UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi guys.

Firstly, thanks for taking the time to read this post, I've searched far and wide and haven't come up with a conclusive answer to my issue..

I had a tenant move in a few years ago. They were placed on a 3 month contract with the plan that either party could move along after 3 months if u get my drift.

In the 3 months they couldn't afford to pay the bond either. We let them pay in instalments which they did, however it never actually got paid until AFTER the 3 month contract had passed.

The tenant continued to live there, however they refused to sign a new contract, stating they wanted the freedom to leave whenever they wanted.

The bond never went into a scheme, it was one of them times when things just got forgotten about. However, a few years down the line we realised that and put it straight into a scheme. So it's currently protected.

It's come to the end of the tenancy, they've given us 2 weeks notice which isn't fantastic, they've absolutely destroyed what was a nice clean little place to live, the damage will be well in excess of £1000, then to top it off they didn't pay the last months rent either. So at current standing they are in arrears and have left the place in a right state.

They're 'demanding' the bond back, stating we are liable to be sued over this.

My research has come up with the possibility that because a new contract never got signed we are now looking at a 'periodic' tenancy, not a short term hold. The bond wasn't fulfilled until the contract had expired, does this mean that we weren't actually forced by law to put it in a scheme?

Also, is there any way we can sue for the damage, loss of earnings etc etc??

Many thanks again

Can you explain your research that has led you to believe any Deposit you took wasn't required to be protected? There's situations where it isn't required... Lodgers, Companies, non-Housing Acts agreements... but in any normal exclusive possession tenancy it would be required and I wonder if you're, somewhat hopefully, grasping at straws.

I am not even sure how you agreed 3 months at the beginning... a Periodic tenancy is the same as an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, I don't know what a Short Term Hold is. Before you go in too hard I would be sure of your facts, escalating the situation to the point where you're on the receiving-end of a Court appearance probably isn't cool. My simplistic view? If you take a Deposit for a residential property where you don't live - you need to protect it.

Giving a deposit back that was not protected correctly doesn't stop you from being sued for a penalty. It may affect the amount of the penalty depending on the circumstances of why you're not giving it back though. If legitimately are entitled to deductions, you're still entiteld to it even if they're entitled to a penalty from you.

Quotemove in a few years ago

How many years is a few years exactly?

Quotehowever it never actually got paid until AFTER the 3 month contract had passed.

When did they start paying towards it?

QuoteAlso, is there any way we can sue for the damage, loss of earnings etc etc??

Yes. Probably no.

Thanks for your replies.

It was 2014 when the tenant moved in.

They started paying towards the bond the day they moved in, but didn't complete payment until after the 3 months.

To reply to the first comment..
The periodic tenancy thing I saw was from google, obviously not feeling confident in what I found and being out of my depth I've come to seek advice from you guys.

The 3 months was something that we started with. The property was something we inherited from a family members passing. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, I wish we'd of just given it to an estate agent however we have tried to manage it privately as was done before. Learning as we go from mistakes 😣.

Quote from: Rondon2610 on October 09, 2019, 08:11:06 AM
To reply to the first comment..
The periodic tenancy thing I saw was from google, obviously not feeling confident in what I found and being out of my depth I've come to seek advice from you guys.

Please link to what you found...

I'm going to assumed that the tenancy was assured shorthold, as OP haven't given any reason to suggest otherwise, so that the deposit was required to be protected.

QuoteIt was 2014 when the tenant moved in.

So within limitation period, which mean two possible penalties, one for the 3 months and another for the subsequent periodic. The installment payment makes assessing the maximum penalty tricky, so I'm not going to go there other than to say a penalty legally must be between one to three times the amount of the deposit.

Quotethe damage will be well in excess of £1000, then to top it off they didn't pay the last months rent either.

You didn't say how much was the deposit.

Landlord's estimate of damages (or deductions) they are entitled to I would suggest are usually higher than what they'd get in court or through deposit arbitration. Is the deposit in a custodial scheme, or did you keep it and use an insurance scheme?

Hi,

Sorry for late reply. The deposit is in an insured scheme.