advice on dodgy landlord

[996 sps]

Hi Guys
Ive got a friend who is leaving his house shortly and has paid his landlord a deposit last year. By law the landlord has to enter the money into a tenacy deposit scheme however she has not done this. This landlord has kept other tenants deposits over the course of the year. My friend has been told by citizens advice that he can take the landlord to court and get 3 times the value of his deposit (£250) however when he hs asked the solicitors about the procedure they want to charge him £150 per hour so it does not seem worth his while. His main aim is to make a stand against his landlord and he wants her to have to start following the correct procedure. Any advice guys on the correct procedure? Is there any governing body that would write her a letter to try and scare her into doing what she should be doing? The tenancy deposit people say speak to citizens advice they say speak to the solicitor but they want to charge before you even meet them.

thanks

R

[__G__]

I could be wrong on this... But with amounts less than £1000 can't you just take them to a small claims court in which case you don't need a solicitor? I was advised that by CAB some years ago.

It would of course be complete suicide if you did this with no research though as he probably will have a solicitor.

Alternatively isn't it a matter of law that the "winning side" gets all legal costs paid for by the "losing side"? In which case if you're confident you should go for it.

Sorry can't be more help.

[blindswelledrat]

FOr the same reason his friend doesn't want a solicitor-the Landlord is likely not to have one.
For the cost of a solicitor she may as well pay him the deposit back.
Small claims is the way forward-it cost about £30 or so to be heard.
Only problem you then get is if the landlord lies about damage etc

[hornetrider]

Yep, moneyclaim.org or whatever its called - its the way forward. Merely threatening this when the other party is in the wrong usually convinces them to pay up. Did with me.

[randomman]

Take lots of photos of the house in good condition. Get a receipt from a cleaning company and take it to small claims.

I could be totally wrong but doens't the loser of a court case have to pay legal fees and unless he can prove he put it in a deposit protection scheme he will automatically loose?

Of course when presented with this information, and dont forget to threaten telling all his tenants, he may just pay up

[The Tea Boy]

996 sps said:

Hi Guys
Ive got a friend who is leaving his house shortly and has paid his landlord a deposit last year. By law the landlord has to enter the money into a tenacy deposit scheme however she has not done this. This landlord has kept other tenants deposits over the course of the year. My friend has been told by citizens advice that he can take the landlord to court and get 3 times the value of his deposit (£250) however when he hs asked the solicitors about the procedure they want to charge him £150 per hour so it does not seem worth his while. His main aim is to make a stand against his landlord and he wants her to have to start following the correct procedure. Any advice guys on the correct procedure? Is there any governing body that would write her a letter to try and scare her into doing what she should be doing? The tenancy deposit people say speak to citizens advice they say speak to the solicitor but they want to charge before you even meet them.

thanks

R

ok I deal with this stuff everyday, but beware if you were to goto court and the LL registered the deposit before she went chances are it would get thrown out!! (read this in one of our tade mags last month and was shocked!!) personally i would write her a letter asking her for her DPS ID and see what her response is and then mention the registering of the doeposit that she has not carried out, im sure that will put the frighteners on!!

HTH

Matt

[The Tea Boy]

randomman said:

unless he can prove he put it in a deposit protection scheme he will automatically loose?

see above!!

[996 sps]

The Tea Boy said:

996 sps said:

Hi Guys
Ive got a friend who is leaving his house shortly and has paid his landlord a deposit last year. By law the landlord has to enter the money into a tenacy deposit scheme however she has not done this. This landlord has kept other tenants deposits over the course of the year. My friend has been told by citizens advice that he can take the landlord to court and get 3 times the value of his deposit (£250) however when he hs asked the solicitors about the procedure they want to charge him £150 per hour so it does not seem worth his while. His main aim is to make a stand against his landlord and he wants her to have to start following the correct procedure. Any advice guys on the correct procedure? Is there any governing body that would write her a letter to try and scare her into doing what she should be doing? The tenancy deposit people say speak to citizens advice they say speak to the solicitor but they want to charge before you even meet them.

thanks

R

ok I deal with this stuff everyday, but beware if you were to goto court and the LL registered the deposit before she went chances are it would get thrown out!! (read this in one of our tade mags last month and was shocked!!) personally i would write her a letter asking her for her DPS ID and see what her response is and then mention the registering of the doeposit that she has not carried out, im sure that will put the frighteners on!!

HTH

Matt

he is not bothered about the money but just wants to know if she can be forced to join the tenacy deposit scheme so nobody else gets stitched up or is there another way apart from going through the courts?

Edited by 996 sps on Tuesday 2nd December 16:10

[The Tea Boy]

nope there is no way of forcing unless she is caught but even then she could not be forced to register a deposit as everytime a property is let the relevant services are not always notified!!

Matt

[Incorrigible]

I may be missing he point here. But the landlord hasn't, as yet, refused to give the deposit back ??

You'll only have a dispute if that occurs Shirley ??

Also, won't the conditions of how the deposit is held be on the tennancy agreement ?

[Mars]

Incorrigible said:

I may be missing he point here. But the landlord hasn't, as yet, refused to give the deposit back ??

You'll only have a dispute if that occurs Shirley ??

Also, won't the conditions of how the deposit is held be on the tennancy agreement ?

Yes, I can't see anywhere in the OP where it mentions that the landlord/lady has refused to return the money. In fact it sounds as though the OP's friend is only pissed off that their landlord/lady hasn't entered into this govt-sponsored tax-raising contract.

What's the story?