DPS Certificate

Landlord Discussion Legal
1

I am selling a rental property with the same tenants staying in the property. Both tenants are named on the AST from 2023, a mother and daughter but only the mother is on the DPS Certificate as she started the rental on her own in 2018. The buyers Solicitor is insisting on both tenants being named on the dps certificate. This is not easy as the house belonged to my Father who has died so I do not have access to his Landlords account and you cant easily add a name. Does the daughters (over 18yrs old) name have to be on the dps Certificate? Why does this matter?

2

@Piers1

Contact DPS to get access to your father’s account- assuming you are the executor and have a death certificate that should be straightforward.

It matters because if daughter caused damage or rent arrears rather than mother then when it came to claiming from the deposit it may help

Good luck

3

Thanks. Yes I will have to do that. I have to post documents to DPS so its a bit of a lengthy process but I can now see why having both names is important. Thank you.

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4

I believe only one person can be named on a deposit certificate. This is one reason why a joint tenancy needs a lead tenant to be appointed.

The buyer’s solicitor may not be aware of this so, if I’m right, get DPS to confirm this in an email and it should settle the issue.

Is the daughter a “permitted occupier”? She should be. And have you checked that she has right to rent?

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5

Not correct I ‘think’ - def more than one on a certificate for one of my tenancies

"When protecting a joint tenancy deposit (more than one tenant) via the Deposit Protection Service (DPS), the landlord or letting agent registers all tenants on a single certificate. The DPS nominates one person as the “Lead Tenant” to act on behalf of the group, but all names should still be listed on the deposit paperwork

Best

6

I assume you’re talking about the deposit prescribed information, in which case you may be able to just serve the tenants with new prescribed information and ensure both tenants are named on that tenancy on the DPS site. You will need access to the login details for the account first and ideally to transfer ownership to your name first.