Claiming Part of Deposit

[piglette]

We rented out our house a while back and the tenants gave a deposit to the agent. The tenants left about eighteen months ago and there was damage to the property which came to £680 less than the deposit. The agent still has the deposit and says that the ex-tenants have been contacted several times (they are in France) but they don't reply. How do we get our damage costs from the deposit? Thanks for any help.

[MrShed]

Is the deposit in a tenancy deposit scheme?

[piglette]

Yes it was in a tenancy deposit scheme, but when the tenants left and the agent sent off the paperwork of damage, the scheme said the rent was over £2,000 so they could not deal with it. The rent was actually £2,200.

[MrShed]

So in that case where is the deposit currently?

[piglette]

I have just talked to the agent and they think they have it. They will check on Monday.

[MrShed]

If the agent have the deposit then I dont understand the issue - the agent simply needs to release it.

[piglette]

The agent seems to think that they need to check with the ex-tenants, who won't reply, which is why we have an impasse. They suggested we should go to small claims to get the money, but I thought that was the idea of a deposit.

[MrShed]

Agent is being an idiot. They should release it to you simple as.

[piglette]

I have just talked to the agent again and am now totally confused!!! They say they think they have written a cheque to the dispute service, why would they do this if they say that the dispute service did not want to know?? They say the person who knows will be in tomorrow, so perhaps I may be enlightened then. Is the dispute service different to the deposit scheme? Why would they write a cheque to them if the deposit scheme already had the money? Thanks so much for your help, I am sorry to seem so moronic over this..

[MrShed]

Something isnt quite right here.

 

Give it til tomorrow and see what you find out. The agent seems to be playing silly bu**ers.

[MrShed]

Out of interest, are you still using this agent for renting out the property?

[piglette]

No we are back living in the house again!!!!!

[MrShed]

It is farcical that this has carried on after 18 months.

 

During/following your discussion tomorrow find out the following:

 

1) Where the deposit is now.

2) When it was returned from the DPS.

3) If it wasnt returned from the DPS, why, as they cannot deal with it as the tenancy wasnt an AST.

[piglette]

Thanks. I will do that.

[piglette]

I have heard from the agents!!

1. They have the deposit

2. They got it back from the DPS around May 2010

3. They say they can't do anything until they either get agreement from both parties or a court tells them to pay out the money.

I hope this helps and thanks again.

[MrShed]

Since when did the agents believe they were a tenancy deposit scheme?

 

That is quite a ridiculous stance to take.

 

I would try one more thing before formally persuing them.

 

I would simply ask them under what point of law they feel that they cannot release the deposit. I would be VERY interested to hear their response.

[piglette]

Right, I hope I get this right. They say there is no point of law, but they could release the whole amount to the ex tenant if we agreed or some to us if the tenant agreed but as the tenant has not replied they can't do that.

[MrShed]

But if theres no point of law, thats utter rubbish.

 

Balls to it, send them a letter before action demanding the release of the deposit to yourself within 7 days or you will proceed to court.

 

They havent got a clue.

 

I would also be inclined to raise a complaint with their professional body if they are a member of one (ARLA etc).

[piglette]

OK I will try that and see what happens!! I must admit, the lady I have been talking to doesn't seem to have much of a clue. She just seems to think that you can't give away the tenanat's money to the landlord, as no one has OK'd it. Perhaps this is why she suggested the small claims court in the first place. It seems strange to say please sue us though.

[piglette]

I have told the agent we are taking them to court. They talked to the TDS solicitor for some unknown reason who said we should sue the tenants. The solicitor said we would be wasting our time taking them to court. I said if they can't even get hold of the tenants to give back the deposit, we won't have much luck taking them to court, particularly as the tenant is an American Attorney. I said what happens to the deposit and the agent said they sit on it forever!! We have written a letter of action, are we wasting our time?

[MrShed]

Wrong. Utterly utterly wrong. They are trying to act like a TDS when they are NOT.

 

The agent has the money, you sue the agent.

[MrShed]

Could you PM me the area, and the name of the agent?

[MrShed]

Got your PM thanks.

 

The agent is a member of ARLA.

 

I would therefore, in the first instance, raise a complaint with them:

 

http://www.arla.co.uk/complaints/

[piglette]

Thanks so much. We will try that. Away for a couple of weeks but will phone them when I get back.

[piglette]

We are back and we have had an e-mail from the agent saying that she has now had a reply from the ex-tenants who are still lving in France who say they want the deposit back (surprise, surprise). Whose money is it, is the agent in a position to give them the deposit back We have not actually complained to ARLA or applied to small claims yet as we were away.