You sent him a letter before action and the proof of returning the keys. Now take the action. He has not got a leg to stand on merely by not protecting your deposit. Commence small claims court action.
One action worth considering. Maybe contact the Deposit Protection Scheme by chat or email. Get their take on the situation. They will advise you what actions can be taken against a landlord that has not protected your deposit. And what penalties he may be liable to incur. Then use that info to persuade him to return the monies immediately or incur court action.
If you rent via Openrent, they ensure the deposit is protected by the landlord. The landlord does not directly receive the deposit, it goes straight into the Deposit scheme where neither landlord nor tenant can retrieve it without mutual agreement.
Hi Irene,
Iâm really sorry to hear what youâve put up with for so long - and unnecessarily!
This LL gives the rest of us a bad name!
PLEASE donât let him get away with it! You deserve justice, your money back - AND peace of mind! Totally stressful for you - and totally unjustified/unfair on the LLâs part!
Disregard his threats and denials - bluff on his part re: keyâs, etc. since he doesnât have a leg to stand on.
I realise you posted this 5 days ago but Iâve only just received O/Râs weekly email, so you may already have taken action?
It does sound like heâs probably failed you in a few other areas of LEGAL REQUIREMENT too?
For a start, he shouldâve issued you with the âHow to Rent Guideâ at the outset [current edition now is 7/8/19], as well as EPC, Gas Safety Certificate, Deposit Protection docs - he shouldâve protected Dep. within 30 days, Sec.48 of Housing Act âLandlordâs Service Addressâ doc. - etc.
How to Rent Guide - tells you how to proceed with ALL issues encountered, incâg Deposit.
I wouldnât pay out for a solicitor -you can deal with it yourself - the law is all on your side!
You would have to take him to County Court re: the Deposit (straightforward;apply online)
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-rent
Itâs the Local Authority for property condition - Trading Standards Dept. Donât let them fob you off - they should be prosecuting him under the âHomes (Fitness for Human Habitation Act) 2018â - came into force w.e.f. 20/3/19;however, since you were in an existing tenancy at the time, it isnât effective for him until 20/3/20. Maybe he could be your L/Aâs first case for exisiting tenancies?
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-fitness-for-human-habitation-act-2018/guide-for-tenants-homes-fitness-for-human-habitation-act-2018
Iâd borrow the money to take him to court - will be in your interest!
N.B. Persist with your L/A - as a Law Enforcement Agency, theyâll have the power to submit a PN1 Request to Land Registry (ÂŁ11 fee) - itâs a Search of the Index of Proprietorâs names - whereby, unless heâs called John Smith(:), they should pick up all the other properties he owns - and if theyâre responsible enough, should investigate the others.
I really hope you bite the bullet - youâll come out wiser and stronger - Tenants DO have rights - and power.
I donât understand how youâre ÂŁ900 in advance though? Surely, having given the required notice, why would you have paid anything more than enough to cover the last monthâs rent?
Good luck with it all! Best wishes.
Irene, brief Addendum from Sect. 7 of the How to Rent Guide: You may be able to take your landlord to court yourself if you think the property is not fit for habitation, under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018. The court can make the landlord carry out repairs and can also make the landlord pay you compensation.
You may not have enough money to take him to court over not putting your deposit in a scheme but you can take him to court in future (i think you have 6 years to do this). What i would do is make sure all my correspondence is sent via emails/letters. Tell him that you know that he has not secured your deposit and its illegal and say that you want your deposit back otherwise you will be forced to take legal action. Also mention that you have paid rent on time, and have proof that keys were returned. Say that although you are liable to recieve x 3 the amount of desposit if you go to court, you would just like your deposit back. This should prompt him into action. If not, then the more letters/emails you have sent trying to get the deposit back from himâŚthe more likely when you do have some money to take him to court, the court will award you the maximum amount which is 3 times what your deposit was. They will see you made an effort to resolve the issue, you werent being greedy expecting lots more money, and he was unreasonable in not returning your money to you.
Thanks so much for everyoneâs help/advice. Really appreciate everyone taking time to do this
Andrew23
I tried a few âno win no feeâ firms, but after speaking with a couple, didnât feel this direction for me was the best option. If it was just a case of getting advance rent and bond returned, then possibly, but as Iâll be going through the court process, as LL has been so grrr. Intend claiming for a variety of his things heâs shirked on.
The no-win/no fees didnât want to handle anything other than getting the bond/advance rent as said it would be too complicated!!
SAM17
HI, Nothing has prompted LL into action. he denies, denies, denies. Have sent him the proof of all he owes several times, to no avail.
Itâs another grrr when he completely ignores the details/proof and knows himself he has the money. Pretty sure, as heâs got away with this prior, thinks he will this time and all will just go away!
Karen
Yes, taking him to a small claims. Donât have a choice!
Thanks for your very thoughtful and helpful message, Sue
LL did do a gas check. It was repairs, sometimes urgent he failed on; eg 10 months w/out a working gas boiler, around a year with a lot of roof tiles off (so rain naturally came through, into the kitchen and bathroom areas, leaving lots of signs!)
For 18 months tried to get him to fix the loo as it leaked (bucket under!) and made a loud growly sound when flushed.
On leaving the loo still wasnât fixed. I even sent him a reminder message when gave tenancy notice about this and that the bucket usually had to be emptied daily
Re advance rent; this was made at start of tenancy, Sue, It was just over ÂŁ900 plus a hefty deposit/bond 5 years ago. The usual rent payment was made just before securing my new home
Thanks again for your advice, which is very helpful
Thanks again, to all whoâve relied;
I sent a letter of ânotice to claimâ a few weeks ago & about got all docs/râcpts/proof/pix together and printed off.
Thereâs a huge amount!!
Iâll be mailing all off next week, but guess itâll take a while to reach a court case due to the pandemic
HI Sandra
So sorry to hear of your probs x
Sure OR will help you, if you found your home through them?
As unsure of your exact situation, canât really offer any help, other than what iâm doing personally, which is/was
Gave notice
Returned keys through RM signed/recorded delivery; so had proof keys were sent
when LL hadnât returned my advance rent and bond, sent him a few polite reminder messages. It was then he denied having any money and wasnât returning bond as heâd not râcvd keys
Had no choice then, other than to send LL a 'notice to claimâletting him know intended making a small claims case against him (I also sent him all evidence of docs of rent payments/transfers/docs/pix/etc)
Now at stalemate till thereâs a court case; Iâm doing a small claims case for a money claims case. The address is County Court Money claims centre, PO Box 527, Salford M5 0BY
Payments works according to amount youâre claiming
Do hope all works out for you. Good wishes x
Us landlords renting our homes via Openrent, never receive your deposit in our own accounts. Openrent send your deposit direct to the Deposit Protection Scheme with details of both the landlord and tenant. Thus you have extra protection as a tenant that the landlord cannot withhold any of your deposit without absolute proof. And Iâm thinking if keys were claimed as not being returned, your proof of delivery would wreck his argument and in any case he could only ever claim for the reasonable cost of the keys, or possibly replacement locks. Not the full deposit.
Tenants have added protection when renting through Openrent that they do not always get elsewhere.
hi Irene,
so sorry to hear.
As a first (no cost) write him a letter asking for details of the deposit protection.
There are some templates on shelter.org.uk, where if you are certain he did not protect the deposit, you can write saying that due to the deposit being unprotected you want your deposit returned and compensation etc.
This might scare him because if its unprotected, he hasnât a leg to stand on.