Recovering My deposit - a few questions...

[jimmy944]

Ok, a bit of background first of all....

I am a student and lived last year in a student house under an assured shorthold tennancy that determined on 31/07/06. On that day it was agreed we would get back £385 out of £400 per person (there were 4 of us in the house). But there was a clause in the contract that the deposit would not be retuned until the final bills for the utilities were given over and were shown to have been paid in full.

This seemed reasonable to me but due to the ever-dilligent ST water company, this didnt happen unitl 31/10/06.

So, I phoned the LL yesterday to find out where the deposit was (still heard nothing by this stage) and Lo & Behold it has been lost in the post . How stupid does this bloke think I am!

So I am now getting it back minus the costs of cancelling and re-issuing a cheque, however much he deems that to be. I explained that I was not very happy about this where-upon he invited me round to see the cheque stub to "prove" he'd written me one. Sucessfully styfling a laugh I informed him that that was not proof of postage.

His response was that this would be more than enough proof for anyone should i wish to take it further (no really HOW STUPID??).

Now, I have a few questions...

1. He can't actually deduct for this can he? My mental starting point was that he can't but I have been proved wrong before!

2. If the answer to 1. is yes, does it still stand even though he cant provide proof of P?

3. On 31/07/06 I signed for an agreed amount to be taken from my deposit for extra cleaning (hence I only got £385 out of £400) now on that form, signed by me and the LL it says "Any further deductions to this figure must be confirmed in writing beforehand." Can I rely on this in my claim?

4. Will the fact that I am going after (probably) £15-20 from the LL look bad If it goes to a hearing? I realise it is a small sum but TBH the guy was a pain in the a$$ and he's only doing it because I gave him stick about coming round uninvited. Plus it is MY money

5. How would you rate my chances of success in making the claim?

Thanks in advance for any answers!

[blacksheep1979]

He has no proof of postage so no leg to even start standing on - even if he did then it is not up to you to pay for a cheque to be canceled. Write him a letter giving him 14 days to provide you with the full £385 or you will have no choice but to pursue a legal course of action to regain your money. You can point out that if the other cheque was ever cashed then he could take the matter up with the bank/police to get his money back, but this is beside the point and nothing really to do with you.

Courts will look on this just as badly with him due to it being £20 or so as you claiming it. The added nicety is that he'll end up paying the court costs of £30.

[jimmy944]

Blacksheep,
Thanks for the reply, the LL has said he's sending on the bulk of the money so I think i am going to wait 7 or so days to see what happens. Plus it gives him time to breach his own agreement with me (the one about further deductions being confirmed in writing). Nothing like giving people enough rope to hang themselves!

The added nicety is that he'll end up paying the court costs of £30.

Plus the fact that if he actually wants to defend the case (highly unlikely) he's got to travel 70 odd miles to my county court as I am no longer living where I rented before!

[MrShed]

What a load of rubbish. If it has been lost in the post it is due to HIS negligence in ensuring to send the item using a suitable method of posting. You will win, no question.

[blacksheep1979]

actually you normally have to travel to the defendants court - but can claim travel expenses.