Urgent Help Sneaky Landlord TDS

[misselle]

I just wanted to let everyone know that i am curently in the process of taking my ex-LL to court because he not only didnt protect my deposit as stated in my tenancy agreement but he also breached the agreement by not doing this. The land lord was served two weeks ago and the hearing date has been set im currently waiting to see if he defends or admits the case he has just another few days left to submit his acknowledgement of service.

 

Basicaly my boyfriend had been living in the flat for a year with his friend when his friend moved out and i moved in signing a new contract in Aug 07, the contract stated on it that our depoist would be protected by Mydeposit. At the time of my partners friend moving out no check was made by the LL on the condition of the property and no new inventray taken.

 

A year later we gave our notice that we would be moving out and cleaned the flat with family memebers using industrial strength cleaner admitidly we did forget to clean one cupboard and the fridge however the rest of the house was perfect we even got on our hands and knees to scrub the skirting and got paint to paint over any small marks on the walls.

 

We handed back the keys to the landlord as he requested and he said he would have a look at the flat and return the deposit. In looking back we should have requested a walkthrough with him when handing back the keys and taken photographs ourselves but it was the first time we had ever rented and didnt think to do this but you learn as you go on.

 

Two weeks later we hadnt recieved the deposit or heard from the LL so we contacted him and he said he wasnt going to give us the deposit back until he had confirmation that we had paid all the bill which we told him we had.

 

a week later a letter which cheques arrived stating that there were numerous problems with the flat and so he had deducted almost £300 from our £400 deposit some of which we agreed to but these are which we disputed;

 

money to remove the smell of cat by "a new chemical process" - we had moved into our new property a week before we handed back the keys so the cats had been taken then also, the house was cleaned and bleached and aired and various friends and family who had been in the house prior to handing back keys couldnt smell any cat at all.

 

money for some extra cleaning- including the cooker which was cleaned twice by myself and a family memeber and the rest of the flat was imaculate.

 

the biggest one was supplying and fitting a new wash hand basin in the bathroom and flooring around it because he claimed we had made a hairline crack in it. - my partner nor me or anyone else who helped move or clean saw any crack in the sink how would we have been able to use it if there was?

 

we wote to the LL disputing this and asking for photos which were dated to show why he had charged us.

He wrote back lisitng other things he said we were lucky he didnt charge us for and iclude some photos one photo was a drawer full of papper which i was anoyed at because the paper was actually the guides for the washing machine and cooker and fridge so how was i supposed to take that or remove it?

A photo of the oven which is full of food and other things, now my bood boiled when i saw this because the oven was spotless when we left there was not a single thing in this so the photo was either not our oven or things were placed in it to take the photo but neither i can prove.

 

then there was the photo of the sink or what was supposed to be the sink it was a picture of something peach- our sink was white and you couldnt see any crack in the photo.

 

We wrote to him again stating this and basicaly that none of the photos have dates on them so we wanted ones with dates and which showed clearly the sink and the so called crack. He never replied.

 

I then decided to contact my deposit to get dispute resolution and was told that our landlord had not protected our deposit.

 

So i spoke to a freind who does law and was told that not only has he breached our contrat by stating he had protected the deposit but hadnt that he actually broken the law.

 

We wrote to him again asking for a copy of the deposit certificate and said if he didnt reply we would go to court, we got a reply stating that at the time of signing the contact in Aug 07 that it wasnt a legal requirement and so he didnt do it and also that we may or may not recal a converstion he had with us at the time of signing stating that he wouldnt protect the desposit in order to save us the fee from mydeposit. I dont recall this conversation but it doesnt matter because as far as im aware the law isnt a choice its a requirement.

 

So we filled to the court and now we wait on the hearing date and the landlords next move. Im slightly worried though as ive recently heard of cases similar where the landlord has won the case.

[Planner]

I just wanted to let everyone know that i am curently in the process of taking my ex-LL to court because he not only didnt protect my deposit as stated in my tenancy agreement but he also breached the agreement by not doing this. The land lord was served two weeks ago and the hearing date has been set im currently waiting to see if he defends or admits the case he has just another few days left to submit his acknowledgement of service.

