Hi all, 1st post! I recently had to move my horse from a livery yard on the basis of his welfare due to the yard owners management. They since have retained £100 from my deposit. A written contract was also involved. I believe I have the deposit has been extorted and fraudulently held. Before I post the full story....am I in the right place? Are there any 'horse people' or here or is that irrelevant, as in, facts are facts so post story and we'll see if we can help? My biggest question is whether a Small Claims Court will deal with my case which involves a percentage of the deposit retained, bullying/harassment I received from yard owner before my Notice period had ended and the reason why I had to move the horse which constitutes 'unnecessary suffering' under the Animal Welfare Act due to the yards management. Thank you in advance

Hi I'll break it down as I have a few queries. SITUATION On 3/12/2013 I signed a Subject to Contract form at the letting agents, and paid the deposit, first months rent etc before moving in on 6th January 2014 on a 6 month AST. at the end it then rolled onto a periodic rental, which I then signed up for 12 months fixed contract in December 2014. I received a leaflet called "What is the Tenancy Deposit Scheme" and in my tenancy contract it says "It is protected by the following scheme - The Dispute Service www.tds.gb.com" I do not hold any further information on the deposit. 3-4 weeks ago, the letting agents telephoned me saying I needed to come in to sign up again, and that my landlady is increasing my rent (about 9% per month extra) I explained that as I was looking to buy my first home, I cannot commit to a new 6/12 month tenancy. He said that I had to sign up, and I explained that last year I had been on a periodic contract for 6 months, before renewing for a further 12 months, and my landlady had previously had no problem with this. He then called me back after speaking to my landlady and informed me that she was not happy with this as her financial situation had changed, and she cannot rely on me giving 1 months notice on a periodic tenancy. I explained very politely that I had already given my reason why I am not committing, and he became very pushy saying that house sales take on average 12 weeks to complete, so if I was to start looking in February, then I would be able to move out after the 6 months AST expires in early June. (Ok, no one tells me what to do!) I briefly explained that I'm a first time buyer, and there are plenty of houses in the area with no forward chain, so the sale could be a lot quicker. He then said that if I don't sign up then I would not have much choice, and finding another property for a short-term let whilst waiting for my house purchase to go through would be very difficult, as most agents sign for a minimum of 6 months. I panicked (all bravado went out the window) and offered to give my landlady 2 months notice to quit if she let me stay on a periodic tenancy, and I also agreed to the rent increase. He has phoned me twice, asking me to confirm this. I returned his call after his first voicemail, confirming this with his colleague, and when he called me again and left another message asking me to confirm, I didn't bother returning his call as I was pretty fed up with him by now. Question 1. I emailed the letting agents to ask about the deposit, and they said that they hold a copy of the certificate - would I like to see it? Is this a breach of any law by not automatically providing it to me? TDS website says it cannot find any record of my deposit using the information I provide - name, postcode, deposit amount. Question 2. Even though I have verbally accepted the rent increase, should I receive proper and legal notification of rent increase, before I pay the higher amount in December? Question 3. As I agreed verbally to provide 2 months notice to quit when I go onto a periodic rental tenancy, to avoid my landlady serving me a Section 21, do I have to do this by law? Question 4. My copy of the initial 6 month AST has not been signed by the Landlord/Agent - should it have been? From memory, I think they signed the copy they kept (they had printed off 2 copies, as opposed to giving me a photocopy of the original one). Question 2 and 3 relate to that I really did panic, as I don't want to have to move out for maybe 2 months before moving into the place I hope to buy, as I'm worried how the mortgage lender will view this in terms of credit scoring, making sure I'm on the electoral roll etc. If I do have to commit to the rent increase, and 2 months NTQ then fair enough, I've learnt my lesson for agreeing anything under pressure. It's since I've tried to locate my deposit, that alarm bells are ringing. It took my landlady 6 months last year to replace broken fence panels, which really peeved my neighbours off. They understood it wasn't my fault and that I had chased it up 3 times. When the fence was finally replaced, it was a 3 foot wire one provided by the council (the landlady had bought an ex local authority house conversion flat). Why it took so long, I have no idea. We were all laughing when it was fitted, as had we of known, we would've spent £20 purchasing it ourselves, rather than waiting for the council maintenance department to fit it. The tenant downstairs is a local authority tenant and asked me to contact my landlady as the guttering at the back of the property is leaking badly every time it rains. This was 3.5 weeks ago, and we've heard nothing. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thank you

Hello! Wondering if anyone can help. We have just moved out of a flat. The flat is in a converted house with two other flats. There is a communal hallway which serves each of these. The landlord has not made any deductions relating to our flat. However, there is what looks like an oil stain on the stairs of the communal hallway. She claims that we are responsible because my partner owns a bike. The carpet is extremely old - probably 20-25 years old and in very bad condition. It is extensively stained and damaged. The landlord is requesting that we pay for the recarpteing of the communal hall due to the stain. Can anyone advise what our position is here? The deposit is held by TDS so we can proceed to arbitration, but it would be helpful to know what our rights are. Thanks in advance.

