Is my S21 valid?

[nat]

I have been served with an S21(1)(b) that expires on the last day of my AST. However, I have read somewhere that when I renewed my tenancy last year, they should have provided me with the details of the deposit protection within 30 days.

 

There are some details of the deposit protection contained within the tenancy agreement and a section that reads: Details of the DPS to which the landlord subscribes are given in the documentation annexed to this agreement, receipt of which the tennant acknowledges. Please refer to annex 1 & 3 at the end of this agreement.

 

Annex one says :INFORMATION PRESCRIBED BY THE HOUSING ACT 2004 then goes on to show landlords name and address and mine and my partners names and email addresses.

 

Then annex 3 reads: AS A SEPERATE ATTACHMENT WHICH REFERS TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE DEPOSIT PROTECTION SERVICE.

 

However, I have NEVER received anything that refers to my deposit since moving in 3 years ago and certainly not when I have renewed each time.

 

Does this make the section 21 invalid?

 

If so, what should I do? Wait to receive a court notice? Are they legally then able to make any deductions from the deposit when i do move out?

 

Any help is appreciated.

[raydetinu]

You should of got the PI info when you took your first AST, it will just rollover if you sign another one.

But agent or LL should confirm that.

Ask for details now and see what happens.

You are correct if not protected then S21 no valid.

[Steve__M]

They should have given you all the information here:

 

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/797/article/2/made

 

which includes a leaflet (2b) from the DPS that describes the DPS scheme.

 

My opinion is that they only have to have given it to you once - when your deposit was first paid to them - and not at each renewal.

[mariner51]

What date was AST renewed? Before or after Superstrike ruling (Jul 13 I think)?

[nat]

AST was renewed 4th June 2013

[raydetinu]

As said ask LL for info or check with the schemes yourself, by phone or email ( 4 of them ).

[nat]

Deposit is registered. But no PI received at any renewal.

[nat]

Or when we first took out tenancy.

[Steve__M]

> Does this make the section 21 invalid?

 

Yes. As long as the judge is convinced...

 

> If so, what should I do?

 

What is their aim? Do they want you to leave, or is it being issued so that they can require you to sign a new contract.

 

If they want you to leave you could stay and ignore the notice. You could also negotiate your way out of the contract in a way that is satisfactory to you.

 

> Wait to receive a court notice?

 

That would be an option if you want to delay things as long as possible. If you tell them now, they can resolve the problem and re-issue a new Section 21.

 

> Are they legally then able to make any deductions from the deposit when i do move out?

 

They are legally liable to return the full deposit to you plus between 1 and 3 times the amount. But you would have to issue a court claim.

 

If you do not issue a court claim, then they may propose deductions and you may have access to the free resolution service provided by the deposit protection company.

[nat]

OK, thanks. They want us to leave at the end of the AST. We are currently looking for alternative accomodation, but it is difficult to find a suitable place that is not to far from the kids schools and is a suitable size etc, so utltimatley we would like to hang on here as long as possible.

 

If we were able to get the deposit back with the 1-3 x penalty before we moved out, that would help greatly as we are really struggling to raise a new deposit for another place.

 

Any advice on how to proceed. The AST doesnt run out until beginning of June.

[raydetinu]

Not sure if judge will see the lack of PI as important as NON protection! and my IMHO would not award any compensation, but could return deposit; but it would be up to you to start a claim which could be very expensive up front and risky.

Also LL could make valid deductions from deposit, and it would be up to you to challenge that through the scheme or courts.

[nat]

So long as the S21 is invalid and buys us a bit of time, we would be happy. Return of deposit would be a bonus, but im not too worried about that.

[Lea_HTH]

Actually, late provision of the prescribed information does not render a s21 notice invalid, if the deposit itself has been protected - and there's mitigation to any claim brought by a tenant if all that was not provided was the PI.

 

Don't rely on the s21 not being valid - doubtful any judge will see it as such, since whether the prescribed information was provided or not will come down to who the judge believes. There is good evidence to support the LL, in that the deposit was in fact protected in time and the tenancy agreement itself gives details of the scheme it is held in, and makes reference to the prescribed information.