Urgent Help Sneaky Landlord TDS

[Kentish Lass]

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 where 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.

 

Just one little spelling/typing error:wink:

[misselle]

I wrote a while ago about my landlord keeping my deposit which she hadnt protected as she claimed we had done damage to the property and wouldnt sent reciepts of photos.

 

I wrote a LBA for to her either return the deposit as it wasnt protected or provide a cerificate or I would take her to the court for the return of the deposit and 3X the amount, So last week I get a letter from her enclosing a cheque for the deposit and saying it was a clerical error that it wasnt protected.

 

Today I recieved a letter from the so and so (i cant use the word i really want to call her ) sending me a LBA for a different amount to what she originaly saying we had done in damage but still more than our deposit.

 

Im fuming, The cheque for the deposit hasnt been cashed, can she acutally do this when she didnt protect our deposit? Im so angry Im tempted to press ahead with the TDS court papers. Have their been cases where the LL has been returned the deposit before court proceedings and the tenant has still won or would it be a nope hoper? Im loathed to let this women steal my money again when the house was left in perfect condition.

 

Many thanks

[Planner]

Dont cash the cheque and put your claim in for the return of the deposit + x3 the deposit amount OR write to her and state that you will be happy to cash the cheque if she can confirm in writing that she considers it full an final settlement in relation to the tenancy and alleged damages, alternativley you will continue with your claim for the return of the deposit + x3 the depsoit amount, a total of £xxxx.

[misselle]

Thought it might be helpful if I put in a bit of a time line to see if it helps with anyones advice

 

Aug 2008 - sign tenancy agreement

28th April 2009 - moved out of property

23rd May - LL writes a letter stating she inspected the property on 1st May and alleges damage of £490 so is keeping the deposit of £425

24 May - All TDS confirm deposit has never been protected

23rd June - I write a LBA requesting deposit is returned and proof of protection is issued otherwise court for x3 deposit

17 July 2009 - Letter arrives from LL claiming Celrical error fault why deposit was not protected and included a cheque for the deposit amount.

Today - recieved a LBA from LL dated 22nd July giving us 7 days to pay £452.00 for alleged damages to the property otherwise we will be taken to court.

 

Now im stumped on what to do next Im astounded at the gall of this person.

 

Would it make a difference in court for a TDS claim that she has sent us a cheque for the amount of the deposit? Im so angry I could actually scream, Ive heard of some sneaky LL but this is outrageous I mean shes claiming £40 an hour admin fee's totaling £100 thats a shocking amount.

 

Planner woul you be able to help me with writting a letter to the effect of what your said above?

 

She dated her letter 22 July giving us 7 days to repay the money otherwise she will start court proceddings to recover it which the 7days runs out tomorow. We only recieved and signed for it today. She hasnt even provided proof of the damage by photos or invoice and there was no check in or out inventory.

 

Please can anyone help?

Edited July 28, 2009 by misselle
more info provided

[misselle]

Ive gone with your suggestion Planner and have drafted a letter heres what ive got

 

Thank you for your letter received on 22 July 2009 with regards to the deposit at the property confirming that the deposit had indeed not been protected for the duration of the tenancy.

I have received the cheque included in the letter and have not yet cashed it. I will however be glad to cash it if you will confirm in writing that you considers it full and final settlement in relation to the tenancy and alleged damages, alternativley I will continue with my claim for the return of the deposit plus x3 the depsoit amount, a total of £1700.

I look forward to hearing from you.

should I add anything else? Im not sure if I should mention her most recent letter threating to take us to court if we dont repay the money to her for alleged damages? Many thanks

[bedlington83]

I wouldn't thank her for the letter - I'd just acknowledge receipt, but it doesn't really make any difference. I'd definitely give her a deadline to answer though; something like "If I do not receive written confirmation within seven days of this letter I will instigate legal proceedings without further notice." instead of "I look forward to hearing from you".

