Just looking for any advice anyone might have on this. It's been three weeks since my friend moved out of her rented flat. The landlord has ignored all communication, including friend's notice to vacate the property (although she can prove this was received, as it was sent recorded delivery) and further postal and email correspondence asking where she should return the keys, who would carry out the check-out and requests for the return of her deposit. The deposit still hasn't been returned and friend has now discovered that her deposit was not protected. She's sent the landlord a letter before action warning that she will begin court action if it isn't returned. However, the landlord's registered residential address is in Ireland. I assume this means that she cannot make a Small Claim for her deposit using the UK system? The Small Claim Ireland system also doesn't seem to allow for claims relating to rental deposits, and is unclear about how tenants not resident in Ireland should claim from Irish landlords - directs to the Residential Tenancies Board but this seems to only give advice to tenancies in Ireland.
Is it essentially game over for my friend? It's a large amount of money at stake - two months' rent / almost £3,000.
Thanks :)