Landlords Witholding Deposit. Help!
Discussion
Hello,
Last month my girlfriend and I moved from Bedfordshire down to Devon.
I wasn't able to attend the exit check as it is a 5.5 hour drive.
Fast forward to yesterday. I checked my bank account to see if the deposit had been put back in. It hadn't.
I emailed the letting agent (they were let only, not managing) and our landlord and she sent me an email basically saying that as I didn't attend the exit check then I wasn't getting my deposit back. Cue (que?) a long and polite but heated phone call and she eventually starts to say that the flat was damaged in numerous ways and so that was the reason for not returning the deposit. Now, we had only been in the flat 6 months, we are professional people so not lairy and highly unlikely to cause just over a grands worth of damage in 6 months.
This is where it gets interesting/complicated/possibly illegal. I was never given the account number for the deposit protection scheme, I haven't signed anything to get the deposit out. Also, when I did a search for the deposit on the scheme website and it wasn't there.
It looks like the deposit was never put in a scheme. What can I do?
I am starting a business so a grand is needed. We also did not, no matter who does the quote, cause that much damage, general wear and tear at best.
Advice please!
Sorry for the long post and possible spelling mistakes,I'm on my phone.
Thanks
Last month my girlfriend and I moved from Bedfordshire down to Devon.
I wasn't able to attend the exit check as it is a 5.5 hour drive.
Fast forward to yesterday. I checked my bank account to see if the deposit had been put back in. It hadn't.
I emailed the letting agent (they were let only, not managing) and our landlord and she sent me an email basically saying that as I didn't attend the exit check then I wasn't getting my deposit back. Cue (que?) a long and polite but heated phone call and she eventually starts to say that the flat was damaged in numerous ways and so that was the reason for not returning the deposit. Now, we had only been in the flat 6 months, we are professional people so not lairy and highly unlikely to cause just over a grands worth of damage in 6 months.
This is where it gets interesting/complicated/possibly illegal. I was never given the account number for the deposit protection scheme, I haven't signed anything to get the deposit out. Also, when I did a search for the deposit on the scheme website and it wasn't there.
It looks like the deposit was never put in a scheme. What can I do?
I am starting a business so a grand is needed. We also did not, no matter who does the quote, cause that much damage, general wear and tear at best.
Advice please!
Sorry for the long post and possible spelling mistakes,I'm on my phone.
Thanks
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