UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have a tenant that has now vacated the property at the end of the her agreement she actually left 2 weeks early as as she has a new place, I agreed verbaly with her that if I could come in for those 2 weeks to replace the bathroom and Kitchen I would not expect her to make good and damage or items that needed repair in those rooms, to which she agreed

I noticed just after she had left that she had not paid the last months rent. I sent her a message asking if she was expecting me to deduct it from her deposit she got funny and said that as we both has shared use of the house for a few weeks she thought it was wrong for her to have to pay. she came across quite hard done by and said "i suppose i won't be getting any deposit back then" she then did not respond to any more attempts by me to contact her.

so my question is this, should I write to her explaining that she is not due any deposit and list the reasons or just leave it that she is gone and has accepted it.

the one BIG problem is that when she first started renting from me in 2007 the new regulation had come in a few month earlier about deposit schemes but I did not enter into one.

Am I legal obliged to write to her about the deposit or should I wait to se if she brings it up?


thanks

You are not obliged to arm your ex-Tenant in their ability to sue you.

If the ex-Tenant decides to sue you then you will have to deal with that situation (see my last sentence on this post too). Obviously you understand that if any valid case is brought then they will win that case and you would be liable for compensation (and costs).

It sounds - unless I'm reading it wrong - that you might be best off letting sleeping dogs lie. However, I am not sure I would have taken 100% of her deposit for her departing 2 weeks early... my gut feel would be a lower amount should have been retained by you. Anyone objective is going to look at you as one of the old style Landlords who thought a deposit was theirs and a "perk of the job". You have effectively decided to take it all and the ex-Tenant feels as though there is nothing that can be done. This is the bad old days. At least if it had been lodged there could have been adjudication.

As I say, let sleeping dogs lie and you might not hear anything more... the ex-Tenant could decide to sue you for up to 6 years after the date the deposit should have been protected... but it looks like that boat has probably also sailed a long, long time ago for her (unless you have been doing new fixed terms each year?).

Thanks for the advise but just to be clear, as stated the Tennant did not pay the last months rent, and along with other items that needed to be done, carpets cleaned lightbulbs replaced a damaged laminate floor etc. she probably owes me about 200 pound or more if I were to itemize.

also yes I have had a new fixed term every year.

Quote from: kevsan1 on February 18, 2015, 11:04:12 AM
Thanks for the advise but just to be clear, as stated the Tennant did not pay the last months rent, and along with other items that needed to be done, carpets cleaned lightbulbs replaced a damaged laminate floor etc. she probably owes me about 200 pound or more if I were to itemize.

also yes I have had a new fixed term every year.

Just to be clear kevsan, whatever the tenant did or didn't do will not mitigate any claim from the tenant regarding the lack of deposit protection on your part.  This was 8 years ago.  You should have given deposit protection details on each occasion a new contract was given.  If the tenant puts a claim in I am confident that they would be awarded the maximum deposit AND 3 x Deposit award at the very least.

Landlords deciding to keep tenants deposits for their own reasons is the reason deposit protection came in in the first place.

You've had the same tenant in the property for 8 years, no void periods, presume rent has been on time and you think you are £200 down by having to replace some bulbs and get carpets cleaned.  How much money have you made from this 1 tenant in the last unbroken tenancy of 8 years.  You need to get in the real world.  You're just coming over as hard nosed and greedy and the deposit legislation that was put in place was to try and stamp out practices like this. 

I read your post in detail, I was absolutely clear that the Tenant did not pay rent in the last month, but I also read that they left 2 weeks early and you were pottering around in there.

You have been giving new fixed term ASTs each year, so if the Tenant decided to now sue you, they could... because we're not talking about 2007 / 2008 any more (>6 years to 2015).

You have failed - repeatedly and knowingly - to protect the deposit each time a new tenancy has been created. That appears to be in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

You are a very bad Landlord.

You are either incredibly greedy and calculating or incredibly incompetent and uncaring.

Let sleeping dogs lie because if this ex-Tenant comes gunning for you now (or soon)... well, you are screwed... and very deservedly so.

Please write out 100 times - "I will protect deposits".

If I was your ex-Tenant, and I was in the know, then there would already be a Letter Before Action on your doorstep. If your Tenant came on here asking us for advice, you'd be very shortly hearing from them.

You are not a bad person.

Just human.

I wrote this yesterday and decided not to post.


Give her 100% of her deposit back, and think yourself lucky.

That way there is no deposit for you to with hold incorrectly.

It doesn't get you completely out of the poo, but it shows you have some sense, once you found out the error you had made.

You got 70 plus rent cheques from her, you had a fair innings, stand up, take it like a man, and give her her money back.

I'd still let sleeping dogs lie.

It sounds - unless a surprise is heading the OP's way - that this ex-Tenant has given-up and just accepted the taking of the entire deposit.

It's not right, but re-opening lines of communication and giving back the deposit could open up a real can of worms for the OP. It could cause the ex-Tenant to wonder what the hell is going on with this change of heart and she could start doing research into deposit protection legislation.

Is doing nothing the right thing to do? No.

What would I do? I think I'd personally return the deposit too... but, like Riptide, I would never have not protected it in the first place, and then time and time again (so I will never have this dilemma). Not a bad person, no - but a bad Landlord, yes. The fact that the OP was talking about the ex-Tenant probably owing about £200 got my back-up, I must admit. The OP needs to understand that they are not the injured party in this scenario.

Of course, the ex-Tenant could be taking legal advice right now... and it only needs one conversation in a pub, at a night class, at work, on the bus about how her Landlord took all her deposit from her for someone to say - "Your deposit was protected correctly, wasn't it, 'cos I'm surprised your ex-Landlord could do that without your agreement."