letting agent withholding deposit

[nuggy]

my letting agents are withholding nearly 600 of my 900 deposit. they say its for cleaning bills. rent arrears etc.
cut a long story short iv taken them to court to try and recover the money,
but iv been informed i dont stand a chance of winning due to the fact they were acting on behalf of my landlady.
i have evidence to proove that i dont owe them rent and fotos to proove that work was not carried out to the property which i was invoiced for.
please can someone advise me on what to do next. i have 2 weeks to present my claim back to the judge

[MrShed]

I would withdraw the claim and issue a new claim against the landlady. You have zero basis on which to sue the letting agent, you have no contract with them.

[RCBanks]

You say that you were invoiced but did the letting agency actually provide receipts/other documentary evidence for the work that was carried out? If not, have you made a request?

If they did the work, there should be a paper trail and you are entitled to see a full breakdown of what your money was spent on. If they can't provide that, then I can't see that they have a case for making deductions.

[MrShed]

RC with respect, it is completely irrelevant with regards the paper trail, as the deposit CANNOT be claimed back from the agent.

[RCBanks]

No disputing that, Mr Shed. I just wanted some background on the situation given that court proceedings are being mentioned. I hadn't noticed that nuggy had outlined the case in a different thread:
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...-returned.html

[MrShed]

Fair enough

Appears to be yet another 1 post wonder however....I've never known a forum where so many people post a question and never come back!!

[knoxvillain]

surely my threads compensate for them though :P

[nuggy]

hi
i was given an invoice for the cleaning, but was only given an invoice for clearing off the garden when it went to court. it says its been paid but i know for a fact no work was ever carried out, and i can give foto evidence...
my contract clearly states that the agents will hold onto my deposit till i had done everything on my part once i had moved out...i HAD done everything yet they'r clearly trying to rip me off
im going to citizens advice on wednesday and im meeting a guy from trading standards....if the courts fail me then im getting a debt collector involved 2 try and get my money
its principle!! they shouldnt be allowed to rob people like that
will keep you posted

[knoxvillain]

when I went to CAB they advised me that we are also entitled to see a copy of the cheques used to pay for the work you could question in court why he can't provide you with proof the work was paid for. Anyone can write "Paid" on an invoice to kid on it's paid.

[MrShed]

Nuggy. Let me spell it out in case you didn't get it. DO NOT PURSUE YOUR CASE AGAINST THE AGENT. IT HAS NO LEGAL BASIS. You are merely wasting time and money pursuing the wrong person. The agent holds it ON BEHALF of the landlord, it MUST be the landlord you sue. You have zero, I repeat ZERO, legal relationship with the agent.

[nuggy]

mr shed
i know what your saying is correct.
i cant sue my landlady iv built a very good relationship with her she's going to sue the agency for other things because she has found out they have ripped her off on other things as well....im not sure what to do? do you think she can add my claim with hers against the agents?

[MrShed]

No! The law doesnt work like that. To reclaim money, you have to sue the person who is legally liable to give you it. You can ONLY get it back if you sue the landlord. If you do not want to do this fair enough, but say bye to your cash.

[knoxvillain]

What about getting it back from your landlady and then your landlady can sue the agent to get her money back? It is your landlady's responsibility to return it to you

[nuggy]

thanx for the advice guys
will keep you posted on outcome

[nuggy]

VICTORY!!!!!

After taken advice from you guys and talking to a solicitors I withdrew my claim from the letting agents with much regret....I contacted trading standards and made a formal complaint against the letting agents..but was basically told there wasn't much they could do except log my complaint..anyway I wasn't going to give up so I sent them the following letter...

Dear Mr Harrington,
I am writingg to advise you that I have withdrawn my claim against your firm after seeking legal advice with much regret.
I have been in contact with my landlady she has assured me she has not got any monies from my deposit.You have invoiced and charged me 275 pounds for clearing and cleaning the property.I have gained access into 14 ****road and have photographic proof this work was never done.(please find enclosed photos).
You have also charged me for an extra weeks rent.
Please find enclosed copy of print out from your firm which clearly states that I have been paying my rent on the 5th of every month since june 2005.
Please note that I had advised a member of your staff on the 04/08/06 that I would be moving out by the 9th sept(Hannah)
The actual date I moved out was the 8th sept.I came into your office on the 29th sept and paid 59.16 for the extra time I had stayed in the property.
My calculations Deposit 900
deductions 2 arrears letters -25.26
deductions bounce4 cheque -29.38
= 845.36
Due to no work was carried out for the clearing and cleaning and to your staffs incompetance in keeping records you owe me 845.36, which you should pay to me immediately.
I have made a formal complaint to Mr.***** at Trading standards in Brighton and Hove city council with regards to invoices which you have given me for work which was carried out and also photos showing this was not done(they have copies of this), I believe this is a breach of the Trade Description act 1968 you can discuss this matter with him if you wish on ****
I do not know why you have withheld so much of my deposit except for personal gain.
I can assure you that I will pursue this till I get my money back,my next steps would be to contact the local press and get my friends and family to protest outside your firm.
In the interest of the reputation of your company you wouldn't want me to do that would you?
I look forward to your response.

I sent this by recorded delivery
LORD AND BEHOLD!!..a cheque for 707.86 arrived the next day and the following letter..

Dear miss blah blah blah..........we do not take kindly to threats in relation to our office.If any protest is made outside our office we will have no choice but to request the local authority/police to arrest you for a nuisance.
However to try and compromise this matter we now enclose a cheque in full and final settlement of your deposit in the sum of 707.86 being the 275 which we have clearly deducted and have taken place but we have divided this by 50% and now enclose the balance of the cheque.If you return this then we will have no choice but to continue to fight this matter through the courts which we will have no hesitation in doing so.

ha ha!!
Iv accepted the cheque only because my landlady has already given me 200 pounds...so Iv managed to get all my deposit back...Iv had to wait 6 months to get my deposit back...loads of stress bangin my head against brick walls...only to find good old fashion protest is the only thing that works.... good luck to everyone who's going through what I had to go through!!

[Joseph White]

Hi Nuggy

Well done!! Your one of the few lucky ones

Joseph

[knoxvillain]

yeah well done