Lawyers, guns and money.

3 September 2012

RE: Address of my flat

Dear Manager's name,

I am writing to you to inform you that as of today, I have cancelled the standing order from my bank account to yours which serves to pay rent due on the property My Address. The reason for this that the deposit paid to Letting Agent Ltd of £3,536 on 16th December 2011 has not been accounted for, despite both your company’s and my best efforts to locate it. This deposit was paid to Letting Agent Ltd by myself and Flatmate's Name in single payments of £1,768 each by debit card.

Having spoken to all three of the government approved deposit protection schemes (The Deposit Protection Service, My Deposit and The Dispute Service) all three have informed me that they have no record of either the deposit for, or the property My Address.

Your colleague, Property Manager, has informed me that she has no record of the scheme used for the deposit and has been unable to contact the landlord to determine the whereabouts of these monies. As the £3,536 serves as just under two-and-a-half month’s rent for the property (£1,430 per calendar month), I feel I have no option but to withdraw payment to avoid any potential losses I may suffer as a result of this.

In light of these events, I would like to draw your attention to the Housing Act 2004. Section 213, subsections 3 through 6 of the Act state:

“(3) Where a landlord receives a tenancy deposit in connection with a shorthold tenancy, the initial requirements of an authorised scheme must be complied with by the landlord in relation to the deposit scheme within the period of 14 days beginning with the date on which it is received.”

“(4) For the purposes of this section “the initial requirements” of an authorised scheme are such requirements imposed by the scheme as fall to be complied with by a landlord on receiving such a tenancy deposit.”

“(5) A landlord who has received such a tenancy deposit must give the tenant and any relevant person such information relating to-

a) The authorised scheme applying to the deposit,
b) Compliance by the landlord with the initial requirements of the scheme in relation to the deposit, and
c) The operation of provisions of this Chapter in relation to the deposit,​

as may be prescribed.”

“(6) The information required by subsection (5) must be given to the tenant and any relevant person-

a) In the prescribed form or in a form substantially to the same effect, and
b) Within the period of 14 days beginning with the date on which the deposit is received by the landlord.”​

Neither myself, nor Flatmate's Name have received any confirmation of our deposit’s placement with an authorised scheme since the start of our tenancy on 19th December 2011. With the duration of our agreed shorthold tenancy approaching completion, I am concerned by the apparent lack of organisation around this issue.

Given the stringent legal requirements around tenancy deposits, I would like to also draw your attention to the following sanctions that may be placed on a landlord for non-compliance, as per the Housing Act 2004, section 214, subsections 2 through 4:

“(2) Subsections (3) and (4) apply if on such an application the court—

a) is satisfied that those requirements have not, or section 213(6)(a) has not, been complied with in relation to the deposit, or
b) is not satisfied that the deposit is being held in accordance with an authorised scheme,as the case may be.”​

“(3) The court must, as it thinks fit, either—

a) order the person who appears to the court to be holding the deposit to repay it to the applicant, or
b) order that person to pay the deposit into the designated account held by the scheme administrator under an authorised custodial scheme,within the period of 14 days beginning with the date of the making of the order.”​

“(4) The court must also order the landlord to pay to the applicant a sum of money equal to three times the amount of the deposit within the period of 14 days beginning with the date of the making of the order.”​

And also, as per section 215, subsections 1 and 2 which outline the landlord’s forfeiture of powers granted by section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (and subsequent amendments in the Housing Act 1996) – ‘Section 21 Notice to Quit’:

“(1) If a tenancy deposit has been paid in connection with a shorthold tenancy, no section 21 notice may be given in relation to the tenancy at a time when—

a) the deposit is not being held in accordance with an authorised scheme, or
b) the initial requirements of such a scheme (see section 213(4)) have not been complied with in relation to the deposit.”​

“(2) If section 213(6) is not complied with in relation to a deposit given in connection with a shorthold tenancy, no section 21 notice may be given in relation to the tenancy until such time as section 213(6)(a) is complied with.”​

In summation of the above:

1. Neither myself nor Flatmate's Name have received any information regarding the placement of our tenancy deposit within an authorised government scheme, within 30 days of the commencement of our tenancy or otherwise. This is non-compliance with Section 213(5) and 213(6) of the Housing Act 2004.

