Holding deposit which Act/legislation

[steveeasy]

Hi,
Having been renting for last 10 years. never missed a rent payment. fab references. great credit. Viewed a new house to rent. landlord happy. paid holding deposit. signed form to carry out right to rent only checks. after nearly 2 weeks we have been asked to show we have either 27.000 of 59,000 in the bank(either amount will dictate which tennancy we are given. Before we respond to theat request I see they have re advertised the house last week.
So they while having my holding deposit have re advertised the house. but if ive 10,000s in the bank they might offer me some strange tennancy. fixed period it sounds like. This is clearly not in the spirit of the guidance. they are clearly taking the mick. It goes without saying ill be having my money back but they need to act in line with the guidance. can anyone advise what legislation it comes under.

Thanks
Steveeasy

[echat11]

Hope this helps - https://assets.publishing.service.go...t_Guidance.pdf

[steveeasy]

Hi,
Ok got a response to my question of why it was re advertised on friday. as they did not get a response to thier offer of prooving we had either 27,000 or 54,000 in a uk bank account. they have said we have forfited our holding deposit.

How has this happened. my partner went to view house. she was handed 2 sheets of paper one with right to rent info and one with a space for applicants to fill in and a handwritten holding deposit. and d3eposit and a monthly rent amount. we were contacted 2 days later and asked to fill it in. we did and signed it. we were completly unaware this was only part of thier printed contract.

So they say we signed a contract that actually is 8 pages. it covers affordability checks. and stipulates we can loose the holding deposit. When things arnt done right this happens. for instance this 27,000 was on the basis we could recieve a 24 month term tennancy(but we did not want one,just a 6 month standard role on one. so if we had refused it we would loose our deposit for pulling out. thats why you should see it first prior to signing a contract. did we, absolutely not. what they are doing is implying we did. what would that action be against us.

Steveeasy

[echat11]

des8 MIKE770 Can you take a look and advise, many thanks.

[des8]

If you signed a document which was represented to you as being complete, but later had pages added to it, I would suggest that is misrepresentation by fraud and/or the tort of deceit.
Either way a chat with a solicitor (fixed fee single consultation perhaps) might give you pointers to the way forward

[steveeasy]

Des8
Thanks for the response.

Steveeasy

[steveeasy]

I detest being lied too. the agency I say obviously refutes any possibility I only signed a 2 page form. we were given 2 pieces of paper. He has attached to an email a copy of the agreement all 7 pages with our signatures on. But the 2 pages we signed are different very slightly to rest of document.

So if id been handed a full agreement and signed it. they would have copied all of it or none of it. Maybe. but it looks like its been pasted in to an original document. 5think I need a printing expert to look at it. the agency deny we did not sign the full document. if they know the have added the 2 pages then i believe its more serious.

Steveeasy

[echat11]

I detest being lied too. the agency I say obviously refutes any possibility I only signed a 2 page form. we were given 2 pieces of paper. He has attached to an email a copy of the agreement all 7 pages with our signatures on. But the 2 pages we signed are different very slightly to rest of document.

So if id been handed a full agreement and signed it. they would have copied all of it or none of it. Maybe. but it looks like its been pasted in to an original document. 5think I need a printing expert to look at it. the agency deny we did not sign the full document. if they know the have added the 2 pages then i believe its more serious.

Steveeasy

Get some free quotes, forensics experts, make sure they deal with signatures, plus technology aspect. They might be able to offer some pro bono help.

https://www.jspubs.com/expert-witnes...t-examination/

[steveeasy]

I sent the contract to forensic experts and understandably they wont comment until I pay for one. It looks very clearly though like the 3 pages were pasted in to a contract though. If we had handed 8 pages a rational person would copy 8 pages and file the original. we handed 3 pages in though as we were only given 3 pages. I assume if this happened someone would copy 3 pages and do what ?. to make a full complete contract they would have to paste them in. which is what has been done.
Now ive gone to Trading standards who apparantly are under duty to deal with the act. they say they can do nothing other than if an applicant has been charged too much holding deposit. no wonder the agents behave like this if those responsible for managing it dont want too. without being pessimistic what is the point of trading standards, they seam to lock themselves away.
Steveeasy

[echat11]

Write to Trading Standards (email them), explain that, if they don't look into the fraudulent conduct (you'll need a final response / deadlock letter, you will lodge a complaint with the LGO. In the meantime build your case.

https://www.lgo.org.uk/make-a-compla...ding-standards

Also you could also lodge a complaint with action fraud, they will give you a reference number which you can add to the letter you send to Trading Standards. And later the LGO if needed.



