End of Tenancy - Deposit and Landlord gone AWOL

[SeaShellsOnTheSeaShore]

What can I do about my deposit? My landlord is not answering her phone, been calling her for 5 days now and 10d post tenancy up on thursday.

Was going to write a letter to her partners address (the only other contact detail I have) but is there anything else I should do?

Been in touch with the agency who are reletting for her - they also handled our let and are aware we are truing to get in touch with her.

Any advice would be great,

Thanks x

was the deposit not placed with a proper holding organisation? There are only 3 IIRC - more info here (assuming you are in England/Wales).

If she should have placed it but didn't, then you can take her to court and the court MUST award you 3 x the amount of the deposit (ie it is not connected with whether you have suffered as a result). Even if she didn't have to place it (eg if your tenancy started before April 2007 or if you live somewhere where the rules are different) you are still entitled to have it back and can sue her in court.

Send her a final warning letter saying that you are about to issue a claim in the court. Then do it. It is very, very easy and straightforward and you can do it online. Assuming you win you would get the court fees paid by her as well.

Ok,

called all 3 and they have no record of a deposit.

Fuck.

Our tenancy agreement etc is all in storage (I hope to god is is anyway). Do you know what I need to take it further? Do I need to wait the full 10days or is that null and void now its not in a scheme?

Tenancy started August 2008
Finished 26th of this month.

She last called me and left a message 3 weeks ago looking for confirmation of leaving date, but never picked up or got back to me afterwards. I have now been calling every day.

This is the very very last thing I need right now - I would have taken it up sooner if it wasn't for everything else going on seriously annoyed

If she has failed to protect the deposit then you can go to court and be awarded 3x the amount of the deposit.

Try the landlordzone forums. They are very good.

"Tenants can make an application to a County Court under Housing Act 2004 if they believe that their deposit is not being safeguarded, or where they have not been given the prescribed information about the scheme in which the deposit is safeguarded within 14 days of the landlord receiving the deposit.

Where the court is satisfied that the landlord has failed to comply with these requirements, or the deposit is not being held in an authorised scheme, the court must either order the landlord to repay the deposit within 14 days of the making of the order, or order the landlord to pay the deposit to the custodial scheme administrator.

The court must also order the landlord to pay the tenant three times the deposit amount within 14 days of the making of the order."

landlordzone. Its not just for landlords, lots of tenents post questions too.

10 days is irrelevant now. Do you need the deposit urgently eg to move on?

what do the agency say? I don't myself have a high opinion of letting agents, but by and large they are generally aware that deposits have to be placed in these schemes, so if they handled the letting, it would be surprising if it hadn't been done.

If you do take her to court, court cases don't happen quickly, but this kind of situation is pretty cut-and-dried - there is no defence for a landlord to say 'I didn't know' or 'I meant to do it' etc. And the law says that the tenant shall be awarded 3 x the deposit value.

however,
you will definitely need your tenancy agreement and proof that you paid the deposit - for example if it is written on the agreement, or if you got a receipt for it.

Letting agency are surprised to hear it not deposited as that's what they would do, but they were only involved in signing us, the payment got passed on along with the contracts. I need to speak to dh re contracts etc as I wasn't there at end as too unwell and looking after ds, I hope he knows where they are.

Would bank transfers/ 18 mths rent standing orders constitute an agreement if hypothetically we can find it?

Just spoken to agency again and they forward everything to landlord sp have nothing there.

I shafted aren't I if I can't find this

not shafted, you just need some evidence that you paid it.

for example;
bank transfer for 1 month + 1 month at the start;
receipt for amount which is more than rent in advance would have been;

or

you could get the agency to confirm that they passed the deposit money to landlord. If they won't co-operate, point out that you only have their word at the moment that they passed money to LL and you may sue them as well if they won't put it in writing.

If you are going to take her to court, you don't have to rush - do it when you are sorted out. But I can see that the problem may be that you need the money NOW. In that case, get yourself to solicitor or CAB for a stiff letter to LL. Some local authorities have a Private Tenancy Services Officer who will write a letter about things like this for you.

Dh says he's seen it, but it's currently in storage 2 hrs away. We have found a transfer that's a bit mote than 1.5x so suspect a fee Inc in cheque we gave them.

If she does suddenly turn up/reply to my call and return deposit are we still entiled to chase this, or do we drop it?
We have enough to cope right now but the £ will be needed next month.

Thanks so much for your advice- website is v interesting too - seems I'm not alone!! X

still entitled to chase it.

the 3 x amount is as well as the deposit back, it is a penalty that the court imposes for not doing what she should have done.

but it would be unlikely to be sorted within a month, tbh.

I should come back on this - having had a good google around, there is a difference of opinion about whether a landlord can do the 'right thing' with the deposit but do it 'late'. The rules say she has to put it in a scheme within 14 days of receiving it and give you the necessary information about the scheme. Some courts have said it is OK to do all that after 14 days, and avoid the '3 x' penalty; others have said that if you do it late, it is as bad as not doing it at all.

But no-one has said (as far as I am aware) that she just has to pay you it back and not put it in a scheme at all, to escape the '3 x' penalty.

hope that makes some sense!

Thanks for your advice yesterday! I have been on the phone to the courts and they are sending me all the info.

Still no sign of her today so looks like we are going down this route!

Do you happen to know if I need to get in writing:

the deposit schemes to fast in writing they have no record of it's registration

the letting agency to say when our tenancy started and when they started remarketing it, as we didnot give written notice?
C
Send her a last warning by letter?

I can get this going whilst I wait for the paperwork to Arrive

thanks for your help!

All of those would help. The more paper evidence the better.
And keep a record of all your efforts to contact her, eg phone bill showing calls/texts, copies of letters, or at least your own note of when you rang. Send letter recorded delivery, and copy c/o agency for them to forward to her?

also found this, hope it helps

Good luck!

Thanks-v good link! Promise not to type letters on iPhone as just reread last post and it's full of typos!