TDS eligibility, implication of breach and legal questions answered

[blackcatgirl]

I wish that happened... I am "Potts" I have LOST the appeal ... along with no award for ANY costs either for the hearing, first trial or the Appeal trial.Effectively means landlords can pocket tenants deposits in their private bank accounts and have no need to protect them whatsoever unless they need to serve a section 21 eviction notice.Tenant then pays ALL the costs of going to court and as long as the landlord pays the money into a scheme on the day of the Trial and drops ANY counterclaim that he may have had "fun" raising against the tenant... no costs are awarded back to the tenant for filing the claim and going to court!

Amy I think you mean Chillcoat as my case is slightly different. Although I have won my case the problem is the LA doesnt want to pay the court order!! We are now having a set aside hearing...which I have very little doubt I will lose as LA continues to fail to comply with HA or Prescribed Information Order. I also beleive (or hope is probably more accurate) that by the time our hearing comes round Potts vs Densley judgement will have been passed down and found that it is no defence if the LL / LA places the deposit into a scheme before the court hearing but after the tenancy has ended....and news from a person who is involved in this, says that will be the judgement!

[chestylaroo]

Hi there, hoping someone will be able to help me. I have moved and when i did the inspection with the landlord he was happy and gave me a cheque for my deposit. The cheque has now bounced twice and he said he would put cash into my account and hasnt. Im a patient person but hes now taking the michael. I didnt know about the tennant deposit scheme until moving into my new house and therefore my old landlord has not complied with this i understand he is liable for the 3x compensation my question is how do i go about doing this, is it a small claims job with money claim or do i need a solicitor. ?

[mrsfoot]

I wish that happened... I am "Potts" I have LOST the appeal ... along with no award for ANY costs either for the hearing, first trial or the Appeal trial.Effectively means landlords can pocket tenants deposits in their private bank accounts and have no need to protect them whatsoever unless they need to serve a section 21 eviction notice.Tenant then pays ALL the costs of going to court and as long as the landlord pays the money into a scheme on the day of the Trial and drops ANY counterclaim that he may have had "fun" raising against the tenant... no costs are awarded back to the tenant for filing the claim and going to court!

 

Oh Blackcatgirl. I am so sorry to hear your appeal failed. I have spent the last few days reading the judgement trrying to see the logic behind it. I am flabbergasted as I was informed the judgement was coming in on your side.....chopping my source off at the reins!!

 

I only wish you had been able to amend your claim particulars before the hearing to show the prescribed info...i truly believe you would have won your case. Sending you lots of luck and good wishes xxx

[Ed999]

I have not enjoyed the criticism which I have received on this forum for repeatedly warning of the risky nature of litigation. I am sad to see here another example of what I have been saying: there is NO such thing as risk-free litigation. There is ALWAYS a risk of losing.

 

This tenant is now faced with a huge legal bill, for pursuing her claim through two unsuccessful appeals - presumably amounting to tens of thousands of pounds. Presumably, as the loser she also has to pay the successful Landlord's legal costs of the case, in addition to her own.

 

 

@ MrsFoot - To assist others, please could you post here more detail of the reasons given by the court in this case, including a URL link to the full transcript of the court's verdict to which you've refered. Also, what particulars should the tenant have included in her written Statement of Claim?

 

@ chestylaroo - You must start a new thread of your own. Please do not confuse matters by posting a new problem in this existing thread.

[tpygott]

Hello. We have a deposit with the Deposit Protection Scheme and are students. We have now reached the end of our tenancy and I have noticed a problem. At the beginning of out tenancy one of the tenants dropped out. They were replaced with another tenant, who paid the landlord his deposit and signed the new contract. Here is the problem, logging onto the DPS to view the deposit I have noticed that the previous and not the new tenant is listed. I have contacted the DPS and they have said it is the landlords responsibility to change the details. My questions are:

1) Can I still distribute the deposit to the new tenant despite the previous one being listed? (My guess is I can only send the money to the previous tenants listed address).

