Deposit problems

[TFD]

Ok, slighly messy one here....

I moved out of a rented house in January 05 (nearly 2 years ago), after renting it for about 18 months.

The owner of the property was a Major in the army, and not based in the UK, so I always dealt with his retired father, who turned out to be a nasty piece of work.

The last few months, the landlord was very unreasonable when I spoke to him regarding problems at the property, and got very threatening when my rent was paid late on a few occasions.

My business was in the process of going bust at this point, so I was struggling with always paying the rent on the due date. However when I left the property, the rent was up to date.

I was very ill at the point I moved out, and although I moved all my posessions out in time, I didn't have time to clean the property fully, so wrote a letter to the director of the letting company. As they were paid to do the management, and these people I paid the rent to, they should have been my point of contact, not the old bastard. This letter asked if they could arrange for the cost of cleaning to be removed from my deposit.

The house was left in good condition - no damage, and I even got a friend to help paint over any marks on the walls, so any marks left were definitely reasonable wear and tear.

The whole experience was most unpleasant, and to be honest for a while afterwards I didn't get around to requesting my deposit back.

It is now nearly 2 years later, and I don't see why the hell I shouldn't have MY money returned. I have spoken to the letting agency, who are in the process of getting the file out of archives, to see what the situation is.

They think it is possible the deposit was returned to the landlord due to arrears, damage etc. but will confirm this next week.

There were no arrears and the property was not damaged, so they can't have any evidence of this. The deposit was for £795, so even with the cleaning bill removed, there should be a fair chunk left.

Does the timescale involved affect anything, or am I still entitled to get my cash back? My understanding is that a deposit is held in trust, so surely it is not for them to do anything with it other than return it?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Pete

[Nightmare4banks]

TFD in reply to your post and in my opinion,

1.You have 6 years to claim from the date of departure against your ex-landlord.

2.Wait for a reply from the letting agent.

3.If there is no refund,issue a Letter Before Action in order to pre warn the agent/landlord of pending legal action.You should allow up to 1 month for a response - there should be a template letter in the library on this forum.

4.If no refund is received after the one month has lapsed issue a summons to the company/person whose details are as written in your previous tenancy agreement.

I hope you find this information useful.

If you need more help,just ask.

Keep us posted.

All the best!

[MrShed]

As a point of note, it will reflect badly upon yourself in small claims not claiming within a fairly reasonable time period, although any extenuating circumstances would obviously help in this matter. This is not to say that it is not a legitimate claim, but judges often look badly upon what they see as frivolous claims.

[TFD]

Thanks for the replies. The letting agents were the management company - I paid them the deposit, and paid them the rent, and it is them that would have refunded me. Am I right in thinking I should be taking action against them not the landlord?

I would like to hope that this can be resolved without going to court, and obviously if I can understand my rights a bit better, hopefully I can avoid them fobbing me off.

[MrShed]

No it must be the landlord you sue. You have no contract with the agent.

[TFD]

I get your point, but it gets messier if the deposit is with the agent not the landlord surely?

[Nightmare4banks]

TFD in reply to your last post:

1.There have been one or two people on this forum that have had a similar problem to yours regarding the deposit etc.The court staff suggested that the ex-tenant is to sue the person/company that the rent has been paid to.

2.Although,I do agree totally with what Mr.Shed has posted because
the agent is acting on behalf of the landlord.You could of course find out the landlord's details either from the land registry or the following website maybe useful:

192.com - The Largest UK Directory Enquiry Service


3.However,concerntrate on resolving the matter amicably because this would be frowned on by judge(the fact that you did not give the agent/landlord ample time to resolve matter without going to court) more than a delay in issuing a summons relating to a genuine claim.I have personally issued claims in the 5th year of the 6year limit and I have won.However,you need to have every bit of information presented properly so that you can succeed.

4.Read through the other posts within the Landlord & Tenant section on this forum to see how the best ways of tackling your problem.

I hope you find this information useful

If you have any more questions,just ask.

Keep us posted.

All the best!

[TFD]

N4B - I appreciated all your help, cheers.

I have had dealings with the director of the letting agents in the past, and he seemsed like a reasonable guy, so hopefully I can resolve this amicably. I have made it clear in my contact with them this time that I would prefer to resolve this without legal action, so I'm still hopeful that this is possible. I just want to get my facts straight beforehand in case they don't want to play fair.

Thanks again - they reckon they will let me know what the position is on my deposit this week, so I'll keep you posted...

Pete

[MrShed]

There is no question that the landlord is the only person you can sue for the deposit. From the eyes of a tenant, legally, the agent and the landlord are one and the same in a legal sense, as the agent is "agent" for the landlord.

[Nightmare4banks]

Mr Shed,

1.Whilst I agree with you regarding the legality of the relationship between the landlord and agent - here I am referring to the issue of where to issue the notices and summons papers.You must serve the papers on the correct address - something which has already been highlighted

2.However,there is a line which can be drawn where the landlord cannot be held liable for the actions of the agent mainly for example if an agent assaulted a tenant.Only the agent would be liable for prosecution and to pay compensation to the tenant unless of course there was evidence to show the contrary.

Anyway this is my 2p's worth!

[MrShed]

I don't realyl understand what you mean N4B. Service of papers must be served to the landlords address, obviously. And any action taken by the agent with regards to the letting of the property is as if the landlord was doing it. Obviously any actions taken which are not to do with the letting of the property is the responsibility of the person themselves, as they are no longer acting as an agent.

I am not saying you are wrong N4B, I just don't quite understand what you mean!

[Nightmare4banks]

Mr.Shed,

I do not think I am wrong and if I am please correct me!

I totally accept constructive criticism.

Anyway,perhaps I have not made myself clear:

The main question here is:

How can a former tenant serve a notice/summons on an owner whose address is unknown if the tenant has been paying the rent throughout the duration of the tenancy to the agent?

[MrShed]

Ah...sorry I understand your point Unfortunately, its very much a case of c'est la vie. Like any other summons(a particular example I can think of is the reverse - a landlord suing an ex tenant), you mustfirst locate that person, and it is your responsibility to do so. If you cannot locate the ex landlord, then you cannot then decide that the responsibility lies with the easy target - unfortunately. However, there is a VERY useful tool for ex tenants to find the address of their landlord - the land registry. For about £2-3, you can get the address of the landlord from their records on the rental property.

And you probably did make it clear N4B - I think my hangover is kicking in!!!

[meagain]

Am I right in thinking that finding the address this way does not fulfil the landlord's obligation as regards providing a contact address?

[MrShed]

The landlord is only obliged to provide his contact address DURING the tenancy if asked. After the tenancy has finished, he has no such obligation.

[meagain]

I'm thinking of during the tenancy. Finding the address via Land Registry is brought up frequently, and this point hasn't really been made clear at any point.