UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi Folks

I lived abroad for a few months and while I was away I asked my brother to find tenants to live in my BTL.  He did exactly as I said and obtained the relevant deposit.  However, as he is unaware of the BTL rules & regulations, he did not register the deposit and since I was busy enjoying my holidays, I forgot to tell him that he needs to register the deposit.

Recently, the tenant found out that the deposit is not registered and in the process of taking me (being the landlord) to court on the basis that I did not register the deposit.

Can someone be kind enough to advice if there is any way out of this or would I end up paying a penalty (I think it is 3 times the amount of the deposit !!).

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Yes mate you are stuffed.  It is a slam-dunk.

Your only way out is some game theory, and see whether it would be worth your while trying to negotiate with the tenant to arrive at a suitable financial incentive to make him avoid going to court.

Of course the flip side is to sit it out and see whether you get a 1x, 2x or 3x fine.

Oh yeah and obviously this is in addition to the deposit which is the tenants anyway subject to property damage etc.

Quote from: geek84 on October 21, 2017, 02:04:57 PMCan someone be kind enough to advice if there is any way out of this or would I end up paying a penalty (I think it is 3 times the amount of the deposit !!).

No way out. The Tenant has you by the balls. You are liable due to being the Landlord. You cannot even blame your brother (not that you would). It is not 3x the amount of the deposit as a surety, it could be 1x, 2x or 3x... but not 0x or 4x.

Thanks folks