Hi Everyone - this is my first post! We booked a cottage with Welcome Cottages in February 2015 with their £25 special offer deposit deal. However, we decided not to go ahead with the booking for financial reasons when the balance was due late July because I'm on a temporary contract at work which could end any day. Welcome Cottages are now chasing us for £145 which is the balance of the deposit. I sent them an email asking them the following questions: "On the Welcome Cottages website, the cottage appears to have been re-let again from 4 to 11 September 2015, which covers the period of our cancelled booking. Therefore, if the cottage has been re-let again, please can you explain why we are being asked to pay Welcome Cottages an amount of £145, when the owner of the cottage and Welcome Cottages appear to have not suffered or incurred any financial loss from our cancelled booking. Please can you explain how the amount of £145 you are claiming was calculated. Can you also provide a breakdown of actual costs and losses suffered or have been incurred by the owner and Welcome Cottages, resulting from the cancelled booking." and they replied with: "Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, as you know, the reason for cancellation does not meet the qualifying criteria for a refund of some of the monies paid. We understand your concerns and are grateful for the opportunity to explain our position in more detail. You may wish to show this letter to anyone you seek further advice from. It is unlikely that the CMA is the appropriate forum. At the time you made your booking, the low deposit offer was running which afforded you the choice to pay in full, pay the standard deposit or the low deposit. You were advised at the time of booking, if the booking is cancelled for a non-qualifying reason, the difference between the low deposit and the standard deposit is payable - (£170.00) in your case The amount of deposit is commensurate with the cost of the booking. The cancellation terms provide many qualifying reasons for cancellations ; including redundancy, illness, death and even when extreme weather prevents travel. Many other companies do not provide this benefit at all. Of course, there is no obligation to continue with a booking if our terms are not agreed to. We feel that if you had read the low deposit terms, and the booking conditions, you would have understood that the low deposit offer does indeed allow a booking to be secured for £25.00 with nothing more to pay until 8 weeks before departure, but that if it is cancelled for a non-qualifying reason, the difference between the low deposit of £25.00 and the standard deposit becomes payable. This is an industry standard and not an unfair contract term. Our booking conditions carry a Plain English Campaign Crystal Mark and we believe that Section 4 is clear about the low deposit offer and that the cancellation terms are also clearly presented. We hope we have satisfactorily responded to your concerns and look forward to receiving the outstanding amount of £145.00 by return. Welcome Cottages have ignored questions I put to them in my first email but have confirmed that cottage has been re-let over period of our booking from 4 to 11 September in another email. We have not said that we will not pay the £145 balance and Welcome Cottages have hinted that remaining balance could be paid by monthly instalments. However, if Welcome Cottages had not re-let the the cottage again and they and the owner had made a loss, then we consider that we would be liable to pay the balance. Therefore, do we have a case to challenge having to pay the remaining amount of £145 because Welcome Cottages and also the owner have not suffered a financial loss on our original booking as they have successfully re-let the cottage? I also consider that they will be making an additional profit because they have also made a profit on the new booking. Or are we still liable under contact law to pay the remaining balance of the deposit? Any comments or advise will be gratefully received. Many thanks in advance.

Hi Thank you very much for looking at my thread.........I was looking to buy a vehicle from an independent dealer After we had paid the deposit a friend suggested we HPi check the car, we had already asked the dealer and he mentioned that that they had done a HPi check as standard procedure. When we purchased a report it stated that the vehicle was a write off? Am I entitled to my deposit back? Thank you very much to all responders Kind Regards Nick

This week, Glasgow councillors are expected to agree to a new partnership with Glasgow Credit Union. The two year pilot Partnership Mortgage Guarantee Scheme will provide house hunters who can afford to pay a mortgage but cannot raise the necessary deposit. At present, lenders are demanding deposits of between 5% and 25%, which for many people on low incomes is impossible to raise. Glasgow Credit Union will allocate up to £4million in mortgage funding over the period. The council will act as a guarantor for the loan over a maximum five year period, up to a maximum of 20% of the original mortgage amount in the first year, reducing to 10% by year five. READ MORE HERE: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/13584721.Deposit_scheme_boost_for_first_time_buyers/

