Rental deposit

[a4cabrio]

A friend of mine rented a 1 bed flat through a letting agent, she paid all deposit and upfront fees to the letting agent. It was only a short term let for 6 months and when leaving the flat the landlord(owner) came and checked the flat over and said all was fine and handed her a cheque for £1000 to cover the deposit. The cheque bounced and now the landlord is claiming the property wasn't in the condition it was originally let in and is refusing to handover any money. The letting agent have basically washed their hands off the situation and are saying it's not down to them. The deposit wasn't placed in a deposit scheme.

Could someone please let me know what course of action to take to get her the money back, she's going to see CAB tomorrow but hoping for some advice from the PH collective.

[Wing Commander]

Fairly sure the letting agent is legally obliged to put the deposit in a tenants deposit scheme which is a government thing. If it were me, I'd be leaning on the agents. What does the contract say?

[a4cabrio]

Wing Commander said:

Fairly sure the letting agent is legally obliged to put the deposit in a tenants deposit scheme which is a government thing. If it were me, I'd be leaning on the agents. What does the contract say?

The agents are telling my friend to ask the landlord which scheme she has deposited the money with, but the landlord has already said the money wasn't secured with a scheme and the agents knows this. The agents have said if she takes the landlord to court she can recover 3 x her deposit, but I've told her if she can't get £1000 out of the landlord, what chance does she have of getting £3000.

I've also told her to lean on the agent a bit more, they are the people the money was paid to, so I'd be holding them accountable at the mo.

I'll ask what the contract says about deposit holding

[Wings]

Wing Commander said:

Fairly sure the letting agent is legally obliged to put the deposit in a tenants deposit scheme which is a government thing. If it were me, I'd be leaning on the agents. What does the contract say?

The legal responsibility for protecting the Deposit rests with the Landlord. The OP's friend should view the contents of the following link, and then visit a local solicitor with a view of taking a claim against the landlord to the small claims court. This the OP's friend has 3 months from the end of the tenancy
to implement.

If the Deposit is not protected, this together with the cheque bouncing, the landlord will be on a hiding to nothing if legal proceedings were to follow.

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/tenancy_d...

[a4cabrio]

Thankyou Wings, info passed on, much appreciated

[Sir Bagalot]

Forget suing for 3x deposit. It costs too much and certainly won't achieve your friend 3x deposit.

Up to LL to protect deposit.

Was a check in inventory done? Was a check out inventory done? If not the LL is basically fked.

Write the LL a nice letter pointing out no checkin/checkout inventory, deposit not protected even though a legal requirement and LL can be sued for 3x deposit, if deposit not received back with 10 days then you will proceed to small claims court.

And then stick to it.

[Jobbo]

Sue on the check - simple debt claim, no need to prove anything about the entitlement to return of the deposit. A cheque which bounces is itself proof of the fact that money is owed.

[dazwalsh]

Take em to the cleaners, any professional landlord will keep deposits in a separate account so that the funds are there to return at end of tenancy. Go for full whack and teach him/her a lesson that they have to follow the deposit protection rules like everyone else.

[MitchT]

I remember a cowboy landlord I once had who didn't protect my deposit. During my tenancy I had a visit from a previous tenant who'd come to collect some mail. He asked me, in an ominous tone, how I was getting on with the landlord and added that he'd had to wait eight weeks to get his deposit back. When I gave notice I casually mentioned the matter of deposit protection. Strangely my deposit was returned promptly! It never ceases to amaze me that so many background checks are done on prospective tenants, but none on landlords. There really should be something like Trip Advisor for rental properties.

[Wings]

Sir Bagalot said:

Forget suing for 3x deposit. It costs too much and certainly won't achieve your friend 3x deposit.

Up to LL to protect deposit.

Was a check in inventory done? Was a check out inventory done? If not the LL is basically fked.

Write the LL a nice letter pointing out no checkin/checkout inventory, deposit not protected even though a legal requirement and LL can be sued for 3x deposit, if deposit not received back with 10 days then you will proceed to small claims court.

And then stick to it.

If the Deposit is NOT protected under the TDS, then the Landlord IS fecked, since the Landlord IS then legally unable to make ANY deductions from the tenant's Deposit. A third party's letter, a solicitor's for example, is always the best way forward when dealing with an unscrupulous landlord. The threat of a solicitor's letter of a court appearance and a "fine" of UP TO 3 x Deposit, will produce an instance result for the OP's friend.

[Andehh]

Wings said:

Sir Bagalot said:

Forget suing for 3x deposit. It costs too much and certainly won't achieve your friend 3x deposit.

