now waiting to see what they come back with. The deadline for the evidence was 6th May but it still says 'gathering evidence' so I don't know if this is normal but will update again when there's an update on the claim.

My biggest concern is still that the estate agents may know how to play the system or may fabricate a moving in inventory (especially if they should have provided one at the start of the tenancy but 'forgot' to do so, and so don't want to look incompetent to the landlord), but on the plus side, I have the check out inventory that debunks at least £1600 of the £2530 the landlord is trying to claim (my deposit was only £1903 but I suspect this is game playing)...but we will see what happens.

HobgoblinBT

I am not sure that the landlord has any leverage by claiming that the tenancy commenced in 2023.  There is no way they could register your deposit with the Deposit Scheme 2 years before you paid it, and so they leave themselves open to being sued for up to three times the deposit due to them not registering the deposit within 30 days.

LoopyLoops

There’s no telling with letting agents.  Our previous letting agent submitted their evidence and the DPS said they didn’t consider their evidence as it wasn’t documented where the photos were in the house and letting agent were unclear in their written evidence, so rejected their evidence and found in our favour as we had written our side clearly, photos noted where they were taken etc.  It was our first rental. We got pretty much our full deposit, just one small part we had already agreed with the letting agent.  If we hadn’t they wouldn’t have actually got anything.  

Not sure they agent could falsify that you got a check in as they would have to prove they gave it to you, either electronically or if handed it should have you signature on it.  Good luck, hope you hear soon! 

gazfocus

HobgoblinBT said:

I am not sure that the landlord has any leverage by claiming that the tenancy commenced in 2023.  There is no way they could register your deposit with the Deposit Scheme 2 years before you paid it, and so they leave themselves open to being sued for up to three times the deposit due to them not registering the deposit within 30 days.

I think you misunderstood - my tenancy started in 2023 but ended in April 2025. My query was that the DPS claim states the tenancy was for a period of 6 months but we were there 2 years.

newsgroupmonkey_

gazfocus said:

Ok so I spoke to DPS and they confirmed that the deposit is still protected and that the date shown is just the expiry of the initial 6 month term.

I have submitted my evidence with a document outlining why I don't agree to the amounts claimed, and now waiting to see what they come back with. The deadline for the evidence was 6th May but it still says 'gathering evidence' so I don't know if this is normal but will update again when there's an update on the claim.

My biggest concern is still that the estate agents may know how to play the system or may fabricate a moving in inventory (especially if they should have provided one at the start of the tenancy but 'forgot' to do so, and so don't want to look incompetent to the landlord), but on the plus side, I have the check out inventory that debunks at least £1600 of the £2530 the landlord is trying to claim (my deposit was only £1903 but I suspect this is game playing)...but we will see what happens.

If they have a checking in inventory, it needs your signature or at least you acknowledging it.

Ratkin007

Not related to your issue but may be worth looking into rent repayment order. If the property was required to be licensed but was not, you may be able to make a claim. 

Check your council website to see if they had a Selective licensing scheme covering the road your property was in.  If they had a scheme, there should be a register on their site, or the council could let you know if they had a licence.

newsgroupmonkey_

Ratkin007 said:

Not related to your issue but may be worth looking into rent repayment order. If the property was required to be licensed but was not, you may be able to make a claim. 

Check your council website to see if they had a Selective licensing scheme covering the road your property was in.  If they had a scheme, there should be a register on their site, or the council could let you know if they had a licence.

I've seen you keep posting this as if it's really common.

According to the Government, there are 37 councils out of 307 who have this. The majority are London.