Hi Just looking for a little advice from anyone out there, My family has just moved out of a property rented for 2 years. The landlady has via her solicitor sent a letter claiming that we did not clean, meaning she spent £70 on professional cleaners. She also claims we have ruined the new carpets she put down at the beginning of the tenancy and not maintained the garden. She is looking to keep our deposit (£550) and then some to rectify the issues. Now we're not entirely stupid, we took photos when we moved in and photo and video footage when we moved out, so we can can confidently dispute her claims. The problem is that we feel at a disadvantage dealing with her solicitor, they have legal training and are obviously looking after their client. We have replied to the first letter letting them know we disagree and informing them that we have photos etc to back our position up. The solicitor has asked, quite abruptly, for us to send them copies so they can advise their client fully. Are we doing the right thing sending them the evidence? On the surface there doesn't seem in any harm in this, but we just don't know, it's all very confusing and stressful. It also appears from our search on the Deposit Protection Service that only £500 of the £550 deposit was protected, we asked the the solicitors about this in the letter and asked for the deposit ID, but they failed to mention any of this in the reply. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

My daughter and her boyfriend had been renting a room from a live-in landlord (not sub-letting) for 9 months when he evicted them without notice. He had entered their room without prior arrangement while they were on holiday and found some cigarette burns on the outside window ledge. (He had given the boyfriend permission to smoke out of the window when they moved in). He sent an email advising that they had to move out the day they returned. My daughter and boyfriend had always paid their rent on time, monthly in advance, but had recently changed to weekly payments, by arrangement, as they knew they would have to move out soon - my daughter had secured a job 200 miles away and her boyfriend was waiting for a transfer at work. My daughter thought she would be able to reason with the landlord as they had always had a good relationship, but this wasn't to be the case and he was extremely abusive. He wouldn't let them clean the room and has told them he will deduct the cost of cleaning from their deposit, which seems unreasonable to me since they were prepared to do it. It might be worth pointing out at this stage that the room and furniture were very tatty from the time they moved in the landlord never upgraded the 4ft bed to a 4ft6 one as he promised before they moved in. My daughter has drafted an email to the landlord, which I have copied below. Would anyone be able to give her some feedback on the letter? There are a couple of figures and dates left blank as my daughter needs to look at her bank records for the details. Also, I think she is mistaken about being 'occupiers with basic protection', as the landlord lived in the house and shared common areas. The email is rather long, but it gives lots of information. I'll be really grateful to anyone who takes the time to read it.... I am emailing regarding the return of our deposit which amounts to £500. You evicted [boyfriend] and me from your property on Saturday 13th June 2015 (despite the rent paid to you by us for the 1st 2 weeks of June not running out until Sunday 14th). This was following you entering our bedroom without any prior notice given or permission gained on the 13th June whilst we were away on holiday. Despite this not being an unlawful act, it was a complete invasion of privacy. By law, you were required to give us a minimum of 4 weeks’ notice to move out as we were classed as ‘occupiers with basic protection’ with no fixed term contract. However, you evicted us with immediate effect. The tone of your original email was unpleasant and completely uncalled for. In this email you attached photos of ‘damage’ done to the outside windowsill by cigarette ash (see attached photo ‘1’). Upon on inspection and after a few minutes scrubbing the ‘damage’ was greatly reduced (see attached photo ‘2’) and we believe that had you allowed us to clean properly that there would have been no real damage, simply dirt. The way you spoke to me while I was cleaning the room was absolutely disgusting. You mentioned that you were shocked at not receiving an apology from me, and you accused me of having a terrible attitude, which I fear you may have misinterpreted from my ability to stay calm and neutral under attempts of intimidation. Let me tell you this; I will always apologise to someone when I have wronged them, however when you come to me, all guns blazing, shouting in my face and cutting me off when I try to explain that the damage is in fact just dirt then you lose all respect from me. I had expected us to have a mature (if slightly unpleasant/ awkward) discussion about the ‘damage’ and how we would resolve the situation. Instead I was met with aggression and rudeness and for that reason I certainly did not apologise to you. You advised that you would be sending us a quote for the cost of the repair to the damage. Almost a month has passed and we have had no such correspondence from you. Over the months that we lived in your property you had an extra £50 from us towards bills that we did not owe to you. On the 23rd September 2014 (the day before I moved in to the property) I transferred £… to cover rent for the last week of the month and bills (1/4 of the monthly amount of £475) On the 1st October 2014 I transferred the full monthly amount of £475 to you. However, [boyfriend] was not in [town] from\ the 6th October- 18th October 2014 as he was in [hometown]working his notice, and therefore the money you received for his share of the bills between these dates (amounting to £25) was in fact money that we didn’t owe. On the ….June 2015 I transferred to you £237.50 to cover the first 2 weeks of the month (up to AND INCLUDING Sunday 14th). When I asked you why you went into our room, one of the reasons you gave was that we hadn’t paid to live there anymore, which, as you can see is completely untrue. We returned from our holiday on the Monday (15th June), and had you not evicted us 2 days earlier you would have received another week’s rent on this date, in keeping with an agreement you made with [boyfriend] that we could pay you week by week whilst we were looking to move to [new town]. The money paid to you at the beginning of June included money for bills for the whole 2 week period. However, [boyfriend]and I returned to [hometown]l after he finished work on Sunday 7th June in preparation for our festival on the 10th June. Therefore, between the 7th June- 14th June 2015 you received a total of £25 towards bills for the two of us for a week when we were not at the property. Altogether then, you have had an extra £50 from us. Another relevant fact is that for over 3 months (a third of our time at the property) there was no working oven. This is unacceptable, and when I asked you when this would be fixed you simply told me that it would need completely replacing. When you were shouting at [boyfriend] and me to ‘get out’ of your house, I said to you that we would not be paying towards any costs of cleaning, as we were in the process of doing it ourselves and you did not allow us to finish. With regards to the windowsill, as explained above this would also have been clean had you allowed us to finish the job. However as a gesture of good will and with a desire to have this dealt with quickly, we are prepared to let you keep the extra £50 you had from us, and just return out £500 deposit in full. I believe that this is extremely generous of us, especially when taking into account that [boyfriend] was unable to work his notice in [town] (he had to buy an extra train ticket to go down and work 1 days’ notice as he was only able to find space in a hostel for 1 night, meaning that he ended up paying a total of £90 to earn £60) and therefore suffered loss of earnings for 2 weeks, amounting to £428.80 based on his wage of £6.70/hour and MINIMUM contracted hours of 32/week.

