Altered tenancy agreement. Is this fraud?

[hendo29]

hi guys

 

looking for some advice regarding the legalities of changing a tenancy agreement in scotland.

 

i have now moved out of the property and my landlord is saying i am only due 250 deposit.

 

i have a copy of my original lease dated 11-11-10 which states i paid 550, my landlord has a copy of the same lease dated the same date but the deposit amount says 250. i also have a recipt for 550.

 

my landlord informed me that the document was edited at a later date to account for rent arrears.

 

can they legaly alter a signed contract at a later date without informing me, would my signiture be required on any alterations?

 

cheers in advance

Edited January 8, 2013 by hendo29

[hendo29]

second to this i never recieved any documentation regarding the deposit protection scheme used, later discovering that it was not entered to any. am i right in saying this must be done within 30 days of begining of lease? and that failur to comply comes with a fine of no more that 3 x original deposit?

[raydetinu]

there is a tenancy deposit scheme in scotland that started in march 2011, not sure what the penalties are though, suggest you do a bit of reserch.

claiming for non prtection in England is not straight forward and expensive.

yes any alteration to a contact must be agreed by both parties to be leagal

[Steve__M]

If there wasn't any rent arrears then it is certainly dishonest.

 

Ultimately, if your landlord insists that there were arrears and you say there were not, you'll have to claim in court. You have your contract and receipt which is good evidence.

 

Usual think would be to start out with a "letter before action" stating that there were no arrears, that you have a contract and receipt (maybe include photocopies) and that you intend to claim if the money is not repaid.