2. I have received no assurance from Letting Agent Ltd that our deposit is known to be in any of the three government approved schemes.

3. During the course of my telephone conversations with each of the three schemes, none have been able to confirm a record of My Address within their databases.

4. As a result of the above and Letting Agent Ltd’s failure to contact the landlord of the property, The Landlord, I have withdrawn the existing standing order used to pay rent on the on or around the 17th day of each month.

5. If sufficient compliance with the aforementioned sections of the Housing Act 2004 can be produced within a reasonable timeframe, I will reinstate the standing order and be satisfied that both Letting Agent Ltd and the landlord have fulfilled their statutory requirements.

6. If sufficient information, as outlined by Section 213(5)(a), is not supplied within a reasonable timeframe, I will have no option but to pursue legal advice on the matter to protect mine and Flatmate's Name's financial interests.​

I shall wait to receive a response from you in no less than seven days before I pursue this matter further, as I feel it is both a fair and reasonable timeframe for you to respond to our grievances.

Yours sincerely

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mp3duck said:

seems fair to my, but I have no legal expertise!

I do know that my parents did this when they rented whilst their house was being renovated.

They knew the landlord would wrongly withhold their deposit, so didn't pay the last 2 months rent.

He tried to evict them, but it normally takes a lot longer than the 2 months to happen, so there was nothing he could do.

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Nitefly said:

Issues of legality aside, I think that is a stonking letter, great effort.

On face value, I would send it. Ideally, it would also be nice if you had documentation of your past efforts of investigation.

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• In March I was accused of not paying any rent on the property. When I informed them this was not true, they refused to believe me. A few days later I received a phone call notifying me that they had made a clerical error. No apology.
• In April I spent 8 days without electricity because the letting agent could not sort out an electrician to fix the problem. They refused to pay for alternative accommodation and told me that I was overreacting when I claimed they had been negligent.
• In June the flat's electricity supply was playing up again, the letting agent told me I was wrong to think it was the electrics and it must instead be the shower unit. I organised technician's visit from the shower company and got written confirmation from the landlord that they would cover any costs in the event that the unit was not faulty. The unit was not faulty.
• In July I received a bill for the technician's time, which I forwarded to the letting agent to pay, as they had agreed to. This is when I made my first enquiry with them as to the whereabouts of my deposit.
• In August, I received a letter from the shower company saying that as my account had not been settled, the matter had been referred to their debt collectors. Turns out, the letting agent never paid the account off until yesterday.
• Yesterday I asked if they had managed to get any information on my deposit, they said that they were still trying to make contact with the landlord. I feel that by waiting until Monday before sending this letter I have an opportunity to have a change of heart if necessary and I have then given them a fair and reasonable timeframe within which to solve this issue before I start getting serious.

xarr said:

I would setup a standing order in to another account with the rent amount, paid on the same day you usually pay your rent with the same amount. If this went to court it would show that you could have paid rent and aren't just withholding rent because you can't afford to pay.

As far as I know there has been no test cases for this law and there is a provision somewhere that the landlord just has to pay in the money before it goes to court to avoid prosecution, but you withholding rent could get you evicted so be careful.

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Theophany said:

I really don't want it to go to court. I'm 22 and the last thing I want is to willingly submit to wasting more time, money and energy on mucking around in a small claims court.

You make an excellent point about the standing order though, should it come to it I will definitely be doing this. My thinking though, is that as long as my deposit is not in an approved scheme, the landlord has forfeited his right to evict me as he is not complying with the law? Or have I got this bit ass backwards?

