A landlord here,

tenants moved into my property on the 7th June 2013, WM Letting agents Paddock Wood took £1450 deposit from the tenants, Two weeks later I received a letter confirming the deposit has been protected with MYDEPOSITS scheme.

15th September I called W&M Letting agent asking for confirmation no./ certificate number, I was fobbed off.

So I then called MYDEPOSITShttp://www.mydeposits.co.uk and was told on four occasions in one day that they do not have the tenants deposit.

17th September- Certificate number received from W&M Letting agentby email. No official documentation received.

18th I called MYDEPOSITS to confirm the certificate number. I was told to my surprise W&M Letting agent took the insurance out online only on the 17th of September 2013.

I sent an email for W&M Letting agent stating the facts and asking for an explanation why they have not abided by the new legislation and have fraudulently sent me incorrect information knowing it was untrue.

W&M Letting agent have replied saying for data protection of the tenant: NO COMMENT

here is the legislation-

https://www.depositprotection.com/legislation

"From 6th April 2012, deposits for all assured short hold tenancies (ASTs) in England and Wales must now be protected within 30 calendar days of receipt by the landlord, this change is as a result of the Localism Bill 2011."

I have asked W&M Letting agent to return my tenants deposit to my tenant, they are refusing saying the tenancy terms have not finished (06th June 2014 is the end date)

Please can anyone advise how do I proceed in this matter? Ie how do I get W&M Letting agent to return my tenants deposit.

Do I need to report the letting agent and if so to whom/ which governing body?

Many thanks in advance

I have scanned in the relevant pages of the signed contract with M&W lettings 07/06/2013

Headed DEPOSIT SPECIFICS (6.0- 6.7) this also includes (6.8) Protection of the Deposit- Stated in this heading "The Deposit is safeguarded by Tenancy Deposits Solutions Limited (mydeposits.co.uk)", followed by their address and telephone number.

Correct me if I am wrong but this says in the contract that the deposit is already safeguarded with Mydeposits according to the signed contract???

Please find attached pages 14 and 15 from the 15 page signed contract M&W lettings 07/06/2013, between myself the tenant and M&W.

Regards

Please also see the additional attached page (undated) which I received on 07/06/2013, which again appears to show that the money has been registered with Mydeposits.

Moved to Residential & Commercial Lettings Forum

The deposit should have been protected and the information passed to the tenants within 30 days of the start of the tenancy.

Failure to do so exposes you to being sued by your tenant for the return of the deposit and possible compensation.

It is the LL responsibility to protect the deposit; your agent is not a party to the contract.

If action is started you may well have a claim against your agent for breach of your contract with them.

If you wish to return the deposit then your agent must do this, they are working for you.

Have you informed your tenant of the problem and discussed it them.

You may well get additional advice by posting on the landlord zone site.

The deposit should have been protected and the information passed to the tenants within 30 days of the start of the tenancy.

Failure to do so exposes you to being sued by your tenant for the return of the deposit and possible compensation.

It is the LL responsibility to protect the deposit; your agent is not a party to the contract.

If action is started you may well have a claim against your agent for breach of your contract with them.

If you wish to return the deposit then your agent must do this, they are working for you.

Have you informed your tenant of the problem and discussed it them.

You may well get additional advice by posting on the landlord zone site.

Hi there Ray,

Thanks for your response. I am in close contact with the tenant and on amicable terms.

I think one solution would be for the tenant to sue me and then to settle with them and then pursue the letting agent through small claims court to recovery the deposit plus costs. I don't really want to go down that route however the LA is really digging their heels in and being difficult whilst refusing to return the funds either to myself or to the tenant.

Could you post a link up to the Landlord Zone site? that would be helpful is it part of CAG or a separate external site?

Many thanks

Best Regards

BB

LLzone is a separate site, but is easy to register and post up for advice.

As mainly LL on the site, they may well have come across this problem before.

What I suggest is for the tenant to sue you and the LA as joint defendants and see if this gets some response from them.

Doubt judge would be very sympathetic with LA as you have tried to sort it.

Get tenant to write to LA with request for return of deposit, quoting legislation, in first instance or he will take them and you to court.

This may make them see sense?

LLzone is a separate site, but is easy to register and post up for advice.

As mainly LL on the site, they may well have come across this problem before.

 

What I suggest is for the tenant to sue you and the LA as joint defendants and see if this gets some response from them.

Doubt judge would be very sympathetic with LA as you have tried to sort it.

Get tenant to write to LA with request for return of deposit, quoting legislation, in first instance or he will take them and you to court.

This may make them see sense?

Yes this makes sense,

It could be time consuming but for the moment seems to be the only option. Thanks for taking the time to clarify this.

Best Regards

BB

quick couple of questions and an interesting link:

1. Once the deposit has been insured by MYDEPOSITS....should I receive some kind of certificate? Or an official document from MYDEPOSITS. Personally I do not think an email from the Letting agent with a certificate number is not sufficient.

2. Is the L.A required by law to keep all tenants deposits in a separate client bank account?

There was a very interesting article on bbc r4...on the subject....but these estate agents ran off with £135k of 40 or so peoples' deposits.

Is only 10 mins long and quite succinct

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jmjnt

Best regards

BOb.

The LL is responsible for protecting your deposit, however many leave it up to the LA.

If an insurance backed scheme the LL can do what he wants with your deposit.

If LA runs off with it, you are still covered as the LL is the person who has to give it back.

Yes the scheme will confirm the amount and tenant for the deposit is registered for, ask for it, or you can check with the scheme on line.

OP is the LL, not the T

OP is the LL, not the T

Thanks Mariner51!

sorry, did not read all the thread again!