Our Landlady has constantly dropped hints that this 3 bedroom house should be for a family not a couple so my Mrs and I are looking for somewhere else (daughter left home). Talking to Landlady yesterday she said she'd give us back the deposit 10 days after we leave. She's a tight bitch so I don't trust her. 1. Is that even legal? 2. Whose to say she wont just walk around the house making up stories to diddle us out of our deposit money?

Please help, my best friend just had a baby and had to relocate near families After vacating the property and asking landlord for refund of deposit, landlord is finding lots of excuses to grab whole deposit and worse the agency is on the side of the lanlord basically these are the charges eplace smashed centre light fitting Replace/repair pull-switch and refit to ceiling Replace broken toilet seat and flushing mechanism. £80.00 · Bedroom Re-decorate £100 · Kitchen Replace electric cooker (which was new when tenants moved in) £150.00 · Lounge Re-hang electric economy 7 heater £50 · Garden Arrange removal of large amounts of rubbish left in garden and outside shed £40 · Thorough cleaning of the property £75 Total £495.00 AND THE DEPOSIT IS £500 This flat was rented for less than 2 years by a couple, no kids And the oven was never brand new How can this couple defend themselves Please they have been given 24 hours to answer, Any advice welcome Thanks

I am not quite sure which section to post this in so admin can move it if it should belong somewhere else. I own a residential property with a small mortgage on it of around 18k. Myself and my partner wish to buy a new home for us to live in and let out the existing property. I have one default on my credit file which I am currently fighting to have removed (legal proceedings issued). After receiving a rejection from an online mortgage provider due to "adverse credit" I went to my local bank who I have banked with for over 20 years to explain the situation, I need two mortgage products, a buy-to-let for my existing property of around 25k to release 7k to go towards a deposit on the new home, a joint residential mortgage for my partner and I. The bank phoned me today and said that it was not possible for me to release equity from an existing property to be used as a deposit on a new home. I queried this saying that I never heard anything like this and asked if I could release equity for a deposit on another buy-to-let and they said YES. I really do not understand their stance and I would welcome advise from CAG members - is this standard practise or is someone at my bank clueless? I really do not see why they would allow equity release to go towards a BTL but not a new home. Also, because my mortgage on the existing home is so low at 18k, I NEED to take some equity out for a re-mortgage as most providers will not provide a mortgage for under 25k. I feel stuck at present - any advice most welcome.

