** Small update** Issues with former landlord

[LuckyYem]

Hi ladies,

I'm waiting for CAB to ring back but thought I'd ask and see if anyone can offer advice here too.

Basically we are having trouble gettining part of our deposit back from our last place. The LL seemed really happy on his walk thru' we had repainted the whole flat (to tidy it up 2 small children and white walls don't mix!), cleaned all the carpets, scrubbed the whole flat from top to bottom etc normal things you do when you leave. At the end of the walk thru' he said he wanted to get somebody in to touch up the gloss and we said we would pay towards that and we would pay to have a small hallway (2 sq meters) recarpeted as our (naughty!!) Cat had scratched it! Anyway long story short he got painters in and they charged him £450 so he's taken £225 out of our deposit, he has taken (quote) around £100 for carpet - I did a search online and the exact same carpet is between £8.47 and £11.40 per sq meter know it will cost him to have it layed but it seems a bit excessive! We also owed £260 in rent - we moved out 9 days into the rent and all agreed to take it from our deposit. Dh and him had a text message convo and dh has asked him for copies of recipits, copy of the details of where our deposit was held - we never had any information about our deposit, because we wanted to have a look at all of the docs dh also said he thought he was being unfair stating the whole flat needed decorating AFTER we handed our keys back. Well the LL has deposited £160 from £750 into dh bank account, is not answering calls or text and has not sent us/arranged for us to pick up paperwork. We never signed an itinary when we moved in all we signed was the tenency agreement and my mums husband signed to witness we had handed over the cash - although annoyingly the LL saw my mums husband in a local pub (before we moved out) and was saying 'I bet your worried the flat won't be up to par considering you are their gurantor' I was livid considering a) he wasn't, he was a wintness and only sined to that and b) it wasn't an appropriate convo to be having in a pub!!

Anyway sorry its so long anyone have any advice?

 

[lilyd]

If he didn't protect your deposit then you are entitled to claim 3 x the deposit amount from him I believe. It is a legal requirement to have deposits held in a registered scheme.

Do you have an address for him? If so, I would send him a recorded delivery letter saying that you are disputing the deductions (he wouldn't be entitled to the amount he is charging, the dispute would be handled by the deposit holders and they assess the cost of repairs v fair wear and tear and then decide how much the tenant will pay towards it) and you therefore want the details of where the deposit is held along with the registration number. Then state that if this information isn't provided then you will be seeking compensation to the tune of 3 x deposit as he has failed to protect it as required by law.

Please check my info first, I think it's right, but I haven't been a landlord (I was a good one!) for some time. The MSE website has some very knowledgeable people on it's forum, there is a lettings area, and I would recommend a visit.

Good luck x

 

[special_kala]

]If he didn't protect your deposit then you are entitled to claim 3 x the deposit amount from him I believe. It is a legal requirement to have deposits held in a registered scheme.[/B]

Do you have an address for him? If so, I would send him a recorded delivery letter saying that you are disputing the deductions (he wouldn't be entitled to the amount he is charging, the dispute would be handled by the deposit holders and they assess the cost of repairs v fair wear and tear and then decide how much the tenant will pay towards it) and you therefore want the details of where the deposit is held along with the registration number. Then state that if this information isn't provided then you will be seeking compensation to the tune of 3 x deposit as he has failed to protect it as required by law.

Please check my info first, I think it's right, but I haven't been a landlord (I was a good one!) for some time. The MSE website has some very knowledgeable people on it's forum, there is a lettings area, and I would recommend a visit.

Good luck x

It costs £1000 in court fees to pursue this.

I had this problem with my previous landlord and sent her this email

It has come to our attention that our deposit of £800 was never registered in a recognised deposit registration scheme as required by the Housing Act 2004, as amended by the Localism Act 2011.

I would remind you that the penalty for failure to protect the deposit is
three times the deposit (in addition to its return).

Unless my deposit is returned, in full, within 7 working days of receipt of
this email, I shall commence legal proceedings for the full penalty of 3 times
the deposit, via the courts.

Please acknowledge this email within 3 days otherwise we will be forced to start legal proceedings]

A few emails back and forth where we stood firm and we got our full £800 back.

