Lawyers, guns and money.

Is it supposed to be a recap of events, or are you trying to get them to do something? If the latter, what do you want them to do and where is the summary of that? If they don't do what you want them to do, what is your next action going to be?

I suggest asking yourself what you want to happen, and writing the letter around those goals exclusively. Right now, most of the letter is superfluous to the point, which I presume is: (1) confirmation of your deposit and which protection scheme it has been registered under, (2) compensation for not receiving the information within the window.
 
Always remember, keep it simple. You don't need to write a history in your letter, because it gives the recipient a whole number of things to argue on in their response (easier for them to ignore your actual requests) and it also bores the judge if it ever got to that.

Here is how I would do it:

3 September 2012

RE: My Address

Dear Manager,

I am writing to serve you a complaint arising from, as far as I am aware, Letting Agent Ltd’s failure to adequately secure mine and Flatmate's Name’ tenancy deposit in good time.

1. The deposit (£3,536) was paid to Letting Agent Ltd by Hannah Evans and myself in single payments of £1,768 each by debit card, on 16th December 2011.

2. I have not received confirmation of which Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme the deposit has been registered under.

3. Having contacted three of the government approved Tenancy 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.

4. Not only has your colleague, Property Manager's Name, informed me that she has no record of the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme used, but she has been unable to contact the landlord to determine the whereabouts of the deposit at all.

With respect to the above, I am writing to you to request:

1. The documentation and confirmation of the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme used, as set out by the Housing Act 2004.

2. Confirmation of who is currently holding the money, because at this late stage in our tenancy I am very concerned by your Property Manager’s inability to locate the money at all.

3. Compensation amounting to three times the amount of the deposit (£10,608) for failing to fulfill your obligations under the Housing Act 2004 (which is to protect the deposit, and also to provide us with information about the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme used within 14 days of receiving the deposit).

It would be my preference to settle this matter outside of the small claims court. I look forward to your cooperation.

Please treat this as a formal letter before action. If I do not hear from you within seven days of the date of this letter I will take the matter further. Unless I hear from you to the contrary, I will assume that the address to which I have sent this letter is also your address for any further proceedings.
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Your grievances about customer service are immaterial and who said what at this point doesn't matter. If they don't cooperate, you'd accurately list all of that in a factual, numbered statement submitted to the court after filing a small claim online.

I'd check on the '14 days' window for information about the TDPS - it recently changed from 14 days to 30 days but I do not know what the trigger date is with respect to when tenancies started.
 
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Hatter The Mad said:
Always remember, keep it simple. You don't need to write a history in your letter, because it gives the recipient a whole number of things to argue on in their response (easier for them to ignore your actual requests) and it also bores the judge if it ever got to that.

Here is how I would do it:



Your grievances about customer service are immaterial and who said what at this point doesn't matter. If they don't cooperate, you'd accurately list all of that in a factual, numbered statement submitted to the court after filing a small claim online.

I'd check on the '14 days' window for information about the TDPS - it recently changed from 14 days to 30 days but I do not know what the trigger date is with respect to when tenancies started.
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Nice! Cheers for that, muy appreciada Hatter. :)

What you've said makes sense - I ended up going off on a rant which is far from helpful to what I'm trying to achieve.

Hopefully the money is already in a deposit scheme and there is some logical (albeit inconvenient) explanation for all this, but giving them a kick up the backside will hopefully get the matter resolved sooner rather than later.

I shall come back with results once I get them!!

Edit: I'll work on the assumption that it is 14 days, as the AST agreement was signed in December last year when the deposit was paid. Changes came into effect on 6 April this year and are not retrospective in nature according to communities.gov, (changes listed below in case anybody has any similar issues in the future)

  • To make it clear that penalties for non-compliance apply to a tenancy that has come to an end after 6 April 2012.
  • To make it clear that penalties for non-compliance apply where the landlord or agent protects the deposit after the deadline.
  • The deadline for the protection of deposits has been extended from 14 days to 30 days.
  • The financial penalty for non-compliance has been changed from three times the amount of the deposit to between one and three times the deposit to give the Courts more discretion as to the level of the financial penalty imposed for non-compliance.
 