Six weeks ago I agreed to purchase (from a UK company) a classic vehicle for restoration which is being imported from the USA. The company has a good reputation and I based my decision to buy upon various photographs showing the areas requiring attention. My intention was to buy the vehicle 'as is' and to have it fully restored mechanically and cosmetically. I paid a 10% deposit to secure the vehicle and agreed in writing to pay a further 15% as soon as it had been shipped. The 15% is due this week, as the seller has the bill of loading from the shipping company. The receipt provided to me acknowledges the payment of the 10% deposit, states that 15% is due on departure, with the final balance payable immediately upon arrival and customs clearance in the UK. The only mention made of a refund is that, if Customs do not accept the vehicle (which is 40 years old) as being of 'historical interest' and the import duty and VAT is higher as a result, I may either accept the additional charges or be entitled to a refund of all monies paid to date. I did not sign a sales contract but have agreed in writing (via email) to pay both the 15% at the time of shipping and the balance on arrival. I work abroad and all of my dealings with the company have been via email. I was not in the UK when the deal was made. My circumstances have changed and I will not be able to afford the restoration. I have written to the seller, requesting a full refund of my 10% deposit. However, I am not sure where I stand legally if the seller refuses. Because I was not in the UK during the negotiations, can I legally pursue the matter under English Law? Would the fact that all contact with the seller was via email fall under the distance selling regulations? Or am I technically in breach of contract, and can the seller in fact sue me for the remaining balance. The seller has not done anything to justify me pulling out of the deal, and in fact has done everything exactly as promised so far. I would find it difficult, though, to complete the purchase and have the restoration work carried out. I'm really not sure where I stand if the dealer refuses to cooperate..

Firstly, I do have another unrelated deposit thread from 2014, this relates to a different tenancy held in my name on behalf of daughter! Just ended a tenancy where we had resided for four years. We had some issues with mould throughout the property and felt that the LL or agents were doing nothing to resolve the problem. We gave notice, and thoroughly cleaned the property and had all the carpets professionally cleaned. Tenancy ended on the 26th March, we met with a LL's representative at the property on that day, who went around the property with my partner and expressed that he was satisfied with the condition and he also discussed the mould in detail, that there had been problems with it previously and that he was going to clean it up and decorate over it. Also the agents representative met us around the same time, did not do an outgoing inventory, took the meter readings and the keys and quickly left. Assuming that there was no issues we waited until the 6th April and then requested repayment from the DPS of our deposit. And we waited, we noticed on the 25th that the deposit has had a dispute issued. DPS emailed and advised to contact the LL/agent to liaise with regards to this. My partner has emailed the agent, requesting details of the dispute, despite them having all the forwarding address details, email and phone number he also requested as to why no-one has come forward to discuss any issues. No signed ingoing inventory done, but a inventory was handed over at the start of tenancy, and of course no outgoing inventory, so we are at a loss as to what the issues are. We have taken photos of the mould, and photos of each room prior to leaving. We will now wait 7 days for a response from the agents, and then go down the ADR route? I am grateful for any comments or helpful advice.

Hi All, I’ve created this post in the search for some answers on a few finer points of my AST Agreement that has recently ended. The LL/LA has come back to me requesting £378 of charges for cleaning and gardening. In my opinion I have left the flat in a clean and tidy condition so much so that the pictures taken on the day of me moving out have been used online to show new tenants! However, the two points I am curious to have answered are: 1. My moving in inventory states that “although untidy at the beginning of the tenancy the garden is to be completely tidied shortly after move in therefore must be tidy at end of tenancy”. Whereas my AST Agreement says “To keep tidy..as at commencement of the tenancy”. Can an inventory be used to state terms different to the AST Agreement? Also I have never had a copy of the check in inventory and the copy of the check in inventory i received from the LA isn’t signed by me. 2. My AST Agreement states that “the Agent must tell the tenant within 14 working days of the end of the tenancy if they propose to make any deductions from the deposit”. The LA took 18 working days to notify me of the deductions from my deposit. I have spoken to a local housing charity who said that this doesn’t hold much weight. If this is the case how come this term is included in the AST Agreement? Any help would be much appreciated

Having found a new car at a dealership, agreed price, paid deposit and agreed a collection date, we find the car STILL on the dealers website (actual car) but £500 LESS than we agreed. How do we stand with holding the dealer to the lower price? We are days away from collection.

I need some advice please on how to get a deposit back after placing one on a 2nd hand car. 2 weeks ago we found a car at a small 2nd hand car dealer but it had some issues. The deal was we would purchase the car if the issues (repair some bodywork, pass MOT, fix door seal, stop car veering to right when driving) were rectified. We agreed and I placed a deposit of £495 (Car cost £3995) on a visa debit card, signed an agreement and left. I have returned today to collect the car after being told all repairs agreed were fixed and the car was ready. On arrival we found that only the MOT and the door seal was repaired. The car still veered to the right, the original bodywork damage hadn't been sorted and in fact there were more paintwork issues since we first inspected it and agreed the deal. The salesman offered to repair the bodywork issues for £100 discount or they would repair them but we had to come back a week later. I was not happy with this offer and instead requested a refund. Ultimately they had gone back on their word and now i didn't trust the deal. The sales man said he couldn't authorise the refund and put me onto a call with the manager. The manager listened to the issues raised, provided the same offer of £100 which I declined. He then told me it was his policy not to offer a refund and if I wanted my deposit he would "see me in court" after a heated exchange he then threatened to "send the boys round" I understand that if you change your mind you shouldn't be entitled to a refund but surely in this case i have a right? 1. he breached the original agreement 2. The goods are faulty and have not been supplied correctly. the car is actually still for sale on a number of websites so surely i can also argue that he is not at a loss. what options do i have? thanks for any advice