 

Basicaly my boyfriend had been living in the flat for a year with his friend when his friend moved out and i moved in signing a new contract in Aug 07, the contract stated on it that our depoist would be protected by Mydeposit. At the time of my partners friend moving out no check was made by the LL on the condition of the property and no new inventray taken.

 

A year later we gave our notice that we would be moving out and cleaned the flat with family memebers using industrial strength cleaner admitidly we did forget to clean one cupboard and the fridge however the rest of the house was perfect we even got on our hands and knees to scrub the skirting and got paint to paint over any small marks on the walls.

 

We handed back the keys to the landlord as he requested and he said he would have a look at the flat and return the deposit. In looking back we should have requested a walkthrough with him when handing back the keys and taken photographs ourselves but it was the first time we had ever rented and didnt think to do this but you learn as you go on.

 

Two weeks later we hadnt recieved the deposit or heard from the LL so we contacted him and he said he wasnt going to give us the deposit back until he had confirmation that we had paid all the bill which we told him we had.

 

a week later a letter which cheques arrived stating that there were numerous problems with the flat and so he had deducted almost £300 from our £400 deposit some of which we agreed to but these are which we disputed;

 

money to remove the smell of cat by "a new chemical process" - we had moved into our new property a week before we handed back the keys so the cats had been taken then also, the house was cleaned and bleached and aired and various friends and family who had been in the house prior to handing back keys couldnt smell any cat at all.

 

money for some extra cleaning- including the cooker which was cleaned twice by myself and a family memeber and the rest of the flat was imaculate.

 

the biggest one was supplying and fitting a new wash hand basin in the bathroom and flooring around it because he claimed we had made a hairline crack in it. - my partner nor me or anyone else who helped move or clean saw any crack in the sink how would we have been able to use it if there was?

 

we wote to the LL disputing this and asking for photos which were dated to show why he had charged us.

He wrote back lisitng other things he said we were lucky he didnt charge us for and iclude some photos one photo was a drawer full of papper which i was anoyed at because the paper was actually the guides for the washing machine and cooker and fridge so how was i supposed to take that or remove it?

A photo of the oven which is full of food and other things, now my bood boiled when i saw this because the oven was spotless when we left there was not a single thing in this so the photo was either not our oven or things were placed in it to take the photo but neither i can prove.

 

then there was the photo of the sink or what was supposed to be the sink it was a picture of something peach- our sink was white and you couldnt see any crack in the photo.

 

We wrote to him again stating this and basicaly that none of the photos have dates on them so we wanted ones with dates and which showed clearly the sink and the so called crack. He never replied.

 

I then decided to contact my deposit to get dispute resolution and was told that our landlord had not protected our deposit.

 

So i spoke to a freind who does law and was told that not only has he breached our contrat by stating he had protected the deposit but hadnt that he actually broken the law.

 

We wrote to him again asking for a copy of the deposit certificate and said if he didnt reply we would go to court, we got a reply stating that at the time of signing the contact in Aug 07 that it wasnt a legal requirement and so he didnt do it and also that we may or may not recal a converstion he had with us at the time of signing stating that he wouldnt protect the desposit in order to save us the fee from mydeposit. I dont recall this conversation but it doesnt matter because as far as im aware the law isnt a choice its a requirement.

 

So we filled to the court and now we wait on the hearing date and the landlords next move. Im slightly worried though as ive recently heard of cases similar where the landlord has won the case.

 

The cases you refer to (I imagine) would be where the landlord has subsequently protected the deposit on recipt of court papers.

 

Out of interest ho have you filed the claim? cusing money claim online? using a N1 claim form at the court? or a N208 claim form at the court?

[misselle]

I had a law friend complete the N208 claim from me and took it to the court before xmas the landlord was then served at the start of Jan, its the first time we've ever had to do this so im not so sure how it works or whats going to happen at the hearing.

