I did start drafting a Form 1, however... Unfortunately my partner has vetoed the idea of suing our ex-landlady, she just wants to put the sorry affair behind us. I can think of no better way to do that than by bringing an action, but she doesn't want to be reminded of the stress and anger this person caused us any more. If there was some way of just easily reporting the various regulations she broke and duties she ignored, that would be great. Having to write a court document, and take action in court, is absurd. I don't need the money, I just want her to be told in no uncertain terms how crap she is at being a landlord. I'm still very interested in how your case goes, please share the experience for everyone here. Thanks, Alex

I was led to believe, though not by an expert, that the court may be lenient because she did register in the end, although late and supplying incorrect details. Having read through the actual regulations now, which are very clear, I am confident she has broken the regulations and the court could not find otherwise. What they choose to award in sanctions isn't predictable, but if my costs are paid and I've made her take responsibility for her obligations I'll be happy I have just discovered that I have been looking at the Summary Cause procedures, which are straightforward and designed for the layman, whereas I need to make a Summary Application, which uses a lot of legal language. I will have to find a tame solicitor. I cannot find any examples of this form for TDS actions. Thanks!

For some reason the system won't let me send a PM. I do have a question about how the law would be interpreted, which I'm hoping to get some advice on. I'm not asking you directly Lauren, but I thought it made sense to add it to this thread. When we asked our landlady about TDS a few weeks before moving out (yesterday), she did register the deposit. This is however over a year late, she only did it because we asked about it, she refused to apologise, and she blamed the council for not telling her she had to do it! She also has supplied incorrect details to the TDS, namely the address and the tenancy start date are incorrect. The late registration means we cannot start the reclaim process for 18 days, as the TDS has an anti-fraud time limit of 20 working days from deposit to reclaim. The legislation seems to be designed to penalise this sort of, quite literally, irresponsible landlord. I'm worried that Scots law will interpret her registering the deposit as the end of the matter though. Is it still worth pursuing her at the sheriff court for the failure to register? I suspect she will continue to treat tenants with this level of disrespect if nothing is done.

That's interesting, I thought you needed one to lodge the action. Are the court pretty helpful then? CHeers, Alex

Hi Lauryn, I'm having trouble finding solicitors who specialise in this area. Would you be able to name the solicitors you're using for your summary action? Thanks!