Landlord not returning deposit

[raydetinu]

As you no doubt you know, if you are going for non-protection or not being notified this will have to be in the county court multi track route; no certainty of winning anything! ( courts are funny like that ).

Your initial fees will be high and you will need legal representation, possibly a barrister as well! so suggest you speak to a solicitor before you proceed down that route.

By the way you can only claim for compensation for non-protection, it will up to the judge if he awards you any compensation at all, which can be up to 3 times the deposit.

 

As far as I am aware no claims have gone through yet! under the localism act.

Also you may not get costs even if you win, again up to judge.

[Armit]

Hey Raydetinu,

 

The legal costs will covered by my employer sponsored insurance. So expense is not my concern. However I have to present them with evidences that make the case good. Therefore doing all the homework. So coming back to the original question:

 

For the purpose of claiming 1-3x deposit, Do all the parties in joint tenancy need to be in UK.

And if so, Can the other two tenants legally authenticate me for following up the claim on their behalf. Is there some kind of legal form for this?

[raydetinu]

If costs are no object, then suggest you get professional legal advice and let a solicitor deal with your claim.

[Armit]

Hey Raydetinu,

 

I think you got me wrong. I can get the costs approved only after I have prepared the document and can show the insurance firm that I have done at least some homework and prepared the relevant documents. Upon seeing a joint tenancy, the first questions that comes is what is the stand of other joint tenants on this? So I need to get out of this and therefore requesting you to help me in preparing the documents.

 

Moreover this issue was raised by my LL only. I was not even aware of this. I tried to threaten him to return just my deposit otherwise I would go for 3x claims. So he came back with this joint tenancy issue. Once I start speaking in terms of correct lingo, I believe he might return my full deposit and I wouldn't then follow 3x deposit claim. So if you can tell me if there is any specific form that the joint tenants would have to fill, then I will get this done and send a copy to LL. The LL may then feel the heat and return my deposit. That's all I am upto.

[raydetinu]

Have you made claim with DPS yet and what did they say? ( who do they have as the tenant? you or all them listed ).

All you need is a notarised letter from the other tenants giving you their permission to act for them in any action against LL.

[Armit]

Thanks Raydetinu for the reply.

 

I have raised claim with DPS and the landlord is always able to get 14 days from DPS to come back with breakage cost. I am the Lead tenant and other tenants' names are not there.

 

The LL sent a mail to me saying that he believes his claim is more the £1300 deposit. God knows what actual figure he has in mind. The property has been returned to him in a condition better than what it was when I came in for the first time.

 

With regards to letter you suggested, Does this need to be notarized by a solicitor in UK. The other joint tenants are not in this country now. Whats the way out? Please advise.

[raydetinu]

I am not an expert, but would have thought that any legal notarization from any country would be ok.

You will have to wait and see what DPS say when they receive his deductions.

Any deductions will have to be fair/reasonable and allow for wear and tear. If you don't think you can resolve then take it SCC and let a judge decide.

Hope you took photos of condition when left and did you agree or see a condition report?

[Armit]

The inventory check out was conducted but the LL kept insisting that I should be paying for the full cost of inventory. I never agreed to that and he retained the check-out report with himself and never gave it to me. Do you think I have thus left a loop open for myself which LL can capitalize later on.

 

However, I did take a lot of pictures of the house when I left the property.

[raydetinu]

Full cost of what exactly? have you had a list of what he is claiming for?

We appreciate you are a bit anxious and want to be prepared, but best to just wait until you have some actual facts to react to.

[Armit]

Called DPS today and they informed that the LL has sent them breakage. Now I am sure the LL has asked for a huge breakage cost, although I have not got the exact figure.

 

Given that he has been late in protecting my deposit, will I be entitled to full deposit claim regardless of what the LL claims ( all false, I know ). Can I be rest assured ?

 

The LL has been real rogue, no GSC for three years, late deposit protection and despite all this, he still has guts to claim breakage.

 

Guys, please advise me.

[Armit]

Called DPS today and they informed that the LL has sent them breakage. Now I am sure the LL has asked for a huge breakage cost, although I have not got the exact figure.

 

Given that he has been late in protecting my deposit, will I be entitled to full deposit claim regardless of what the LL claims ( all false, I know ). Can I be rest assured ?

 

The LL has been real rogue, no GSC for three years, late deposit protection and despite all this, he still has guts to claim breakage.

 

Guys, please advise me.

