Tenancy Deposit Scheme - Can I claim?

[amartin1908]

Here is my situation... I would really appreciate some help on this.

 

Me and my boyfriend moved into a property last Sept (08). We paid a months deposit plus a months rent. We received a letter stating that the deposit had been protected, but approx 2 months later we got another one stating that they scheme would no longer be responsible for protecting our deposit. I contacted my landlady who said she would get it into another one. In jan 09 me and my boyfriend split up - I paid him his half of the deposit back and my landlady issued me with a new tenancy agreement from the end of jan 09. However she did not return the deposit and just carried it over to the new tenancy.

 

I then lost my job - and had to claim housing benefit. They took ages to sort it out and she was on my case every week. I was paying half the rent myself in order to keep her quiet, but it got to the point where my funds were exhausted, so she suggested that she use my deposit to offset the rent, which I agreed to. The rent is now being paid by the council regularly.

 

However i have just been informed that what she has done is illegal. That she had no right to withdraw the deposit from the scheme (if she had ever reentered it into one) to use as rent!! My tenancy is due to run out at the end of this month, and she wants me to sign a new AST!

 

Could I officially sign this new AST and then take her to court and get 3 x times the deposit as compensation?

 

If this is the case, what happens if she cannot afford to pay me, or refuses the court order to pay??

 

Your help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Planner]

You said that she could use the deposit as rent. Whats the issue?

 

Would you have preffered eviction proceedings?

[Kentish Lass]

I was paying half the rent myself in order to keep her quiet,

 

charming!

 

but it got to the point where my funds were exhausted, so she suggested that she use my deposit to offset the rent, which I agreed to.

 

Well, that was nice of her to allow the deposit to be offset against what you owed her, rather than evicting you.

 

In fact she is the daft one - she now has no deposit against which she can claim for any damages - which is what deposits are for!!

 

And, you have had your deposit back with no deductions.

 

However i have just been informed that what she has done is illegal. That she had no right to withdraw the deposit from the scheme (if she had ever reentered it into one) to use as rent!! My tenancy is due to run out at the end of this month, and she wants me to sign a new AST!

 

Could I officially sign this new AST and then take her to court and get 3 x times the deposit as compensation?

 

It would be an interesting case, since there is no deposit to protect - you have had it back to pay the rent!!!

 

But - let's see now - how can you get some money out of this landlady who has been kind enough to let you stay in her property, not paying the rent for some time and trying to be helpful when you were in difficulties.

 

Any advice I might wish to give you would probably be unprintable but the word "greedy" would certainly be in there somewhere....

[Planner]

 

But - let's see now - how can you get some money out of this landlady who has been kind enough to let you stay in her property, not paying the rent for some time and trying to be helpful when you were in difficulties.

 

Any advice I might wish to give you would probably be unprintable but the word "greedy" would certainly be in there somewhere....

 

Here Here.

[amartin1908]

charming!

 

 

 

Well, that was nice of her to allow the deposit to be offset against what you owed her, rather than evicting you.

 

In fact she is the daft one - she now has no deposit against which she can claim for any damages - which is what deposits are for!!

 

And, you have had your deposit back with no deductions.

 

 

 

It would be an interesting case, since there is no deposit to protect - you have had it back to pay the rent!!!

 

But - let's see now - how can you get some money out of this landlady who has been kind enough to let you stay in her property, not paying the rent for some time and trying to be helpful when you were in difficulties.

 

Any advice I might wish to give you would probably be unprintable but the word "greedy" would certainly be in there somewhere....

 

You really are being unfair - when I told her I would be claiming housing benefit and explained to her the proceedure and time involved, and she was more than happy to do it. Then a WEEK later she started with harrassing phone calls, threatening to change the locks on me, to have me evicted etc..............I received calls every three days for over 2 months, harrassing me - I paid half the rent out of my own pocket, of which I only get £100 a week and got behind in my bills, and she has not repaid me this amount, when she got the housing benefit through!!

