Holding deposit issues, help needed!

[alextwilson]

Hello there, a lurker that now needs some help!

So approximately 3 weeks ago we agree to take out a let on a 4 bedroom house in Shepherds Bush, moving in September. Lovely. They ask us for a holding deposit of £400, of which we have paid up within 4 days or so.

We were given the reference/bank details forms etc last week, and fill them in fine.

Here's where the tricky part comes in. We were told that as one of us is a student who doesn't speak to or have any contact with their parents, one of us other 3 people could be their guarantor for the contract. The two people in the office both confirmed that right in front of us. Whether this is legally allowed or not to me is irrelevant. We were told we could do it.

Now today we recieve a phone call telling us that we are not allowed to do this, and this is from the exact same people that literally said it 3 days ago.We've had enough of this now and would like to get our holding deposit back, they've lied to us and it just seems like we're being messed around far too much here.

So how can we go around claiming our holding deposit back? Is there any legal documentation that can help our case.

Also I'm not sure if it's true but if the estate agents (Winkworth) are still advertising the property once you've paid the holding deposit, can that open up for a valid dispute? The property is still up and available to see on Gumtree.

ANY help would be MASSIVELY appreciated.

Regards

Alex

[MrShed]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Have you asked them for the holding deposit back yet? If they have changed the terms, then you are entitled to rescind the contract and have the deposit returned - the issue is I suppose that you cannot prove they have done this. How many of you were present when you were told about the guarantor position?

[alextwilson]

I haven't asked yet as I thought I'd come on here to get some advice before ringing them up; I can feel a proper fight coming on and want to go in there for as much good information as possible.

There was two of us present when they told us about the guarantor situation.

[MrShed]

OK then - fairly simple. You just need to inform them that as they have changed the terms of agreement, you are entitled to rescind the contract and as such require the return of the holding deposit. Be nice in the first instance if they refuse, simply write a letter to them demanding the return within 7 days (quoting the same above reason) and take them to court if they dont.

[alextwilson]

The thing is the only paperwork we've been given is the receipt for the holding deposit and a sheet indicating a breakdown of all the costs. We haven't been given anything in form of a contract? But they verbally said in front of the two of us regarding the guarantor situation.

[MrShed]

Thats fine - that actually helps you more if there is no written contract with regards the holding deposit.

[alextwilson]

Really? Oh, OK. I'll give them a ring soon and report back on what they say. Still can't help but feel they'll just make something up or go in with some legality we've been made unaware of.

[MrShed]

They may - but just remember that they may not, so be nice on your first contact

There is no legality I can think of that they can throw at you - it is pretty much indefensible for them to attempt to withhold the deposit.

[alextwilson]

Right, this is the first response we have got, how can we go about it? Seems like it's their attempt to just try knock us back.

Dear Mr Wilson,

I was informed your proposed tenancy was withdrawn by yourselves,
unfortunately, the holding deposit will not be refunded to you, this is
clearly stated in the holding deposit form which you have signed.

With regard to the guarantor, it is impossible for another tenant to act
as a guarantor on the same property, just to clarify, a guarantor is a
person to fall back to should the rent not be paid, as I'm sure you can
imagine if the guarantor is another tenant, this can not work as there
is a conflict of interest.

Furthermore, the holding deposit was put down on 8th July 2008 and the
fourth tenant was Lee Wilson, this was then changed to Lucy Hodges. I
subsequently took the file over and contacted each tenant last Monday
21st July and explained that a guarantor had to be a family member,
ideally a parent, I was told by Lucy this would not be a problem, as she
is a student, we have to provide our landlord with proof of how the rent
will be paid.

I would also like to add as of the 21st July your application form was
and still is outstanding, the holding deposit clearly states the forms
have to be returned within two working days.

Please find attached the e-mail sent last week from myself and my
colleague Danielle Burton.

Kind regards

Suzanne

[MrShed]

Have you signed a holding deposit form?

[alextwilson]

I did not personally, it was by someone else in our party.

Can we still use the idea that they're not allowed to advertise the property once we had signed the forms off? It's still listed on Gumtree and we've printed out this advertisement now just in case/as evidence.

[MrShed]

The fact that a "form" (probably some form of contract) was signed changes a lot - this is why I asked above this exact question. We cannot really answer any more questions on this without knowing the exact wording of that form.