Problem Landlord and Return of Deposit

MissMoneypenny

eira wrote: »

1)
The above comes from a particularly scummy landlord of my daughter's who made several thousand on the side from retaining student bonds. The meter and key scam came from landlord no 2, they both tried the cleaning/damage tack.

If a landlord keeps some of the deposit, then he has to advise the tax office of this. If you are in doubt that he did, you can report him online.:D

My son had one scummy student LL too. He didn't get my son's deposit and I think he was only one who ever got his deposit back. I reported the LL to the tax office for all the other students.

eira

Thanks for the tip .Landlord no1 ripped daughter's friends off for over £4000- a £1000 each.The scam was that he sent threatening letters for just enough for students to be frightened and just within the limit for the terrified middle class parent to cough up Daughter's flatmate mother was on the verge of writing a cheque for £1500 to get her son off the hook. I couldn't afford this to so took him to Small Claims.A local solicitor warned us off taking him on because he 'had a reputation' and she 'couldn't guarantee a win'.Because it was a Legal Aid solicitor there was a limit to the effort they were prepared to make.It was the photographs that made the difference., The ceiling had fallen in in a bedroom (he blamed them for it even though it was obvious from the photographs this was impossible).The sewage pipe broke in the bathroom (attached to the kitchen) and soaked the walls in sewage He blamed this on their small kiitten -it was obvious from the photogaphs that not even a pair of tigers could have done that much soaking.

He even 'came round' to our house to 'hand deliver' the court papers (I was at work and my daughter was alone)-all 6ft 3" of him ( and he'd been round at 11pm when they'd rented the flat).He didn't 'hand deliver' to her flatmate who'd moved home and had a rugby playing dad and older brother. She rang me at work in a state of utter terror. However landlord made the ultimate mistake of trying the door and peering through the windows, he came face to face with our totally harmless but very protective 10 stone Newfoundland cross dog. Landlord fled..

In court he even admitted in front of the judge that he had seen daughter and flatmate walking through town and followed them.

The landlord of the meter and the keys n (no 2)still owes her over £750. He claims that the cleaning bill ( done 6 months after they left )was due to them. I know this is a lie because I did the cleaning, took the photographs and got witnesses. I really would advise anyone -landlord or tenant -to take photos at the beginning of every tenancy. I should add that landlord no 1 employed heavies with his tenants on benefits.

tbs624

Loretta wrote: »

Check with the TDS schems to to see if any of them have your deposit, if they don't nothing else matters as he is in the wrong and should not have accepted rent. So you would be claiming for the return of the deposit, then 3 x te deposit and the return of all your rent becuase he did not put your deposit in a scheme.
!

Checking with the schemes themselves is a good idea, but the fact that a LL may not have registered a deposit does *not* mean that a tenant can reclaim their rent payments - the penalties are that a S21 may not be used whilst a deposit is unprotected, a return of the deposit itself to the tenant (or lodging it immediately with a scheme, where the tenancy is continuing) plus 3 x the deposit payable to the tenant.

MissMoneypenny

tbs624 wrote: »

- the penalties are that a S21 may not be used whilst a deposit is unprotected,

A section 21 can not be used if the deposit has not been protected in a scheme within 14 days of the deposit being given (not 14 days from when the tenant moved in). Any section 21 served would then be illegal.