Obtaining a Court Order for Tenancy Deposit

[Planner]

I was advised to submit a monetary claim, but with the alternative (if the court sees fit) to order the agent to protect the deposit as specified in the Act.

 

Was this the advice of the Court or one of the other organisations listed above?

 

According to the Act the x3 compensation isnt up for debate the court has to award it.

[Grid66]

Yes, as advised by the CAB. As you said before, the court decide whether there was non-compliance.

[Grid66]

I'm trying to figure out what happens now. I can't find any information on what happens next, i.e. after submitted my application to the court.

If there are any threads (or sites) detailing this I would really appreciate the link.

[Grid66]

There have been a few developments since my last post, generally for the worst, I think, but I am hoping someone can offer some guidance on what I should be looking to do next.

I contacted the court today and they have confirmed that the agent has not repsonded to the claim. I went to the CAB again today and they now said that I should not have put the claim in, rather that at the end of the tenancy I should pursue the deposit from the agent, in the interim I should try and contact the agent and try and resolve this throw communication. I was utterly shocked at this, but there was worse to come. When I got home, I received a letter from solicitors representing the landlords mortgage company notifying us of a possession hearing for the property at the end of January. Besides being in a state of shock and at my wits end I am now totally confused with this whole situation.

 

The stark and demoralising reality of this situation that some time after Christmas we will be evicted from this property and due to previous financial problems there is just no way we will be able to find a deposit or the advanced rent required by estate agents. Getting this money from the unscrupulous agent has now become a neccessity if we are to avoid having to approach the local council for help with housing.

 

Can someone please please please advise on any course of action? Do I apply for the judgement for the existing claim (this was for deposit or protection thereof), do I try and use the N208 form as suggested in other threads for the deposit and 3 times the deposit? Any advice will be welcomed please.

I earn a reasonable salary and I don't think I qualify for legal aid but I cannot afford to go to solicitors as I just do not have the cash.

Has anyone been successful yet with regards to claiming money due to non-protection under the TDS?

[Planner]

Well, as you have gotten so far with the N1 claim, why not ask for a judgement on that?

 

It would seem silly at this stage to start the process again with the N208 as there is no guarantee that this is the correct route either!

 

Keep us informed.

[Ed999]

Can someone please please please advise on any course of action? Do I apply for the judgement for the existing claim (this was for deposit or protection thereof), do I try and use the N208 form as suggested in other threads for the deposit and 3 times the deposit? Any advice will be welcomed please.

 

 

You have a procedural problem, not a problem with the law.

 

The correct procedure in court on a money claim is to issue an N1 claim, for the amount of the deposit plus the penalty (which totals four times the amount of the deposit originally paid).

 

It must be issued against the landlord, not the agent.

 

The correct procedure if the defenant fails to file a defence within the time limit is to apply for default judgement.

 

The notes you were given by the court will explain how to do that. Or walk into the court office and pick up a copy of their leaflet on how to apply for judgement in default of defence.

 

 

Read this thread carefully: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/tenants/117280-tenancy-deposit-scheme.html

 

As you will see there, you can ONLY obtain the penalty sum of three times the amount of the deposit from the LANDLORD. You appear to have only sued the agent, who can only be required (and only then if he still has it, which you do not know) to repay the original deposit. It was therefore probably a mistake not to sue the landlord as well.

 

 

Advice & opinions on this forum are offered informally, without any assumption of liability. Use your own judgment. Seek advice of a qualified and insured professional if you have any doubts.

[Planner]

You have a procedural problem, not a problem with the law. Think we have established that.

 

The correct procedure in court on a money claim is to issue an N1 claim, for the amount of the deposit plus the penalty (which totals four times the amount of the deposit originally paid). Can you tell us why N1 is the correct route and not N208? If you had bothered to read the thread you would see the have already used the N1 route so your "advice" is as usual, quite surplus to requirements.

 

It must be issued against the landlord, not the agent. Why? the LL might not be responsible for protecting the deposit, it could be the agent.

 

The correct procedure if the defenant fails to file a defence within the time limit is to apply for default judgement. Echo...echo...

 

The notes you were given by the court will explain how to do that. Or walk into the court office and pick up a copy of their leaflet on how to apply for judgement in default of defence.quote]

 

Sorry to be blunt Edd, these "statements" of absolute certainty you throw out seemingly at random that normally contradict advice of people who have actually spent the time to read the posts and consider a response are growing increasingly tiresome. Not saying your not right, just saying you need to justify what you are saying AND READ THE POSTS!!!!!

[Guest Alison82]

Very true as I have experienced this myself!! Please take the time to read the whole thread and not just the first post and understand what people are asking before responding; as repeating what has already been posted is not helpful to anyone.

 

Thanks

[Grid66]

Some more developments since my last post. The Agent has filed a defence, a copy of which arrived through the letterbox this morning.

 

The gist of it is that according to the agency I failed to return 'registration' information to them by a specific date (about 10 days after the tenancy start), hence they did not protect the deposit. :o

We received no such 'registration' or even mention of this documentation in either this tenancy agreement or a previous tenancy agreement with this agent.

The fact that this defence has been filed leads me to believe that this will now become a case to be heard before the court, which is a positive step.

Secondly, regardless of whether this 'registration' was completed or not, this statement that the deposit was not protected is contrary to the Agents e-mails to me where they stated that deposit was protected, as well as the signed Tenancy Agreement that states and quotes the scheme. Surely this agent should have ensured that I completed this 'registration', especially since the agency has to to ensure the protection of the deposit within 14 days?

Am I incorrect in thinking that they have just shot themselves in the foot by stating that they have not protected the deposit on the defence form?

