Assured Shorthold Tenancy and Deposit

[smoochiedee]

Hello

My daughter started her Assured Shorthold Tenancy with a private landlord on 15th July 2006, renewed after 6 months, with the latest one signed for 6 mth on 17th July 2007.

The orginal tenancy agreement called for a £900 deposit paid for by my partner by cheque.

She has recently terminated her tenancy agreement and the landlord has only returned £425.oo of the deposit.

The landlord has written to explain that the monies he deducted are for the following:
1, Carpet cleaning ie stains in carpets £125.00

2, Decoration: Replace ripped / stripped areas of wallpaper and re-emulsion.
Emulsion over rooms where wallpaper has been drawn and scribbled over. £350.00

The property was occupied by my daughter and her two small children, and the youngest did scribble on the lower part of the bedroom wallpaper, and a small scuff and tear at the bottom of the stairs (which we did offer to replace and piece as the wallpaper was available in the property from when it was decorated previously by landlord) but he refused us doing this.

Also we hired a rug doctor before we left the property so in our view the carpets were cleaned.

My question is would the above monies, stopped from the deposit be considered reasonable?

Also as the new tenancy agreement was signed in july 2007 after the new law covering deposits came into affect, would the deposit although paid in 2006 be covered by the new law?

sorry for so many questions

regards
a worried mum

[Planner]

Reasonableness aside, it doesnt matter now, the deposit should have been registered in a TDS scheme. You need to write to the landlord informing them of this and request return of the deposit in full in 7 days. If this is forthcoming then you can decide to take the LL to xourt for the x3 "penalty" for non-complancie with TDS that the law allows you to do.

If the deposit isnt forthcoming then you should take them to court for the deposit + x3 the original deposit amount as compensation.

TDS assumes an AST, in England/Wales and signed/renewed on or after 6th April 2007.

[smoochiedee]

Thank you for the advice Planner.

Just one question, as the deposit was paid by my partner by cheque and the landlord was aware of this, should he write the letter or should my daughther send the letter from herself?

Should also mention that he did send a cheque for the balance of the deposit less items mention as he sees it, in my daughters name, which she has not banked yet, should we return this cheque with the letter? or keep a hold of it?

thank you
Worried Mum

[GuidoT]

Letter should come from the person named on the AST, ie your daughter.

I would say on the letter that you are cashing the cheque in partial fulfilment of the total debt on the clear understanding that you will pursue recovery of the remainder, with legal proceedings if necessary.

[smoochiedee]

Thank you for your reply GuidoT.

Can anyone direct me to where i can find a template letter to send to my daughters landlord with regards to her problem.

thank you
Worried Mum

[GuidoT]

There is a template here regarding unfair deposit deductions.

However, I think you need to thread in regarding the consequences of failing to operate the tenancy deposit scheme as Planner's post 2. There is some more information regarding the scheme here that you should be able to base you letter on.

I do not know of any template that combines these two issues together, but I am not that familiar with this forum.

Draft something up and post it here and I am sure it will get looked at.

[smoochiedee]

ok this is what i propose sending to the landlord, I have tweaked it a bit to relate to my daughters situation and would appreciate any input.


Dear MrXXXX

Letter Before Action

I am writing to you and Mr xxx (Landlord’s) concerning my tenancy of the premises at xxxxx
I am in receipt of the letter from yourself (MR xxx) dated 14th March 2007, and a cheque for the sum of £425.00, less the amount of £475.00 for which is claimed is needed to redecorate and clean carpet of afore mentioned property after my tenancy agreement ended.

I write to you to request that you return my full deposit £900.00, plus interest, as stipulated in my tenancy agreement as the premises were left clean and in good repair. The premises were left in the same condition as they were at the beginning of the tenancy allowing for “fair wear and tear”

My new tenancy agreement signed 17th July 2007 stipulates (11) "The deposit is to be held by the landlord/s or landlord's agent as stakeholder until the tenants responsibilities under the lease have been satisfied. The deposit to be held in an interest bearing account for the benefit of the tenants"

The deposit must not be regarded as extra rent, to be used to improve the condition of the property. Any amount deducted from it must be equivalent to the amount needed to replace “like with like”. For example, if the carpet was worn at the start of the tenancy, you cannot retain the amount that would pay for a brand new carpet.

You cannot deduct the replacement value of any item, even if it was brand new at the start of the tenancy, as this would be "betterment". You can only deduct from the deposit a percentage of the item's value, based on (a) its condition at the start of the tenancy, and (b) the expected life of the item. Nor can you make deductions from the deposit for general “wear and tear” the deposit is not there to provide a redecoration fund. You must redecorate at your own expense.

The onus is on you as Landlord/s to prove that there are circumstances justifying the retention of any part of the deposit, and the letter dated 14th March 2007 does not adequately provided any such evidence. You must in any event prepare a dilapidation schedule, and you must have the relevant tradesmen give a written quotation (not an estimate) for each item of cost that you include in it. I request that you give me receipts or invoices for work carried out, or quotations for work yet to be done.

Furthermore the deposit of £900 was paid to you on 15th July 2006, on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. And a new tenancy agreement was signed on 17th July 2007. according to New Statutory Law any “new/renewed” Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreements signed after 6th April 2007, are covered by the "Tenants Deposit Scheme", meaning that my deposit is covered under new legislation, and you as the landlord/s are required by law to keep the money in either a custodial scheme or insurance-based schemeas recognized by the government, and to provide me, the tenant with a written statement detailing (a) exactly what the deposit covers and (b) when the money will be returned, all within 14 days of signing an Assured Tenancy Agreement, which I never received and to date have not been provided with. I request that you please provide evidence that you have complied with your above statutory duty.

I will therefore be in a position to demonstrate that it is unreasonable for you to keep any part of the deposit, should you be unable to produce the requested evidence if matters proceed to court, you must remember that the deposit is my money. You must account for it properly. It is a common misconception that the deposit belongs to the landlord, but that is not the case and withholding it without proper grounds is unlawful.

I must advise that the Court can order you to pay back the full amount paid of the deposit of £900.00 including interest and the proceedings are very straightforward. Furthermore the Courts are very sympathetic to tenants whose landlords do not fulfil their statutory obligations.

In conclusion I require your reply to arrive no later than 14 days after the date of this letter, together with the requested information and with your cheque for the balance of the deposit owed including the interest accrued on the full amount of the deposit of £900.00.

If I do not receive satisfactory reply by then, I will begin a County Court action for recovery of monies owing and any cost so incurred.

I look forward to hearing from you and a satisfactory conclusion to this matter, please address ALL correspondence to the above address within 14 days of the date of this letter.

Yours faithfully,

CC File No 001-EL/DD/LBA/TH/SP

[smoochiedee]

would appreciate any input on proposed letter above to landlords

[Planner]

Theres two seperate issues here which really shouldnt be mixed. You either (imho) need to send a letter quoting the fair wear and tear stuff and asking for your deposit back or a letter pointing out non-complaince with TDS. I think much is lost of you mix up the two issues.

Personally, I would go with non-complaince with TDS. There is no excuse for this and should avoid all the wranglings over fair wear and tear as there wont be any!!!

I think you need to rewrite the letter simply stating the TDS stuff and demanding the full deposit back othereise youy will submit a claim to the county court for the deposit + x3 "compensation" on top! (note that you can claim the x3 in addition if you like, its up to you if you want to commit to a court claim or you would just be happy with deposit return).