[help me kick his butt]

Good luck, I will be watching with interest x

[misselle]

Well today the deadline ran out for him to return the acknowledgement of service and state if he was defending th claim or admiting it, and we havent recieved any documents or heard anything, so i think i will have to ring the court tomoro and see if they have recieved anything. Im not sure what the implications are if he has missed the deadline though.

[misselle]

Does anyone know what would happen if the landlord didnt turn up a hearing for non payment of deposit into a prescribed scheme? I have a court date next week for this and only 15 minutes has been allocated for the hearing however the landlord has failed to responde to the deadline for the acknowledgment of service and file a defence it has lapsed by two weeks and still nothing, i suspect he might not turn up at court. Does anyone know what the implications are of him not filling what was required and if he doesnt turn up at the court?

 

many thanks

[help me kick his butt]

Hi there. I have heard of this happening before, in those cases the judge has gone ahead and found in favour of the tenant. I beleive that the LL can have this set aside in special circumstances though.

If I have got this wrong, anyone, please do feel free to correct me.; x

[misselle]

What would count as special circustances? If the judge makes a ruling without the LL there what would then happen?

[help me kick his butt]

Death in family, severe illness etc.

If LL does not turn up, if the judge rules against the LL then if he does not pay you he will get a ccj x

[misselle]

Today i got a letter from my LL solicitor offerin an out of court settlement of 3x the amount of the deposit plus what he deducted and our court costs, my hearing was due one tuesday coming so i was rather surprised but as much as i would have liked to see i go to court to give case story I think it would be right to settle as we wouldnt get anything else in court.

[help me kick his butt]

Hey Miselle, what a result. Have you been asked to sign a consent order?

I know the case is next week but I would take care in the knowledge that the offer is forthcoming before cancelling hearing.

Did you have to pay £300 for the hearing, £150 to lodge claim and £35 for allocation questionaire.

Im delighted for you, well done x

[misselle]

no just the straightforward 150 basicaly we paid that and the LL got served and we got a letter to say he had been served and the date was set for the hearing and the LL had 14 days to file the ackowledgement of service, it was done very differently to anything else i have heard on here. They included a cheque for the full amount in the letter so i dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing? They didnt provide anything for me to sign just asked i contact them to inform them if i accept the offer.

[help me kick his butt]

If i were you I would pay your bank the £18 or whatever it is to express clear the cheque. If the solicior was with funds and has sent you a cheque I would suggest that you are safe.

Im sorry if I sound pessimistic but if the cheque bouces and your court date passes................

I must say im surprised the solicitor did not send a consent form for you to sign and send to the court.

[misselle]

I dont really know how this process works so im very grateful for any advice, the cheque came from the solicitors private account which i was a little surprised at. I didnt know you could express cash a cheque bt i will have to ask the bank first thing on monday morning. That was what i was a little worried about the fact that it may bounce and the date has passed or we have told the court we no longer wish to proceed.

[misselle]

I was wondering if anyone could advise on my situation.

 

I gave my landlord the one months notice needed to end my tenancy today in writting on 29th of April 2009. My partner recieved a phone call tonight from the LL stating that in my letter I had stated i would be cancelling the standing order for rent this month as we had paid a month in advance however the LL called and said this is inncorrect and its not in the TA so we still owe a months rent and that I shouldnt cancel the standing order due to leave my bank on 29th and that the LL would call back nxt week as she is busy.

 

Now a bit of background I paid a deposit of 425 and rent of 425 on 29th aug 2008 which i have a reciept for which is also the day we got the keys to the house and signed the TA. The TA states

 

for term of 6 months and month to month thereafter commenincing 29th aug 2008 rent £425 per calander month and therafter month to month. Payment in advance by equal monthly payments on 29th day of every month.

 

It also states under the section headin rent

 

1.7 rent

1.71 the rent shall be £425.00 per calander mointh payable in advance.

1.73 te first paymet of 425 due on 29/08/2008 prior to the date of taking possession.

