Does the potential landlord have to comply with the bond scheme?

[ViMummy12]

I was/am looking into moving into a rental property. I mentioned about meeting up to fill out some forms for the deposit protection scheme and the help to pay bond by the council. But they turned round and said they don't do any of that because its a nightmare for them and as long as the property was in the exact same condition they gave it me in then I would get my money back, if it wasn't then I wouldn't. I've never dealt with anything like this before as after I moved out of my mum's I've always lived with the housing association and didn't need bonds or anything. My mum thinks that this is illegal and I should just leave it and find somewhere else, as its too much risk in giving so much money then, say a scuff on the floor or a hole where a nail was leave me £700 out. Is it illegal as she says? Does anyone know? I'm worried because if I go through with it I have a young child and a pet and things are bound to get messy or the wood floor stratched or something spilt. My daughter has some problems with her eyes and struggles with hand eye cooardination so sometimes things get dropped or spilt. Don't know what to do. The main reason i'm dithering is because the area I need to move to its rare that a place comes up that I can afford. :/

I agree find somewhere else - they have to put it in the deposit scheme, and if they don't you can claim 3 times the amount back from them. If they are unethical about this what else will they be doing which is wrong?

I thought it was a legal requirement that all deposits were held in schemes.

Yes - this is illegal. Don't touch it with a bargepole.

Some landlords wouldn't want to take a pet and would ask for an extra deposit to cover cleaning (I've done this) but it's unrealistic to expect a property to come back in perfect condition, esp with a child and a pet. The landlord is setting you up for a fall - you won't get that money back.

To my knowledge the deposit protection scheme isn't difficult at all - although my agents deal with it for me so I've never done it myself. This landlord is clearly a piss-taker.

I don't know about the bond scheme but any deposit paid to a private landlord must be put into an approved deposit scheme, it's illegal for them not to put it with one of those.

here's a link

Oh so yes I think sounds dodgy. Landlords don't like to do it I guess as they can't have the money / use it / accumulate interest on it while they hold it, but really it's sort of not their money is it, it's yours. So anyway. yes they sound dodgy.

I'm a landlord and it's a piece of piss to put the money in as tribpot says.

The landlord has to deposit the bond into an approved scheme, yes. This is to protect both landlord and tenant. It's not a major hassle, but personally (as a landlord) I've found administering the scheme a bit of a pain.

Any decent landlord would view spills etc resulting from normal, responsible activity as wear and tear, and not deductable from the Bond.

It doesn't sound good, though.

Yeah thanks for the advice I'll definitely leave it and try and find something else

Is there any way of reporting this to anybody? It occurs to me, if you don't take the lease, he'll find some sucker who will.

Thanks for the link, Omni. I'm a tenant and have just checked the bottom two companies on the list in you link but couldn't find where to check in the first link. My deposit isn't registered with other of the bottom two schemes. I've rented this property for over five years. What do I need to do about this, if anything?

Of course it's a problem for them. They cannot screw over the tenants and keep all the money for ridiculous things.

soft it could be that you started your tenancy prior to the introduction of the Deposit Scheme, or (grasps at straws) your deposit is with another scheme.

As far as I can recall, the details of the scheme (together with your reference number) should be sent to you pretty much immediately. I'd have a word with the landlord.

Yes, unless your tenancy started 7 years ago, Kitty, it should be in a protection scheme - info here.

I would just contact your landlord and say you've misplaced the details of the deposit scheme and wondered if he/she could resend for your records.

I rented for a while. Kept the house in the same condition it was in when I moved in. There were a couple of bits of furniture - literally one or two like a chair- that the landlord had left in.

When I cancelled the tenancy he tried to keep my deposit. Said for instance the chair (an ikea job) would cost a fortune to clean - it was spotless.

Wouldn't have been so bad were I not cancelling the tenancy as I was buying the bloody house.

Anyway! My point! My bond was held with a scheme and they were absolutely fantastic, totally sided with me and I got it all back. I know for a fact he'd have kept most of it had it not been for a scheme. Pull out. Find somewhere else.

IIRC by law you have to put it in an approved scheme and supply the tenant with the details within a certain amount of time.

It was a few years back so memory is sketchy, I only let one flat and the bloke's been there for years and we pretty much leave each other alone but that seems to be what I remember.

Hold on from the link:

"Within 30 days of getting their deposit, you must tell your tenants:

the address of the rented property
how much deposit they’ve paid
how the deposit is protected
the name and contact details of the tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme and its dispute resolution service
your (or your letting agency’s) name and contact details
the name and contact details of any third party who paid the deposit
why you would keep some or all of the deposit - eg because your tenants damaged the property and you need to fix it
how to apply to get the deposit back at the end of the tenancy
what to do if they can’t get hold of you at the end of the tenancy
what to do if there’s a dispute over the amount of deposit to be returned at the end of the tenancy"

You need to ask your landlord where it is I suppose.

Penalties:

"3. If you don't protect your tenants' deposit
Your tenants can apply to a county court if you don’t use a tenancy deposit protection (TDP) scheme when you have to. They can do this at any time during the tenancy.

If the court finds you haven’t protected the deposit, it can order you to either:

repay it to your tenants
pay it into a custodial TDP scheme’s bank account within 14 days
The court may also order you to repay your tenants up to 3 times their original deposit within 14 days of making the order.

At the end of the tenancy
The court may also decide that your tenants don’t have to leave the property when the tenancy ends if you didn’t use a TDP scheme when you should have."

How much does it cost to take someone to court though

it costs hardly anything. you use small claims and it is v easy
i would consider renting this property for the opportunity to triple my money

That's interesting sanfairy (and good!) I always imagined things like that would cost a fortune.

Good way of looking at it, sanfairy - if the OP would have to spend more than 700 quid to rent somewhere properly in the same area, it's a solid investment! Although someone dodgy enough to avoid the deposit scheme probably isn't doing things like gas safety certificates for the boiler, etc.

Thanks all, my tenancy started in 2009 so after the deposit scheme programme started. Landlord is otherwise decent - gas appliances have annual safety checks, no rent rise since moving in etc. I'm going to text and ask which scheme it's in.