UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi,I'm a new landlord and rented out my property in March 2012.Like an idiot I forgot to put my tenants deposit in the deposit scheme.I mentioned this to my tenants a couple of months ago and they seemed fine with it but they are due to move out in a couple of months and have asked to leave early.They have also asked where I am holding their deposit,even though I told them I hadn't registered it!After reading all the information on the web I'm in a complete state of panic,is there anything that I can do now?Thanks in advance for any advice.

LL2012,

Not good news LL.

In a nutshell, if the tenants want to leave early you should be very accommodating.

Answer their deposit question honestly as you did previously, there isn't anything you can do now.

Hope they dont submit a claim for upto 3 x the deposit.

Be prepared for the worst - anything less then that is a bonus and you have got off lightly.

Good Luck

I agree with Wayne T in that you are now exposed to the possibility of a penalty if the tenant is clued up and decides to pursue it.

The good news is that, since a change in the law in April 2012 (which applies to any unprotected deposits held at that time), the penalty is no longer fixed at 3 times the amount of the deposit, it is now between 1-3 times the deposit at the court's discretion. The court will take all of the circumstances of the case into account when deciding the level of penalty and so it is important that you act as reasonably as possible. If you have not already done so, you should return the full deposit to the tenants.

I agree that your best tactic is to try to keep the tenants on side in the hope that they don't choose to claim the penalty from you.

Good luck.