im writing this on behalf of my sister shes a tenant in a shared accomadtion (Live out landllord) about to leave after numerous disputes with LL she took over the broadband/tv pacakge when another tenant left- i did tell her not to but the LL at the time assured her his agreement that she could deduct from the rent a new cotract was set up with virgin which the LL agreed t back in november 14, and everything was fine she deducted it from her monthly rent and he didnt have any problems with it come to last month she gives her required 1 month notice to leave and he starts hassling her about when prospective tenants can come and view the room-she said is it ok to do it just in the evenings as shes at work he said no i want them to come when i want she refused this as not being reasonable and he starts hassling her saying its his house he can do what he likes when he likes he also starts bringing up the payments to virgin stating it sounds too much and why is it 40 pounds a month even though he agreed to this he says hes going to take it out of the deposit as its too much- she has never had a confirmation that the deposit was sent to a protection scheme nor even a proper contract as ive just found out just an email stating how much rent is deposit and how much notice to give so on two points has he got any comback for her not "paying full rent" even though he agreed to the broadband contract and second does the fact is not in a protection scheme supercede all that thanks for any help

DFS v me (won). STAND UP TO THEM Hi all, I order a chair from DFS in November 2014 and paid a deposit of £100.00. DFS promise to delivery my chair for the christmas period. They failed to deliver the chair and informed me that the chair will not be ready till around the end of feb. 2015. i made a complaint to the store and they refused my cancellation and my refund of the £100.00 deposit. I wrote a final email/letter to the manager of the store and to the head office and gave them 14days to refund the deposit if not i would sue them in the local court. I also enclose in the email information about Unfair trading practices – buying from a trader and make them aware of this new rules. Today i received email from DFS now agreeing to refund my deposit after reading the new rules for UUnfair trading practices – buying from a trader . I have attached letter from DFS for viewers see and take note. Dear manager Regarding my complaint . Below, i have attached information for your attention. Please read carefully and take note. Unfair trading practices – buying from a trader If a trader misleads you or behaves in an aggressive way you can report them to Trading Standards, who may decide to take action against the trader. From 1 October 2014, you may also be able to unwind (undo) the contract and get some or all of your money back. This page tells you what action you can take when buying from a trader who misleads you or acts aggressively, and how much you may be able to get back What action you can take If you bought something, on or after 1 October 2014, from a trader who acted unfairly when dealing with you, you may be able to: unwind the sale and get a full refund or have a discount, and get compensation for your loss or distress. You may be able to do this where the trader’s practices or behaviour are: misleading or aggressive, and the trader’s actions played a significant part in your decision to buy from them. This applies to most goods and services, including utility contracts, door-to-door sales, holidays and holiday lets. It does not apply to financial services the sale of land or social housing credit, unless it is linked to the purchase of goods and services. When can you unwind the contract? You can unwind, or undo, the contract if: you do so within 90 days, and you have not fully consumed whatever you bought, and you have not already asked for and had a discount. You do not need to show any loss or that the trader acted dishonestly or negligently. How to unwind the contract You must clearly tell the trader that you are rejecting what you have bought by saying or doing something to demonstrate this. For example, write to the trader and say that you want your money back because you were misled into buying the item or because the trader harassed you. What happens when you unwind the contract? When you unwind a contract, the contract will end and you should receive a full refund. This should happen, even when you have used the goods or service for a while. If you have been supplied with any goods, you must make them available for collection by the trader when you unwind the contract. Continuous supply contracts If your contract is for the continuous or regular supply of a product, for example, electricity or broadband services, and you have used it for more than one month, you will have to pay the market price for what has been used. This will be deducted from the refund. However, if the trader’s behaviour is particularly bad and its effect on you severe, you will still be entitled to a full refund. When can you get a discount? You will be able to have a discount instead of unwinding the contract if: the product cannot be rejected, for example, a service contract which has been fully carried out, goods which have been completely consumed or digital content which has been fully downloaded, or the 90 day period has passed, or you do not want to unwind the contract, for example, because you want to keep the goods or carry on with the service contract. You do not need to show any loss or that the trader acted dishonestly or negligently. If you have a discount instead of unwinding the contract, the contract will continue but your discount can apply to what you have already paid and also any future payments. How is the discount calculated? If you paid £5,000 or less If you paid £5,000 or less, the percentage discount depends on: what the trader did to mislead you or behave aggressively, and how badly it affected you, and how long ago it happened. The amount of discount you can claim, depends on how seriously you were misled or harassed by the trader: 25% discount – more than minor. For example, the trader misleads you about the delivery date for a product 50% discount – significant. For example, a business misleads you about the health benefits of a product 75% - serious. For example, a salesman visits your home and greatly exaggerates how effective double glazing would be in reducing your energy bills and refuses to leave until you sign an order form 100% - very serious. For example, a salesman visits your home and bullies you, as a vulnerable consumer, into signing a contract for work you do not want and misrepresents that it was required by local council regulations. If you paid over £5,000 If you paid more than £5,000, the set discounts may not apply. If there is clear evidence that the market price was less than what you paid when you made the contract, then the discount is the difference between the two prices. For example, if you bought a car, which you later found out had been clocked, Glasses’ Guide could be used to check the market price of the car with its true mileage when you bought it. Compensation As well as unwinding the sale or having a discount, you might be able to claim some compensation from the trader too. You will need to show that the trader’s behaviour means you have suffered any of the following: financial loss, which was reasonably foreseeable alarm or distress physical discomfort or inconvenience . If the trader can show that they took all reasonable care to avoid misleading or harassing you, they will not have to pay any compensation. But they will still have to unwind the sale or give you a discount. ANSWER FROM DFS TODAY Dear Mr xxxxxx, I am happy to say that we have managed to cancel your order with Furnico; the manufacturer of the chair you ordered. Therefore we will be able to refund your deposit in full as we will not have to sell the chair from the shop floor. From your reaction I am in no doubt that there has been some confusion about the delivery time of the furniture you ordered and that your understanding of the time scale for delivery was different from what DFS could provide. I am very sorry we could not meet your expectations on this occasion. I do not feel that your sales person ...... has used "misleading information" or "unfair trading practices". I do feel you were of a genuine belief that your chair would arrive just after new year. We do strive to deliver clear and jargon free information to our customers so I will be conducting a review of the message our sales team give when customers buy goods from DFS ...... I tried to call both numbers we have for you but was unable to get through. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me on 01463 701290. Yours sincerely, xxxx General Manager DFS Inverness.

