Hi there, just my quick two penneth. Did you sign a new tenancy every 6 months? I am a bit confused with "renewed periodically"

Goodness me, poor you, you have the same age gap between your children as me, so I know how hard it can be. Firstly the LA was wrong, at the end of the tenancy you can just leave with no notice. It is always courteous to give a months notice as you did. Secondly, it is very much your business where your deposit has been protected. I very much suspect that it was not, which is why you are encountering the frostiness from the LA. You need to contact 3 deposit schemes and give them the address of the property you lived in, they will be able to tell you if it was protected or not. You then must write to the LA, top of letter, Letter before Action. State that you insist that your deposit is returned within 7 days and that if it is not you will persue this through the courts. As you have no doubt read on this forum, you are entitled to your deposit returned plus x 3 if it is not protected. I would suggest the first thing you do is find out if it was protected, then we can move forward to help you with suing for the x3. If you find out the deposit is not protected, your LBA should ask for the return of your deposit plus x 3 so £2000 in total. Do feel free to ask more questions, Im very keen to help you get this compensation if deposit is not protected. x

Hi there, yes you can bring a claim if the LL returns your deposit in full. Sounds to me like your LL is being fair to you though. Could you not offer him the same fairness if you receive your deposit back in full. Some LL's deserve to be sued, from the little you have told us, your LL sounds like he was just ignorant to the protection system. Whilst I'm aware ignorance is no diffence, sometimes this legislation is unfair! x

Hi there. Although the guidelines say that the tenant should have the prescribed information within 14 days, if the LL has protected your deposit before the court hearing the judge "usually finds in the favour of the LL.

Do you know if your deposits are protected? You ought to find out if the LL has a licence for 10 people, I have just read that rent is not payable if the licence isnt correct. Do have a google on this as there is a lot of info on it that might help you. I am moving out of my area of thorough knowledge on this so dont rely on anything i have said without checking it out first x

Bummer, what a ratbag:mad: Might still be worth a try, a judge somewhere has got to sit up and realise that 14 days does mean 14 days, otherwise why put it in the legislation. I hope on day will take this too a higher court, then a precedent can be set and these rogue LL's will no longer have a get out of jail free card.

Thank you all very much. I paid a solicitor a one off fee for a consultation, then if I had any questions, I just phoned him, he was absolutley brilliant, Im sure he is glad to be rid of me as I phoned him at least one a week with a question. Bottle of Malt has been delivered to him though lol Its relatively easy and you dont need a brief but I just wanted a shoulder to lean on sometimes. Any questions, do ask, as im quite an expert on it now lol

You need to prepare well for your case. I am scouting around for you as I know there was a case which was similar to yours, the judge found in favour of the tenant, will keep looking and post the link when I find it x

Whooppee, just got the cheque, so glad its all over now. Im off shopping xxx

He he, I agree. It is all so unclear x

Hi I phoned all 3 schemes last week and was told that the deposit can not be protected once the tenancy has ended. Make of this, what you will, but here are the phone numbers if anyone feels the need to double check xxx DPS 08707071707 TDSL 08717030552 TDS 08452267837

If your deposit is protected, use the arbitration service provided. If your deposit is being witheld unfairly, this service will help you. We dont have the answer to why the legislation does not "do what it says on the tin", I agree its not right, but you are being agressive to people that are trying to help you. Try a little less gob!

I wonder if you have signed a joint and several liability that the LL could infact deduct from all your deposits but as Flying Doc says, LL would have difficulty proving this in court under your circumstances. The question about if your deposit is protected is key. Something is niggling me about deposits and HMO's though.

Hi there. The fact that the other tenant has not signed the agreement does not make any difference. They have showed that they agree by paying rent etc

Hi there. Did you have an inventory? My initial reaction to this is she is taking the biscuit. If any work is done, you should have been told about it first, also she should be able to show receipts etc. I would tell her to persue it through the courts if she wishes. In my opinion, I would not meet her, tell her to write to you, it's much easier to digest this way and you can think before you respond. Best of luck and keep us posted. x

Sounds ok to me. Do you only want your deposit back then, I thought you were going for the x 3 penalty, if thats the case you LBA should ask her for £3200. or maybe you just want your deposit back and are using the threat of suing as leverage?

Hi Lubilou, Hi your HAO is quoting from the advisory notes from the schemes and also the HA 2004, she is indeed correct. The HA 2004 act does catergorically state that it is an offence to not notify the tenant of the prescribed information within 14 days of receiving the deposit. However, there has only been one case ( of which I am aware of) that the judge has ruled in favour of the tenant, under such circumstances. If you have a spare £150, and are prepared to maybe lose, then go for it. Please rest assured that this site certainly does not discourage people against anything unless it appears not to be in their best interest, remember you are free to do exactly what you wish and that we can only advise of our own experience and opinions. Best of luck x

Also, part 8 claims can be changed to part 7 and allocated to track by the judge at the request of the defendent if there is a difference in fact, ( thats not what they call it, but almost, it escapes me), or if the case is not straight forward. I have also heard that judges take a poor view if you use a solicitor for this procedure. It is straight forwardish and you sound clever enough, so go for it x

I think it is important to reiterate the amount that you require the LL to pay. On reading your letter, it is unclear if you are just asking for the return of your deposit, or the return plus x3. If you want to sue for the deposit plus x 3 it is correct to ask for payment of £3200.00 within 14 days. It is important to get this letter correct as the judge will want to see that you have made every effort to recover the funds before going to court. x

Seeing as he has been trying it on, why dont you put the wheels in motion and sue him for the 3 x penalty. Funny how he has just changed hi mind ay?

I think what that means is that you dont rely on the deposit to pay the last months rent. Thats my take on it anyway x

lol, kisses

Think FD means not straight forward xxx;)

of course, Crossing everything for you x

yes, i got 3 x deposit plus court costs, had to buy a new handbag to celebrate x;)