 When your deposit is retained ...
First of all, don't despair!
I was lodging with a family of four who rented a private property through a letting agency in Sussex. The letting agency gave notice to my friends as the landlord wished to repossess the property. Accordingly my friends found alternative privately rented accommodation and arranged to relocate.
There had been a spillage of oil from an office chair in one room and my friends agreed that the landlord could deduct a cleaning amount from the deposit. We then went around the house and carried out minor repairs where pictures had been placed on walls etc.
The letting agency paid a visit and assured my friends that all was in order and the deposit would be returned on the day that they left.
On said day, we had a 7-tonne hire truck and were loading the family's belongings in but were running short on time. The letting agency wanted to come at 4pm to sign off the property and when they arrived, we were just sweeping and mopping the floors and hoovering carpets.
Then the bombshell was dropped, just £300 of the original £700 deposit was returned with the excuse that the retention was to cover "damage" that simply did not take place. It was an attempt to deduct for wear and tear.
The family did not have the money to pay the full deposit on the new home they moved to in Essex but the landlady was extremely helpful, understood their plight and allowed us to move in anyway, at almost midnight after the journey from Sussex!
I wrote to the letting agency and in short, they flatly refused to co-operate and return the deposit. I complied a strongly worded letter informing them that we would take the matter to court if need be. They replied with a letter saying that they would bring in their legal team etc etc and cost us extra money etc.
Eventually it was agreed that a meeting would be arranged between the property owner and tenant to discuss the issue but this never took place.
We started court proceedings in the small claims court and served notice on the agency. After much hooing and haaing, the agency sent cheques to cover the amount, less £100 which my friend said could be retained for the damaged carpet. The agency said the landlord preferred to settle "out of court".
However, one cheque was made out wrongly and could not be cashed. When we returned this and asked for its replacement, it was never reissued and again the agency started a fresh line of refusal.
We reissued court proceedings for the full amount including the £100 and for a further £250 for costs incurred in recovering the money.
Before the matter came to court, we had received the full deposit from the agency. We did not press for the recovery charges.
So the moral is, don't give up. Persevere and stand by your rights. Deposit retention is a common problem but landlords cannot legally retain deposit money without very strict and quantifiably valid reasons.
Last edited by Newsmedia; 13th January 2007 at 14:54.
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