raydetinu, ive already written my lba to ll and they wrote back a list of deductions for damages so they keeping deposit (which i want to dispute) but cant seem to do it on mydeposit without a dpc number which was never sent to us.

Any more help pls? I cant seem to be able to lodge my dispute on mydeposit witout the dpc number but we never recieved one. I wrote to mydeposit requestin a copy of it but theyve yet to send anythin to us,.. is this the only way i can dispute and if so, shouldnt i have recieved a copy of the dpc?? One other thing. One of the so-called damages caused was due to their bath/shower not been properly sealed where a glass sqiveling guard meets the bath rim, so everytime the shower was used, it leaked under the bath and down to the ground floor room. How can we be blamed for somethin that we obviously have no control over such as water leakin through the shower? Theyve since had the guard perminantly sealed to the bath now so it cant be moved.

I tried to lodge a dispute with them before but they were askin for the deposit protection certificate number to do it? which we never recieved so i wrote to them requestin a copy... (see previous post)

On mydeposits' website, it was registered as protected, yes. Do I need to let a ceartain body know, now that we officially have a dispute with the deductions? And is there any thing else I should do before pursuing this in court??

Got a letter from them today regarding how much they are deducting for damages. The original deposit was £1300.00, and they are deducting £1311.00, so they are now demanding we pay them the "outstanding balance". The list of damages include cleaning the oven £75.00 (originally quoted as £60), a damage to the downstairs toilet (which was actually caused by their workman when repainting the toilet) and damp in the downstairs cloakroom which amounted to about £650? Basically they saying we owe them the monies. I'm obviously going to dispute this as its ridiculous. Do I need to reply to them with a letter or do I just fill in a form for processing? Thanks again guys!

Ok so still nothin since postin letter last week askin for full deposit back within 7 days. Should i file the legal forms as its nt goin anywhere...?

Basically, we gave the agent who checked the property on the way out the copy of the check-IN inventory we had in our file. During the check-in check, we looked over the basic condition of the place which was all stated as "good" and so we signed it. Now, on the way out, they came to inspect without an inventory so we said we still has our original check-in inventory so let him use that to look over the condition of the place, which he said was also all good except the oven which needed a proper clean quoted as £60, which we agreed to pay. So they took our original check-in inventory which also had our signatures as we signed it on the way in, but we never signed anything on the way out. If they try to use that original inventory as proof of signing out, it'll be false as the third tenant was actually already vacated 2 weeks beforehand and was not present at the check out day, so his signature on the inventory shows it was the check-in one and no check-out inventory was given or signed. Makes sense????

Ok so now that be letter has been sent, what are the actual possible outcomes/reactions? I mean, if they get back to me with full deposit thats a result bt for example... 1) If they refuse to return the deposit in full bt deductions are fair? 2) If they reply with unreasonible amount of deposit and i want to dispute? 3) If they reply and say they are fightin and want to take further, i.e court? 4) Dont reply at all/ within 7 days given?

Thanks again, and it's not that I'm not ignoring the advice, I tried to see if I could file a dispute and was told I needed this Deposit Protection Certificate to do it? I just thought, if I'm going to possibly file a dispute I wanted to make sure to have it before sending the letter and making it all official. Oh anyway, hows this for the letter, I'll send a.s.a.p: Letter Before Action Dear Sir On 29th June 2009, I, Mr. Kanine99, along with Mr. 01 and Mr.02, moved out of the property at XXX in good, clean condition as inspected by an agent from L.A. It is now over one calendar month since the move and despite repeated requests via L.A., you have still not returned our deposit of £XXX. If you do not send the deposit in full within 7 days of this letter I will instigate legal proceedings without further notice. The law also requires that at the end of the tenancy the deposit should be returned within 10 days. If there is a dispute the deposit must be handed over to the Alternative Dispute Service for safekeeping until the dispute is resolved by the scheme, not you, please confirm that you have done this. Yours faithfully Kanine99 And they did do an inventory at the start of the tenancy but it was all marked as "good condition" so I hardly think we left ANYTHING that was in anything less than good. Would it be worth saying that anything stated as "good" is.. well just that, "good", not "excellent" or "brand new" condition? So how can they say we left it in such a terrible state... oh and on the way out they didn't bring an inventory to do the check so we let them use our original moving-on one, which they took away with them!

Ok so I'm still waiting for the deposit protection certificate to be sent to me as it wan't sent to us originally. Should I write to the LA requensting some info about the deposit as we are now over one calendar month after our move and still no news. Or should I wait to get the dpc so I can ofiicially claim a dispute?

Thanks a lot. I'm not sure where to start with this, they have said they are sending the full list of damages and deductions on Friday (reviece on Monday) so maybe I should wait to see what they finally decided before writing them the letter?? Also, I'm looking over the original contract and theres little mention of any or which "deposit scheme" its protected under, only mentions Housing Act 2004 and names the Letting Agent themselves as the Deposit holders? It also says any disputes should be forwarded to mydeposits.co.uk and they'll mediate? I'm also pretty sure that they did mention the protection of the deposit when we first signed the contract but they were also meant to send confirmation of this protection within 14 days, right? Not just the information that was on the contract, i.e deposit holders name/contact details. Relly appreciate your help guys so far btw! It's been great advice.

so we went in again to ask why they takin so long and they said the full list of damages will be sent out friday. they also said we would be lucky to get any of the deposit back and that they may even try and get more off us!! i cant believe them. damages they want to charge us foe include getting a new oven, cleaning all the windows and damage to a bathroom tile which was caused by their decorator when he was repainting the bathroom!! how much of this can they get away wit???

Hey thanks a lot! Yeah when we first signed the contract back in June 08 for the previous house they told us about the scheme, so I know we are protected. I've tried to enquire AGAIN about it and they said the same thing, "we are still trying to work out how much all the deductions are going to come off your deposit". Just like the delayed reference, I think they're just stalling. Is there no way I can force them to hurry along? If I wrote to them, that may help right? Also, how can they hold on to it for so long!? We moved on June 29th!

Hi there I can see a lot of people have the same problem with letting agents trying to con people out of as much cash as possible but I was wondering if anyone could help with my situation. It's in two parts: We moved into this property in June 2008 and stayed there for one year and moved out on the 29th June 2009, after cleaning the new property and handing back the keys. 1) I requested a reference from them to move in to a new place which the new letting agents were very understanding and helpful about as they were left waiting. Eventually we moved in without it as the agent and new landlord were satisfied we were of good nature and said the continued delays for the reference was ridiculous and they don't need it anymore as we've already moved in! The old letting agents are refusing to return the fee paid (£35!) as they claim it's already been sent but the new letting agents STILL haven't recieved it. And when we finally demanded to see this reference if they wont pay us back, they handed us a three sentence note which the new letting agent said didn't qualify as a reference as it had no actual detailed information. 2) It's now the 18th July, 20 days since we moved out and we are yet to recieve our deposit back. The old agents (during one of the later calls we made to them trying to sort this reference thing out) mentioned they were deducting monies from the deposit and they still didn't have to return it. When I asked what deductions she was talking about, she mentioned a damage in the bathroom (which one of their own decorators did in the final days of our tenancy when he was freshing up the paintwork) dusty/dirty blinds and curtains and other "wear and tear" issues. What are the actual rights of the tenants and what condition is considered wear and tear as I think they are trying to squeeze as much money out of us as possible. SORRY for the long message, but any info and help/advice would be appreciated as I'm not happy with this agents lack of professionalism and blatant rip-off work ethic. Cheers! Keiichi