Up to LL to protect deposit.

Was a check in inventory done? Was a check out inventory done? If not the LL is basically fked.

Write the LL a nice letter pointing out no checkin/checkout inventory, deposit not protected even though a legal requirement and LL can be sued for 3x deposit, if deposit not received back with 10 days then you will proceed to small claims court.

And then stick to it.

If the Deposit is NOT protected under the TDS, then the Landlord IS fecked, since the Landlord IS then legally unable to make ANY deductions from the tenant's Deposit. A third party's letter, a solicitor's for example, is always the best way forward when dealing with an unscrupulous landlord. The threat of a solicitor's letter of a court appearance and a "fine" of UP TO 3 x Deposit, will produce an instance result for the OP's friend.

You are mistaken Sir Bagalot, I was in a similar situation to OP where landlord refused to give us a chunk of our deposit back for no good reason (damage was there before we moved in & we had carefully evidenced it all). He played silly buggers so we raised a small claims/money claim against him. Put together all the evidence properly, including all three deposit protections scheme confirming they did not hold it and filed the claim for 3x deposit. Cost us £100 or so IIRC.

He kept bluffing & blustering, threatening counter claims etc etc then the night before buckled and paid us full deposit & our costs for raising the claim. He knew it was an open & shut case as the deposit wasn't protected.

FILE A SMALL CLAIM.

[a4cabrio]

Thanks everyone for the help and advice. She has been to the CAB and has an appointment with a solicitor on the 15th of May, she's been told to document all the information she has and then she'll be advised as to what to do next and how to go about it, I've passed on the helpful info from you all and advised her to write a letter as per one of the ^^ replies and then to pursue the landlord via the small claims court! but she's goin via the CAB.

The landlord has also told her the deposit was held with a deposit scheme, but my friend called the people who had apparently got the deposit but was told the landlord does have an account with them but currently has no deposits placed with them, she also has 4 other properties so others could be in the same boat later

[Jobbo]

Jobbo said:

Sue on the check - simple debt claim, no need to prove anything about the entitlement to return of the deposit. A cheque which bounces is itself proof of the fact that money is owed.

I think my post must have been invisible, but it will save having to prove anything; a bounced cheque is a simple debt claim.

[fido]

a4cabrio said:

I've passed on the helpful info from you all and advised her to write a letter as per one of the ^^ replies and then to pursue the landlord via the small claims court! but she's goin via the CAB.

Sigh. I had similar (kept delaying my return of £3k deposit) and it didn't even get past the one phone call from the solicitor. I didn't even hear from the solicitor again. Landlord/Agent paid back my deposit the next day. In this case, with the failure to register the deposit - she should be going to town with the landlord (x3 deposit claim). The bounced cheque is a distraction. Go for the kill.

[CoolHands]

fido said:

Sigh. I had similar (kept delaying my return of £3k deposit) and it didn't even get past the one phone call from the solicitor. I didn't even hear from the solicitor again. Landlord/Agent paid back my deposit the next day. In this case, with the failure to register the deposit - she should be going to town with the landlord (x3 deposit claim). The bounced cheque is a distraction. Go for the kill.

why would they have to pay three times the deposit? AFAIK a landlord can be fined for not using a rent deposit scheme but you the ex-tenant don't get it!

[scenario8]

"If the Court finds the landlord hasn't protected your deposit...The Court may order the landlord to pay you up to three times the deposit"

https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/if-y...

[CoolHands]

oh i didn't know that I thought it was a fine.

[Andehh]

scenario8 said:

"If the Court finds the landlord hasn't protected your deposit...The Court may order the landlord to pay you up to three times the deposit"

https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/if-y...

CoolHands said:

oh i didn't know that I thought it was a fine.

Yep, it literally is as open & shut as that. If the landlord does not protect it as they should, you are guaranteed at least your deposit & claims fees back (providing you didnt trash the place etc), and if the landlord decided to play silly buggers can be forced to hand over up to 3x as much. Clear cut.

[smelly garlic]

MitchT said:

It never ceases to amaze me that so many background checks are done on prospective tenants

The LA's pocket the cash, they don't check anything. Albeit they may state otherwise.

[a4cabrio]

Jobbo said:

I think my post must have been invisible, but it will save having to prove anything; a bounced cheque is a simple debt claim.

No, it defo wasn't ignored, I passed all the advice on to my friend, she's decided to go to the CAB and get help from them, not a lot I can do about that I'm afraid, but you're advice was really appreciated, thanks