Disappearing deposit

[egral]

My letting agent has gone into receivership and phonecalls put me through to an answering service which does not respond to enquiries. I have two problems.

I wish to give notice but do not have any contact details for my landlord.

The other problem is that when I contacted the deposit protection agency detailed in my AST they had no record of my tenancy. No inventory was carried out at the start of my tenancy despite the fact that I asked for one to be done, so I have been advised that there would be no legal grounds for withholding my deposit, but I'm not sure how to go about reclaiming it once my tenancy ends.

I realise I should have checked all this from the start but I was just so relieved to find a place in the catchment area of my daughter's school that nothing else seemed to matter.

I suppose that if I stopped paying the rent, the landlord would contact me, but I don't want to cause trouble for my mum (who acted as guarantor) or get myself a bad credit rating.

I'd really appreciate any advice on this.

[jta]

I suppose that if I stopped paying the rent, the landlord would contact me, but I don't want to cause trouble for my mum (who acted as guarantor) or get myself a bad credit rating.

I'd really appreciate any advice on this.

You're right, maybe your landlord does not even know about it yet. If you do stop paying the rent then put it aside for when he contacts you.

With regard to your deposit the landlord is completely responsible for it, even if it's gone down the estate agent drain. There are three deposit protection schemes, you need to check all three of them, but if the agent has gone down then probably your money has gone with him.

[Snorkerz]

It may be possible to identify the property owner (and therefore probably your landlord) by looking at the land registry website, it will cost £4 (iirc the site doesn't work on Sundays!).

FWIW, rent is not payable until you have an address for the service of documents (like your notice) (section 47/48 1985 Landlord & Tenant Act). Therefore I would pay no rent for now, as this may be your only practical way to recover your deposit.