DPS deposit repayment timescale

My tenants signed tenancy in September 2019 for 36 months, but they have decided to use the breakclause after 6 months and they are vacating on 23 April. I emailed asking them to make sure all the terms of the tenancy were complied with ie cleaning, making good any damage, paintwork, etc. (We decorated throughout and fitted new carpets at the beginning of the tenancy so assume mimimal wear and tear in 6 months). He agreed all would be done as stated in the AST. We cannot do inventory checkout due to current restrictions until after they have vacated on 23 April, but on 10 April he put in a request to DPS for return of the deposit. I will not obviously agree to the return of deposit until I have done checkout after 23 April. Will DPS pay it to him if they don’t hear from me for 2 weeks? There is no option to tell them he hasn’t vacated yet and has another 2 weeks before he does. Thanks

Phone the DPS to tell them the tenant leaving date and that you will undertake the inventory check around then, and get them to confirm no further action while on the phone and to email you that confirmation.

I called DPS this morning. They won’t send an email to confirm but told me that if landlord hasn’t responded within 14 days, tenant can request single claim to return deposit, but this will take another 14 days, and they would not return deposit without informing landlord. So plenty of time to do the inventory and check out. He said I should advise tenant I will not respond until after the leaving date or I could decline the return of the deposit, and review after they have left. I don’t want to cause any antagonism at this point so I will leave it until after they have vacated. Thanks for advice.

The best thing to do is to get a remote checkout done with your tenants so everything is normal but over a Skype recording and then you have something and in addition to that you could also do as you are doing which is physically go there after and do your second part being the physical part, The main reason being is that if I check out is not done at the same time it leaves huge room for ambiguity and confusion which usually ends up in the landlord losing and in this instance there isn’t any reasonable excuse to not be doing a remote video recording of a checkout and you can continue rolling even to the point they push your keys through the letter box so there is no argument about something happening there after the recording of the video for instance.

I have recently done three Skype checkouts of recent and I am silently surprised with the fact that they were free and easy to do.

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Great idea. Thank you!

I would put what DPS have said to you in an e mail to them, so if it turns nasty later you have memorialised this, they are good at changing their minds and always side with the tenant when in doubt.

:+1: Thank you for advice