AST deposit not protected and landlord is potentially unknown

[tommy_van]

Hi

 

This is my first post so please be gentle.

 

I need to find out who my landlord was in order to claim unprotected deposit and compensation in the County Courts. This is not as simple as it sounds so let me explain.

 

I and two other housemates recently finished a years Assured Shorthold Tenancy on a property however the person I am dealing with is piling up spurious claims that happen to amount to our deposit.

 

We signed the AST in the presence of the man claiming to be our landlord. This is the person we dealt with before and during our tenancy so as far as we were aware he was the landlord. I have his name, address for service and phone number and have already sent him a Letter Before Action which he signed for but never responded to so I know these details are legitimate.

The problem is it was not his name on the AST we signed and I foolishly let him take our signed agreement in exchange for his promise to get me a copy which he never did. He claimed the name belonged to his solicitor and that he indeed was the landlord. This was over a year ago and I cannot remember the name on the AST.

 

Before the LBA he danced around any questions I asked relating to which scheme our deposit was protected by and just wanted to talk about his carpets. After receiving it he is very aggressive and rude, swearing at me and saying his solicitor will send me deposit protection details by the end of the week along with the bill for the carpets and then hanging up on me. He has had the LBA for 2 weeks already with no response so while this may sound like progress if he were going to send this information he would have already.

 

I checked the Land Registry to see if I could confirm his ownership and again the supposed landlord is not the owner of the property.

 

So to summarise I find myself with this problem.

 

• I have all details needed to take the man I thought was our landlord to court but this may not be the right person. He has never formally responded so I don't have a physical record of him claiming to be our landlord.
  
• Unfortunately I don't remember the name on my AST but I know it's not this man.
  
• I have bank statements showing the bank account my deposit and rent payments went into but don't know who this belongs to.
  
• I have the owners name but he may not be the person who was renting me the property and therefor wouldn't be responsible.
  

10 smileys for anyone who can suggest a workable solution for getting my deposit back that doesn't involve paying a solicitor loads of money I don't have. And I'll buy you a beer if you live anywhere near central London.

[NewSAHD]

Personally, I would make the claim against the individual named on the Land Registry records and do it so whoever it was who was purporting to be the Landlord is named as the Agent too - and send it to all the addresses you have obtained so far, including that of the so called Solicitor, should you have their details.

 

Make it clear in your submission that the Agent continually refused to return the paperwork to you, or, for that matter, answer your reasonable queries in any substantive way. In my mind it's less to do with you having to prove who is the Landlord, as such, more for the owner/Landlord to explain exactly what's been going on here.

 

If you wish to PM me whatever details you have you are welcome to do so, as can have a look through. Whatever you send me will only be used to assist you and will not be released to any third party without your prior consent. Hope that helps!

Edited December 6, 2010 by NewSAHD
typos