All, Thanks for your responses. The landlord had stated that he was making deductions from the deposit, and that he would only return £500 of it in his letter. I have not received any payment to date, and I stated clearly in my written response that I would accept this sum in relation to the return of the deposit itself. I do not believe that this statement will allow a landlord to escape a breach of current law, and I also believe that I have the right to take them to court for acting outside of the law (beginning to sound like a pastor here)!! As far as the DPS is concerned, he has stated in his letter that the deposit was protected, but I have letters from all three schemes confirming that no deposit was lodged. If he wants to use my written letter in court re: F&F settlement of £500, then I will use his re: DPS membership, along with the tenancy agreement which also made this false statement. Also, as the deposit was not protected, then does the landlord have the right to make any deduction from the deposit at all bearing in mind that he held it illegally? Thanks, Richard.

I held a tenancy with a private landlord between the 20th March 2008 and 8th September 2008, and the tenancy agreement did not specify that the tenancy was for any fixed period of time, and no notice period was specified in the agreement. The flat was part furnished – a couple of tables, bed, kitchen utilities, Hoover. The address of the landlord was listed as being the rented flat and not his actual address. I lived in the one-bedroom flat, and he collected his mail and the rent in cash each month. I paid a deposit of £850, and the rent was also £850. No inventory was taken or agreed (apart from the items listed above). The landlord was recently served with a distress order by the council, and bailiffs delivered the order as an open letter to the flat, relating to non-payment of council taxes, which he was responsible for paying (this was stated in the tenancy agreement). I was not happy with this, as if the bailiffs were not dealt with they could have entered the flat and removed my possessions, and if they had sealed the letter that was delivered, I would have to report the loss as a burglary while the landlord’s debts would have been seen as cleared. I left the property with one week's notice as a result of this, and have since been in a dispute with the landlord regarding the return of the deposit. He is now offering full and final settlement of £500, after I threatened to take him to court for failing to protect the deposit. I had requested the return of the entire deposit from him, and given one month for the issue to be resolved, stating that further action would be taken if I did not receive the full amount back. During the tenancy, I did not receive any scheme details or reference number, and both the Deposit Protection Service and The Dispute Service have confirmed in writing that they have no record of the rented address being in their scheme. The contract stated that the Deposit Protection Service (DPS) was used to protect the deposit, but gave the telephone number of The Dispute Service (TDS - 0845 226 7837). The third scheme, My Deposits, have also been contacted, and I am awaiting confirmation from them as to whether the deposit was registered with them (the online search found no record of the deposit with this scheme). In his letter, the landlord said that as I am no longer his tenant, he does not have to provide me with the deposit protection scheme details or reference number. He also said that he is making deductions from the deposit for various things including ‘lost rent’, and items such as a b/w camera fitted outside the flat by the landlord, and not referenced in the tenancy agreement. Sorry for the long story, but I have the following questions on the above:- 1) Could you please let me know if this tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy despite not being for a fixed period of time (e.g. 6 months), and with no notice period specified? 2) If so, then as long as the deposit was not protected by the My Deposits scheme, can I complete an N208 County Court Claim form (or do I use the N1:confused:) even if I am no longer a tenant of the flat? 3) Also, if I accept the full and final settlement of £500 (I have agreed to this in writing but not received or cashed the cheque) can I still make a claim that the holding of the deposit was in breach of the law despite leaving the property and getting the £500 back? 4) The landlord has also said that he has made deductions for unauthorised decoration of the flat, but the contract did not state that I had to request permission for, or could not redecorate any part of the property without consent of the landlord. Is this valid? 5) Does anyone know how long this would take to be dealt with by the courts? I have all of the documentary evidence, and am awaiting a letter from the third deposit protection scheme before deciding how to proceed with this. Thanks for taking the time to read my post – your responses will be greatly appreciated. 8) Richard.

Thanks for the advice. I have sent the CCA letter, and will think about filling in the BR forms online later this week. I will keep you informed of how this goes.

Hi, Having sent my FS and payment offer to creditors, I have received a Default Notice, and a demand for 9k in the next 48 hours from a collection agency employed by E**. I don't have this, so I expect that the next step will be a CCJ. I will not be telephoning C*ed*t S*l**ions, and will not discuss any aspect of the debt apart from in writing, so if they turn up at my doorstep they will have to leave empty handed. As far as Baillifs go, can they force entry into my home if a CCJ is granted and not paid? As I have 9 creditors, I plan to dispute the CCJ on the basis that granting a CCJ to one creditor is the same as me giving them preferential treatment, which I thought was against the law? How long does it take for a creditor to get a CCJ? I will provide any court with my FS and copies of any letters showing my offer of payment, and also inform the court of the total outstanding debt owed. If they think that my offer is acceptable, I can pay more, or should be made bankrupt, then this is up to them. In the meantime, if court action is being taken, should I start payments as stated in my letter, or not bother with this? I have just got up to date with mortgage and secured loan arrears, and do not know if I should continue with these payments or start saving for a rental deposit early. Any thoughts on this will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the responses. I had tried to enter an IVA, but M*NA and N.R are amongst my biggest creditors, and many organisations have advised BR rather that put forward the application. Also, the IVA would cost me another 8k, which I can't afford. I have not sent CCA requests as yet, as I was trying to see if any agreement could be reached first. If not, then I will request CCA's and also letters to reclaim bank and credit card charges * 9, as this should reduce the total owed by something. Regarding the AMEX card, I will need to return it if any bankruptcy petition is made - perhaps I would not be able to use it anyway once defaults exist on my credit file? I had hoped (and tried) to consolidate, but as this has failed, poor credit will not bother me again, so I am not too worried about the presence of negative entries in my credit file. Not sure how to proceed with my employer on this though, as I need to be able to make the trip to the USA. I am desperate for this not to get out at work, even though I don't think that my job is under threat. Burgerking

Hi, I am is a situation where I owe 70k to unsecured creditors, and have a property with roughly 18k equity. I have been unable to meet the minimum payments on my credit card and loan accounts, and have made no payments on these since October, as I have been clearing mortgage and secured loan arrears, and this is now complete. I earn £2,100 per month, and after priority payments (mortgage, secured loan, lease etc.) I have £457 available to pay 9 creditors. I have sent a copy of my financial statement, along with a letter explaining that I am offering what I can afford, but there has been no response to this. I have worked it out to be 0.65% of each outstanding balance, until I could sell my home and move into rented accommodation. This would then allow me to increase the payments being made, and should also release a lump sum that could be used to reduce the debt. I have received three default notice letters, which I accept, as I cannot pay the outstanding arrears on any of the accounts. My question is that bearing in mind that I already have three default notices that are about to be registered against me, would it be better to file for bankruptcy, and accept the consequences of doing so? My only concern with the above is that I have a corporate AMEX card, which is to be used for company related travel, and I am due to go to the USA early next year for a training course. If I am made bankrupt (or have the defaults recorded), can the corporate card still be used, or will this be seen as obtaining credit? I have never used the AMEX card since I got it. I am aware that the creditors may go for charging orders as there is equity in the property, but I thought that this could not be done without sending me an official court document which I have a specific period of time to respond to. If this is the case, should I just wait for the first official court letter to arrive and then file for bankruptcy, or is it better to do this now? Also, could a CCJ / Charging Order / Baillifs threat for a single creditor be seen as giving preferential treatment to them? I don't think that there is a realistic chance of the creditors accepting my monthly payment offer, even though it is all that I can afford. Thanks, Burgerking