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xarr said:

Just because he murdered your wife doesn't mean you can murder his. Extreme example but the same still applies. If it did go to court (which it wont, this much I can guarantee) you want as much on your side as possible and proving you have had the money available is a key part of that.

Speak to the CAB and see what they have to say about it all.

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kgi said:

Great letter but I would suggest the following (no legal person here, just personal experience):

a) Do not cancel the DD. That will only work against you (unfair I know) in any court. Keep the DD and replace it in your letter with the promise that you will be suing them or reporting them to whichever authority is required within XX days from your letter unless a resolution is provided.
b) I'd suggest going to a solicitor to get some quick advice and, if possible, get the solicitor to send the letter on your behalf. That will definitely light a fire up their backside and will make them take you more seriously. I think the fees for that may not be too much (I mean, if it's around the £100 it will be worth it I guess).
c) You say you don't want to get involved with courts. It's not as dreadful as it sounds. Small claims court handle cases of up to £5,000, so that's where I guess you would go. It costs about £100 to file the necessary claims/forms (which you add to your claim at the end) to get the other person to court, and with your evidence there is no way they won't be forced to pay you back. It just might take 3-5 months to be resolved though, but it will.

Hope it helps and good luck, also, please mention the name of the estate agents so that other people can be more wary.

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Theophany said:

Do you mean that cancelling the standing order is a bad move?

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doofski said:

why didn't the letting agency put the deposit in the deposit scheme?

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Hatter The Mad said:

DON'T withhold money and don't threaten to not pay rent. Really bad idea.


It puts you in violation of your Agreement - you can't do *** for tat - it'll undermine your position. You'd be giving them leverage on a plate.

Also remember that if the letting agency did not use one of the deposit schemes, or even if they didn't notify you of who it was with within 3 months of your agreement, you're entitled to a fixed sum of automatic compensation.

Provide them with a letter asking for the scheme details (again) and for the compensation.

Don't start quoting from the housing act - there's nothing to gain from pretending to be a layer. Check your rights, then talk in simple, factual terms. If they don't oblige, file a small claim online.

Keep everything in writing.

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Hatter The Mad said:

DON'T withhold money and don't threaten to not pay rent. Really bad idea.


It puts you in violation of your Agreement - you can't do *** for tat - it'll undermine your position at best, it'll make you liable at worse.

Also remember that if the letting agency did not use one of the deposit schemes, or even if they didn't notify you of who it was with within 3 months of your agreement, you're entitled to a fixed sum of automatic compensation.

Provide them with a letter asking for the scheme details (again) and for the compensation.

Don't start quoting from the housing act - there's nothing to gain from pretending to be a layer. Check your rights, then talk in simple, factual terms. If they don't oblige, file a small claim online.

Keep everything in writing.

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Hatter The Mad said:

Don't start quoting from the housing act - there's nothing to gain from pretending to be a layer. Check your rights, then talk in simple, factual terms. If they don't oblige, file a small claim online.

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3 September 2012

RE: My Address

Dear Manager,

I am writing to serve you a complaint arising from Letting Agent Ltd’s failure to adequately secure mine and Flatmate's Name’ tenancy deposit in good time. The reason for this that the deposit paid to Letting Agent Ltd of £3,536 on 16th December 2011 has not been accounted for, despite both your company’s and my best efforts to locate it. This deposit was paid to Letting Agent Ltd by myself and Hannah Evans in single payments of £1,768 each by debit card.

Having spoken to all three of the government approved deposit protection schemes (The Deposit Protection Service, My Deposit and The Dispute Service) all three have informed me that they have no record of either the deposit for or the property My Address.

Your colleague, Property Manager's Name, has informed me that she has no record of the scheme used for the deposit and has been unable to contact the landlord to determine the whereabouts of these monies.