 

 

Am I right in sayin the LL is talking crap nd the TA clearly states that rent was paid in advance or am I wrong?

 

Also would I be right in cancelling the standing order as I dont owe anymore rent or would I be breaking the TA?

 

Many thanks

[Planner]

You are wrong the landlord/contract is right. You have been in the property for 8 months (29th August to 29th April). You therefore need to make 8 rent payments;

 

1) 29th August

2) 29th September

3) 29th October

4) 29th November

5) 29th December

6) 29th January

7) 28th February

8 )29th March

 

You asked this question back in February?

Edited March 26, 2009 by Planner

[crem]

YOu are not counting the "deposit" of £425 as if it is one months rent also are you? The deposit is supposed to be refundable when you leave providing everything is in order in terms of the state of the property etc.

 

You should therefore make 8 rental payments on 29th of the month with the payment on 29th March covering 29/3/09 - 28/4/09. Assuming everyhting is in order when you leave, you should be entitled to the return of your £425 deposit.

[Planner]

A further point you could have missed (I missed it previously). If you moved in on the 29th of a month, you should actually be moving out on the 28th of the month, otherwise you technically begin a further period of the periodic tenancy (assuming the LL is fine with that, an extra days rent as well).

Edited March 26, 2009 by Planner

[misselle]

Sorry for the very long post but im really stressed out and felt this was the only place i could turn to for help and support now with having to face another TDS case along with looking for a job and suffereing health problems Im just about to lose my mind.

 

Earlier this year I settled out of court with my previous landlord for TDS as he failed to protect my deposit.

 

Knowing this when I moved into the new property under a different landlord in Aug 2008 I checked with the Dispute service whom my landlord and AST stated our deposit was protected with that they held our deposit. The agent said that there was something for our address but not in our name but that might be because it hadnt been transfered over so I wasnt worried especially after speaking to the landlord before we moved out who assured us that the deposit would be returned and explained that we would both have to agree on the amount to be returned and it would be signed before any money be realsed so great I thought.

 

We severed notice ot leave the property on 28th of April 2009 with no problem and about a week or two before we are due to move out the LL asks if she can come round for what she called a "pre-tenancy" inspection to which I agreed. She turned up with a camera and walked round and took notes and photos which I thought was strange as we hadnt moved out yet and the house was a mess from the packing (it was a big move from England up to Scotland) she spoke to us afterwords and confimred there was no problems and explained about the return of the keys and hat she would do a check out inspection.

 

On the day of moving out and handing the keys back the property was cleaned head to toe including carpets shampooed and only one black bag left in the backgarden (the tenancy agreement stated we could do this altho it states to be placed out for collection which we cant as we would have been fined for fly tipping as bin day was 3 days away) which is shared by 6 other properties.

 

I arrived at the agents in the afternoon as requested by the landlord and was informed that they wouldnt be doing a check out with me there as the landlord was on holiday and she wanted to do it herself when she returned 5 days later:-x They basicaly said that if we kept the keys until then we would be charged extra rent which I just couldnt afford and as we were moving to scotland not just up the road I felt I had no choice but I had taken Photos of inside the house so wasnt worried espec since I had checked it was TDS registered.

 

Imagine my surprise when two weeks later no deposit and no contact from the landlord so my partner contacted her and was told that she felt there was a smell of cats and so she had put down £40 worth of chemicals and may need to replace the living room and under stair carpet which she said were new at the start of the tenancy and that were just cheap so wouldnt be more than £50. We had alot of people helping us move and none of them have pets and all agree that none of them could smell cats espec after the carpets had been shampooed however we didnt want an argument and said if its how she felt then we would agree. Another week goes by and we ring again to find out whats going on with the deposit.

 

Today I recieved a voicemail to tell me she wouldnt be returning the deposit as she had to replace the carpets and undelay as the underlay was badly stained , now im unsure why it would be stained but my only though would be that it was because of the shampooing of the cheap carpets or the chemicals she put down because there were no marks on the carpet when we left certainly no stains.

