End of Tenancy - How to Proceed. LL did not use DPS

[quailpower]

Hi just some background infomraiton.

 

I moved into my old property on 27th April 2012 and moved out on the 27th April 2013.

 

The property was supplied as fully furnished (NO INVENTORY), £450 a month payable on the 7th. And £450 put down as a deposit.

 

On the tenancy agreement it states she would put the deposit in a DPS scheme which she didnt.

 

 

Ive complained about her on here before shes a little bit mad. (Read: coming round and 5am to put bins out and randomly walking into house so we had to keep doors locked at all times).

 

 

So now the tenancy is over, she did an inspection on the 27th when I was there, and in front of 4 witnesses said everything was fine, everything was wonderfully clean and asked for my bank details to return deposit.

 

This did not happen. I contacted her and asked her what was going on. She said she needed to make some deductions but didnt know how much yet because she hadnt finished doing all the work. When I pressed her she produced this list by email.

 

Hi Danielle, I have not managed to clean the whole house yet because there is so much to do.

 

The bathroom is fine.

 

SMall bedroom / when I moved the bed there is oil on the carpet and also some a blue stain, which you did not mention. I have arranged to get the carpet cleaned 15 May and it shouldnt cost any more than 45pounds.

I have asked for pictures but she has not replied as I rented a carpet cleaner and cleaned ALL the carpets

 

The curtain rail also needs fixed to the wall.

It was attached to wall when I left and has never fell off in the year I lived there why would it fall off now??

 

Front bedroom, I have had to remove the border, not sure what you have done but there are peices misssing all around it.

All the wallpaper in the front bedroom is peeling / rotting because of rising damp which is visible on all walls. I advised her of this on regular basis through tenancy

 

The curtain also needs to be fixed to the wall.

Again, it was up when we left??? With Curtains!! And if you drive past the curtains have always been up!

 

Hall / bottom step has a large oily patch and the small hall was not cleaned.

Actuslly there are oil marks all around the house.

Oil??? Again asked for pictures, not provided

 

Lounge / is not too bad.

 

I have has to paint the conservatory which has marks on the walls.

Read: rising damp. all the marks are black mould.

 

Kitchen I have not tackled yet, but the light needs repaired.

Bathroom piping burst over winter and flooded kitchen, all the kitchen lights fell out of the ceiling and kitchen was nearly foot under water. She knew about this and had someone come and re-fit the broken lights. Dont see why I should pay

 

The cooker and fridge need cleaned but I have not checked it yet the rest of it yet.

My parents actually cleaned these for me, because I cant bend to well being heavily pregnant and they were spotless. Cleaner than when I moved in seeing as I had to buy new oven racks the old ones were so manky

 

I'msorry it is taking me longer than usual,

 

There was alot of wood left lyin ariound and in the shed which I have disposed of.

Wood from when she had the fence replaced. "Christine do you want me to take that to the tip for you when I go tomorrow, nah its fine love"

 

I think it will be a couple of weeks before I can assess the cost, hope you are feeling OK with the baby.

 

I have an odd job man who will fix the curtain rails at a low cost but the light I will have to get an electrician.

 

Seeing as she was being such an arse, I respectfully sent her a request for details of the DPS scheme, as well as Gas Safety Certs which I know she doesnt have.

She has not responded.

 

Just wondering what I should do now. Should I send the same again, in a letter with recorded delivery? And then issue small claims? How do I even go about doing this?

[seanamarts]

What your Landlady has done is totally against the law.

 

If you are renting a property, then you probably will have been asked to pay a

tenancy deposit. In April 2007 it became law that all assured shorthold tenancy

deposits received by landlords and letting agents are required to be protected

in a Government-authorised tenancy deposit protection scheme.

 

http://www.depositprotection.com/documents/tenant-guide-custodial.pdf

 

It may be wise to speak with some one at your local housing office to get some advice on how to pursue this. There should be some one there that will point you in the right direction.

 

She could well end up in an awful lot of trouble.

[quailpower]

I dont have a "Local" housing office. The house I rented was in Cumbria, and Ive moved back to Merseyside to have my baby.

 

Ive been advised to send her a Notice Before Action, and hope she chooses to settle outside of court, because I really dont want to be going into small claims court when I am nearly term! Although theres no way I wouldnt take it to court because I'm desperate for the cash and shes not cheating it out of me!

[seanamarts]

You can still get advice from the council and CAB with regards to making a claim against her.

 

You can make a claim against her on line via this site. I understand that money maybe tight but you will get it back if you win which I have no doubts you will as what she has done is unlawful.

 

https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/overview

 

Have a read of this.

[quailpower]

You can still get advice from the council and CAB with regards to making a claim against her.

 

You can make a claim against her on line via this site. I understand that money maybe tight but you will get it back if you win which I have no doubts you will as what she has done is unlawful.

 

https://www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money/overview

 

Have a read of this.

 

 

Ah I didnt know you had to pay the court fees up front, I thought they were decided after!

 

Ive been unemployed since April because of my pregnancy (all legally done unfortunately), and the Jobcentre have yet to pay me a penny, despite me working vigilantly to get a job (although who would hire a 6month pregnant lady I have no idea). I am submitting my Maternity Allowance next week so hopefully should be getting some money then but thats still looking at a timeline of 2-4 weeks before I see some cash.

Anyway better derail myself before I go off on one, the "ive been working since I was 16 and never claimed a penny and now I need something I cant get anything!!" speech gets old fast.

[seanamarts]

You have plenty of time to put in a claim, it dosnt have to be right now.

[mariner51]

Simplest & cheapest route would be SSC claim for return of deposit (

A non-protection deposit part 8 claim will cost in excess of £1K in Court fees plus Solic costs to address the Court.

Also an adverse judgement can leave you liable for other side's full defence costs.

It is solely at Judge's discretion what level of compensation to award (1-3x deposit).

 

As seanmart says you have until 2019 to bring a non-protection claim.

[quailpower]

Thanks for the advice guys, I knew I had upto 6 years to put a claim in. I was just hoping I could get it sorted before I have my baby because I dont like the idea of filling in all those legal documents when severely sleep deprived! Ah well.

 

From the look of things shes goingto want to settle anyway. Ive never had any involvement with small claims so never knew how expensive it could be for the looser.