Neither myself, nor Flatmate's Name have received any confirmation of our deposit’s placement with an authorised scheme since the start of our tenancy on 19th December 2011. With the duration of our agreed shorthold tenancy approaching completion, I am concerned by the apparent lack of organisation around this issue.

In summation of the above:

1. Neither myself nor Flatmate's Name have received any information regarding the placement of our tenancy deposit within an authorised government scheme, within 30 days of the commencement of our tenancy or otherwise. This is non-compliance with the legal obligations prescribed by the Housing Act.

2. I have received no assurance from Letting Agent Ltd that our deposit is known to be in any of the three government approved schemes, despite the fact that they were the party which took the deposit and were thus, in my eyes, custodians of the monies until they were placed in an approved scheme.

3. During the course of my telephone conversations with each of the three schemes, none have been able to confirm a record of My Address within their databases, suggesting that either the deposit is not in any of the schemes or that it is not held, as it should be, under the name of the property.

4. If sufficient information, as outlined by the Housing Act, is not supplied within a reasonable timeframe, I will have no option but to pursue legal advice on the matter to protect mine and Flatmate's Name financial interests.

5. Given that the statutory fourteen days to have the deposit put into a government approved scheme and notify us of the scheme have elapsed, Flatmate's Name and I are now in a position to apply for a court order against Letting Agent Ltd over this issue and seek compensation deemed appropriate by the court.​

Our grievances around the deposit tie in with the fact that on 21st August 2012, I received a letter from Triton Showers to inform me that my account balance was overdue and that the matter would be referred to a debt collection agency. I have attached a copy of this letter for your reference. This letter refers back to a technician callout on 31st July 2012 to check the shower unit for faults. Despite my repeated assessment that the shower was fine and that the problem lay with electrical work carried out on the property in April (of which a previous complaint refers), Letting Agent Ltd insisted I get a Triton engineer out. It was agreed on 20th July 2012 by Property Manager's Name that Letting Agent Ltd would cover any callout costs that arose if the shower was found to be working properly.

I telephoned Property Manager's Name on 22nd August 2012 to ask why this issue had not been settled – she informed me it had and was a mistake at Triton’s end. When I telephoned again on 28th August 2012 I was informed that payment had still not been made to Triton Showers. Indeed, payment was not made until 30th August 2012 – a full nine days after the letter was originally received and thirty days from Letting Agent Ltd’s receipt of the invoice, which clearly stated that payment was due on 14th August 2012. I have, once again, attached a copy of the email and invoice that was sent to Letting Agent Ltd for your records.

Although it almost seems redundant now I would, at this juncture, like to point out that my initial assessment of the electrical supply being a problem, rather than the shower unit itself, was wholly accurate and correct. This was confirmed by your contracted electricians and the engineer from Triton Showers. The net result of this episode being twofold:

1. My previous grievance that your appointed contractors’ standards of work were inadequate (as my letter of 3rd May refers) has been proven true, and

2. that yet more of my working time was wasted in dealing with your firm’s incompetence – something that has sadly become a constant in my life over the past eight months.​

Once again, I feel thoroughly let down by Letting Agent Ltd and the service they have provided. In a previous complaint I wrote to you, dated 3rd May 2012, I raised the issue of what I believed to be a “lack of professional conduct” and “apparent negligence.” These assertions were strongly denied by yourself in your response of 9th May 2012. You claimed that you “do not feel at any time that Letting Agent have exhibited total disregard or acted anything but professionally towards you” and that you felt my “comments were unfair.”

Given that your woefully inadequate standards of customer service have continued, I am left with no option but to continue in my belief that you are not only an unprofessional and borderline negligent firm, but also that you are wilfully disingenuous by being in disregard of the evidence.

I shall wait to receive a response from you in no less than seven days before I pursue this matter further and with appropriate legal counsel, as I feel it is both a fair and reasonable timeframe for you to respond to our grievance and begin the process of resolving the matter in a satisfactory manner.

Yours sincerely

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