no, it is very clear (he says, with not 100% certainty...) - it must be protected and details sent to the tenant within 14 days of tenancy start.
Deposit scheme - renting
- Thread starter valkia
- Start date
no, it is very clear (he says, with not 100% certainty...) - it must be protected and details sent to the tenant within 14 days of tenancy start.
Soldato
As far as I'm aware the deposit either needs to be returned in full or put in one of the protection schemes within 14 days of the tenant requesting it. If she was to withhold it due to "legitimate reasons" then she wouldn't be complying with this, and therefore OP would still be able to claim for the 4x deposit.
The correct way for her to keep part of the deposit for legitimate damage at this point, would be to put it in a dps and then claim for the damages.
I have some experience of this as Mum rented her house and was oblivious (as I was) to the 2007 housing act and the DPS scheme.
The tenants trashed her house, she withheld their deposit as a result.
Due to it not being in a DPS the small claims court ordered her to repay the deposit and then sue the tenants for the damage.
There's a case (someone vs Hashemi) and the case law derived from it which basically says a landlord will only feel the full brunt of the law IF the tenant informs the landlord during the tenancy that they must place the deposit in a DPS. Otherwise, the landlord must simply do as my Mum had to do which is repay the deposit. No fines, no compensation etc. Which was good for her. Especially as the tenants (one of whom is the daughter of a Council Housing Officer) didn't look after the property with the express intent invoking the act to reclaim their deposit and any bonus!
The tenants trashed her house, she withheld their deposit as a result.
Due to it not being in a DPS the small claims court ordered her to repay the deposit and then sue the tenants for the damage.
There's a case (someone vs Hashemi) and the case law derived from it which basically says a landlord will only feel the full brunt of the law IF the tenant informs the landlord during the tenancy that they must place the deposit in a DPS. Otherwise, the landlord must simply do as my Mum had to do which is repay the deposit. No fines, no compensation etc. Which was good for her. Especially as the tenants (one of whom is the daughter of a Council Housing Officer) didn't look after the property with the express intent invoking the act to reclaim their deposit and any bonus!
Well there is no reason for her to keep the deposit as everything has been left the way since I moved in. Text her twice and tried to call with no answer, she put me through the voicemail on one of the attempts. It seem's she is trying to avoid giving the deposit back.
she has probably spend it and does not have the money to give you back, one of the things the deposit sceme was supposed to stop!
In the case of Gladehurst Properties Ltd vs. Hashemi:
"The Court of Appeal has held that, where a landlord has failed to deal with a deposit in accordance with an authorised tenancy deposit scheme, a tenant cannot apply for an award of three times the amount of the deposit under s.214(4), Housing Act 2004, if his assured shorthold tenancy has already come to an end."
I'm currently in a situation where my landlord appears not to have put my deposit in any of the three government approved schemes - currently working like mad to find out what has happened to the £3,500 I gave as a deposit. Really don't want to chase this down a legal route, but in my current position I may as well cancel my standing order for rent as I have already paid the remainder of my tenancy (and then some!!)
It's all going down in this thread: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18437610. I'm still waiting to hear from the letting agent about the deposit, but they've already had just under two weeks to find out. I called them on Wednesday and Thursday of last week and they had no answers for me...
Still in tenancy, roughly 9 months into it now.
Still in tenancy, roughly 9 months into it now.