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Hopefully the money is already in a deposit scheme and there is some logical (albeit inconvenient) explanation for all this, but giving them a kick up the backside will hopefully get the matter resolved sooner rather than later.
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Great :) Hope you enjoy your £10k ;)
 
Hatter The Mad said:
3. Compensation amounting to three times the amount of the deposit (£10,608) for failing to fulfill your obligations under the Housing Act 2004 (which is to protect the deposit, and also to provide us with information about the Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme used within 14 days of receiving the deposit).

It would be my preference to settle this matter outside of the small claims court. I look forward to your cooperation.
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If you are claiming £10k compensation re: the deposit protection scheme, would it still go through small claims?
 
Don't stop paying the rent - as soon as the second payment is missed they can take you to court for a posession order. If two payments are still outstanding on the date of the hearing, the judge has no choice but to grant it.

Take them to court for the penalty. Head your letter "Letter before action" and demand immediate full repayment of your deposit. This court action can only be taken during your tenancy - afterwards you can only sue for the deposit itself.

Unless you do anything daft (like not paying rent) they cannot evict you until after they have refunded your deposit in full. The Localism Act basically banned late protection and no S21 notice will be valid until you have the deposit in your hands.

The suggestion of posting on moneysavingexpert is a good one. There are some folk who really know their stuff there.
 
I am quite sure, but not certain, that you cannot apply for the penalty through small claims track. You want to use form N208 instead (should it get that far). This means that legal fees and court costs can also be claimed.

When you write, send a copy to the LL too. If you do not have their address, the agent is required to give it to you if you request it in writing. Failing to do so is an offence. Ultimately, you do not have a contract with the agent.

Have you spoken to your council Tenancy Relations Officer? Some are pants, but plenty are really very good and will assist greatly in hauling this bunch over hot coals.
 
Just by way of an update - apologies for the necromancy.

Received an email from the letting agent yesterday with a scanned attachment of the deposit details. These details clearly show that the deposit was not registered with the scheme until 30th August 2012 (which I have confirmed with the scheme). Also, the deposit registered with the scheme is nearly £500 less than the deposit stated on both my letter to them and the tenancy agreement.

I'm not sure if the new deposit legislation now applies to me or still the pre-April 2012 (or, indeed, if this is relevant). Either way, this is a smoking gun that shows I have been right about it all along and they have been in breach of contract.

I have not received a written response from the letting agent and I have not acknowledged receipt of the email yet as I'm not certain on my next step - do I have a recorded telephone conversation with them? Do I wait for the written response as per my letter? Do I ignore the letting agent and now begin to pursue the landlord?

Any suggestions chaps?
 
I get free legal advice through work and in similar issues I have ALWAYS been told to quote the act they are in breach of, have 'Notice before action' in bold capitals in the header and footer, and give them 14 days to respond before taking legal action.

In every case I have had what I wanted within the 14 days.
 
Theophany said:
Also, the deposit registered with the scheme is nearly £500 less than the deposit stated on both my letter to them and the tenancy agreement.
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I would have thought that regardless of the date, the fact they haven't protected the full deposit means they haven't protected the deposit (after all, they wouldn't get away with it if they only protected £1...)

Good luck, and hopefully you get a nice payout out of it :)
 
Theophany said:
I'm not sure if the new deposit legislation now applies to me or still the pre-April 2012 (or, indeed, if this is relevant). Either way, this is a smoking gun that shows I have been right about it all along and they have been in breach of contract.
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If the tenancy began after 6th April 2012, the deposit had to be protected within 30 days of the start of the tenancy. If the tenancy began before 6th April 2012, the deposit had to be protected within 30 days of 6th April 2012.

http://www.communities.gov.uk/housi...epositprotection/tenancydepositprotectionfaq/

Letter before action, demand full refund of the deposit. If not, seek penalty of up to 3x the deposit (but this will not be small claims).

Breach of contract here means very little, you have no real remedy. Breach of statute is relevant and you have far more options. Use both landlord and agent in any proceedings (it saves them from using the pass-the-buck defence).
 
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