 

Somehow I dont think that I am being unfair by asking if I can take her to court when she already owes me money, and she has BROKEN THE LAW

[Planner]

How do you think she has broken the law?

 

You said that the deposit was protected and you said you agreed it could be used for rent.

 

Im still unsure of the issue here?

[Kentish Lass]

You really are being unfair

 

Comments made were based on the information given.

 

- when I told her I would be claiming housing benefit and explained to her the proceedure and time involved, and she was more than happy to do it. Then a WEEK later she started with harrassing phone calls, threatening to change the locks on me, to have me evicted etc..............I received calls every three days for over 2 months, harrassing me - I paid half the rent out of my own pocket, of which I only get £100 a week and got behind in my bills, and she has not repaid me this amount, when she got the housing benefit through!!

 

None of this information was contained in your original posting. And LHA is paid directly to you, so how could she "repay" you. I don't understand this statement.

 

Somehow I dont think that I am being unfair by asking if I can take her to court when she already owes me money, and she has BROKEN THE LAW

 

And as we have said a couple of times now, you gave her permission to use the deposit money to cover the unpaid rent, so there is now no deposit to protect. If you try to sue for this I believe you will fail and could end up paying costs into the bargain. All you can do is to work out how much she actually owes you and threaten to sue her through the small claims procedure, but I cannot see how she owes you money?

[VNP]

Hi i was wondering if someone could help me also. I moved into my flat in May 2008 with my boyfriend and paid a months rent in advance and a months rent as a bond. When the tenancy was up for renewal in May 2009 my boyfriend and I decided that we would try to find somewhere a bit smaller and cheaper as we were having some money problems. When i rang my landlord to tell him that i intended to give notice he said that he didnt want us to leave as we were good tenants. I asked him about my bond, and weather it had been put in a deposit scheme and he said no but he could put it in one if i wanted. I thought that it was law that the landlord had to put my deposit in a scheme, but i wasnt sure? Anyway, we came to an agreement that we would stay in the flat at a reduced rent while it was on the market and he gave us the difference from our bond back aswell, but kept the equivilent to a months rent, again i asked him if it was going to be put into a scheme and he said that he could do so if i wanted.

 

The landlord sent us a new agreement to sign which we did, and also with the agreement was a typed "Special Conditions" which stated that we had to allow viewings of the flat and give 2 months notice if we wanted to leave and that he would do the same if the flat sold, well we signed these and sent them back but he never returned his parts signed, so now we have given our word that we will give him 2 months notice but we have nothing from him saying so, we dont even have a valid tenancy agreement signed by him.

 

Over the past few months while the flat has been on the market, I have allowed viewings of the property, letting people come after i finish work or at weekends, at the begginging of this week I gave the landlord 2 months notice as my boyfirend and i have broken up and i can no longer afford the flat on my own, I have heard nothing from him regarding the letter which I have sent until the estate agents called me this morning and said that at the landlords request I was to have the estate agents a key to the flat cut and allow them to conduct viewings while i am work. I am not very happy about this, as a i dont really want people in and out of the flat while i am not there, but im not sure where i stand. Is this normal for estate agents to have a key to a property while there are still tenants in the property? and what is the position regarding the bond?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[amartin1908]

The law states that he has to give you 2 months notice so do not worry about that.

 

As for mine - I have since been advised that when a deposit is protected under one of these guarantee schemes, it cannot be used for anything other than "damages" - which then has to be agreed between both the tenant and the landlord. Due to the fact that she took my deposit out of the scheme without my initial knowledge, she has broken the law, secondly she should not have offset it against the rent, regardless of it being my suggestion.

 

Finally - the arrears for housing benefit were sent direct to my landlord, as I had the choice of it being paid direct to me or her - i paid half the rent during the period of waiting for the housing benefit to be sorted out. She had all the rent backdated by the council, plus the money i had paid her and she has not refunded any o f it to me.

 

She has now been served with notice of intent to take her to court