Disappearing Estate Agent

[LAPORTS1]

Hi
My son is having some issues getting his deposit back from an estate agent.

He had an agreed lease on a property for 6 months. After 5 months he informed the agent that he would be moving on and not taking up the option to continue the lease. They said that was fine and that they would be round to check on the property before returning the deposit.

They did not contact my son prior to him vacating the property. On the last day of the lease he called to the agent and dropped the keys in. They said they would be in touch regarding the deposit

Since then (6 months ago) he has contacted the agencies multiple times to try to get the deposit returned but got either no response or 'I will pass that on to the property manager'.

As of now, the phones are now always engaged, offices closed, emails unanswered.

Estate agents are required to pass rental deposits to a third party but after contacting all three UK deposit companies it appears they haven't done this.

He engaged a local housing mediation service to help resolve the problem but they too could not get a response from anyone in the agency.


So my question is: Is his only option left the small claims court?

[dslippy]

He has the option of moving on. A deposit is a big loss, but unless he can find the agent, the prospect of throwing good money after bad is too close.

[Sam101]

Have you checked to see what organisations the agents belonged to. NAEA or Chartered Surveyors. The firm may have moved to another area, but your deposit is still yours, you just need to find the agents.

[LAPORTS1]

Unfortunately they do not seem to be a part of the normal professional bodies (PRS, the property ombudsman, etc.) so there is no doubt they are charlatans but they are still active (whether contactable by us or not). So there is the principal at stake as well as a substantial sum of money.

I do not like the thought that people can effectively steal from my family with no redress.

[islandgirl]

The deposit must have been protected in a scheme surely?

[atticus]

The agent is the agent of the landlord. The deposit was surely paid to the agent in that capacity. My thinking is that there is a claim to be made against the landlord - quite a large claim if the deposit was not protected.

[islandgirl]

THe OP needs to check all the schemes for the deposit and, if it was not protected can claim 3 x the amount from the LL (as you say Atticus, a large claim!) If it was protected then it must still be in the scheme unless your son has agreed to release it (did he?)

[LAPORTS1]

According to the contract, the deposit was supposed to be left with a company called MyDeposits.

He has contacted them but they have no record of it. He has also contacted two other companies (Deposit Protection Service and Tenancy Deposit Scheme) but they too have no record of a deposit being left on his address.

[islandgirl]

Then this is a whole different ballgame! I would write to the Landlord giving them 7 days to pay the deposit back in full. As I understand the situation you can sue for up to 3 x the deposit value because it was not protected (I believe this applies even if it is paid back but I have not had to do it so do not know the details). It is not a small claim though - gets allocated to a different track I believe. Anyway that is for the future. Write to the LL immediately would be my advice - you can copy the agent if you wish but it is the LL you need to chase for payment.

[LAPORTS1]

Thank you very much for your feedback.

Sorry, I appreciate this may be a dumb questions but for my clarity: He has had no contact with the landlord. The contract only has the details of the estate agent, the landlord is never mentioned. I appreciate they are acting as a representative of the landlord but are we saying that my son can cut out the middleman (estate agent) and claim against the landlord directly?

[dslippy]

Yes. The landlord chose his agent, not you. Of course it is possible that he is also the landlord.

You should be able to identify the landlord by doing a cheap search of the HMLR index map, and from that the proprietorship register.

[des8]

If searching HMLR website make sure you use https://www.gov.uk/guidance/land-reg...-the-index-map and not one of many look a likes that charge extra!

[islandgirl]

It is also illegal for the agent NOT to provide the name and address of the Landlord I believe

[LAPORTS1]

Sincere thanks to everyone for their responses. I think we have plenty to go on.

My son is planning is to contact the landlord directly and inform them of the behaviour of their estate agent and request that the deposit is returned in full within 7 working days. If this request is not met he will start a small claim for the maximum entitled (x3) as the deposit was not protected.

I will drop back and let you know how it goes.

Thank you all again.

[islandgirl]

Good. Come back here before you start the claim (though hopefully you won't need to) and we can try to help again.