UK Landlord Forum / Life

I had a tenant who left an AST after just 13 days. I did not lodge the deposit in a TDS. TDS provisions allow for 30 days for a deposit to be lodged. Under mutual agreement, the tenant left after 13 days after causing grave distress to the other 3 housemates. The tenant had bi polar condition. He did not disclose this prior to moving in.

I retained £500 for professional advice from a psychologist as how best to handle this tricky situation. After negotiation with him I returned the rest of the deposit to him as well as the balance of his first month's rent. He was satisfied with the total monies returned to him.

7 months later I am now facing a potential claim for an unreturned deposit, citing, as it was not put into a TDS, therefore, it was not protected. The father of the tenant is now pushing for me to pay a higher sum of £1300, or he will take me to court. This feels like extortion. Does he have a case ?


In the same house, I have tenants in the house who have been there for a long time. I have not lodged their deposits in a TDS. Can I now retrospectively do so without incurring problems ?

That' s a very expensive consultation fee for one bit of advice from a psychologist. Did you give the tenant an invoice for this?  If you have never protected the deposits for the others the fact that he was not there for 30 days is irrelevant, presumably you had no plans to do so in this instance. I doubt if this person has a case, but the others will have regardless of what you do now.

Quote from: Colin PIlkington on October 01, 2024, 04:26:28 PMI retained £500 for professional advice from a psychologist as how best to handle this tricky situation.

This sounds about as dodgy as you can get to me but, then, you're a Deposit protection dodging Landlord so what can we say... part of a Security Deposit is usually retained for breakages and damage, sometimes other losses... distress to third parties forcing a consultation for you is a new one on me. Regarding the claim - you say "potential", and only state the father of the ex-Tenant has so far approached you, you make no mention of anything more formal, like from a Solicitor. Worry about it when someone decides to take it on, otherwise it could be bluster so far - nothing further may come of it.

Quote from: Colin PIlkington on October 01, 2024, 04:26:28 PMI had a tenant who left an AST after just 13 days. I did not lodge the deposit in a TDS. TDS provisions allow for 30 days for a deposit to be lodged. Under mutual agreement, the tenant left after 13 days after causing grave distress to the other 3 housemates. The tenant had bi polar condition. He did not disclose this prior to moving in.

The reasons why he left aren't hugely relevant. I wouldn't expect a prospective tenant to divulge his personal medical history.

Quote from: Colin PIlkington on October 01, 2024, 04:26:28 PMI retained £500 for professional advice from a psychologist as how best to handle this tricky situation. After negotiation with him I returned the rest of the deposit to him as well as the balance of his first month's rent. He was satisfied with the total monies returned to him.

It would have been better to keep the rent and give him back the deposit. How many weeks' rent was the deposit equivalent to?

Quote from: Colin PIlkington on October 01, 2024, 04:26:28 PM7 months later I am now facing a potential claim for an unreturned deposit, citing, as it was not put into a TDS, therefore, it was not protected. The father of the tenant is now pushing for me to pay a higher sum of £1300, or he will take me to court. This feels like extortion. Does he have a case ?

The father of the tenant has no case. The tenant may have a case. The fact that the tenancy effectively collapsed and the treatment of the deposit was mutually agreed within 30 days is probably enough to scupper it. At any rate, it muddies the waters enough the the no-win-no-fee brigade are likely to steer clear.

Quote from: Colin PIlkington on October 01, 2024, 04:26:28 PMIn the same house, I have tenants in the house who have been there for a long time. I have not lodged their deposits in a TDS. Can I now retrospectively do so without incurring problems ?

You can't retrospectively protect a deposit but you can and should protect them now ... because that's the law. In doing so, assuming you issue the Prescribed Information (also the law), you'll alert your tenants to the fact that you've been in breach and they can claim up to 3 x the deposit per tenancy. That probably falls within your definition of "incurring problems" but, if you do nothing, there's a fair chance that one or more of your tenants will cotton on anyway and, in that case, the judge would be more likely to hand down a penalty at the higher end of the scale. You could try and wait it out until more than six years have passed since the last breach but, equally, your tenants could argue that failure to provide the PI (or even the How to Rent Guide) amounts to concealment and thus different time limits apply.

I'd suggest you work out your exposure, come clean with your tenants and make them a cash offer in settlement of any potential claim. A bird in the hand, with no legal rigmarole and solicitors taking their cut, is often better than two (or three) in the bush.

Quote from: Colin PIlkington on October 01, 2024, 04:26:28 PMIn the same house, I have tenants in the house who have been there for a long time.

1. How many tenants do you have in the house, including the one who was there just briefly?

2. How long is "a long time"? When did each of their tenancies commence?

3. Are each of these tenants on an AST that you renewed at the end of the fixed term (for example, every 12 months)? Or at the end of the fixed term, did you not renew and thereby allow the ASTs to automatically become Statutory Periodic Tenancies (SPTs)?

4. Do you have in date (i.e. valid) Landlord Gas Safety Records and EICRs?