Deposit

[Lidonghe]

Hi guys, 4 of us rented a house for a year, *the contract starting on 15/9/2019 will end 15/9/2020. We Signed a contract on 1/6/2019 and paid £2000 deposit, the £2000 is stated on that contract. For some reasons, the landlord decided to only let 3 rooms in that house, and have us to sign another contract on 15/9/2019. That is a different edition of contract, the rent is lower as there are only 3 rooms to rent. But it doesn’t mention anything about that £2000 deposit, we are pretty sure the landlord doesn’t protect the deposit, and we have the £2000 deposit transfer record. The landlord is dodgy, it is very likely that he won’t return the deposit to us easily. If this goes to court, is the second contract doesn’t mention the £2000 deposit going to be a problem?

[R0b]

Maybe I'm stating the obvious here, but have you asked him why there is no record of the deposit on the new contract and can he refund you that amount if no deposit is stated on the new one?

[Lidonghe]

Thanks for replying, the landlord never take my call, and I’ve texted him why there is no record on the new contract, he didn’t reply, I asked him for record that deposit in third party, he didn’t reply. He only text me to ask for rent, which I never delay to pay.

[R0b]

So as far as you should be concerned, you signed a contract with the deposit and that's your tenancy. If he doesn't let it to you then he will be in breach of contract.*

[Lidonghe]

But both two contracts are for the same house, and 3 of us are staying in the house already, we are paying rent for 3 rooms instead of 4. We assumed the first contract is invalid once we sign the second one, if he is in breach of the first contract for not letting 4 rooms, we are probably in breach of contract for not paying rent for 4 rooms too? The problem is what is that £2000 now? If that is counted as deposit, I can certainly win him in the court as he didn’t even protect the deposit.

[R0b]

Sorry I misread the date for the second contract, so the second supersedes the first but he should give your deposit back. If he doesn't then you should put your complaint in writing to him to the address listed on the contract unless it says notices should be said to a different address.*

You should be asking for the deposit back, as well as the name of the deposit protection scheme where the deposit is being held. If he hasn't deposited it in accordance with his obligations as a landlord, you are entitled to make an application to the court and ask them to order him to return the deposit together with an amount of between 1 and 3 times that amount for failure to deposit it in a protection scheme, unless he can she otherwise he is entitled not to deposit it but otherwise must be returned.

Or you can just do nothing about it other than try to get him to respond and agree the return, but based on what you've said, you might be waiting a long forever.*

[Lidonghe]

Thank you very much for your replying, my only concern is that the second contract doesn’t say anything about the £2000 deposit, worry he might use it as an excuse saying didn’t take any deposit. If the £2000 is still the deposit for the house like you say, I will start writing him a notice for deposit protection scheme record. That is very helpful, appreciated it.

[R0b]

But if he's using an excuse to say that he didn't take any deposit you have evidence of the first contract don't you? If not, you have a problem but if you do, then he's going to have to prove it was paid back, onus is on him not you.

The law requires him to deposit the money within 30 days of receipt, otherwise you are entitled to it back and 1-3 times the deposit amount by going to court. If you signed a new contract which states no deposit but he's kept the deposit then he must return it because it was for a specific purpose. He can't just keep the deposit because it's your money and ought to be returned. Probably ignoring you because he knows he has done wrong and is hoping you'll just give up like many people do.*

If you can't do it yourself there's plenty of no-win no-fee lawyers who could probably take on your case on your behalf but the price you pay is likely to be 25% of the overall amount being claimed inc. the £2,000 deposit.

There's plenty of letters and the Shelter website has detailed information about this sort of situation, suggest you do some research on there before firing off any letters.

[Lidonghe]

I do have the first contract record that mentions about the £2000, and the record that I transferred him the money. Seems like there will be many troubles if he uses second contract didn’t states £2000 deposit as excuse, like asking me to pay high cleaning fee and deducting it from £2000.

[R0b]

It's entirely your choice how you want to pursue it, I've given you some options.*

[Lidonghe]

Thank you so much for your help.