Hi, Received a letter from the estate agent asking us to pay our rent into a different account. Verified this was genuine and had confirmation from Estate Agent and Landlord. Reason given below: The 2 guys who own the estate agents (Neil & Gabriel) are having problems. Neil is trying to buy out Gabriel to solve the dispute. In the meantime Gabriel is refusing to co-sign the bank transfers from the company account and Neil claims that he is unable to transfer any rent paid into this account. Neil has setup a sole trader account so he is able to transfer the money to the landlord. My concerns: - I'm breaking the terms in the tenancy agreement as i'm paying money into an account different to the one on the contract. - Neil and Gabriel aren't getting on, Gabriel could claim Neil is trying to fraudulently do him out of money - Is Neil telling the truth, do you actually need both parties present in order to transfer the money? Thanks.

Ok will do. Thanks for your help. I'll let you know how it pans out!

Thank you Guido T. You indeed confirm my suspicions that it is a grey area. Do you know where i may find any previous cases that have gone to court as i am sure there are many people in my dilemma, i may be able to gauge the outcome of these to help better inform me on my next move. I suppose a no win no fee lawyer may be best suited for this if i do take it to court as the compensation could potentially be double my original deposit?

I started a tenancy in December 2009 and my annual rent equated to £30,000 per annum. At the time of signing my contract in December 2009, the legislation stated that my deposit did not have to be registered to a deposit scheme eg mydeposits.co.uk because the rent is above £25,000. The legislation changed during my tenancy on 1st October 2010 to say that any tenancy with rent below £100,00 per annum had to now be protected. My landlord did not protect my deposit from this date, is this breaking the law? If so then i know i am entitled to my full deposit plus compensation through the courts. The main confusion is that the legislation changed mid tenancy. It has now been 4 weeks since moving out and i am nowhere closer to getting my deposit returned as the estate is holding it. Any help will be much appreciated. I have spoken with mydeposits and the citizen advise bureau. Thanks in advance.

Letting agent got back to me and their reason for not having keys to access the property is as follows: When builders take on a job that requires an excess amount of working days and which the tenants agree upon, then the keys are signed out and held by the builder until the completion of the work. In this case, the keys were with the builder who was working on fixing the outstanding items in the XXX property, in and around the Christmas / New Year period. The XXX office was closed during this period, however I, by chance, was in the office for administration purposes and responded to your call- subsequently assisting you in entering into the property. Their reason for not showing me an invoice from the actual locksmith company is as follows: You requested a service to be provided on your behalf through XXX (the agency). This is the reason why an invoice has been produced by XXX. The company that provides / brokers a service on behalf of the client, invoices the client. Are these both legitimate reasons??

thanks for the advice. is it best to speak to the debt collection agency and tell them the situation or shall i just ignore them? i presume they won't care and will only be after the money.

it was the landlord. not that i will pay for the locksmith but am i legally entitled to see the original invoice?

We had only been in the property for 4 weeks so the landlord just decided to change them. There was no actual reason given but i know it was not because the door or lock was damaged

Hi, Im in a dispute over an invoice for a locksmith. I tried to access my property but the locks had been changed and had been given no written warning to say this was going to happen or a new set of keys. The letting agent did not have keys either so a locksmith was called out and paid for by the letting agent. The letting agent has now tried to charge me for this service but will not show me the invoice for the locksmith, only an invoice they have created. I have refused to pay and they have passed it on to a DCA who have sent me a letter (the first of many i presume). I have contacted The Property Ombudsman (TPO) and sent the Letting Agent a formal complaint which they have 21 days to respond to. If they dont respond, what ways can TPO help? Ive read some of the threads and templates which will come in handy but wondered what to do next? Will they have to take me to court to get the money? Will they try and deduct it from my deposit when i move out? Thanks In Advance