Hi, I am a mother to two children and am being eveicted from our home. After a recent leak in the bathroom the plumber that was sent said it was only the damaged floor that was my responsability and the labour of the pipe repair was down to my landlord.....My landlord came round the day after to inspect the property with only 1 hours notice....i had to leave work to let him in....after inspecting the bathroom he said it wasnt as bad as he actually thought..he went to have a look at the garden of which i stated to him i was in the process of doing it...this seemed to be his only grime but i had assured him i was getting someone to come and do it in the week......he didnt even look upstairs.....and didnt say anything to me at the time or give any indication there was a problem....the house was spotless and there was no damage apart from the floor from the leak which i was happy to sort out...... However today I recieved a hand written letter giving me 4 weeks notice to leave..as aparently i have no respect for other peoples property and it was going to cost him to put it right......I am more than happy to leave after this as i havnt done anything to the property to damage it....in fact i have photos from when i first moved in and if anything I have sorted a lot of the stuff out likie mould on walls and rubbish that he should have moved but 6 month later i end up forking out for my own skip to get rid of the rubbish that was left........the problem is I do not have his address....it was wrote on the tenancy agreement but they neede my copy for something...foolishly i gave it them.....all i have is various mobile numbers for him and no address...he still has my deposit......Is there anything i can do? (i know i shouldnt have given him my copy, i was stupid...i just need some advice now)please
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Is property in England/Wales?
Is the rent less than £2,083.33 pcm?
How long is the fixed term? Are you still within it?
Is the deposit protected in a scheme?
Assuming the answers to the first two are yes, the Landlord should have protected the deposit. If you are within the fixed term, he cannot force you to leave until it expires and if you are outside the fixed term, he has to give you 2 months notice. -
hi thanks for your response....it was a 12 month tenancy that ended on the last day of june this year....he kept saying he was going to come round and inspect before signing a new one but didnt deapite me giving him plenty of opportunity to call round..... my rent is £650 month and deposit the same.....I am happy to leave after this but am worried about my deposit as obviously i will need it for somewhere else..could have done with a bit more time really..Comment
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oh its in england and no the deposit is not protected...what can i do?Comment
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Firstly, you should contact all three deposit schemes to confirm that it isn't protected. If definitely isn't protected, the LL cannot issue a valid S.21 notice giving you two months to leave. He doesn't seem to be aware of the law though, silly man.
As you are in a Statutory Periodic Tenancy now, you can leave by giving one months notice. The Landlord, by law, has to give two months, so his attempt to get you out in 4 weeks is illegal.
If you think he will enforce his notice by locking you out or committing some form of violence, you should contact your Local Council who will advise you on what to do next. They will also prosecute him for Illegal Eviction and/or Harassment.
The only way he can lawfully evict you from the property is by serving a S.21 or S.8 notice and enforcing it through the courts.
In order to get the deposit back, you will probably have to sue him for it in the County Court. You will have to send a Letter before Action giving him a time limit for returning the deposit, if he does not do that you can start a claim through court.
There are more experience members of this forum who will talk you through the process but the above are the basics of the situation.Comment
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Thankyou for your advice....will post on progress.Comment
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As I understand it, the Small Claims process may take a few months so it is possible that you will have to find a deposit for your next property elsewhere because it it unlikely that you'll recover the deposit before you next move.
If you can move out in 4 weeks with few problems, I would bite the Landlord's hand off as he sounds like a total asshat.Comment
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If the landlord decides(or already has) to protect the deposit, you wouldn't have it available to put down for your new place anyway.Originally posted by dexter View Post
If the landlord gives you the correct notice now, the earliest the notice can require you to leave is the end of September.
In your position, I would do the wrong thing and withhold the last months rent unless he provided me with the proof that my deposit was protected (or returned it)before the end of August.Allow tenants to protect their own deposits. I want free money when they do it wrongComment
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Dps?
I can only say from persnoal experiencei if has put the deposit with DPS, then he should have provided you a document which you get from DPS which basically says the T is aware the deposit is protect, I cannot remember exactly what it is, its been a while and he should have got you to sign it. I had my T sign one copy and another for myself as proof.Comment
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oK thankyou all for your advice....I have been told that since he failed to protect the deposit he cannot issue me with notice and have been advised to sit tight...but to be honest I'm not too happy to line his pockets anymore and plus I do not feel safe now so I'm moving my stuff into storage and staying with family to sort things out new house wise....within the date he specified as I am not prepared to just sit here and wait while him and his mob turn up to'illegally evict' us as yes he may be prosecuted for it but we will still be out on the street...... so therefore that just leaves the issue of the deposit.....can i get this back if i do this? as i do intend to fight him for it.....or will there be implications...hes told me to be out by the 9th august im going on the 31st july the date my rent is paid upto....thanksComment
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You should sue for your full deposit back. If landlord tries to conterclaim for missing rent (he may feel you are liable from 31 - 9th) then the court can decide what is fair. TBH, if the court are made aware of the landlords behaviour, he is unlikely to succeed in a counterclaim.
If you are looking at claiming the 3x deposit penalty for non protection, this can not be done through the small claims process and so you would either have to spend quite a lot on legal fees, or find a solicitor who will work on a no-win-no-fee.
If you stay put - with 999 programmed into your phones speed-dial -then if he does illegally evict you, he will not only face the possibility of criminal charges brought by the local council, but you too could (with help) sue for considerable damages. http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2010/0...-legal-action/.gif "(happy)")
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problem with staying put is that I'm getting calls from his wife asking for 2 sets of keys and putting me under pressure...I really do not feel safe here and I have had people walking up the garden and looking in..how ever i cant prove it!! I have 2 children....am not well myself..recently had a transplant and could really do without the stress...looks like the landlord wins!!Comment
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THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR ADVICE ANYWAY......when I hand my keys over I will hand him notice requesting my full deposit back...with 28 days to respond.....if he fails to do this then i will issue procedings against him......does anyone know of a suitable template as such to use in this way...a link would be handy.......is 28 days too generous?....ive never really been in this position before......thankyouComment
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Try this one...Originally posted by dexter View Post
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ml#post2576374Comment
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thanks snorkerz, I found the link useful and will be using said templateComment
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