UK Landlord Forum / Life

In need of advice here.

October to December 2018 I rented a room found via spareroom.com on a short term basis. Being so, there was no contract or DPD in place. The tenancy was fine and I had very little problems with the landlord, which were resolved mutually.

When I moved out and requested my deposit back he said he would return it in full in the next few days. I expected it before Christmas but that came and went, and in this time I have moved abroad. I try many times to contact him but to no avail. The next contact I get from him says that he spent my deposit and as he had been off work for a few weeks due to illness, he didn't have the money to send right now and asked me to wait for two weeks until he was paid again. Two weeks comes and goes and nothing comes into my bank or any attempt to contact me is made. It takes another week of me frequently calling and texting him until he apparently gets paid and returns £250 of a £595 deposit.

So my faith is restored slightly but I'm still missing over half of my money, which he claims he will send in the next three days maximum, he's waiting for another invoice to clear into his bank. A week comes and goes during which I'm calling and texting him many times a day only to be ignored. I've had one text from him saying he'll transfer me the rest when he gets paid.

I do believe he will give me the rest but cannot trust the timescales he gives me for paying me. I don't trust him as a person generally because he spent my deposit and either lied to me about returning it in a few days initially, or had no idea of his own personal finances.

I would like to take him to a small claims court or even a mediator where I can actually sit down face to face with him and a professional, however the cost of me travelling back to the UK for these purposes would most likely equal the remainder of my deposit. If I still lived in the UK I would have done this already.

What I'd like to ask is this.

Is there a time limit on taking someone to a small claims court? I will be back in the UK later this year and if I still haven't received my money by then I will be making use of the courts.
Are text messages generally considered as evidence?
Are there any other effective means to contact someone through a legal channel who doesn't respond to messages or calls?

Any advice and help on this matter is much appreciated.

6 years time limit for claims under contract or tort so you have plenty of time.

It would help if you clarified the accommodation - was the Landlord staying in the same building?  Was it a self contained studio flat/room or did you share facilities...?  You see while there may be no WRITTEN contract you still have a contract...
It sounds to me you have a Tenancy of one room (you could lock it and keep people out?) and the Landlord lives elsewhere?

Stuff you might claim...
Probably no s48 Landlord and Tenant 1987 notice served by the Landlord ? Stating the Landlord name and an address for service of notice?  Then claim for all of the rent to be paid back as no rent is due until that Notice is served. That would be awesomeness!! Sadly there is only a County Court case stating service of s48 after the Tenancy has ended has no effect but I’ve not seen anything overruling that so definitely possible as it would be too late now for the Landlord to remedy this. 
Note however small clams court fees are based on the value of the claim so this may increase your fee (I haven’t bothered to check that).
[but Unscrupulous Landlord might claim he did actually serve the notice]

Probably also be able to claim up to 3 x times deposit for non protection of the deposit in a government scheme.  [I assume you can prove you paid a deposit]

I would suggest a gentle threat /suggestion as to what you will claim for might get you what you want.

Text will not be a valid service of notice under a written contract which usually has a clause stating how Notices need to be served.  In this case (no written agreement) I think it will depend very much on the notice and the judge.

Contact through legal channel would be by letter.  Seems the landlord wouldn’t respond to that and you might be wasting money on a lawyer.

Thanks for your reply. Very interesting read!

No written contract and deposit wasn't in a scheme. All I have for proof of it would be a note next to the bank transfer called 'deposit' going into his account.

We lived in the same house and shared facilities and yes I had a lockable door on my room.

Since I originally posted this he has contacted me to say I will be paid by Friday 8th Feb, which is reassuring to see he has made the effort to contact me but I do not hold onto any hope that he will stick to his word.

What would happen if I sent a recorded letter r.e. small claims and it doesn't get received on the other end by the addressed person? Would someone else be allowed to sign for it or would the post service keep coming back until it was delivered?

Quote from: theangrylandlord on February 01, 2019, 07:16:40 PM
Probably no s48 Landlord and Tenant 1987 notice served by the Landlord ? Stating the Landlord name and an address for service of notice?  Then claim for all of the rent to be paid back as no rent is due until that Notice is served.

No rent is payable without s48, but I'm not sure that mean a former tenant who have paid despite the lack of notice have legal grounds to demand it back.

Quote from: theangrylandlord on February 01, 2019, 07:16:40 PM
Probably also be able to claim up to 3 x times deposit for non protection of the deposit in a government scheme.  [I assume you can prove you paid a deposit]

No deposit protection requirements for lodger's deposit.