 

Can anyone confirm that registration of sorts is required by tenants? I can't find anything on the 3 approved TDS schemes websites that leads me to believe that they require a registration from a tenant.

 

I will attempt to find other tenants to find out whether they were required to fill out a 'registration'. Additionally, I am also going to try and contact ex-employees of this Agent to ascertain whether they have in the past issued registration documents of sorts to tenants as a pre-requisite for registering a deposit in a scheme. I am hoping that they can be witnesses and provide statements for the case.

[Grid66]

I have just re-read the thread and noticed that Ed999 edited his last post. In reply to your post Ed999, I have been in constant contact with the landlords. They have confirmed that the agent is holding the deposit. They are also trying to resolve 'discrepancies' in the rental income owed to them from the agent.

 

Also on my previous post I forgot to add that the defense was filed late. I am inclined not to pursue the judgement route as I would rather this go before the court. The original claim on the N1 form was for the deposit, not including the 3x penalty. If this does go before the court I am thinking that if the agent is found to be non-compliant (officially), then the 3x amount will be considered and awarded. Thoughts on this approach anyone?

[Planner]

I think you are quite right in your approachj Grid. What possible excuse is there for not protecting your deposit, surley they have all the information they need from the application form for the property you filled in?!!

 

Surley a depsoit can be protected with the tenants name and address!!!!

 

They dont have a leg to stand on. Stick to your guns.

[demon_x_slash]

We didn't have to fill out anything extra for our deposit to be protected upon our renewal - I feel very strongly that the agents are being spurious and misleading here.

[Steve__M]

I also think the "registration" is spurious.

 

I recently protected my tenants' deposit when they renewed. All I needed was the name of one lead tenant plus (optionally as far as I could tell) names of the other tenants.

 

Presumably if this is their only defence you should call their bluff: provide the information they claim they require now and see if they preserve your deposit within 14 days and before the hearing.

 

Check out the tenancy deposit protection websites to confirm for yourself. It may be worth printing off the information and including it in your case bundle. Point out to the judge that all the information they require is available in your claim against them!

[waterbottle]

Any news from Grid66 or anyone regarding this matter?

 

My deposit was registered but not within the 14 day period. I have paper evidence of this. I was not contacted by anyone about my deposit.

 

There does seem to be some confusion over this. I have tried to do some reading. In my case I will use this argument:

 

Section 213.3 states that the 'initial requirements' must be complied with within 14 days of receipt by LL of deposit.

 

Section 213.4 then clarifies that the 'initial requirements' referred to above are the requirements that the landlord must undertake.

(213.4 is referred to later)

 

213.5 says what the LL must then do and 213.6 says how and when it must be done.

 

A panic may occur because to 'qualify' for the 3x payment the court must be satisfied that the 'initial requirements' or those of section 213.6.a have not been met.

 

It is then easy to look at 213.6.a and see that it requires the info to be given in a particular or similar form. Tenants will see that 213.6.b is not mentioned with regard to the 3x payment.

 

BUT, the 'initial requirements' as I mentioned before (213.4) will not have been met if the action in 213.3 is not completed. 213.3 states that:

 

'the initial requirements of an authorised scheme must be complied with by the landlord in relation to the deposit within the period of 14 days beginning with the date on which it is received.'

 

Therefore if the deposit was protected but not withing the 14 day period and you have proof of this then you can make an application to the CC. (214.1.a)

 

Under 214.2.a the court must be satisfied that the 'initial requirements' have not been met.

 

If the court is satisfied then 214.4 says that it must order the payment of a sum equal to 3x the deposit within 14 days of the order.

 

I have no legal training but I am trying to teach myself. I would be grateful if someone could tell me whether what I have written:

makes sense as a legal argument

is useful

 

I would also dearly like hear how grid66 got on. Please tell us or post a link!

[waterbottle]

I thought I'd better 'bump' this thread up to the top because if I have got it right and someone can confirm my reasoning then it could be useful information for others. I have seen other attempts to cut through this complicated matter but none of them applied to my circumstances which were:

 

sent no notification re TDS

found that deposit had been protected but not within 14 days

[Planner]

Water bottle. The process is just the same as above use either N208 or N1 (my moneys on N208 ) and put a claim in. Wording can be found in http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/126261-tds-court-claims-wording.html

 

The alternative is simply wait until we get wind of some successful claims and the procedure used.

 

If you need anything else, get back to us.

[Grid66]

Firstly, apologies for not replying sooner.

 

The claim was referred for mediation, which I declined. It took ages to receive a court date but eventually this came through and it's set for mid-June.

 

A couple of days later I received a deposit protection certificate from the agent. I assume that on receipt of notification of the court date, he had hastily gone and protected the deposit... in an insuarance backed scheme.

 

That's where we are at in the process, just waiting for the court date. Additional developments are that the agent has closed it's offices, the premises are up for let. They have sold off their office equipment on Ebay.

 

I have been searching online on a weekly basis to try and find any records that may indicate that they may have applied for insolvency but haven't found anything yet. If anyone could offer any advice on the best way to try and ascertain this it would very much be appreciated.

 

I was pleased to read of the successful case reported on the forum(http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/138758-tenancy-deposit-case-section.html) but the second (failed) case mentioned in this quoted thread is a concern as I'm are in a similar position with regards to the payment of the deposit.

My tenancy was taken up in June 2007 but the deposit was 'paid' by transferring the deposit from a previous tenancy from the same agent but from a different property\tenancy.

 

The question is whether mine is the same situation as the failed case. If it is, is it still worth continuing with the case? Your thoughts?

[waterbottle]

From what I remember, the lost case could have been won if the claimant had known what to argue. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this.

 

Good luck Grid!