With a previous tenant I issued a s21 and they finally left after 11 moths however they left owing £580 rent and had caused damage to parts of the property.
I was using an agent at the time and they organised the deposit , the agent and myself agreed on a settlement figure as but the tenant will not now respond to any forms of communication and so will not agree to the figure or agree for deposit to be released.
Do any of the more experienced landlords have any suggestions for a way forward
Thanks for any replies
The deposit protection company you used - ie My Deposits, DPS etc, will have a procedure if the tenant does not respond. You need to contact them / look at their website.
Thanks Karl
Can I as the landlord go direct to them even though this was arranged through an agent.
It depends on how this was registered (ie who’s control… yours or the agents?). Assuming the agent registered & has control, this really should be very simple for your agent to advise you, as I’d expect them to be dealing with deposit settlements regularly. What have they said to you?
Tenants left on the 15th august , we were hurried along to agree on a figure , it all went quiet ( and we were clearing up the mess they had left )and I phoned the agent today as I hadn’t heard anything and they said that they were not responding to email/phone and they would keep trying .
One of the things that annoys me is that they were given a council property but the council won’t give me their new address for forwarding mail .
Is this a custodial or insured deposit
Start the process on line
If no response you will need to go to statutory declaration signed by a solicitor
You just submit your paperwork to adjudication
If you think you may lose best to go through MCol for agreed damages and ask the court to allow you to use their deposit
Use your address where they lived as last known residence
Some intentionally let it go quiet and then try and negate out of an agreed settlement
It’s custodial,
When you say start the process online do you mean contact the deposit protection company myself or start with one of the other actions you mention.
Start the process yourself on line
Put in the application
If the tenants don’t respond in two weeks you fill out a statutory declaration form which is countersigned by a solicitor for a £5 usually
The form is online . DPS guide you if you call them.
Send that across
It will go to adjudication and you submit all your paperwork for your claim and they review it and reward or challenge the monies
Be prepared that even though they have agreed you may have it reduced by an adjudicator
Some have posted that they choose to go to court rather than an
Adjudicator at DPS
It’s harder to defend yourselves on paper so you may find a better outcome at court but then you have legal costs
So it spends on hoe much you are fighting for
I have been awarded the full amount in your situation if the tenant does not respond
Thankyou for such a detailed reply ,it’s very much appreciated
I had a T who lost the entire deposit and didn’t respond once to DPS. I put in the claim, they contact T and wait the statutory period for lack of response (28 days or something - I forget now) and then if they hear nothing to challenge the claim, you get what you ask for.
It’s the only time I was thankful for this particular T’s inability to respond to communication 
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Replacing carpets ,doors bathroom lights is annoying when they were perfect when tenant moved in and renewing them is an upgrade to the property .It’s the moving out without paying rent that gets my goat , I will chase them for this and I won’t let it go.
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Ive just made a request to the TDS after evicting my tent for rent arrears. The procedure is tds email them. Tenant has 14 days to respond. If they don’t the deposit will be released to my account
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Thankyou Donna:blush:
Hi Mark, This is a relatively easy one to sort out. If the tenants are not responding
Contact the DPS, and request a “statutory declaration” document. Complete the document and take it to a solicitor to witness your signature ( I paid £10 for this service) Re-submit the form to the DPS and hey-presto your claim on the deposit should be honoured
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Change your agent he should know these things about signing a statutory declaration
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@mark.lole I am surprised that your agent is unable to assist you and I would have thought they would know the procedure. You need to download a ‘statutory declaration’ from the website of who ever is holding the deposit. Complete it and get it signed by a solicitor, once it is served, after a set period, they will distribute the deposit. The notice is served on the last known address so that may be your rental property. The solicitor costs for signing the form is set at £5 so it should cost no more than that. Dont forget to claim that additional cost from your tenants!
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@mark.lole If by upgrade, you mean a capital expense, that isn’t correct. These items will count as repairs and renewals, so can be offset against rent for income tax purposes. You might even get a higher rent or better tenant next time. Every cloud…
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All sorted ,after a little pressure the ex tenant responded and the situation has been sorted .
Thanks for all the replies
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