My son rented a flat from a private landlord, on a short-term (6 months) assured tenancy agreement, under the Housing (Scotland) Act, 1988. The landlord provided him with a Lease which was packed with conditions that were only in favour of the Landlord. My son paid the Landlord a refundable Security Deposit of £380- when my son vacated the flat on the day the 6 month Lease was up, an Agent of the landlord did an inventory and inspection of the flat, just before the keys were handed back. This Agent told my son that the only 'faults' were a bag of rubbish left at the front door and a dead insect at the back of one of the kitchen drawers (both were removed by my son, before handing the keys back to this Agent) Just prior to this 'inspection' my wife and I had scrubbed out the whole flat and it was spotless. As after 8 weeks following my son moving out of this flat, he had not received his £380 deposit back, he sent a recorded delivery letter threatening Sheriff Court (Civil Claim) action for the return of his money. The Landlord replied after 9 days, but only returned £190 of the original deposit of £380, deducting money for things like 'cleaning charges and costs of £60' - £40 for 'administration fees' - £20 for the Landlord having to 'redirect any potential mail arriving in the future' for my son, and £12 for unspecified 'cleaning materials' - no receipts were provided to my son by the Landlord. The Landlord enclosed 'photographic proof' why cleaning was required- a small stain on a cooker grill pan- 2 chips left inside the freezer, and a total of 7 tiny pieces of rubbish (including a single 'Post-It' piece of paper) which he said he found under a bed. We decided to take this Landlord to our local Sheriff Court, for the return of the balance due from the Security Deposit, of £190. On checking with our local Authority Council- the Landlord and Rent Registration Officer, we have discovered that this Landlord is NOT registered with them as a 'fit and proper person' registered Landlord, nor is the rented premises registered with the Council as 'premises registered as suitable for letting' In Scotland, if a person lets out any property and is NOT registered with the local Authority as a 'fit and proper person' - this is actually a Criminal Offence, punishable on conviction by up to a £5,000 fine. The same applies if an unregistered property is let to a tenant by an unregistered Landlord. The Landlord is still insisting that the original Lease he provided to my son, stands, and so he can make deductions from the original Security Deposit of the £380, as he sees fit. Will we be correct when we apply to the Sheriff Court for return of the full balance of the Security Deposit, in basing our case on the fact that as the Landlord was not registered, as per the Scottish Law requires, and the premises rented were also not registered, that the Landlord was acting illegally (an actual Criminal Offence) in renting the property to my son, and therefore any Lease provided by the Landlord, as it was part of an illegal act, automatically becomes null and void, resulting in any terms and conditions contained within the Lease becoming legally unenforceable by the Landlord.?? We are asking the Court to rule that the Lease and its conditions are illegal, and thus the Landlord MUST refund the balance of the Security Deposit, in full. What do you think- are we right to follow this pathway? Any advice or support would be really appreciated, thank you.