Scottish tenants who have not been notified which of the three tenancy deposit schemes has been used to protect their deposit are entitled to claim damages. The court is empowered to make a penalty award of up to three times the amount of the deposit, to be paid by the landlord to the tenant, where the landlord has failed in the duty to protect deposits in one of the three approved schemes. This is in terms of Regulation 10 of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2011. Despite this law being introduced to protect tenants, over half of tenant deposits have yet to be protected. This was covered in yesterdays "Scotland on Sunday" - google search "call for action on tenant deposits" The agency featured in the paper, O'Neill lettings in Edinburgh and Glasgow, (run by disqualified director Ralph Weir and his family) has told tenants it will not be using the scheme and you can read more about this agency by searching oneill deposits on google.

I moved out this month following a 12 year tenancy. I ended the tenancy (which had become a rolling tenancy) giving the requisite 1 rental period in notice. For a number of reasons such as health and bereavement that are not material, I was unable to get the property fully cleaned and returned in the state it was when I moved in. I fully expect to hve some costs taken from the £1000 deposit in respect of cleaning and disposing of the few things I did not have time to dispose of before moving out (I had several skips, but turnaround time meant there were a couple of old cupboards left - all spare time was spent taking things to storage so there wasn't time to dump these). My landlord says that the carpets are soiled beyond use and that there is blutac on the walls, and is threatening to take me to court for more than the amount of the deposit to have the carpet replaced and the house repainted. My question is not so much about the rights and wrongs of the case. It is this. I have made the landlord what I believe to be a very generous offer of £900 to cover a full professional clean and waste disposal. I believe that if the case went to adjudication or to court, he would be awarded a lower amount - the carpet was of a low quality and after 12 years I cannot find any guidelines that say it would be anything other than expected to be replaced - likewise the painting. Nonetheless, he refuses to go to adjudication (the deposit is protected under TDS) because he wants to pursue me for more than the deposit amount. Finally, the question is this: would the court take my offer into account when deciding whether to issue a judgement against me? If he goes to court and the court decides to award him less than the amount I have offered, would I still have a CCJ against my name, even thouh I am not contesting that amount? Or would I only be subject to a CCJ if he is awarded a higher amount? I can't seem to find any advice on this anywhere online. The letting agent has strongly advised me to settle for a higher amount out of court to avoid a CCJ - whether this is professional or not of them is another matter but I feel under pressure to pay more than I can afford or should have to pay. Thank you in advance

Hi guys, Really hope we can get some advice, we are having real problems with our landlord. First of all there are repairs that have been outstanding nearly a year that are getting worse, damp that is shorting electrics, half the electrics in the house are out, the plumbing both in and out, rotting walls the list is endless. I have been promised time and time again it will be fixed and normally he sends round an unskilled worker to botch it over, even important thingsnow as my daughter seems to be getting ill from the damp i contacted him again, he came round with his same 2 workers and said they would be back on Monday, he was also stating it is my fault and he will be holding the deposit (there is no TDS for it that I am aware of) he also stated he would be charging my guarantor for the repairs. This is all nothing new, this is exactly how he behaved last year, we would move however we cant afford to. I know for a fact he has lost the tenancy agreement and also it was my mum and dad that signed the gurantor, he thinks it was someone else. Sounding a bit crazy? he really is, he always comes round with no notice shouting and bawling making my wife feel unsafe, and sends letters demanding money for things that never happened. Our issue is that we are behind with the rent, by 2 months, he says we are witholding it due to repairs and that is dangerous, but in truth we are really struggling, however we have just had a claim for housing benefit approved so will be able to start paying again. My question is, can I make a claim under the TDS (Tenancy Deposit Scheme) as I know that he has not set it up and we have not received any information. I know it is a long post and perhaps a bit rambling, but we are under a lot of pressure due to this situation and really need some help please