Hi I moved into my rented property over 2 years ago, initially signed a 6 month lease which lapsed into a rolling monthly tenancy as the Letting agent didn’t send me a renewal letter in time. It’s been a slightly odd tenancy in that I live in Scotland and the original letting agency was dealing with me remotely in England. A few months ago they notified me they’d ‘passed across’ management of the property to another agency, and this new lot have been worse than flaky. A month ago they a letter addressed to me requesting £YY for renewal, but they enclosed an AST agreement that was meant for someone else) I braced myself for some fun and games, and returned the letter to their office along with a letter explaining their error (and also that I won’t be paying any renewal fee as I’m on a rolling contract.) 2 weeks later I receive a letter demanding £XX in rent arrears, and upon phoning them they explain my rent ‘has been raised’ by £XX monthly. I cheerfully explain that they need to give me a calendar months notice to do this and in writing, and that all I’d had from them was a mis addressed letter which I returned. They said they’d ‘look into it’ - clearly now this person was way outside their normal experience. I then received another demand for £XX along with a vague threat of eviction, and called again, politely reiterating and reminding them of the story so far from my side. Well, today I had a phonecall from someone who seemed a bit more senior in the office. She enquired whether I’d had a letter about renewal of an AST. Again I explained, that as far as I was concerned, I am on a rolling contract, and am still awaiting written notice of the rent increase before I pay anything. I’ve tried to be patient and polite with these people, but the problem is that they are so geographically remote, that they don’t care that I’m an excellent tenant who looks after the property. As both the current agency and the previous agency are 300 miles south, a property inspection has not been arranged for 2 years. All they care about is trying to prise charges and rent rises out of me. Half of me wants to smooth this over as I’m happy to keep on the tenancy (particularly as I’m very busy with work). The other side of me, if this nonsense continues, wants to quit and look for another flat, at which point I intend to take them to court over initial charges (which are unlawful in Scotland), and take the whole issue to my MP and the media. Above all, if they keep insisting I need to hand over a fee and sign for 6 / 12 months, should I stand my ground?

Hi. I'm renting on an AST in Scotland. My landlord (agency) is in England. I heard nothing from them about my deposit protection scheme after moving in a year ago, and have enquired again recently but received no reply. I have read that landlords in England and Wales must protect the deposit by law, but have been trying to find out if this still applies if the property is in Scotland. All information I can find is vaguely worded. Anybody understand the true situation here? Thanks

Hi. I'm renting on an AST in Scotland. My landlord (agency) is in England. I heard nothing from them about my deposit protection scheme after moving in a year ago, and have enquired again recently but received no reply. I have read that landlords in England and Wales must protect the deposit by law, but have been trying to find out if this still applies if the property is in Scotland. All information I can find is vaguely worded. Anybody understand the true situation here? Thanks

Really? I've never heard of somebody doing this. Can anyone elaborate on the legal basis for this? So - what I should do - I will tell them I live there but should withhold the landlord information and previous address and explain to them I will charge for this?

Hi, moved house (and city) a couple of months ago, to a new rented flat. The council in my new place have sent me a "liability enquiry form". They have my name, but actually it's addressed to the wrong flat. At the bottom of the form, they state if I am not the owner, then I have to give them details, not only of all of the occupiers, but also the landlord's name and address, my previous address. I've never had to give that before. Are they entitled to this by law? If not, then they are being nosey, and chancing their arm, and I have no intention of returning this form. Can anyone advise me. I know that by law they have a right to ask for information about occupiers. The rest seems dubious to me.

Is anybody here going to phone into "Moneybox live" programme on Radio 4 - starts very soon at 3pm, lines close at half past

SUCCESS!!!! I sent them one extra letter after the LBA, giving them another "7 days" as "a gesture of goodwill" before submitting court claim, and voila, money appeared in account today. I'm now expecting "we will be closing your account" letter although this will be reported to the OFT, FSA and FOS if it happens. I've got my charges back, but there are big moral issues here - the banks should be beaten with a stick for their behaviour. My advice to other would be to stick to your schedules and be persistent and firm, this does work! jazzorgan

Hello, I am going after smile for the 3rd time, for charges and debit interest totalling £650. They seem to be playing silly games with me this time. Let me recap - after charging me £25 twice in “commission” in one week, I sent a secure message in complaint. They refunded £25 quickly, although this was a couple of days after I’d sent my LBA. No problem I thought, when I fill in the court forms, I’ll just adjust the figure I’m claiming. In the LBA, I gave them 14 days’ notice before court action. I’m now set on going through the FOS, although I haven’t told Smile this. I plan to give them another final warning letter with an extra 7 days. However, Smile have thrown a spanner in the works by refunding about £100 to my account today, in “Adjust Fees Unpaid Items” and “Adj Commission”. .. Any speculation on what their tactics are here? My intention is to send them the 7 days warning letter and say that I accept this as part payment of the amount due, but nevertheless am claiming for the full amount of unlawful charges taken and am keeping to my schedule. I’m already operating fully from my parachute account, as Smile warned me about “reviewing my banking facilities in the event of another request for the return of charges”. This was after I claimed successfully from them last year.... Any retaliatory action from them will be notified both to the OFT and to the FOS. Any advice? Am I on the right track. I also wondered if this tactic (“obfuscation” might be the right word) has been tried on anyone else on the forum? Thanks, and good luck with your own action... Jazzorgan

They closed your credit card account? I didn't think they were able to do that, as it is under a separate agreement. You have made me think twice about claiming. I am slowly paying off my credit balance but it still runs into a few thousand pounds that I cannot possibly afford to pay back at once. I'm quite prepared for them to close my current account and have been looking at options for a parachute account. Any thoughts on this?

Hi I successfully claimed about £900 back from Smile in the autumn last year. (in two rounds, both times they payed up after receiving the LBA) On the second round they threatened to “review my banking facilities” should I ask for the return of any more charges! Fast forward to today, and since then they have taken an additional £550 in charges, which has now surpassed the amount I am in debt to them through my overdraft, so I have decided to go in again, perhaps for the final time if they close my account (I’ll get a parachute account once I get going on the claim.) Since 2006, it seems the waters have muddied slightly about the best way to claim. Last time I claimed successfully I was very confident, but I’m less so now – for a start I live in Scotland and I read a post that said the best way to proceed in Scotland was to go through the Financial Ombudsman Service. I had a look also at the moneyclaim site and wish that I had the option of doing it that way, but alas that’s only if you live in England, right? Well, I am English and my parents still live there, can anyone tell me if that opens up any options to me? I’d just like to know which road to go down in order to get my money returned. I’d like to avoid having to file a claim at the Sherriff Court in Edinburgh, as it seems the most demanding (and risky) approach, although I did look over a copy of some of the forms last year and they didn’t seem too daunting, and I’m happy to pay the £40? if i get it back along with the charges. I'd appreciate any comments or advice any of you might be able to give me, and I'd like to say thanks for your continued fighting spirit and community on this forum. jazzorgan