TDS Claim - Need Advice, Please

[Filthy Monkey]

Hi folks,

 

There are a lot of posts on here about bad landlords, but I think I'm a pretty good one. I always follow the law and I do my best to be fair to my tenants and ensure that they have an enjoyable stay in my property. This has always ensured that I have had a good relationship with them and I have never had any problems. Until now!

 

This is a bit of an unusual situation. I put one of my properties, a 3-bed flat in London, on the market with a local agent in February. Given the state of the market, I expected that rental rates had dropped since I last rented it out, so I was surprised when the agent came round and suggested a much higher figure than I had in mind. Having what I believe to be a more realistic view of the market I asked them to advertise it at £50 per week less that they suggested. Over the next week I checked the property websites to see if my property was advertised, as I was obviously keen to let it, but it didn't show up on any of them. It took numerous calls to try and have this resolved before it finally appeared. A couple of days later I received a call from one of the staff at the agency, telling me that they had received an offer on the property from a tenant who had recently missed out on another property in the development, but who was very keen to move into the area. He said that the chap was offering an excellent price and that I should jump at it, so I got quite excited. Needless to say, I was surprised and annoyed when he told me that the offer was £100 / week less than they had originally suggested and £50 / below the asking price. However, the agent tried his best to persuade me to accept the offer. I reminded him that I was the one paying commission and that he was working for me and not the tenant, so he should be doing his best to get me more money, rather than less! In the end, and following a bit of bartering, I managed to push the price up to an almost reasonable amount. However, I was still unhappy at the way the agency had handled the rental and made this clear to them. To compensate, they offered to throw in free rental insurance, and allow me to pay commission monthly, rather than upfront. I made this a condition as I was concerned that they would not return commission to me if the tenant left before the end of the contract and I certainly didn't want a credit from them towards finding another tenant as I didn't really trust them as an agency by now. Once all this was agreed, we went ahead with the deal and the paperwork was duly signed. After signing the documents I asked the letting agent who the tenant was, what he did and if he was known to the agency. I was told his name, that he worked in property management, but that they did not know him. I found out a couple of hours later, through a Google search, that he was the owner of the agency. I went back and confronted the letting agent, only to be told that it was somebody with the same name, but not the same person. I mentioned that his partner, not listed on the lease, but who would apparently also be living in the property, also had 'coincidentally' the same name as somebody who worked in the agency, but again he told me that they were not the same people. It was clear that he was lying, but there was no point wasting any more time on it, so I left with nagging concerns about conflicts of interest in terms of referencing and rent collection etc.

 

It turns out these doubts were well founded. It took me 5 weeks to get my first months rent out of the agency and 7 weeks to get hold of the deposit, which I had already protected with MyDeposits within ten days of the tenant moving in. Rent was consistently 3-4 weeks late over the course of the tenancy and after 4 months, the tenant gave me two months notice and stopped paying rent altogether. He actually had the cheek to send me an email stating that, following a meeting with the company's shareholders and his fellow directors, they had 'agreed' that the last two months rent should be taken from the 6 week deposit! I went for 5 weeks without receiving any rent from him, so served a section 8 notice. July's rent was finally received last week, 7 weeks late, although the agency tried to keep the full amount, claiming that, contrary to our original agreement, they were taking commission for the rest of the year from it, despite the fact that the tenant was due to move out and they were only owed two months commission. After a bit of a fight and supplying a number of emails to prove earlier agreements, they confirmed by email that I would get the full rent for that month minus the final two months commission. In saying that, I still haven't received it!

 

Anyway, the tenant is now due to move out this weekend and I will have to take the last months rent from his deposit, leaving me with very little buffer in the event of damage to the property, but as a parting shot he has decided to attempt an N208 claim, asserting that I didn't protect his deposit! The irony here is that the agency wouldn't have released his deposit unless I sent them proof of protection. In addition, I also placed copies of the certificate and prescribed information personally in his mail box 10 days after he moved in as I had to drop off an extra key to him. So, despite having done everything I should have, I may now face the joys of a court case! In retrospect I should have asked him to sign for receipt of the documents, but I guess I will know next time.

 

I was served with a Part 8 claim form yesterday when I was in the agency, finally picking up a copy of the initial inventory that have been trying to get out of them for almost 6 months. However, the Part 8 form doesn't contain any details about the court where the case has been raised or the claim number, so I have no idea what to do with it. As far as I'm concerned, it hasn't been served as, without this information, I can't respond.

 

Anyway, enough rambling from me. I'd be grateful if anyone could give me any advice on the deposit claim and the incomplete part 8 form, as it's the first one I have received…

 

Thanks,

 

FM

[Filthy Monkey]

Surely someone can offer some advice on this. Please...?

[Emma1973]

Pop yourself over to www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums, and ask the legal minded bods.

Tho I suggest you shorten it a little, and put some paragraphs in!