Landlord didn't protect our deposit.

[Tenancy101]

Our last tenancy was not protected for the first 5 months or so. A lot of communication took place before it was protected.

Upon leaving the property, the EA wanted to keep our deposit to replace the cracked drive. Lots of splits in the concrete that must have been there for years (not on the inventory).

I asked the EA to consider the above and made it clear that our deposit was not protected and that they could potentially be fined.

EA said they had sought legal advice and confirmed that we wouldn't be able to claim more than 1 x the deposit. Offered to give us back the full deposit if we confirmed in writing that we would not claim the penalty fee.

So, we done that, got our deposit. I had to sign the cheque to say it was full and final payment from the EA. All was well.

The actual landlord is still chasing us for payment for several issues that were not listed on the leaving inventory.

Such as;

2 handles that no longer work (they never did, emailed the EA but they were never replaced or fixed).

Window broken in very old greenhouse ( due to heavy hail, informed EA asap, never replaced or fixed).

Fire tin thing in the bottom of the garden. It was completely burnt out at the bottom when we moved in. We never considered or used it.

None of the above were part of the ingoing or outgoing Inventory.

I have asked politely, several times for them to stop contacting us but they are certain we are still responsible for these things.

We are still very good friends with our old neighbours and they have made it clear none of these things have been an issue for the new tenants.

AIBU to now claim the deposit fine back from the landlord directly?

I honestly feel harassed.

They never fixed anything in the house until I sought help from the council.

Is this even possible?

I know the I confirmed with the EA that I wouldn't do so, but that was with the EA, not the LL, who they have several properties with.

Go to Shelter for free advice.

I'm confused, you said you had your full deposit back from the EA in the end, so what are you hoping to claim from the landlord?

You agreed not to, I don’t think it would be fair to do so now, just because the landlord is hounding you. Ignore him; he won’t bother to take you to court, particularly with the issue with the unprotected deposit hanging over his head.

Just take a step back and gain a little perspective.

You may as well try. If they say that it's confirmed in writing just say that you were told it was the only way you would get your deposit back. You have nothing to lose by asking, maybe contact the deposit scheme, tell them the situation and see what they say. It may be that now you have had the deposit back you cannot claim, but just see what they say.

Midnight LL's can be fined if they do not put the deposit in the deposit scheme.

I wouldn't do that. I would send some kind of letter or email saying that as far as you are concerned the rental is settled and if they continue to contact you you will consider it harassment. Use as many legal terms as you can look up. I would also attach the correspondence with the EA about the deposit as a thinly veiled threat.

Can’t you just block them? I would send a final email that outlines what you have said here - the deposit has been returned and you accept liability for none of the issues to which he refers. Write that you consider the ongoing contact to be harassment and you are, therefore, blocking forthwith.

Hi,
I think that you would be able to sue for the non protection of the deposit if you choose to. It is my understanding that if a breach in the deposit process has occurred then the judge would have to award 1-4 times the amount of the deposit as a penalty. That is on top of the return of the original deposit.

The late protection of the deposit sounds like a relatively minor breach and would probably be at the lower end I expect - however the agent (who represents the landlord) using the deposit as a weapon and saying that they will only return it if you promise not to sue for non protection sounds quite serious to me and also worth pursuing. In addition to that after the informal agreement the landlord still harassing for damages. Ask for the top penalty and let the judge award you what they see fit.

I don’t think it is possible for you to sign away your legal rights by saying ok if you give me back my money I won’t sue - I would think if you just state the agent was exploiting their position rather than using the deposit scheme in the spirit it was intended then that would be true. The scheme is designed to level the power balance between landlord and tenant and their behaviour sounds exploitative.

The house buying/renting and selling forum on The “money saving expert” website has people that are quite expert in supporting you through this process.

grr this kind of bad behaviour gives law abiding LL a bad name, right no matter what you signed (& you say it was under duress)LL HAS to have the deposit in a scheme -just write back saying that they cannot claim the money unless the deposit was in a scheme &by the way the do know that you could go to court & get up to 3 times the figure?

