Deposit error in AST and DPS

Landlord Discussion Legal
1

Hi all,

I am new landlord and just let my property earlier this month. Agreed monthly rent is £1200 (from £1300) and deposit was £1500.

I drafted AST myself from various free templates and secured it with mydeposits.

However, I have just realised that I have made an error in counting deposit by charging £116 more. 5 weeks rent appears as around £1384 and not £1500. It was right before rent negotiation.

Can I ask what is my option here? Should I refund the difference and update AST? Or is there any other way of solving this to in legal rights?

2

I personally try to correct this as much as possible (e.g. return amount and reregister deposit with correct amount - send prescribed information again (very important!) and correct AST (probably just gettng them to sign the corrected section). Otherwise you will be in th ewrong and if you try to evict them for a geniune reason you will struggle. - Please note that am just another Landlor so I am not a legal advisor.

1 Like
3

Thanks for reply.

Would you create new AST or amend the deposit amount and get it signed there with date?

4

Its a very bad idea to draft a legal document yourself unless you have extensive legal training. There are likely things that you have missed or got wrong. I would suggest that you source a trusted AST template such as the one from NRLA (by joining NRLA) and start again. Did you serve all the other required documents?

You should refund the difference between £1500 and 5 weeks rent now.

5

Thanks for your time to reply.

I have asked mydeposits to amend the deposit amount of custody deposit so I can refund the money to them. I have just recorded it yesterday. Do I need new AST or shall I amend the signed one to change the deposit and sign again?

Regarding AST, I have sourced it through partly from OpenRent and another similar service. I have provided all other necessary documents i.e Gas Safety, EICR, EPC and how to rent guide along with AST.

6

You cant amend a contract thats in force in that way. Just get them to sign for receipt of the refund.

7

MyDeposits provides you with a prescribed information document, which it is important to print out, fill in, and get the tenant to sign this. I cannot stress enough how important this signature is. However, you must sort out everything else first. (Misinformation Removed)

9

Give them 200 back and say you will give 100 off the rent as you made a mistake. Record it both sign it.
You have made a serious mistake but giving them 100 back would sit well later on

10

You need to return the overcharged deposit. You are allowed up to five weeks’ rent as the deposit. If you have received a holding deposit, this should be one weeks’ rent and should be included in the total five weeks deposit that you received. Open rent does calculate the deposit if you put your details in during listing. It is also important that you join the NRLA in order to obtain useful advice and you will also get access to the templates you require such as the Tenancy Agreement