Agent has made deductions from deposit

[pembo]

Hi, there are a few pertinent issues here, so I'll try to be brief.

 

I signed a tenancy agreement in July 07 for 12 months. When it was due to expire I wanted to go on a periodic lease but the agent said my deposit would not be protected if I did. First, is this right? They recommended that I sign a 6 month lease with a break clause, so I did. I signed a further two such contracts until I ended the tenancy in October 09. The deposit I paid was £895 and the agent held the deposit as a stakeholder.

 

1. At each extension of the tenancy the agent charged me £47 (approx). I didn't pay these fees, but they still drew up the contracts and they never chased me for payment.

 

2. At the end of the tenancy, the landlord wanted to withhold £60 to repaint a wall we had marked. I agreed to this.

 

3. The agent informed me of this and said that they would refund the remainder of the deposit. I confirmed the amount to be refunded was £835 (£895 less £60).

 

4. No further contact from agent, just saw a credit to my bank account of £696. When I contacted the agent about why the amount was less they informed me that they had withheld £139 to cover the unpaid extension fees.

 

So what I want to know is: first, do I even have to pay the extension fees? I was not informed at any stage before I signed the first contract that I would have to pay for any extension.

 

Second, can the agent actually withhold some of the deposit at all? It seems to me that the deposit is to protect the landlord's property, not the agent.

 

Thanks

Pembo

[blitz]

When were you told you would have to pay an 'extension' fee?

[pembo]

I think the letter accompanied the first extension of contract (before we had signed anything other than the initial 12 month contract).

[JimmySpangle]

Hang on. The deposit is a security deposit against damages and breakages. It is not for the agency to dip into whenever they feel like.

 

The agency has stolen YOUIR money. They cannot do this. If they feel you owe them money they must ask for it and if you refuse to pay, they must take you to court. In the meantime they cannot and must not steal from your security deposit.

[pembo]

@JimmySpangle

 

Exactly what I thought. The problem is, now that they have taken the money, will I now have to go to Court to get it back?

 

To add a spanner to the works, when I moved out, I moved to Australia....

 

I guess if I do have to pay the extension fees for whatever reason, it might be best just to say we're all square. It all rests on whether I do have to pay the extension fees.

[JimmySpangle]

No, there are some interesting matters here.

 

1. It is illegal to take money from a tenants deposit unless it is for damages/breakages to the property because that is exactly what it is for.

 

2. Did you agree to pay additional fees? If not there is no agreement/contract and as such they cannot enforce it - in court or otherwise.

 

You need to point out to them that taking money from a deposit is illegal and unless they refund you immediately you will hand this over to the authorities to deal with, could lead to a criminal conviction blah blah.

[pembo]

@JimmySpangle

 

Thanks for your help so far. But do you know which act or regulation states that an agent can't take anything out of a deposit? If I'm going to threaten them with Court action, I want to present them with the facts right up front so that they might cave in without me having to take them to Court. The fact that I'm now living in Oz is going to make it difficult to take them to Court.