Afternoon Caggers, Hope someone can help/offer some advice. Was sharing a flat with a friend and we recently moved out after just over a year. We had a checkout take place with the Landlord and there where no problems and was told we would get the full deposit back. I then spoke to the DPS who said they had no record of any deposit being left with them, after some discussions it appears the letting agency we went through paid the money direct to the Landlord (they have since been bought out and taken over by Reeds Rains). Following this the Landlord said they would do a bank transfer to my account last week. This has not been forthcoming, I have now spoke to them on 4 occasions with each time being given the answer of 'it's on it way'. Following speaking to them on Friday we where advised the money would be in my bank on Monday.......It's Wednesday now and still no money. Having looked on the DPS website it would appear our next step would be to take the landlord to county court as they have in effect not followed legislation (there is mention of getting 3 x the deposit back from the court but I just want my original deposit without hassle) Can anyone suggest what steps to take next as I'd also like to keep things sweet with the Landlord in case I need to rent again and need a reference (currently working away with work so to save funds have moved back into the family home to dump my stuff)

I rented a property in Aberdeen via Northwood Aberdeen and I want to share my experiences of when I left the property. I am not looking for any legal advice because I accepted the amount they kept even though it was totally unjustifiable and perhaps i was a little impatient but hey ho! I needed the money and they dragged it on for a whole month right until the end of the deadline from deposit protection. when I handed in my notice a full 2 months in advance (as per contract) they try keeping extra months rent (by saying I have to give notice from same date i moved in of current month) apparently they try this with other tenants as i read on a review site called allagents. is this even legal i mean 2 month notice means 2 month notice why does it have to be same date you moved in?. I eventually got a call when i disputed this and was told landlord said he wont charge (trying to pull a fast one i think, most certainly they would have pocketed this extra rent) Another way of conning ex tenant extra months rent despite given 2months to find another then of course they will get new tenant in by then. It didn't end there they always get you on minor things it's like they have a rule they have to get something out of you regardless. ..I was given a lengthy list of defects in the flat despite having a review and letters/emails saying thanks for keeping flat immaculate on regular inspections. I contested every last point some which were easier than others as had noted them in itinerary or emails. eventually they would just not listen and claimed on such a minor minor issue that it was laughable and of course they charged £40+ as part of the admin fee on top for arranging the work on such a minor issue (apparently) which i do not believe they would even carry out. I disagreed but as they dragged it on so much I simply agreed eventually to letting them keep a small amount just to get my deposit back (or most of it). I do not understand as I have heard from other people as well that they just like to keep something, maybe it pays for the staff coffee (I do not know) but this is totally unfair and was wondering if people could share there experiences on here. oh and they also troll the web and some how manage to remove bad comments about them on yell and other review sites so no doubt this one will also be hijacked by there fake accounts and removed. My dealings with them suggest they are dishonest when it comes to handling other peoples money, I feel for the landlords as during my tenancy on at least one occasion they sent out cow boy workmen who they referred to as "engineers" to fix a simple shower hose, they broke the rest of shower in process and when I informed them it took them a few weeks to put a new one as apparently they had to get permission of the landlord and no doubt put it on his bill. the issue here was not about the money, it was the principle and even though initially I was going to contest it all the way as I believe I had enough proof and photographs in the end the brain dead email replies I was getting just showed the letting manager had no intellect and I just gave in.

