Help - deposit problems and threatening landlady!!

[poots1234]

Hi everyone!


This is my first post so I hope I'm giving all the information you need – any help would be really appreciated cos I'm really at a loss with this.

I read the post from Ed999 and here are some helpful details about my situation:

Our tenancy was granted in writing. It was for an initial period of 6 months and began on 11th May 2007.
The rent was £450 per calendar month – we paid 6 months' rent as a lump sum at the beginning of the tenancy.
The tenancy was ended by mutual agreement and we vacated the property on 10th November.
The property was provided unfurnished and no inventory was taken.
We paid a deposit of £650 to the letting agents but did not receive any information about where this deposit was being held.


The house had been repainted just before we moved in and everything looked fine. However, a few weeks in to the tenancy, signs of mould began to appear on the walls. I notified the letting agent and the landlady of the problem but didn't receive any response. I did quite a lot of research about the causes of mould and did everything I possibly could to keep condensation to a minimum. We didn't have a dryer and opened the windows every day. The bathroom window was open permanently. When our clothes, books and bedding (including my son's cot) began to be ruined by the mould, I called the landlord again and told her how serious the problem was and that they really needed to get something done about the damp-proofing course (the building is 200 years old). She responded by telling me to buy a dehumidifier (which I did, out of my own pocket, for around £80). Her husband visited the house and, after seeing how bad things were, offered to give us compensation for the ruined clothes and other possessions but (and I do regret this in retrospect) I wanted to maintain a good relationship with the landlady and said not to worry about it.

We kept the dehumidifier on almost constantly but, as the cause of the damp hadn't been dealt with, the mould stayed. In the end, worried about our 1-year-old son's health, we moved out a couple of weeks before the end of the contract. The day after the tenancy ended, I received a 'phone call from the landlady. She was abusive and threatening and the gist of it all was that they were going to get the whole place professionally cleaned and that we had to pay for it. At the beginning of the tenancy we signed a pet disclaimer saying that we would have the carpets (1 bedroom, 1 boxroom – carpets nearly new) professionally cleaned or let the landlady have them cleaned after we moved out. I've done some research about carpet cleaners in our area and, for a carpet the size of these two rooms combined, it costs around £22. The house is a small 2-up 2-down terraced house and would take at the very most 3 or 4 hours to clean the rest of it. We have had to buy a dehumidifier for £80, pay higher electricity bills for running it and some of our possessions have been ruined. Is the landlady entitled to charge us £140 for the cleaning of a house that she neglected to maintain as per her duty? I would be really grateful if anyone could tell me whether I'm being ripped off or not. The landlady has made it clear that, if I don't sign this money over to her, I'm not going to get any of my deposit back at all. The forms arrived yesterday and I'm not sure if I should sign them or not. I really feel like the landlady's got me over a barrel. Sorry this was so long! Thanks!!

[MrShed]

Well this one is quite simple.

- No inventory = very difficult for her to make ANY deductions.
- It looks as if the deposit was not held in a TDS - big no no. However, I am not sure on the rules surrounding TDS AFTER you have vacated the property. Someone else may be able to clarify.

You would basically have a very strong case if you went to court.

[Planner]

Depsoits for ASTs signed on or after 6th April 2007 need to be kept in one of the three TDS Schemes. Witihn 14 Days of a tenant giving the depsoit to the agents/LL, the tenant should recieved some "pescribed information" on which scheme the deposit is being held in.

Under the housing act which TDS is mentioned in Housing Act 2004 (c. 34), the landlords/agents "fine" for not complying with TDS is clearly set out.

Now that the tenancy as ended you are entitled to the return of the original deposit, £650, plus x3 the original deposit awarded to you by the court, £1950, making a total of £2600. You will have to take the agents/LL to the small claims court to claim this amount, which you are guranteed to win in the situation you have outlined. The LL/Agents will then be responsible for paying you the £2600 within 14 days of the court order.

This is now a win-win situation for you. First you need to clarify who was actually responsible for putting the deposit into a TDS, was it the letting agents or the LL?, just because you paid the depsoit to the agents doesnt necessaryily mean it was their responsibility. Have a look in the tenancy agrement as to what it says about who will hold the deposit.

No further preamble or letters before action are required. You can go straight to the county court. Have a look on the court website, the form you want is the N1 county court claim form The requested resource (/HMCSCourtFinder/tiles/Her Majesty's Courts Service -Forms and Guidance) is not available, and fill it in.

Now heres the difficult bit. As claiming back TDS is currently such a new issue, no one, including the court "admin" people appear to be sure of how it should be done. I , and quite a few others, believe that the correct procedure should not be claiming a monetary amount, but to be claiming for "something other than money". This will cost you £150 in upfront costs - Fees. I/we think this is the correct approach, but no one is yet 100% sure as we are not aware of any action that as yet been seen by a jusdge due to the relevantly recent time scales involved.

In the particulars of claim you should be quoting the relevant paragraphs of the act and then adding that you expect to recieve back the deposit £650 + x3 the deposit £1950. Make sure you dont put any figure in the amount your claiming box.

When you are ready to go down this route, post again and we can help with filling the form out.

[Joa]

Planner- fab post. But I don't understand this:

Make sure you dont put any figure in the amount your claiming box.

?
Poots- keep us regularly updated- you are our guinea piglet!