[raydetinu]

You can ignore DPS and just go straight to court, once they have informed you the deposit is in dispute.

Let a judge decide!

Why did you not report that LL had not undertaken a GSC check! through the council or HSE?

Dangerous!

[Armit]

I did not report to HSE so as to avoid irritating the LL further. I came to know about this only towards the end of my tenancy. Can I still report?

 

I have tried my best to keep the things easy but LL does not seem to get it. Will I need to go to Small Claims for claiming back my deposit. The LL seems to have agreed to go for ADR at DPS. What would be the right thing for me to do at this point.

[Armit]

If the LL does not agree to use ADR service offered by DPS, then what will happen?

Will it be for the T to claim money from SCC or for the LL ?

[raydetinu]

As long as you have disputed deductions; it will be up to you and LL to agree to use ADR; if not or even after you or LL do not accept findings, either can go to SCC to claim it back.

DPS cannot release YOUR money that is in dispute until resolved. Any money not in dispute must be returned to you within 14 days.

Check DPS site for dispute procedure, that will tell you what you can do.

[Armit]

Hello Everybody,

 

I have got the break-up of claims by LL. He is now telling that tumble dryer, fridge and the cooker has been damaged beyond repairs due to misuse and wants £750 to replace these. The fact is that all these items were very much working well when I had left the property and even asked the inventory person to check if these appliances were working but he said its not needed.

 

This house was let out from Nov-2007 and the inventory check-in report at that time says Dryer = Not Tested, Fridge = Old condition and Cooker = Old condition.

 

This is a four bedroom house and four joint tenants living there since 2007.

 

What do you think I should do? The case is with ADR in DPS.

[raydetinu]

If these items were in that condition in 2007, how can he expect them to be replaced for new in 2013! that would be 6 years+ ( no value now )

If he wants to replace them it will have to be at his cost.

Don't bother with ADR just take him to court and let a judge decide, he wont get far with his claim.

[Armit]

Thanks Raydetinu for your reply. There is one more claim from LL of £555 for a branded chair of which a leg broke. I had informed him about this broken leg by telephone and by email Nov-2012. He did not get back at that time.

 

He had done an inspection of the house just one month before end of tenancy when I reminded him about the broken chair again and he said he was fine with this breakage. He asked me to clean the curtains, weed the garden, dry clean bed-cover and throw away metal pipes in the garden. I used to complete all these tasks one each week and update him on email about the progress.

 

In reply to my last email, he wrote that he had also found the carpet soiled and that I should get the carpet cleaned. Never mentioned anything about chair, dryer, fridge and cooker during the email chain.

 

Do you think the email is worth an evidence and can this evidence make a point.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Armit

[Armit]

Hey Raydetinu/Others,

 

The letter I received from DPS gives a summary of the claims made by the LL. The letter does not provide any break-up or calculation method used by the LL, whatsoever. I have asked the DPS to send me scan copy of the evidences provided by Landlord. From the discussion with DPS, it looked like they have not received any evidence from LL.

 

Is normal for DPS to just summarize the claims made by LL and not send the break-up and evidences to T to respond to? Or is it that since the LL did not provide any, they could not send to me.

 

Many Thanks for your reply.

Edited July 29, 2013 by Armit

[Armit]

Hello Friends, I have this question in my mind for a long time now. My tenancy agreement had name of THREE joint tenants only. But we used to have a FOURTH person as well, since the house had a FOUR rooms, to share the rent. The LL has always been well aware of this. I have his emails in which he has addressed all four of us on matter related to tenancy.

 

So, given that LL has been well aware of all this, Was keeping the fourth person a violation of contract for me?

Edited August 10, 2013 by Armit

[Armit]

Hello Friends, Can you please tell me that if either the landlord or the tenant is not happy with the DPS adjudication, what can their next course of action be: Small Claims Court or County court?

 

Also, Can they stop DPS from releasing the payment until the dispute is resolved by the court?

[raydetinu]

Neither of you have to accept the ADR verdict or even use it.

Either can go to court to resolve via county court small claims track.

DPS will not release disputed amount until resolved.

[Armit]

Hey Raydetinu,

 

If the matter is brought to the SCC by either party, Will the SCC take notice of delayed protection of my deposits by the landlord ?

[raydetinu]

I expect they may take it into account as to the LL behaviour, if you put that in your POC, whether they will rule on it will be up to the judge.

[Armit]

DPS is going to make the decision on 28-Aug. How many does DPS give to LL to agree or disagree to their adjudication?