[Kentish Lass]

Personally, I wouldn't pussyfoot around any further. I would simply go for the deposit +3xdeposit. If she thinks she can charge £40 ph admin fees, she obviously hasn't a clue and a judge will laugh her out of court. If there was no check in or check out, she can't prove any of it anyway. Keep all the correspondence and let the judge decide. Judges do not like landlords who behave in this way and I reckon you might win.

[misselle]

Thanks for all your advice i've sent a letter off today and i've prepared court papers ready to send off if i dont get a reply in 7 days.

 

My internets been playing up or id have thanked you all much sooner, its not only the admin fees that are shocking she charged us £100 to hire a skip and remove rubbish from the shared back yard which she took days to check and i can assure you we left not even one single sack of rubbish we took it all to the tip!!

 

Reckons she had to remove and replace the carpet and underlayt of the front room due to smell of cat again utter rubbish, shes using the fact that we had cats as an excuse, and also saying that there was a tide mark around the bath, again rubbish and there was dust on the skirting boards again which she took days to check after we moved out. The house was scrubbed clean and carpets washed before we handed back the keys because she wouldnt do a check out with us present as she was apparently on holiday.

 

We had trouble from the moment we moved in 2 months almost without heating or hot water because she wouldnt fix the boiler and not once did we withold or ask for a reductiion in rent and when we served notice to leave we let her come round whenever she wanted to show round tenants and this is how we get thanked for treating her and her property with respect.

 

Its put me off renting for good now. I~ just hope a judge will see her for what she really is because im sickened by the situation.

[misselle]

So 7 days expire today and no letter from the LL so looks like i'll be preparing court papers today to send off on Monday morning.

 

I was going to use the wording from the sticky but what im wondering do I have to mention in the wording about her trying to return the deposit but not replying that It is a full settlement?

 

I know I have to put in as evidence my Tenancy agreement, deposit reciept, letters to and from the LL regarding the protection of the deposit , letters from the TDS confirming non-protection but what I wondered was do I also include in my evidence the postage reciepets from the letters I have sent and can I include like scripts from other similar TDS cases where the tenant has won? Im aware that my LL has a very fancy lawyer and I just couldnt afford to hire one to represent me or even give advice about the case so any help would be great.

 

Many thanks

[DisgruntledTenant]

So 7 days expire today and no letter from the LL so looks like i'll be preparing court papers today to send off on Monday morning.

 

I was going to use the wording from the sticky but what im wondering do I have to mention in the wording about her trying to return the deposit but not replying that It is a full settlement?

 

I know I have to put in as evidence my Tenancy agreement, deposit reciept, letters to and from the LL regarding the protection of the deposit , letters from the TDS confirming non-protection but what I wondered was do I also include in my evidence the postage reciepets from the letters I have sent and can I include like scripts from other similar TDS cases where the tenant has won? Im aware that my LL has a very fancy lawyer and I just couldnt afford to hire one to represent me or even give advice about the case so any help would be great.

 

Many thanks

 

 

I'm not a lawyer, but I would leave it out. To me the penalty is for failing to protect the deposit, and has nothing to do with whether she did or didnt return the deposit. That really is irrelevant to a claim against a LL's failiure to protect the deposit.

 

Hopefully, if you get the claim in quick, she will then counterclaim with the deductions, and as I understand, there is no entitlement to counterclaim against damages in a TDS dispute as each of the schemes provide arbitration services. And given there is no excuse for not using the scheme, the arbitration services are the only option for a landlord to look at deducitons. And then her counterclaim will get struck off straight away.

 

See Tenancy Deposit case- tenant awarded damages and 3x - LandlordZONE Forums

 

Note the judge accepted the tenant’s argument that the award was a strict liability penalty, and that consequently there was no provision for counterclaim for outstanding rent arrears or other arguments about the return or retention of the deposit on the basis that a statutory scheme included arbitration for disputed about returning or retaining deposit monies.