 

[LuckyYem]

Thank you for the reply. I knew that if he didn't protect our deposit we could sue for 3x's the amount. Its just so frustrating that he's being like this. Wish we hadn't bothered spending a week making sure it was spotless etc now x

 

[LuckyYem]

]If he didn't protect your deposit then you are entitled to claim 3 x the deposit amount from him I believe. It is a legal requirement to have deposits held in a registered scheme.[/B]

Do you have an address for him? If so, I would send him a recorded delivery letter saying that you are disputing the deductions (he wouldn't be entitled to the amount he is charging, the dispute would be handled by the deposit holders and they assess the cost of repairs v fair wear and tear and then decide how much the tenant will pay towards it) and you therefore want the details of where the deposit is held along with the registration number. Then state that if this information isn't provided then you will be seeking compensation to the tune of 3 x deposit as he has failed to protect it as required by law.

Please check my info first, I think it's right, but I haven't been a landlord (I was a good one!) for some time. The MSE website has some very knowledgeable people on it's forum, there is a lettings area, and I would recommend a visit.

Good luck x

It costs £1000 in court fees to pursue this.

I had this problem with my previous landlord and sent her this email

It has come to our attention that our deposit of £800 was never registered in a recognised deposit registration scheme as required by the Housing Act 2004, as amended by the Localism Act 2011.

I would remind you that the penalty for failure to protect the deposit is
three times the deposit (in addition to its return).

Unless my deposit is returned, in full, within 7 working days of receipt of
this email, I shall commence legal proceedings for the full penalty of 3 times
the deposit, via the courts.

Please acknowledge this email within 3 days otherwise we will be forced to start legal proceedings]

A few emails back and forth where we stood firm and we got our full £800 back.

Thank you, I might have to steal this! The annoying thing is we don't even want all of the money back we just don't want to be ripped off! X

 

[special_kala]

We felt exactly the same. We would have taken a fair amount back but when our landlord refused to give any back we thought sod it if shes going to be like this so will we.

 

[LuckyYem]

We felt exactly the same. We would have taken a fair amount back but when our landlord refused to give any back we thought sod it if shes going to be like this so will we.

I think that's how were going to have to be! I have now spoken to CAB who advised ringing Shelter, but their phones just keep saying they are busy and call back. I don't even know how to find out if our deposit was placed where it was supposed to be. In our new house we already have all of the paperwork for it but never had anything for the flat.

 

[lilyd]

There are only three places that it could be registered with so you could give them a call and they should be able to search by address to see if it was registered x

 

[LuckyYem]

There are only three places that it could be registered with so you could give them a call and they should be able to search by address to see if it was registered x

Thanks will get on google! X

 

[lhancock90]

Hope you get it back!

 

[Mrs Doddy]

Firstly if there was no protected deposit then you can take him to court - it would also be thrown out in your favour if there was no inventory - take him to court !

 

[LuckyYem]

Thanks ladies. Managed to speak to shelter who said even if he did protect our deposit he has still broken the law because we didnt have a copy of all the paperwork. They suggested sending a letter before action, if he doesnt reply there is a second letter (all on there website) to send then take him to court. So thats what we will be doing.

 

[Mrs Doddy]

Good luck !

 

[LuckyYem]

Also forgot to say the lady said we should ask for the full amount with only the rent deducted. She said even if the house was an awful state when we left - which it wasn't we have pictures and recipts for paint, carpet cleaner hire etc - he has to prove that the money he spent was warrented but because its our money he has no right to spend it then not produce the recipts when we requested them. She said if it gets as far as court we can ask for 3 x's our deposit plus the deposit and costs back.

 

[sweetlullaby]

Good luck!

 

[LuckyYem]

Dh finally had a text from LL last night saying the carpet hadn't been layed yet, chasing recipt from decorator AND he had registered our deposit but NEVER deposited the funds!! Dh has replied today saying we knew he hadn't registered the deposit and a letter before action has been sent to him (sign for on delivery) but if he deposits £240 (that would be £90 for carpet which I feel is excessive but have agreed with dh) within the next 3 working days we will take no further action. Annoyingly I drove past our old flat this morning (on way to mums) and the new people have moved in without the carpet being replaced, I don't mind replacing it (obviously our fault) but just don't want him to pocket the cash.

 

[lhancock90]

Hopefully hes sensible enough to give it back or he might lose even more!

 

[LuckyYem]

Hopefully hes sensible enough to give it back or he might lose even more!

For his sake I hope so otherwise we will take him to court for as much as possible!