UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello to all,

I am in a bit of a pickle and would like some sound advice with regards to returning deposit back to tenants. For the sake of brevity this is the issue:

●   Tenants moved in 2009 (Deposit £1000 paid), although this was NOT paid into a deposit scheme at that time.

●   Tenants moved out 2010/2011.

●   Checked house—ok state; kitchen in a mess/oven etc., bit of the house needed painting. The cost was over £2000, can't really remember exactly (don't have bills)

●   Deposit was never returned. Tenants never asked for it.

●   Never heard from the tenants until now. Want their deposit back (2014, Oct), found out I sold the house.

●   Told them the cost of bills.

●   Received a letter from solicitor, requiring I have 28 days to paid £1000 for the deposit and £1,800 = £2,750 total  (not sure why they have added another £1,800..."a sum representing one times the amount of the deposit" as stated on the letter.


Any advice on how to deal with this will be much appreciated.

Regards

Alex

If you end up going to Court the Court would find against you for having failed to protect the deposit back in 2009.

Likewise there could be the additional issue of when the tenancy moved from a fixed term to a periodic tenancy, you state they moved out in "2010/2011" - but surely you know?

All the stuff about £2,000 for your costs to get the house in order is irrelevant here. Separate issue entirely. Simple fact is you didn't protect the deposit, therefore you have broken the law.

I would always advise settling before it reaches Court. Others would advise a game of chicken and try to bluff your way out of it.

You've had a Solicitor's letter land on your doorstep already... this seems to imply, to me, that they're really going for it.

If you go to Court then the Tenants could be awarded 1x to 3x the deposit - plus the original deposit - so the worst case would be £4,000.

Settling at 1x seems pretty good in that light.

Maybe the other money is Solicitor's costs?

You might have to provide more details... £1,000 + £1,800 doesn't equal £2,750, but I imagine you are in a bit of shock at the moment.

Please ask further questions or provide more detail, I am sure other members will contribute.

I say "worst case would be £4,000" but this assumes a non-protected deposit of £1,000 and a single tenancy. If the tenancy moved from being the initial fixed term to a periodic tenancy, then the law says that the Landlord must re-serve the Prescribed Information and it counts as a separate tenancy where the deposit must be protected, therefore we could be talking about two issues.

I do not mean to frighten you, but please ensure you take your next steps with your eyes open.

As Griff says tenant can make a claim for non protection of deposit and WILL win an award, no ifs no buts no have your day in court and maybe come out of it without losing money.  The tenant WILL BE awarded at the very very least £2000 from the court for the non protection of the deposit, but discretion (and more likely) that it will be higher.

Quote from: Hippogriff on October 28, 2014, 08:56:11 AM
I say "worst case would be £4,000" but this assumes a non-protected deposit of £1,000 and a single tenancy. If the tenancy moved from being the initial fixed term to a periodic tenancy, then the law says that the Landlord must re-serve the Prescribed Information and it counts as a separate tenancy where the deposit must be protected, therefore we could be talking about two issues.

Interesting point Hippo.

Does anyone have a view whether it would be possible (in general terms) for a landlord who does not secure the deposit/serve the PI, at both the AST phase and the SPT phase to be prosecuted for two different offences ?

I believe it is possible, but I do not want to frighten the OP unnecessarily as we are not fully aware of the circumstances here and we need more details to try and advise better.

The DPS guidance said - "The decision in Superstrike confirms that a statutory periodic tenancy is a new tenancy".

Hello,

Thank you for thoughts  - much appreciated.

Yes I was in shock! The funny thing is, i kept the deposit not purely out of greed/capitalistic motives, but just didn't take the deposit scheme serious enough at that time, as it was still in its embryonic stages, sot to speak.

Nevertheless...

The deposit was £1100 and the solicitor is asking £1,650, in total of £2,750.

Last final question, The house i was renting out has now been sold. I have made some profit on it. However, I have not been working the last year and I an now living with my parents home. Could this make a difference, if I cant pay it back?

Many thanks again

Quote from: caphas on November 04, 2014, 10:09:58 AMCould this make a difference, if I cant pay it back?

I am no expert in such matters, but would it not conclude with you being declared bankrupt? That's not a very palatable thing, in my mind.

Advice from Hippogriff is sound. If Judgement is made against you then you can ask for time to pay. IMO you don't want to go there!.

Can Section 21 Notice be served on the day when a landlord requested repayment of a deposit
or it need to be done after receiving a confirmation form DPS that the deposit was repaid to the tenant?

Quote from: Annabel on March 02, 2015, 10:59:14 AM
Can Section 21 Notice be served on the day when a landlord requested repayment of a deposit
or it need to be done after receiving a confirmation form DPS that the deposit was repaid to the tenant?

You're confused.  Why would you need to repay the deposit if it's in the DPS?

Because I haven't done deposit resubmission etc. when I renewed the contract year ago.
Sorry, I should add this information to my original post.

So I realised the deposit few weeks ago and served the Section 21 notice but I'm not sure if the notice is valid if I served it before receiving DPS's confirmation about actual transfer of funds?