Return of Rent Deposit from Estate Agent/Landlord

[Matthew286]

RETURN OF RENT DEPOSIT FROM LANDLORD/ESTATE AGENT

Hello, I’m a new member to the forum. Can you help me with my problem?.

I am a graduate in my early twenties, and lived in a house with another student, who is also unemployed like myself.

· Mike Lewis Estate Agents – 93 Frederick Street, Luton, Bedfordshire
· Estate Agents Handler: Kevin, Landlord: Mr Ben Khalid
· On the 10th November 2008, we paid £412.50 each for the house deposit (£312.50 was my half of one months rent, and £100 which was half of the admin fee)
· Rent in total was £625 per month, and the admission fee which was a single payment, was £200.
· This was a 6-month contract which would expire in April 2009
· We moved in to the property on the 11th November 2008.
· Rent was paid monthly on the 11th of each month
· After consulting Kevin and Mr Khalid (March 2009), we came to an agreement that the contract which ended in April 2009, would become a rolling contract, and I informed them both we would stay for a further two months.
· We moved out of 93 Frederick Street on the 11th June 2009.
· On the same day when dropping off the keys, I asked Kevin when the deposits would be returned, I was told they would be returned once the property had been inspected by Mr Khalid.
· A week had passed and still had no response from Kevin.
· I Called the estate agents a week later and spoke to Kevin, and was told Mr Khalid had still not been to inspect the property, and even after doing so there would still be a 2 week wait (which was part of the policy) before the funds could be returned.
· I called again a week later to confirm if Mr Khalid had inspected the house yet, only to be told by his colleague that Kevin was too busy to talk, and Mr Khalid was supposed to inspect on that day, but had to cancel for some reason (this did not sound factual).
· Called again the following week, to be told that Kevin was not in the office, and that I would receive a call once he returned.
· I never received the phone call.
· A few days later, I called continuously for the next three days, all of which went unanswered. I Finally decided to visit the estate agents in person.
· The Office was closed and practically empty with a note on the front door advising all clients to call the specified number for enquiries (CMB Partnership).
· I was informed that Mike Willis Estate Agents had filed for bankruptcy mid-July 2009, and I finally received documentation mid-August 2009.
· After I sent off the required documents as proof of deposit payments, I was finally told by Anthony (of CMB Partnership) that landlords are required by law to return any deposits.
· I Contacted the landlord, who had also received documentation and he said that he has documents which proves that no deposit was passed onto him, and that an agreement was made so that the deposits would be held in a protection scheme (also referred to as a third-party account), and that money was also owed to him by Mike Willis Estate Agents.
· He claimed he had proof that Mike Willis was using rent and deposits to pay employees in order to keep the business running, this was also mentioned to by Anthony during our first conversation via telephone.
· He also mentioned that now he is aware of the situation he will be seeking advice from his solicitor.
· I contacted Anthony (of CMB Partnership) to request a written document stating what he had said over the phone (that the landlord was to be held liable in any case of bankruptcy). He refused, and said he has nothing to do with the situation, and also stated that we should both seek legal advice.


All I want is for my deposit to be returned to me by the landlord/estate agent. Can you please help me with my query?

Thank you.

Matthew286

[enaid]

Re: Return of Rent Deposit from Estate Agent/Landlord

After you've paid your deposit, the landlord or agent must then protect your deposit using a tenancy deposit scheme. There are two types of scheme available:

• A custodial scheme, where the landlord or agent pays the deposit to the scheme, which will keep it until the end of your tenancy.
• An insurance scheme, where the landlord or agent keeps the deposit but pays insurance premiums to the scheme. This means that the deposit is insured if there is any dispute, and the scheme will repay the tenant the agreed amount directly. The insurance scheme can charge fees to landlords for membership and can require contributions towards the costs of insurance.

It will be up to your landlord or agent to decide what scheme to use. They must then provide certain information to you within 14 days of the day when you paid your deposit. This information includes:

• the landlord or agent's contact details
• which tenancy deposit scheme they are using and the contact details for the scheme
• information about the purpose of a tenancy deposit
• how you can apply to get the deposit back at the end of the tenancy
• what you can do if there is a dispute about the deposit.

Have you received this info?

[TUTTSI]

Re: Return of Rent Deposit from Estate Agent/Landlord

Have they given you any reason why they have not returned your deposit.

Here are a few points that I thought of:-

Could they have paid it back to one of the other students?

Did you leave the house in good order?

Did you give them the details where to send the Rent Deposit?

Have you requested the return of the deposit in writing and have you had a response?

Can you from now on put everything in writing, keep a copy for your records and if possible send by recorded delivery.

It sounds to me from what you have said they have not kept your money secure. Do they belong to any associations which you can report them to.

Tuttsi

[Matthew286]

Re: Return of Rent Deposit from Estate Agent/Landlord

No, I did not receive any information matching those you mentioned, nor did I receive any information on how the deposit would be handled.

I had no knowledge of any scheme being used until recent communication with the landlord, who informed me that an agreement had been made between himself and the estate agents.

The landlord did not disclose any more information regarding the actual scheme other than a "third party account" which he states he was told would by the estate agents.

@ ENAID


I received nothing but excuses as to why the deposit could not be returned. The main excuse being "The landlord hasnt got round to inspecting the property yet" which I received on 2-3 different occasions.