Hi, as the title suggests, i would like some advice on the issue? I moved into a private rented property 18months ago on a verbal agreement that I would live there for 3 years minimum. Due to work circumstances i was unable to fulfil this agreement. And have now moved out. Because I have had to move the Landlord is now refusing to pay back my deposit because it is before the verbally agreed 3 years! may i also add that I have not received or signed a written tenancy agreement. and i also strongly doubt that my deposit was registered with a tenancy deposit plan. Do I have any leg to stand on to get my deposit back? Is he breaking the law? Is it worth taking it further legally? Thanks

I had a tenacy agreement with an agency who acted on the behalf of landlord everything fine . I then added my partner to the tenacy as were living together Long story short we seperated back in october and its been a bit of battle anyways I took my name off the tenacy as i need somewhere else to live etc and asked for my deposit back bear in mind this was november and im still having emails saying they cannot contact my Ex and that my deposit that i paid before thier name was added is held against the property . Can they hold my money against a property im not living in and they know this i signed all the forms to have my name removed As i understand it my ex partner needs to apply for her tenancy and pay her own deposit even though its the same property Im getting a little desperate now as i want to move away and the deposit money will help me a lot any advice on what my next step should be Thanks

Hello. We booked a holiday at the start of last november for this year, we have had news that my wife has to have a major operation this year which due to the nature of the recovery is being planed for the school holiday period. I had already payed £250 low deposit and the remainder of the deposit (£550) was due last week, i have phoned them today to tell them we cannot make the holiday and they still want the £550 to cancel it or they are passing it on to a debt collector to regain it. I'm self employed and work has been slack since christmas and we cannot afford to pay the remainder. Is there justification that the cancellation of this holiday so early would cost them £800...? Is there anything i can do.. Thanks

Hey guys! I am once again being trodden on by rich people! So I shall post here to see if anyone has any advice for my plight! In november I moved into a rented house in our town, for me and my girlfriend, who is disabled by the way! The landlord was messing us around from the off, trying to let the property when they hadnt even bought it yet, so even though they gave me a start date for the move and I paid up the rent in advance I couldnt move in because she technically didnt own the property as it was awaiting some signing or some such nonsense! Anyway, when I finally got in, there was damp, leaking roof, and RATS the rats kept us from sleeping which is very bad for my partner as she has myotonic distrophy and needs lots of rest. I told them about this problem straight away and about the damp and mould and leaking roof. They just flat lied and said it was just "condensation" - which Ive never had in other properties and that the rats were just "mice" and they would "sort it out" They didnt sort it. Nothing at all was done - eventually after many emails from me they got the council to send a pest officer round who tried putting poison down (had zero effect). She came back two more times, on the last time she said there was nothing she could do and you can never get rid of these rats as they could be coming in from anypoint in the house from underground. The whole time I had had very little sleep - and as soon as another suitable property came up I moved in. I was in the rat infested place for a little over 8 weeks. Since moving out, I told them I have to move, as the rats are causing me ill-health, she has at first asked for proof I had paid my council tax and water and electric and gas bills - which I emailed her. Then I have heard nothing and she hasnt replied to my three emails asking when I will get my £500 deposit back! She has since relisted the property as "newly refurbished" (LIES!) even though it has a terminal rat problem! One thing that struck me is I never had to sign a form like I did with the last landlord about the deposit protection scheme. So I very much doubt she has followed the law that requires all landlords to put tennants money in a deposit protection scheme. Anyway I have read that If I take her to court, then I will get the deposit back, and she may even have to repay me twice the amount. So can anyone tell me how on earth I can take her to court? I have no experience in this and cant afford a solicitor!

I did some voluntary work at a festival this Summer. I had to pay £100 deposit, of which £20 was non refundable, to make sure I attended. I did 3 days work and was told on my last day that they wanted me to return next year as they were so pleased with my work. I've just emailed the company to ask when I'll get my deposit back and been informed that I was involved in a fire on the campsite, along with 2 others, and have therefore forfeited my deposit. I was aware of the incident, somebody set fire to a chair, but was not involved and replied stating so and asking what evidence they have. Their response is that they have a witness. Is there anything I can do about this?