Letting agent not returned full deposit

[Derfel]

Two friends and I rented a flat for our second year at university (in Scotland). We moved most of our stuff out after our exams finished, about 4 weeks before the tenancy ended. We intended to return to clean and finish moving things out in the last week of the tenancy. We had an obligation to tell them if the flat would be unoccupied for more than 7 days, which we did. One of my flatmates returned her keys but we retained the other two sets.

A week before the end of the tenancy they sent a letter to me saying they'd done the final inspection and that there were defeciencies. I wrote back pointing out that they had no permission to do this inspection, since the contract had not ended and they had had no instruction to proceed with the inspection. They didn't reply, so I phoned them and they referenced a ficticious answering machine message from my flatmate authorising them to do so! (Since then they have changed their story four times).

To cut a long story short, they didn't reply to letters, didn't return phone calls, and ignored three letters from a legal aid solicitor. I found out that they didn't have the required HMO license for the property, which is illegal and puts them in breach of contract, and they didn't show us a gas safety certificate. According to the council, there should have been a fire extinguisher in the kitchen too. And, checking the sums, we overpaid rent.

I sent a letter to the agent in March saying that while we are not liable for the cleaning costs because they effectively ended the tenancy early, we'd pay them on condition that they return the whole of the rest of the deposit, plus the excess rent, and interest, and gave them 14 days or small claims. I said if it got to the small claims court I would be claiming back the whole deposit.

Two weeks went by, and nothing, so I phoned them again. They claimed the excess rent was an administration fee that we were told about when we signed the contract. We were not, and this fee isn't detailed in the contract. They said the usual "this is non-negotiable", "our word against theirs", and an oxymoronic "we're up front about hidden charges". They returned the deposit without interest, minus cleaning, but they also said that they checked their records again and found that they'd also had to employ a plumber to unblock a sink - £35. This wasn't mentioned when they finally sent us invoices 8 months after moving out. Both sinks in the property were fine when we left.

I'm back in England now the academic year has finished. Is it worth taking them to court for the rest of the deposit? Are they entitled to charge fees which they have not told us about up front? I know I can only ask for 8% interest from the date of the filing of the claim, but would a judge be sympathetic if I asked for what this has actually put us out of pocket, i.e. the student loan interest rate from the date we quit the property? And my last question, can I sue them in an English court or do I have to wait until I'm back in Scotland in September?

Thank you, sorry for the long-windedness.

[fallen404]

Verbal contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on. If they're claiming these charges, they have to justify them. This means they need an invoice for the plumber and the cleaning. Any "standard charges" ought to be in their standard contract. If they're not, then they've got nothing to fall back on. I'd say your best bet is to tell them you plan to take court action, and give them a week or two to stump up the rest.

[natalie]

I agree, I would also write them a letter setting out what you expect of them and give them 14 days to respond before starting your claim.

[Derfel]

Thank you for the replies

Can I do this in an English small claims court, despite the company, the flat, and the points of law, being Scottish? Thanks.

[Derfel]

Originally Posted by fallen404

Verbal contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on. If they're claiming these charges, they have to justify them. This means they need an invoice for the plumber and the cleaning. Any "standard charges" ought to be in their standard contract. If they're not, then they've got nothing to fall back on. I'd say your best bet is to tell them you plan to take court action, and give them a week or two to stump up the rest.

Alternatively I could try to claim back the last 2 weeks rent since they effectively terminated the contract early. They have sent a cleaning invoice but not one for the plumber.

But without LawTel how do I find similar cases to argue my case with?

[nuggy]

hi there
im going through the small claims court at the moment with regards to letting agent not giving me my full deposit of 900.
i did everything that was requried of me, i cleaned the place from top to bottom and left no damage,paid all my ultiltiy bills and handed them in and the letting agent charged me 125 for cleaning the property(they showed me fotos )150 for clearing the garden (showed me fotos again few plant pots and toys) both i feel were unnesasary work that was carried out. there were no invoices for these till i took it to court.
200+ for extra weeks rent because they had failed to keep their records updated, plus charges for letters!! out of 900 they tried to give me a cheque for 350 f**king joke!!
so i tried to take it to the small claims court and it has been a complete nightmare!! its been 5 months since i moved out.
the courts are considering striking out my claim because the agents were acting on behalf of my landlady.
i was told i should pursue my landlady for my deposit, iv been in contact with her and she has confirmed that she has not got the deposit(she has been extremely helpfull)
so basically i have to sue my landlady who then has to try and get the money of the agents to give to me.. not an easy task!
iv been told by a solicitor that i dont stand a chance
anyway i went round to my landladys house(she now lives in my old property) to explain to her what was happening showed her the court papers and the fotos the agents had presented to the courts as proof that work had to be carried out... and to my surprise she told me no work has been carried out, the supposedly things that had to be fixed i.e plantpots marks on walls etc were still there!!
iv got to take fotos of these things plus iv managed to get records to proove i dont owe extra rent and put them to the courts, its looking better but theres still no gurantees..
good news for others from april or may 2007 every letting agency have to be registered with a seperate agency(not sure what they'r called,but like govening body) and these seperate agency protects your deposit and if they'r not registered their not allowed to trade

[MrShed]

2 points:

- Start a new thread - this thread is 8 months old.

- If you are suing the agent for your deposit, then you CANNOT win. You have no contract with the agent. Whether the landlord has your deposit or not, it does not matter - the agent has ZERO responsibility to return your deposit, legally.