Hi, i’m hoping someone can help me. I’ve got an issue with a tenant who has left without paying his final months rent however he’s claiming i have not protect his deposit correctly.
Bit of history, he originally signed a joint tenancy his relationship deteriorated with his co-tenant so she left in May 2019.The deposit is protected by the DPS and he is the lead tenant. When the co-tenant moved out his refused to release the deposit as she apparently owed money for bills. He carried on with the tenancy and a few months later I queried the deposit situation, he confirmed he’d repaid her back her share of the deposit so this didn’t need to be returned. I tried to contact the co-tenant but could get an answer.
In November 2019 he had a friend move in and they signed a joint tenancy, again we spoke about the deposit and he confirmed his friend had paid him and he was happy to leave to deposit in the original scheme as he was the lead tenant.
It turned out that he has not returned the deposit to the original tenant and never spoke about the deposit to his friend. It also appears he was subletting the property from May 2019 - November 2019 which is not allowed.
He’s refusing to pay the last months rent and got a solicitor to write to demand his share of the deposit back claiming, i’ve not protect his deposit properly. In my eyes i couldn’t have done more.
Sorry about the long post.