UK Landlord Forum / Life

This is my first post and I'm hoping the more experienced will be able to help!

We have tenants who are due to leave on 30th April. I took a £350 deposit but forgot to place it with The deposit Protection Service with whom I am registered. We have an AST signed by them. They have 2 dogs and 2 cats in the property when we only allowed 1 dog. It is furnished accommodation and electricity is included in the rent and they have brought in an electric dryer which is consuming power at an alarming rate. They work nights and every morning at 05:00 they come home and wake us, yet they complain that we are too noisy during the day!

After a very acrimonious period relating to their causing a nuisance (dogs barking, poo in the garden, revving engines, storing junk outside etc.), they agreed to leave early provided I repaid their deposit in full. I did so, but they didn't move. I have now received a letter from them demanding I pay £700 or they will start proceedings to recover 3x the deposit. They are very intimidating and aggressive and I haven't yet asked the whether this payment is to ensure they leave on the 30th or not.

I understand there is an appeal relating to late deposit payments which may allow me to pay the deposit before the end of the tenancy and therefore protect myself (even though I returned the deposit, I'm guessing they will deny it - I didn't get a receipt).

If I refuse to accede to their blackmail and intimidation, what prospect have I of getting them out in the short term?

Sorry to lay this on the forum as a first post, but I'm struggling to know what to do. It's the first time we've had a problem in 12 years of winter lets.

Thanks in advance for any advice.
Sam

If you didn't protect the deposit (and this is an AST), they can sue you for the penalty for up to six years after the deposit was meant to be protected.
There is nothing you can do to prevent this (including agreeing to pay the £700, although it might work).

Returning the deposit allows you to serve a section 21 notice, which otherwise you wouldn't be able to do.

In reality, the process of claiming a penalty is quite complex and expensive and it's more likely to be a threat than actually carried out.
But it might be worth £700 to ensure that they leave - given everything else you've experienced.

It does sound like an odd arrangement, do you live next door to them?
And why on earth have you let the property with energy bills included?

The thing that you'll need to accept is that - all the other stuff you mentioned is (in some cases) quite literally just noise.

All that matters is whether you took a Deposit and then protected it - in time and correctly.

In this case you did not.

This is very odd. Based on the deposit the rent must be incredibly low,you would not get a bedsit in most areas for that.I have never heard of a winter let,but that makes it even dafter that you include heating bills.Is this some sort of lodger arrangement? To answer your question,there are no circumstances that will let you off the hook for not protecting the deposit.Do you have any proof that you repaid the deposit ? Please don't say you gave them cash.If you pay further money get them to sign an agreement that they will make no further demands.