Landlord Trouble

SteveyLomas

Thanks for all your advice above. I thought I would give you all an update...

Some of the fees mentioned in the OP, when I came to pay, were apparently 'exclusive of VAT'. So they put the VAT on the top. What did they think I was, a builder? I didn't mention in the first post that my replacement kindly agreed to make a contribution towards the costs, so all in all I was down about £600.

Well I decided at the end of the day to put it all behind me and move out.

However, predictably with these LAs getting my deposit back was proving to be a real problem. I phoned, emailed, left messages on average every other day for a month (from Germany where I now live) and no response. So I thought it was time to get legal.

In looking into my rights, I found out all about the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme. Details of this was on my original contract, however no details of it were ever received. Thus I sent the following missive:

I was a tenant at xxx from August 2007 until April 2008. You as agents were responsible for the arrangement of this tenancy and, according to the contract, hold the deposit with regard to the above property. The deposit was £2,850, which was divided evenly between and paid by, myself and my two co-tenants.

After numerous attempts to recover my proportion of the deposit by contacting you by telephone and email, none of which have met with any response, you have left me with no option other than to seek legal recourse in order to obtain the monies due to me.

I therefore require the following to prevent me commencing legal proceedings seven days from the date of this correspondence:

· Official notification of the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme with which my deposit was registered that I will be able to verify, along with the date it was placed with such a scheme. If the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme is an insurance-based scheme and [you] hold the deposit, the full deposit of £950 is also sought;


Or


· The full £950 deposit and three times the amount of the deposit as the penalty for failing to register the initial deposit with a Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme. For the avoidance of doubt, the total amount due in this circumstance is £3,800.


Failure to provide either will leave me with no choice but to institute legal measures under the Housing Act 2004 section 214 to recover the latter sum due to me. It should be noted that were legal proceedings to be initiated, any court costs, costs associated with attendance and foregone interest would be in addition to my existing claim.


Well this woke them up and I had my deposit back in two days in my account with a copy of the TDPS. However, there are several problems with the certification which were detailed in my next letter:

Thank you for your previous response by electronic mail on xth May 2008 sent by xxx (“xxx.” or the “Email”). I can confirm I have received £950.00, my share of the deposit. However, I note that the document attached to the Email (the “Certificate of Tenancy Registration” or the “Certificate”) demonstrates that [LA] failed to treat my deposit in accordance with the requirements of the Housing Act 2004. These transgressions are detailed below.

Firstly, I am not named on the Certificate. My two former co-tenants are, however this afforded me no protection whatsoever under the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme for the duration of my tenancy. This left me with no recourse if the deposit was disputed, which is in clear contravention of the spirit and the wording of the Housing Act 2004.

Secondly, the Certificate states the deposit was protected on 31st August 2007. My deposit was placed with yourselves in two tranches: the first was paid by my former co-tenant, Mr. [xxx] when the flat was reserved on 18th June 2007, amounting to £1,000.00; the second amount of £1,761.34 was paid on 12th July 2007 by myself and incorporated the balance of the deposit and the first months rent. My former co-tenants made similar contributions around this time to reach the full balance of £5,284.33, which was made up of the deposit of £2,850.00, an administration fee of £376.00 and the first month’s rent of £2,058.33.

Thus my proportion of the deposit was fully paid by 12th July 2007. The Housing Act 2004 section 213 allows the deposit holder a maximum of fourteen days to protect any deposit from the date it is paid. Therefore, the deposit should have been protected in two tranches: the first by 2nd July 2007; and the remaining balance by 26th July 2007. The Certificate demonstrates that none of the deposit was protected until 31st August 2007, significantly beyond the period of grace stated in the legislation. While the absence of my own name from the Certificate supersedes this point as part of my claim, this further demonstrates the numerous ways in which the deposit was not protected in compliance with the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme.

Finally, the Certificate which was forwarded in the Email is the first time that the Certificate has been presented to me or my former co-tenants. Not only is notification of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme a statutory obligation of the Housing Act 2004, it clearly states on the Certificate that “The deposit holder must give a copy of this form to each of the tenants named above.” Neither I nor my former co-tenants, who are named on the Certificate, ever received such a copy. This issue merely further demonstrates the lack of protection given to the tenants of the property; however my absence from the Certificate is the prime basis for my claim.

