UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi All,
I'm new to the forum and hopefully someone can advise on the following.

I have a house that I've let through an agent for the past 4 years with no problems and a couple of different tenants.
The last tenant gave 2 months notice to the agent and moved out after the 1st month. He agreed to have some of the deposit held back and paid to me for damage and cleaning. The Agent actually fought his side and got me to agree a lower amount than he was prepared to pay. He was happy to pay the full 600.00 but the agent got me to agree to 200.00

The tenant left and we re-let the property to a new tenant with the same agent.

The agent is now telling me that we can not have the agreed 200.00 as the tenant has left the country and they have no contact details for him so the money is locked in the DPS account.
They have emailed him but there is no response and I don't think there will be as he really wasn't bothered about the deposit.

Now the agent is telling me that i will have to claim via court proceedings and bear the cost involved which I feel is very unfair on their part as they let the tenant leave without sorting this out first.

I know it's not a lot of money but why should I forfeit it when the agent has let this happen.

Any advice much appreciated.

Tom

Have you looked at the deposit online yourself?  All sounds very shady.

Hi,
The agent has emailed me part of a screen grad that shows 'Payment in progress' 'Awaiting tenant response'
So I'm assuming it's true.
Thanks

I had a situation,a bit different,where the tenant ran off,leaving the place in a disgusting state,plus rent arrears.There was no way to contact him.It took longer than usual to sort the deposit out,but there was a set time after which I could claim it.This was over 10 years ago though.I am surprised that you used the same agent again,what benefit was there for them to act on behalf of the tenant? I does sound dodgy.Are they members of any associations you could report to? 

This is not a huge help for this, but in future, you are better off holding the deposit yourself, and paying a nominal fee for a company to 'protect' the deposit, if there is a dispute, you give the company the full deposit, and then they sort it. But then the company is working for you, and will agree the deduction or not, and then pay you and the tenant as needs be.- this is not a plug, but a company like 'Mydeposits' does this, there are others.
Regarding this one, I will get back to you, a similar thing happened to a friend of mine last year- I will find out what she did.

Thanks for the replies,
I don't understand why they were acting for the tenant other than being fair or because it was a friend, and the reason I stuck with the same agent was that they found a new tenant before this come to light. I was told that the deposit amount would be paid to me 15 days later which was after the move in date.

I like the idea of using Mydeposits but the agent has already taken the deposit from the new tenant, not sure if I can change that now.

Will keep you informed of the outcome soon, hopefully.

Quote from: WUB on July 03, 2018, 09:51:43 AM...you are better off holding the deposit yourself, and paying a nominal fee for a company to 'protect' the deposit, if there is a dispute, you give the company the full deposit, and then they sort it. But then the company is working for you, and will agree the deduction or not, and then pay you and the tenant as needs be.- this is not a plug, but a company like 'Mydeposits' does this, there are others.

Just to be clear, while I absolutely agree it is best if a) Landlords look after Deposit protection themselves, and b) also use an Insured Scheme so they retain the money themselves (and pay a fee to the Deposit Protection Scheme), there is no Deposit Scheme out there that is "working for you" as the Landlord. Anecdotal evidence always seems to show that the Landlord's expectations (however unrealistic) are not met once a Deposit Protection Scheme gets involved... because a Deposit Protection Scheme will know the law vs. what is often perceived as reasonable.

Examples I've heard of are where a Tenant has badly scorched a brand new kitchen worktop and the Landlord wanted a like-for-like replacement - saying it would be very difficult to let the property unless it was replaced... that's fair enough... but the Deposit Scheme's outlook is that the worktop still functions as a worktop, therefore it doesn't require replacement - the choice to replace would be the Landlords'... plus, even if the Tenant was only in there 1 year since it was brand new - the Landlord is never going to get 100% of the cost of replacement due to depreciation.

It is always best - without a shadow of a doubt - to agree Deposit deductions with your Tenant amicably... and sometimes this means being more reasonable than you might be minded to do... however, do not think the Deposit Scheme will work hard to prove your point, as Landlord, they won't and you are likely to come away with less than you hoped for. Even with intransigent Tenants who accept no blame for anything, I have managed to negotiate modest deductions to get things moving - the last thing anyone wants is to be providing the burden of proof to a third party.

Hi,
Finally got an update from the agent.
Coincidently the ex tenant got in touch with the agent a day or so after I complained to them about how this had been handled. He agreed to release the deposit which now been paid to me.
It could all be genuine but I'm a bit too long in the tooth so I'll be looking for a new agent.
Thanks for all your replies and suggestions which should help in future.
Tom