I am registered landlord with DPS, property let since 2012 to 2021,deposit was with me, I had a contract 6 months initially and he continued to stay, so i guess same contract rolled over although there is no clause of periodic tenancy. I then found out he was out of the country several months at a stretch subletting the property. Issued a proper contract March 2021, inspected and found house compromised safety, such as blocking exits, CO monitor disappeared, etc, and 2 suletters. Asked to leave, created fuss but left. On leaving lot of damage found. I then withhold deposit. He has now put a counter claim that he has actually invested thousands of pounds in up keeping the house over the years and no damage is done by him. He has rejected adjugator service and DPS system says awaiting court action. He has 6months time to bring court action.
My questions are 1.will I be penalised to put deposit in protection scheme so late?
2,i have evidence for repair expenses. What are the chances of me able to retain deposit?, 1100 pounds, but expenses are around 7000,i just want this to end, so not claiming the rest, thank God he left.
3,The tenant knows my occupation and where I leave, he has been dishonest and my husband fears he might do more damage to our profession and us. Should I just withdraw claim fir the sake of peace?
You say the tenant has left, but has the tenancy ended? If so, who served notice on whom and what happened next.
What damage are you concerned that he could do to your business?
Assuming that the new tenancy in March didn’t require any re-protection of the deposit or re-service of the Prescribed Information, and that ghe deposit was properly protected at the start of the tenancy, you have a couple of choices if you want some compensation:
- Wait for him to bring a court claim and when he doesn’t, do a Single Claim to DPS for the deposit.
- Sue him in court yourself for the full ÂŁ7000.
Thanks David
I served sec 21 notice but he terminated the tenancy even before the notice ended which I agreed to as we wanted him to leave.
He is a big man, my husband is worried that he might do something physical to us, he has a short temper. During his stay looking at the extent of the damage of the walls it does look like someone has banged them badly in anger and so there are cracks all over the walls and door frames. His partner left him because of his anger. Also worried he might do some damage to our living home. Professionally also he knows our work place and profession, might create a problem. Never dealt with courts, I am now worried of the additional costs.
Shantala
If I were you I would do the following:
- Fix the property (which I guess you already have)
- Put a tenant in there, so it’s not empty
- Wait the six months and when he hasn’t sued you, get the money from DPS.
- Sue him for the rest.
Most of these types of people are just posturing and intimidating. Once spoken to by the Police 99% keep well away. So you might want to report harassment and/or criminal damage (if obvious) to the Police so they have an incident report if something were to happen.
Edit: court cost are negligible as it is a small claims case. Neither party can recover solicitor’s fees. If you have your invoices/photos etc. it’s not hard to do a small claims case yourself. Application fee of £250 only. He is likely to not even dispute it.
I would agree with Per above, although given your concerns, you may see step 4 as optional. I would also suggest you be more selective at step 2 if you are likely to have concerns about threats by the tenant.
Thanks a lot David
Shantala
just wanted to update, tenant left at his own leisure disregarding any notice. Glad he left. He provided false receipts, info to the DPS saying he had spent over 7k for various repairs. My deposit was lost, I had sent photo evidence but they were not dated, learnt a lesson I need to always dare them digitally to show them as proof of damage. Deposit over 1000 pounds gone plus 10k.