In essence, the Certificate demonstrates that my deposit was completely unprotected during the entire length of my tenancy. As such, I wish to claim for three times the amount of my deposit as a penalty for failing to register my deposit with an approved Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme in accordance with the statutory obligations of the Housing Act 2004. For the avoidance of doubt, and noting the receipt of my original deposit, this amounts to £2,850.00.

With regard to your response to my original correspondence of 7th May 2008, I am prepared to provide you with a further seven days from the date of this correspondence for you to provide me with the penalty amount previously stated. Failure to do this will result in me instigating legal proceedings to recover this amount. I reiterate that were legal proceedings to be initiated, any court costs, costs associated with attendance and foregone interest would be in addition to my existing claim.

So its all developed apace and as you can imagine, I'm going for the jugular. However, I have no legal training at all and having scrutinised the Housing Act, I think I have an excellent case. However, I would love to have someone with a more impartial view tell me I'm wrong, or even agree that I'm right! I would dearly love this to be an example to the LA of treating tenants badly can have repercussions. I never would have bothered to find out about all of this if they hadn't charged me till the pips squeaked and then stopped answering calls about me getting my deposit back.

Anyway, thoughts welcome on how to approach my legal bid. I've drafted the claim paper, but it only gives you about 150 words to outline, then you have more substantial submissions later. Either way, all advice, comment or even abuse gratefully appreciated!

poppy10_2

SteveyLomas wrote: »

So its all developed apace and as you can imagine, I'm going for the jugular.

You go girl! :T

Just bumping for someone more knowledgeable in these matters to give you some help.

wolfman

Nice post! Think I'll stayed subscribed to this thread in case something similar happens to me.

My contract is due in October and living in SW London, I'm sure they're going to try and push the rent far above the £1300pcm I currently pay for my 2 bed flat, so I can potentially see myself moving out.

SteveyLomas

Right well no move from my adversary so I threw in the below today.

The period for response to my correspondence of 13th May 2008 has now expired. I will submit my case to Her Majesty’s Court Service today at 1400 BST if undertakings to meet my requirements are not received. The court fee of £80.00 will then be in addition to my claim, alongside foregone interest for the whole claim accruing at 8.0% per annum from today up to the date of settlement and any future costs associated with attending court proceedings.

However, my preference is to resolve this matter without proceeding to a full court hearing and welcome dialogue on the matter on my contact coordinates stated above.

See if that gets a response. Otherwise its off to court for me. I'm pretty intimidated as my experience with the law and its process is zero. However, it also sounds kind of interesting. It would be great if anyone with any experience could offer some words of wisdom on the circumstances. To me my case is strong, but I guess everyone thinks that when they take someone to court!

poppysarah

A nice touch is to fill in the court forms and send them a photocopy. That way they know you're serious about court.

SteveyLomas

Right no word from my opponents. Court papers filed! No chance to send them the photocopies as its all online these days.

What have I done? I've only got up to the £80 court fee to lose right? Got the heebiejeebies now - doesn't look as though the MSE community has too much experience to draw upon either!

Stevey

PasturesNew

I've heard that there's no defence for not putting it in a Scheme.
On that basis there's no chance of losing.

Simple rules: If it's not in the Scheme within the times it's supposed to be and if you've not been told which Scheme it is, you pick up 3x the amount. There doesn't seem to be any if/but/maybe. Judge will just have to follow that simple rule. Should be job done in 2 minutes flat.

Good luck!

SteveyLomas

Ah Pastures New - I've no idea of your legal training, but you have given me an enormous amount of confidence by agreeing with what I am thinking.

Thank you kindly!

SteveyLomas

Right bit of a blast from the past but these things take time. The letting agent did not reply to the court, judgement was made in my favour. Still nothing so I wrote a further couple of letters, with a deadline of last Monday for sending in the bailiffs. Finally got an email back on Monday (my first acknowledgement of my correspondence) asking how I would like the money. Money cleared in my account yesterday - just under £3k!

What a result.

zebulon

:beer:

hey hey, success!