2) Would I be potentially able to sue as the landlord has not his part by updating the scheme. Maybe on the basis that (I think - need to confirm) the new tenant wasn't given any information regarding the DPS (as his details weren't added to the scheme).

 

Any help much appreciated!

[Ed999]

I wonder if you could please start a new thread, as you have accidently posted your question in a FAQ - a 'sticky' thread - that doesn't update in the same way as an ordinary thread when new replies are posted.

[tpygott]

Posted in a new thread - my bad!

[missg00se]

Hi,

 

I have what is probably a really simple question about the TDS, but I can't find the answer anywhere. The information provided by the TDS in the literature we received at the start of our last tenancy states that "there are strict time limits for the return of the deposit if there is no dispute". Nowhere can I find any information on what these strict time limits are, and our letting agency is either incredibly unhelpful, or provides answers in broken english that are almost undecipherable, and usually contradictory.

 

I'm loooking for a plain english answer to the following questions:

1. I assume there can only be a dispute once the landlord has advised you whether or not they want to deduct anything from your deposit. How long does the landlord have after the end of your tenancy to tell you if they wish to make any deductions?

2.If they intend to deduct money and you are in agreement about the deduction (i.e. there is no dispute) what are the strict time limits for the return of the deposit?

 

I doubt my landlord is in breach of any timescales, or will be, as they seem to have a policy to sticking to the absolute minimum that they are legally required to do, but I think they will stretch this out as long as they possibly can. I need to be able to plan my finances in the time between paying the deposit on the new flat and return of the deposit on the old flat and am finding this difficult at the moment in light of the lack of communication from the agency - any advice anyone can offer would be gratefully received.

 

Sorry again if this information is clearly stated elsewhere (as I suspect it might be).

[donein]

Well the process of getting your money back will be dependent on which scheme the landlord or letting agents uses. There are 3 main ones but bear in mind some letting agents are also authorised.

 

do you know which scheme?

 

The landlord / letting agent should really conduct a check out of the property within days of your vacating it. It will be at this point any disputes arise.

 

The letting agent SHOULD give you an opportunity to rectify any faults and prior to getting any work done they MUST have your consent and at least 2 quotes.

 

You should be able to claim / write to the TDS as soon as you have vacated and ask for the form to claim back your money.

 

You have 28 days usually to lodge a disagreement but frankly i would do it immediately if you dispute.

 

If you cannot agree you have the ADR

 

So;

 

1). Find out exactly who holds your deposit - you should have been notified and given a unique reference number.

 

2). Write in /log in and request / download the deposit return form.

 

3). Complete the form and return it. You may want to get the agent / landlord to complete their section beore returning it.

 

4). My advice is to get cracking / ignore any excuses to delay from the landlord - use your reference number to start the claim. Do not leave it later than 14 days.

[missg00se]

Hi Thanks for this. The deposit is protected by The Dispute Service, we have a certificate of tenancy registration, and I can view the details on their website. We vacated the property on 29th September 2011, when our lease ended (the certificate of tenancy registration says that the end date is after 30-09-11, not sure if that's relevant). A check out report was carried out on 29th September - I was present in the flat during this and handed back the keys to the check-out agent, as requested by the letting agent (it was the same person who carried out the check-in report and gave us our keys when we moved in). Since then, I have heard nothing from the agent, other than to say that the landlord will let us know within 30 working days whether they want to deduct anything from the deposit. Given that professional cleaning was carried out, an invoice for this supplied to the check out agent, and presumably a report compiled by the agent, I feel that 30 working days is too long a time for them to take to do this, but I don't know where I stand legally on this one. Is there a standard time scale that they should let you know about deductions etc within? I have not seen a copy of the check-out report, and don't know the name of the company who carried it out (although I am supposed to be paying for it). I don't think the agent is worried about the time scales at all - they had originally scheduled our check out report for 11th October, but we complained about this as the property would have been empty for so long after we had left it and didn't want to be held responsible for any damage caused in the meantime. I haven't been able to find a deposit return form anywhere on the TDS website, but if there is a portion for the landlord to complete, I assume they will refuse to complete it until the 30 working day time period they have set for this is up.