UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi

My tenant moved into my property 2years ago, i took her deposit and used it at the time, but put it in a secured account months after. When she then moved out, she asked that the nine days in excess be removed from the deposit and the rest be returned to her. We removed the nine days excess calculated by the estate agent and we gave the rest to the agent to give back to her. However she had taken some of my stuff like, my leather setty, my ladder and the original mirror cabinet in the bath room. When we then ask for our things to be returned before the estate agent could release the remaining of the deposit. She threatened to sue for not putting the money in an insurance scheme. Can i be liable for a deposit that i no longer have, or can she just sue me for not putting the money in an insurance scheme anyway, although i no longer have the money???

The short answer is yes, she can take you to court for this.  The back-story is the governemtn felt too many landlords refused to give back deposit money on spurions grounds when they held the cash themselves, so created these insurance backed or custodian schemes.  The court fine exists as a punishment for not using the scheme, not as an indication that you have done anything wrong with the deposit money.  Sorry!