still waiting for deposit back

dave76

previous tenancy was up on 25th december and still waiting for the letting agents to return my deposit. All bills for the place are long since settled so they cant be waiting for that. I said in my leaving letter that the deposit should be returned within 28 days. Is there any particular limit on when they must return any outstanding deposit or can they keep hanging on to it as long as they want?

clutton_2

was it in a deposit scheme ?

dave76

no it wasnt in a deposit scheme as far as I am aware, just held by the LA (it was done in january last year)

clutton_2

in that case he's stalling. Did you sign an Inventory when you moved in and out ? Write him a letter asking that it be returned in 7 days.

dave76

There was no inventory to sign, although I did write a few things that were obviously damaged on the back of the tanancy agreement in case they thought we had damaged them.

There was a letting agents "leaving fee" (50+vat I think) which I said could be taken out of the deposit and the rest should be returned to my forwarding address.

We left the place cleaner than we found it so they had better not try and charge for cleaning (although I get the impression they always try to)!

chocolatechipcookies

dave76 wrote: »

There was no inventory to sign, although I did write a few things that were obviously damaged on the back of the tanancy agreement in case they thought we had damaged them.

There was a letting agents "leaving fee" (50+vat I think) which I said could be taken out of the deposit and the rest should be returned to my forwarding address.

We left the place cleaner than we found it so they had better not try and charge for cleaning (although I get the impression they always try to)!

That leaving fee sounds very wrong. Is that in your tenancy agreement?

Gorgeous_George

Christmas Day is an odd day for a tenancy to attend. Not ideal for the LL . Deposit 'done' in January, I assume that the tenancy was periodic and that proper notice was given?

The deposit is not to cover bills such as gas, rates or electric but for damages. If a proper check out was done then the deposit should be refunded within a reasonable time. If the tenancy ended on 25 December as you say, then it should have been refunded by now. Get angry!

Without a proper inventory on moving in, the LL will be unable to prove that any damage/dirt is your resposibility. You should be refunded in full.

Like I said, get angry and demand your money.

GG

dave76

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

Christmas Day is an odd day for a tenancy to attend. Not ideal for the LL . Deposit 'done' in January, I assume that the tenancy was periodic and that proper notice was given?

The deposit is not to cover bills such as gas, rates or electric but for damages. If a proper check out was done then the deposit should be refunded within a reasonable time. If the tenancy ended on 25 December as you say, then it should have been refunded by now. Get angry!

Without a proper inventory on moving in, the LL will be unable to prove that any damage/dirt is your resposibility. You should be refunded in full.

Like I said, get angry and demand your money.

GG

it was a AST that had reverted to periodic with rent day as 26th (hence last month of december "ended" on 25th). Full notice was given.

I know the deposit isnt to cover bills, but I have heard other people say they havent had deposits back until all bills on the property had been settled so I was making sure that wouldnt be an excuse.

There wasnt a checkout while I was in the property - because the LA was closed xmas/boxing day, we just dropped the keys off at their offices on 27th (which they agreed was ok)

Having just spoken to the LA - "the woman that deals with that kind of thing isnt in today" :rolleyes:

dave76

chocolatechipcookies wrote: »

That leaving fee sounds very wrong. Is that in your tenancy agreement?

yes it was in the tenancy agreement - what can you do apart from say you want it removed to which they will say well you cant have the tenancy! They say it is to cover the admin and checks on leaving, sounds like money grabbing to me

Gorgeous_George

dave76 wrote: »

yes it was in the tenancy agreement - what can you do apart from say you want it removed to which they will say well you cant have the tenancy! They say it is to cover the admin and checks on leaving, sounds like money grabbing to me

You need to look at all the fees. If the fees for moving in were lower than their competitors, then it might be reasonable to have a £50 fee when leaving.

GG

dave76

actually their moving in fees (well the reference checks and stuff) were quite high so I think they are a bit out of order to have a leaving fee. However they got back to me yesterday to say the cheque will be sent next week and the only deduction is this leaving fee so I will probably settle for that.