Please, Please advise

chappers

Your proof of payment would be sufficient although the cash payment might be a different matter, if it comes to it you could call the landlords wife to court as a witness and see what she has to say then, see if she has the nerve to lie(apart from withdrawing the cash do you have any witnesses to
the payment)(lesson for the future always get a signed reciept even if it is only on the back of a fag packet).

As Clutton says ask for your deposit back in full, I would state your suggestion to use the ADR if you cannot reach agreement (I wouldn't offer to pay for anything at this stage)and that if your landlord will not agree to this then you will issue a claim in the small claims court. Depending upon how firm you want to be at this stage you could mention the fact that there is no inventory.
I would also do as tbs624 suggests and "write to the DPS and tell them that you weren't given the required information by your LL regarding the Deposit, and that you are in dispute with the LL over deductions from your deposit, but hoping to reach agreement, and will keep them notified".

icameclean

Hi Chappers

I did post a reply to this, but it seems to have vanished into cyber space. The proof of payment, I have with the fulfilled standing orders. Am I right in thinking that this would stand up if it went to court? We have checked and double checked and the payment has gone from our accounts, to their accounts, with a payment for the previous month and the following month.

I know the cash payment is a nightmare, but it is the only time we paid some cash to them. So they wouldn't have to wait for the SO to be set up, and they would get their money asap - both the LL and ourselves were under the impression that a SO would be set up by the LA as we filled in SO forms, although this isn't stated as the preferred method of payment in our contract.

I don't like the idea of having to call LL's wife to the stand, but it will have to come down to that if this fails. If we had arrears then I wouldn't even be posting this. They cannot honestly think that we will pay rent twice? I have sent the LL and the LA a letter stating that unless they return the deposit in full within seven days, I will proceed with court papers. I have mentioned in the letter that I will use the dispute service and have contacted the DPS to inform them of the situation and would prefer to sttle this without involving the courts.

In relation to the supposed rent arrears - how harsh should I be? We have received no telephone calls or letters from the LA's or LL's and it's now April and the arrears apparently go back to Sep and Dec. Would the fact that they are only now trying to claim we owe rent work in our favour?

Should I at this stage mention the lack of inventory and gas cert?

Thanks for the info and advice

tbs624

If you have bank statements, or a letter from your bank confirming the SOs , then you have enough evidence of those payments.

The cash payment is a case of your word against theirs, and unfortunately, even if you call the LL's wife to the stand, there is no guarantee that she wouldn't back him up rather than confirm your side of it. ( Indeed, she may have gone on a personal spending spree with your money and not mentioned to him that you'd paid up );) However, I think the fact that your LL seems to be particularly sloppy with even the basic legal requirements of being a LL ( gas safety, supplying info on the deposit scheme to tenants etc) means that he doesn't present himself as a model of business efficiency nor someone who could be relied upon to have behaved appropriately in any other area

I have to say that I don't know of any of my colleagues who not chase up unpaid rent at the earliest opportunity, and certainly none of them would wait until a tenant left to raise the issue. Again, the fact that you say he didn't contact you about any shortfall whilst you were still there should work in your favour.

Although you mentioned that you were willing, as a goodwill gesture, to pay for the carpets to be cleaned, the lack of inventory means that you cannot be charged for the condition of the property when you left, as a couple of us have mentioned on here - there is nothing to show what it was like when you moved in. Whether or not to do an inventory is of course down to personal choice ( & good business sense) but the gas safety certificate is a legal requirement. Your LL can end up at least couple of grand out of pocket if he is prosecuted by the HSE for failing to comply with gas regs -I can PM you the details of several legal cases on this one.

You may be worrying unnecessarily - why not wait until you hear from the LL/LA (or not) by the expiry of your 7 days, and then come back to this board with their response? Even if you do get your deposit back at an early stage you should still inform the HSE about the lack of gas safety certificate- the next tenant may be one of those hitting the headlines as a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning.

zebulon

icameclean wrote: »

both the LL and ourselves were under the impression that a SO would be set up by the LA as we filled in SO forms, although this isn't stated as the preferred method of payment in our contract.

is it not direct debit?
for a standing order it's you who instruct your bank to make payment to the LL/agent account
Direct debit, you have to give your own account details to agency.
The plus of standing order is that you have immediate control to stop.

anyway don't think that helps you, sorry
Good luck - keep us posted

clutton_2

if you take this to the small claims court there is no "stand" to put witnesses in - you write a "Staement of Truth" which is your complaint, sign, date, send to other party and to the court along wiht fee. They then are asked by court if they wish to pay, offer a defence or counterclaim. If they dont pay, then they then write Statement of Truth and send to you and the court. Court sets date - two parties sit at a table opposite judge and each party tries to convince judge they are telling the truth.

You can produce other witness statements written by other interested parties who are on your side, as can the LL and take witnesses with you.

Judge then decides.

tbs624

Called to the stand = figure of speech. , following OPs question , but it's always useful to mention the procedure for anyone who hasn't been there.