 

Then she said she had to hire a skip to remove the rubbish from the backgarden!!! I was gobsmacked hearing this as there was only one black bag however as I stated she didnt check the property for 5 days and the backyard is shared by other houses and quite often rubbish sacks would be put in the outhouse as ours was the only one without a door! Stupidly we didnt take any photos of the backgarden and there was no inventry at the start of the tenancy so were do we stand with this?

 

To add to it i phoned the TDS to request ADR and was informed that they couldnt because infact my deposit hadnt been protected with them and what I should have been told when i originaly called was that there was a deposit registered at my address but it had been paid out long before we moved in and nothing else had been registered, I then phoned the other two schemes and was told nothing was registered with them.

 

So relaly im looking for advice and reassurance, Im aware my next step is prob a letter before action requesting the return of the deposit as it hasnt been protected which is against the law.

 

However can the landlord counter claim if i do this with the above claimed damage? On what grounds would she win this either in court of if she subsequently protects the deposit and ADR is used? Also can the deposit be protected after the tenancy has ended because im sure that if she can protect it when she gets the LBA she will. Im not bothered about the 3x the deposit I just want what is owed to me, but does the fact weve now moved to Scotland even tho the Tenancy was originaly in England Effect court proceedings?

 

Many thanks in Advance

 

A very stressed Miss Elle

[misselle]

Does anyone know if I were to take the case of non protection to the court and lose if I would have to pay the LLs court costs?

[misselle]

Id be eternaly greatful if someone anyone could advise on my situation, the worry of not getting the money back which i so desperatley need is playing havock with my health which already was in a poor state.

[DisgruntledTenant]

Id be eternaly greatful if someone anyone could advise on my situation, the worry of not getting the money back which i so desperatley need is playing havock with my health which already was in a poor state.

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I think it can go either ways. I dont think there is a hard and fast rule that if you lose you pay costs. I read a case of one person that lost, but the judge ruled they didnt have pay costs as it was the LL's fault they were there in the first place. But you never can be too sure I guess!

 

Why dont you go through the small claims court which means you dont get exposed to the LL's costs?

[misselle]

Today I am in the process of filling out court papers on a N028 claim for failure to protect my deposit by my landlord, I was wondering if someone could possibly have a look over what I plan to write and Advise if its ok or if i need more or less or need to be worded differently. Also do I mention in it that my landlord has failed to reply to the LBA that I sent and that i know she recieved it because it was sent recorded delivery and signed for?

 

heres what i have so far

 

We make an application to the court in accordance with the Housing Act 2004, to seek repayment of our tenancy deposit of £425 and three times the amount of the deposit on the grounds of:

 

Section 213(1) That the initial requirements of the authorised claim/scheme have not been complied with in relation to the deposit.

 

Section 213(3) That were a landlord receives a tenancy deposit in relation to a shorthold tenancy, the inital 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. This has not been complied with.

Section 214(1)(b) That the tenant has been notified by the landlord that a particular authorised scheme applies to the deposit but has been unable to obtain confirmation from the scheme administrator that the deposit is being held in accordance with the scheme.

 

The Shorthold Tenancy Agreement was signed on the 29/08/2008 in which it stated that the landlord had protected the tenant's deposit using the My Deposit scheme. Upon ending the agreement on 28th April 2009 the landlord retained the deposit. The tenants disputed this and so contacted the landlord to reach an agreement, this could not be reached. The tenancy agreement stated their deposit was held by The Dispute Service and so they contacted them to attempt dispute resolution. Upon contact, The Dispute Service notified them by email and telephone that their deposit had not been protected by the landlord and so dispute resolution could not be used. The remaining schemes were contacted by telephone and email and neither had any record of the deposit being protected by the landlord.

[Guest Old_andrew2018]

Hi

I am sure you have most likely seen the information as its a sticky helping with TDS questions, however if not look at this thread. http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/126261-tds-court-claims-wording.html#post1320020

[misselle]

my bad i didnt even think to look there