Deposit not lodged in scheme and now not being paid back

[jaipal2004]

Hi,

 

our property was repossessed due to the landlady not paying her mortgage despite us paying our rent.

 

I applied for a stay on the eviction and they gave us 2 months (as per legal guidelines). Well in advance of this our tenancy agreement had expired. She didn't give us one despite us asking as I believe she knew about the reposession.

 

Now we've moved out the landlady has rented the house to another person (how I don't know!!) and has promised to pay our deposit back but all we've had so far is a bounced cheque.

 

I believe it wasn't lodged in any scheme as we have no documents to support this.

 

Can I simply go to the county court and issue a Money Claim or is there a better way of doing it? I want to be a diligent as possible so she cannot slip the net. She has a slimy 'financial advisor' who handles all her dealings and I know if there's a way out he'll take it.

 

Furthermore, I believe I can claim the original deposit (£500) and 3 times the amount in addition (£2k altogether) or can I just claim for the 3 x deposit?.

 

I don't want to waste time and need a quick resolution to this as it's already been delayed.

 

Any help would be great

[jaipal2004]

Further update:

 

The original deposit of £500 has been paid back 30 mins ago.

 

The landlady has caused us severe issues and stress (pregnant wife etc) and I don't want to let her off lightly.

 

Can I still claim 3 x deposit under the relevant section of the act governing the TDS?

[Ben Reeve-Lewis]

It sounds like you asked the wrong person for the 2 months. The Mortgage Reposession (Protection of tenants) Act 2010 relates to mortgage lenders taking action, to grant tenants 2 month's grace, not the landlrod. If it has been re-let it sounds like she averted evcition in the end anyway.As for the deposit. The protection rules were strengthened and brought back in by the Localism Act and landlords had until 6th May 2012 to get any unprotected depsoits in. Part of the problem with the old law and how it was worded was that it stated the courts would order the landlrod to pay back the deposit and "Must also" order them to pay a penalty, so if the deposit was returned the "Must also" was already invalidated. this has been corrected.The procedure is to check with the 3 schemes, DPS, TDS and My Deposits and get them to send you confirmation, email will do, that the deposit wasnt protected. Then get a form N208 from either the HMCS website or directly from the local county court and launch a cliam, which will now be up to 3 x the amount of the depsoit.You can never guarnatee a result in county court however but good luck

[jaipal2004]

Thanks Ben Reeve Lewis - even if my deposit was returned this morning would I still be able to claim as the deposit wasn't protected? (once confirmation received from DPS, TDS and MyDeposits?

[Ben Reeve-Lewis]

You should, in theory, be able to claim whether it has been returned to you or not. The basis for the claim is that it hadnt been protected and you werent given notification of the scheme in the prescribed form, both of which should entitle you to apply for the penalty. The troubel is the old deposit legislation was so badly drafted it fell apart when tested in court cases which is why they had to re-draft it to handle the problems thrown up by the wording of the original. God only knows if it will hold water this time but worth a go.The trouble I would anticpate is that under the old rules the penalty was a fixed amount of 3 x the deposit but many judges were unwilling to go that far when a landlord had merely not known about the law or had made a mistake. A judge in your case make take the view that in handing back the deposit it was showing a certain willingness to cooperate and so may not grant much of a penalty. Its too early to tell as the enw version of depsoit protection is literally only a few weeks old

[raydetinu]

When did the tenancy actually end? if befire the 6th May the you may not be able to sue for non-protection?

If after then yes you can sue in the county court.

The judge would decide on the level of compensation, if any.

[jaipal2004]

The landlord cannot claim they didn't know as I have text conversations, it also clearly states on the tenancy agreement that our deposit will be lodged in a government approved scheme etc.

 

They've not shown willingness as I've had to threaten them today to get this far and their bounced cheques, eviction orders (for the mortgagee because she was behind on her payments etc) doesn't show any willing but basically shows them buying time.

 

I know the landlady is going thru a divorce and is trying to milk her ex hisband as he's been to see me and let me know what's going on. To that effect I know that she has been squandering 'our' rent money on frivolous shops etc and although that's none of my business I feel annoyed with how little consideration she's shown and just how many lies she's told us!

[jaipal2004]

When did the tenancy actually end? if befire the 6th May the you may not be able to sue for non-protection?

If after then yes you can sue in the county court.

The judge would decide on the level of compensation, if any.

 

It ended in February of this year and since then we've not had another agreement from the LL

[raydetinu]

You will not be able to sue for non-protection as the tenancy ended before the new legislation, which came in on April 6th 2012.

and under the old legislation you cannot sue for compensation once the tenancy has ended.

As you have now got your deposit back, thats about it. a result realy.

[mariner51]

"I feel annoyed with how little consideration she's shown and just how many lies she's told us!"

 

Try becoming a LL, dealing with Ts. There is good & bad fruit on any tree!