Seems quite simple to me. Presumably the letter you signed promising not to pursue the penalty fee if you got your full deposit back (which in of itself sounds pretty dodgy) is invalidated if they/the landlord then chase you for the deposit. If you are happy having just gotten your deposit back then I would write an e-mail to the landlord stating the following:

• You know that they didn't originally protect the deposit (something which is liable to a fine of 1x-3x the original deposit)
• That you agreed with the estate agent that you would not pursue the fact that the LL didn't protect the deposit on the basis that you got the full deposit back
• That you have now received your deposit back and if the landlord had an issue with the state of the property, that the time to raise it was when the deposit was in the protection scheme which is designed to protect both tenants and landlords.
• That the issues the LL is noting were all for items which were broken/damaged on arrival and which were not on the inventory therefore
• Finally that if they continue to pursue you, you will apply to court for compensation for the fact he originally didn't protect your deposit.
• Then if they carry on, send them this letter england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/word_doc/0015/1154121/Letter_before_action_for_former_landlords_failure_to_protect_tenancy_deposit_TD10_sample_letter.docx

I don’t think you can do this. You accepted the deposit back from the letting agent, and they were protecting it. You can’t now take the landlord to court for not protecting it as the situation has been resolved by the relevant party.

Send the landlord a letter, recorded delivery, cc in your letting agent saying the matter is completely closed following the return of your deposit and you will not be corresponding further with them

Hold on- my understand is the LL isn’t discussing the deposit with you at all- he is simply trying to bill you for other repairs? I thought you were just mentioning the deposit because it’s potential leverage of their fuck ups?

The deposit has been and gone. You’ve got it back, right?

Surely the landlord should have done this before the deposit was released to you? I'm not sure what he can do about it since you've got your deposit back.

As pp have said go to Shelter for advice- they see this nonsense all the time. If the deposit is now in a protection scheme they have to apply to the scheme to withhold some or all of it ultimately and you can dispute that I think. The last time we had this problem I just told my landlord I would be disputing his claims and he dropped the attempt to withhold it - he was just trying it on. We knew we'd win because they had no inventory at all so they couldn't provide proof of any of their claims.

Block and move on

OP has left the property and had her deposit refunded already boom

The Citizens Advice Bureau can advise you on this. Landlords have a legal obligation to fulfil repairs as well or it can constitute statutory nuisance, please do have a read up on your rights before you enter another tenancy so you aren't subjected to such horrendous treatment again!

It's fine that your tenancy has ended and you have your original deposit back:

"You have 6 years to make a claim so it's usually best to wait until your tenancy has ended and you've moved on."

england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_protection_rules

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/renting-privately/ending-your-tenancy/taking-your-landlord-to-court-if-they-havent-followed-the-deposit-rules/

You will have to pay for court but should claim costs back from your landlord. Your landlord can counter claim e.g. for damage and you would need to refute his counter claim. The drive (if used in the intended way) sounds like fair wear and tear.

Thanks for all of your advice.

We already have the initial deposit back via the DPS.

Previous landlord has our address so even though I've ignored emails, we are still receiving letter.

I will contact CA tomorrow.

Thank you all x

Just to add to the above, the rule of thumb for the deposit schemes is that if it wasn't on the inventory is doesn't exist.

I had an issue with my ex landlord who didn't put my deposit and no inventory but wanted to charge me for perceived issues . I contacted shelter and they were amazing. He of course had no leg to stand on .

AIBU to now claim the deposit fine back from the landlord directly?

You have to go to the Small Claims court. I did this with an ex landlord. I won after spending lots of time and money pursuing the matter. Yay.

They never paid me. There's no way to make them do it, unless I want to spend loads more time and money trying to get evidence that they have the resources and then get a bailiff to act on my behalf (and take 60% is the award, I think it was...)

The system is broken. Don't bother. But you can always threaten them with court action.