Non return of tenancy deposit & failure to protect in DPS

[Slowped]

Good afternoon,

I hope that some of you will be able to offer me some guidance relating to reclaiming a tenancy deposit which hasn't been returned to me following the end of a tenancy, via Money Claim Online.

I moved out of a house share at the end of May, and I have been unable to contact the landlord since the end of the tenancy. The tenancy was set up by a letting agent who have distanced themselves from the issue, and also claim that they can't reach the landlord. Since the end of the tenancy I have contacted the three authorised deposit protection providers and all three have replied saying that they have no record of a deposit lodged against my tenancy, as required under S213 of the Housing Act 2004.

I plan to reclaim my deposit, as I left the room I rented cleaned, in good condition and without damage. I paid the rent on time and in full by standing order each month and was not in arrears. There would be no reason to make any deductions and I have not received any notifications that deductions were required.

I have started the process with Money Claim online, and the service requires you to state whether the defendant is an individual or a company. The tenancy agreement is between the landlord's name and I (not a company). I have looked up the landlord's directorship via Company Check and he has a limited property business currently active, the date appointed on there is after the start of my tenancy agreement. Should I detail the defendant as an individual or the limited company?

Under S214 of the Housing Act I can also make a claim for up to x3 the deposit amount as the deposit has been left out of an authorised scheme. Could anyone offer any experience of successfully doing this?

Other details:

I have written to the landlord, emailed and called many times.
The deposit was £300.
I am based in the north, the landlord is based in the south-east.
I have a copy of the tenancy agreement which details the deposit.
I have emails from the approved schemes confirming that they don't hold the deposit.
The deposit was paid to the letting agent upon signing the contract.
I can prove that I paid the rent each month (paid by SO as mentioned above)
My room was not inspected before handing back the keys to the letting agent.

Any comments would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Slowped]

JustinP1 - Thank you I will be looking into P8. Apologies if I have misunderstood, but how did you go about starting your case if you did not use P8 or MCOL?

Pork911 - Thank you for your reply. There is no specific reason why I feel that I should receive a multiple of the deposit. Without wishing to sound like 'that person' the landlord hasn't met his obligation to protect the deposit and therefore appears to have made himself liable?

Wings- Thank you I will be doing this too. Would you claim seperately for the 1-3 times the deposit or are you saying that you would not make a claim for that element at all?

[Slowped]

I again folks, thank you all for your help so far. I'm going to go along with Justin and proceed with the N1 route. Please would those who have commented above look over the following 'details of the claim' which I will be writing on the N1 form?
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

The defendant has failed to return a tenancy deposit of £300. The defendant has failed to protect the tenancy deposit as required under Section 213 of the Housing Act 2004.

The defendant is my former landlord. I rented one room at the defendant's property (** ***** *****) from **/**/2012 to **/**/2014. I paid a tenancy deposit of £300 as detailed in the shorthold tenancy agreement (see particulars). The deposit and contract signing was handled by the defendant's agent, **** **** Property (address) Throughout the tenancy I paid each rent installment in full and on time. At the end of the tenancy I gave a one month notice period as required and when I moved out, the room was cleaned and left in good condition (see pictures in particulars). As requested by the defendant, I provided him with my forwarding address and bank details by email (see particulars) on **/**/2014.

Since **/**/2014 I have received no correspondence from the defendant. I have not been informed of any decuctions from the deposit. I have tried to contact the defendant by telephone, email and letter (see particulars) to resolve this issue, to no avail.

I seek the return of my deposit (£300) and an order that the landlord pays me an amount not less than the amount of the deposit and not more than three times the amount of the deposit under the Housing Act 2004, S214 sub paragraph (3), (3a), (4). I have contacted all 3 authorised deposit protection schemes. All 3 have confirmed that they do not hold the deposit. See particulars.

[SlowMoped]

An update on this for anyone who is interested.

I wrote out a part 8 claim in the proper format- thank you to Justin for bringing this requirement to my attention. However, upon fully investigating the costs of a P8, I decided to go the N1 small claim route instead, as I do not expect to receive any payment from the landlord, and didn't fancy failing to recover my fees. With regard to amount, I claimed for £300 plus the £35 court fee. The claim was submitted in late October and served in early November, and the defendant has not acknowledged service, so I have requested judgement.

Now I suppose that the court will make an order for the defendant to pay, the defendant will not pay and a CCJ will eventually be issued.

[SlowMoped]

Yes his address is registered at C.H as the business address for his 2 firms. I can't believe that someone who probably makes regular use of credit is leaving their self open for a CCJ over a small amount of money that they were supposed to return.