Messy non-protected deposit dispute

[Forsh86]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could offer me their insight into my problem. I moved into a property just over 3 years ago and have just moved out, but my landlord is withholding the deposit.

 

As background my housemate and I paid our deposit + first month rent to a full management letting agent in cash. A DPS certificate was not obtained and I completely forgot about it (I know, i'm an idiot). The flat we moved into was messy and had a fair amount of wear and tear already (despite it being quite a new build, apparently is was a case of build them quick and low quality) and this was recorded in the inventory. Over time the agent would take longer and longer to reply to our requests for repairs, and eventually stopped replying completely. About a year later a guy knocks on our door and tells us that the agent had done a runner with 3 months of rent from several customers and so the landlord had appointed a new letting agent, which was him. We verified this was true and started paying our rent to the new agent, everything was OK.

 

We have now moved out of the property and are trying to get our deposit back. The new agent wants nothing to do with it as the deposit was paid before they were the agent and have instructed us to contact the landlord. The landlord is now refusing to return the deposit, saying that he was ripped off by the old agent and its not his problem. He kept making out that it was the old agent's fault and tried to wash his hands of the problem, I know this is rubbish. He's also complaining about the state of the property. The place is actually tidier than when we moved in, other than some damage under the bath from a slowly leaking pipe that we didn't know about. I've told him that I will make a claim in court unless he returns the deposit, and he stopped replying to me. I've checked and the deposit was not protected with any of the DPS.

 

There are a few problems though. There is almost no paperwork for the rental. I have the tenancy agreement and thats it, this does list the rent and the deposit amount. I have no receipts for deposit payment and no inventory, though I have bank statements showing me withdrawing hundreds of pounds in cash around that time, which is unusual activity for me - I doubt that will suffice. Also, I don't have the landlords address or phone number, only his email address.

 

My questions:

How much of a problem is the lack of paperwork likely to be in reclaiming the deposit?

How much of a problem is the damage to the house likely to pose given that nobody has a copy of the inventory?

Will it improve my chances of a claim because the deposit wasn't protected? The landlord should have been given a certificate to confirm the deposit had been protected, and obviously didn't check up on this so is he liable? (I know I didn't check up either)

Are the new agents required to give me the landlords address so I can make a claim through the small claims court? I haven't signed a tenancy agreement with them as we moved out quite soon after they became agents.

 

Best Regards,

Forsh86

[mariner51]

Request by letter the address of the LL from new agent. The prob may be that you are no longer a T so you could try 192.com for address as you know LLs name and approx. location or use a tracing co like FinderMonkey £50 no find - no fee.

Deposit is ultimately LLs responsibility. Cheapest option is to sue for return of deposit only in SCC, forget claiming for deposit non-protection.

TA is with LL not any Agent.

[Forsh86]

The agent is refusing to give me the landlords address, they said they can't do so without his permission, which sounds odd. I just want my money back and was hoping to scare LL by mentioning the 3x fine for non-protection, but it hasn't worked. Will try to just claim for deposit return through SCC. Just need that damn address first!