I have considered all of the possibilities which you mentioned beforehand, the house was left in good order, they had all the necessary details in order to return or contact me or my co-tenant.

I did not get round to requesting the return of my deposit in writing, because within a month of moving out of the property, a bankruptcy order was made against the estate agency owner, and the office was already vacated when I arrived in person.

I have not found them to be a part of any association so far.

I have tried my best to keep records of all communications so far, other than the most recent between myself and an employee at CMB Partnership, who refused to send me a written document confirming what he had mentioned earlier, stating the landlord was to be held responsible.

@ TUTTSI

[Mochamoo]

Re: Return of Rent Deposit from Estate Agent/Landlord

Just asked a friend from another forum and they suggested that you send you Landlord a letter, title it Letter before action... request your deposit back giving him 7 working days to comply. Advise him that if he does not give you your deposit back then you will take him to court to get your money back and will be sueing him for 3.5 x the value of your deposit as apparently that is the amount that landlords get penalised when they fail to protect a tenants' deposits in a scheme according to requirements of the Housing Act 2004, s214.

Also write to the agent and find out who is dealing with the bankruptcy and then write to them requesting the money back, as it is a small amount you will be quite far down in the pecking order.

[Mochamoo]

Re: Return of Rent Deposit from Estate Agent/Landlord

Ok found out more for you,

The Agent is correct, the landlord is liable for the deposit and must ensure that the deposit goes into a protected scheme they can give it to an agency to deal with but they are still liable.

Your contact is with you and the Landlord not the agency. This is apparently becoming more and more of an issue with the economic climate and many landlords are choosing to put the deposit in a protected scheme themselves as many are being stung by agents "going bankrupt" (lol thats a whole other story)

So yes (will stop rambling lol) to reiterate you must write to your landlord and claim the money from him, if he does not comply you can reclaim the money via a county court claim at 3.5x the amount of your deposit.

[Matthew286]

Re: Return of Rent Deposit from Estate Agent/Landlord

Thank you very much, much appreciated. I have now written to my landlord, and await a response from from him. I will update and inform you of any changes.

Thank you all for your support and input.

Matthew286

[Matthew286]

Re: Return of Rent Deposit from Estate Agent/Landlord

Hi everyone

Thank you for your help in this matter so far.

The next stage in the saga is a letter I received from my ex-landlord's solicitors on Thursday 3rd December, enclosing a schedule of damages caused to the property(!).

They have confirmed that the landlord has used my deposit, which must mean that the deposit wasn’t held in any of the 3 recognised deposit schemes in the first place.

First the Landlord said he did not have the deposit - that it had been left with the estate agents. Now he has used it to carry out repairs because of so-called damages done to the property by myself and my co-tenant.

Could these allegations of damage be a smokescreen to draw attention away from the fact that he broke the law by not ensureing the deposit monies was held in a safe account?

No mention was made by his solicitors about where the monies have been held all this time.

And now the ex-landlord wants £335 more on top as the deposit didn't cover everything!

According to the estate agent's inventory, before we moved in, the property was in a generally "average to poor" condition. It has been left in no worse state than it was at the start of our tenancy, given normal wear and tear by us and the several sets of tenants before us.

Unfortunately, no other inventory is available. I contacted the estate agent near the end of the tenancy about the return of the deposit. The estate agent confirmed that the landlord needed to inspect the property before the deposit could be returned. The landlord’s inspection never happened.

It was soon after that time that the estate agents went bust.

The landlord is trying to or has refurbished the house using my tenancy deposit, instead of his own monies.

When I eventually managed to track him down using the Land Registry, and sent him the letter before action, he called me.

He made no mention whatsoever about any damage to the property either then (months after we had moved out), or 2 months prior when I first called him about the vacating the property.

The claim about damages has come totally out of the blue.

One thing I must point out, usually when legitimate solicitors send a letter, the envelope is usually typed in the same font as the letter and franked. In this case the address on the envelope is hand written and stamped. It just makes me think that something is afoot, that the solicitors may be friends of his ...

I have some photos I took of the property before we moved in. I also have a copy of the estate agent's original inventory, plus a copy of the letter I wrote to the landlord about the state of the property (i.e. broken toilet, broken bed, broken washing machine, etc) when we first moved in, if this is of any help?

Can anyone advise me as to my next steps, please?

Thank you

[Mochamoo]

Re: Return of Rent Deposit from Estate Agent/Landlord

This is now getting beyond my tenancy knowledge I am afraid.

Do you have the original inventory? Has the landlord proven that the house was in a worse condition? Photos?

As you have the photos and the letter about the broken bits, you should be able to prove that you haven't damaged the property.

Let me see if I can get someone else to look at this...I dont want to give you bad advice.

[Celestine]

Re: Return of Rent Deposit from Estate Agent/Landlord

I think it will be up to the landlord to prove the 'damage'.
Therefore despite the smokescreen of alleged 'damage', Matthew should still pursue his standard money claim through the Small Claims Court as per usual procedures; the landlord can use the 'damage' in his defence (if he can be ***** to even respond) but in all likelihood Matthew's claim would proceed without too many issues.

The fact that the landlord took several weeks to notify Matthew of these so called damages will not help the landlord either.