.

[steveeasy]

Hi Echat11,
I will do as you suggest. I have emailed them this week for clarification that they dont get involved. Strangely enough our current agent asked what problem we had with this agent. I explained the3 contract issue and holding deposit, and she said no deposits can be taken anymore. well she is wrong as a holding deposit is quite normal. It just highlights how little agents understand thier obligations and quite poorly Trading standards monitor them. Incidently Trading standards did not respond. they will though. ill get my MP involved to wake them up.

Steveeasy

[echat11]

Please update the thread with progress.

[steveeasy]

Hello Echat11,

Ive had a response from trading standards. my complaint was that we signed 3 page contract and paid 380 holding deposit. the agent turned it in to 8 page contract. we were not told what he wanted at all. he did not communicate evn when we said we would pay 6 months rent in advance. when we asked a question he said we had failed referencing and lost the whole deposit. Our current agent is dumfounded as we had a very good reference. our current agent herself said you must do something or he will keep doing it. hes just done it again for same property.

This was trading standards response.

Complaint reference number: 244473

Dear

Re: Complaint Regarding Trading Standards Service
I write further to your email dated 21^st November 2021 regarding your complaint concerning Trading Standards failure to investigate your allegations of misconduct against Lighthouse Property Services whilst attempting to rent a property. I can confirm that I am a Trading Standards Officer, and I am employed by Lincolnshire County Council Trading Standards Service. Before addressing your complaint, I will explain the circumstances in which the service operates and how we decide where we will allocate our resources.

The Authority's fundamental business review and loss of external funding saw the Trading Standards budget reduced by 50% in 2011 and resulted in a service wide restructure and review of working practices. During the review a number of strategic priorities were identified, and we introduced an intelligence based operating model to ensure our resources were allocated effectively. We have had to make some difficult decisions to reduce or cease duties that would traditionally have fallen well within our remit. For example, prior 2011 the Service had the resources to respond to the majority of criminal complaints linked to Trading Standards legislation. We now only respond to around 20% of criminal complaints received.

Currently all complaints received are reviewed and unless the circumstances present a high risk of physical injury, link to serious and organised crime or the consumer is vulnerable, they are held on file. I have reviewed our records and can confirm that details of your complaint were received on 3^rd November 2021 and were reviewed by our Duty Officer who concluded that the circumstances did not meet the criteria for referral to an enforcement team as it did not meet the criteria referred to above.

Our Intelligence Team interrogate our records regularly looking for trends and patterns which they pull together into intelligence packages which are then scored for consideration by our Tasking Group. The group meets on a monthly basis to consider new problem profiles against work the Service is undertaking. When deciding if further action is appropriate, they also determine the level of response from a range of options including to continue to monitor the situation through to a full investigation. Sadly, the Group are unable to resource all referrals and a decision to take no further action is made.

I have reviewed our records and the level and nature of complaint against the Company is not sufficient to warrant further investigation as there is no evidence that their trading practices are causing widespread or repeated consumer detriment.

The changes we have made to the way we deliver our service were not made lightly and were introduced to ensure that we make the best use of our limited resources. We are acutely aware that they could result an increase in dissatisfaction with the service we provide as our focus has shifted from responding to individual complaints in favour of ensuring that we tackle those who cause the greatest detriment to the wider community. I fully appreciate why you would wish to complain, and I apologise for any distress that we have caused.

I hope that this response answers all of your concerns. However, if there are any issues which you feel are still unresolved you may progress this complaint to Stage 2 of the Corporate Complaints Process by contacting the Customer Feedback Team by one of the following means:

By letter to:

Feedback Team/Corporate Complaints
Serco Local & Regional Government
PO Box 841
Lincoln LN1 1ZE
or
By email to:
feedback@lincolnshire.gov.uk
or
By phoning:
01522 782060.

Yours sincerely




Trading Standards Officer

[steveeasy]

So in essence because of cutbacks they took the decision to withdraw from thier obligations. shame we all cant do that.

Steveeasy

[islandgirl]

Is the agent a member of a professional body? If so contact them would be my advice.