Deposit not returned, need help!

[winslo]

Hi I know this has probably been asked a thousand times on here but looking for some advice getting my deposit back

We rented a house in December 2010 for £850 per month, we paid a deposit of £1700 on the house. The land lord has NEVER placed this money into a deposit protection scheme

In February this year we had a spot of money troubles and agreed with the land lord to use ½ our deposit to pay Februarys rent which we did. This now leaves £850 deposit I am due back. This arrangement was never documented anywhere and our 3 tenancy agreements (6 months each) all state they have the £1700 deposit.

We agreed to hand keys back on Tuesday 11th June. On Monday 10th June I had an email asking me to drop all keys into the office by 17:00 that day, to which I replied we are handing them back tomorrow as agreed as we still had things to move out. They replied saying that they desperately needed the keys back for the next morning so could we get our stuff out and leave the keys with a neighbour who is a relative of the landlord. Not wanting to cause any unnecessary bother I agreed, moved my last few things and handed keys to the neighbour.

We left the house and gardens in a very very clean state, It was cleaner than when we moved in, oven was spotless, floors, gardens etc….and no damage to property.

It has now been over 3 weeks and no deposit has been returned and they have not even done an inspection with us present! After sending various emails and getting no reply, I eventually got through to the office manager on the phone. She said she would call the landlord to find out what was going on. She rang me back and said he has had a quick look and all looks ok except for some minor decorating! My contract does not say the property needed decorating and there is no damage, only possible wear and tear you would expect from 18 months in a family home. She said she would arrange a time with LL so I could have an inspection with him. It has now been over a week and still no contact.

Im pretty fed up as I want my money back.

I have emailed this morning again, outlining my concerns and asked for my deposit to be returned into my bank account within 24 hours before I take further action to seek my money back through the small claims courts

I have had a quick look on here and I can see that I ‘may’ be entitled to my rent back PLUS X 3, and all costs etc? Is this right?

What is my next move? Looking for some help from you guys

Any help would be very much appreciated

Cheers all

Richard

[winslo]

I moved out a property on 10th june, handed keys back and landlord was supposed to arrange an inspection, after plenty phone calls and being fobbed off, and emails not been returned i had enough. It came to my attention that our deposit was never put into a scheme so i sent them an final email yesterday asking for reuturn of deposit before i commenced legal proceedings.

 

I have just found a email in my juk folder sent/received yesterday from landlord....

 

It says that he is he is seeking prices for some redecoration work and replacement carpets caused by the pets i had at the property which also breaches the tenancy agreement, and that i should be more patient until he is in a position to present his findings!

 

I had 1 dog at the property which was agreed before we moved in. There is no decoration work needed and the carpets only have marks/stains that were on when we moved in. When i did challenge the carpets when we moved in we were told not to worry as they had been down since the house was built and did have marks and stains!

Im pretty annoyed about this as 1) we still not done an inspection with the landlord present, as far as im concerned the marks were already there and there is no redecoration needed other than general wear and tear.

 

I have wrote a 'letter before action' today and also filled in a N208 form which i had intended on sending today in the post.

 

Is it wise for me to email him back and challenge what he is saying? Or just go straight on with the letter before action/N208?

 

Thanks

 

Richard

[mariner51]

LBA should give LL 14 days to respond before progressing Court claim.

 

Please keep same T problems to one thread, to avoid confusion.

[ims21]

Two threads on the same subject merged.

 

Thanks mariner

[winslo]

LBA sent today, giving the 14 days