HELP! Deposit Protection Scheme

[chloemoss]

I began to ask my LL what the procedure was with obtaining my house deposit. I began reading into the deposit protection scheme rules to find I had never been given any information on where my deposit was being held. I rang the various companies to find that my deposit had quickly been covered the day I contacted my LL! (I had become suspicious due to a long delayed response). They have done this 12 days before the end of our tenancy and i find this unacceptable!

I wanted to know if i can take them to court under section 21 of the housing act and what you think my chances are. I just read about a case in which the tenant lost due to the LL protecting the deposit in a scheme, quickly after being notified by the tenant, to prevent further action being taken on them.

I have also had two tenancies with my previous LL, last years is was not covered by a deposit scheme. They have only registered this years. My Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement states it should be held in a deposit scheme and upon research i have found that:


Your landlord must provide you with all the information the law requires within 30 days of receiving your deposit, including:

the landlord's name and contact details
the amount of deposit paid and the address of the tenancy
details of the tenancy deposit protection scheme they are using
a copy of the deposit protection certificate signed by the landlord
information about the purpose of the tenancy deposit protection scheme
how to get your deposit back at the end of the tenancy
what to do if there is a dispute about the deposit.

Penalties if a tenancy deposit isn't protected by 6 May 2012

Some landlords who took a deposit but delayed protecting it had until 6 May 2012 to protect the deposit. This applies to:

landlords who had been paid a tenancy deposit between 6 April 2007 and 5 April 2012
landlords who had been paid a tenancy deposit before 6 April 2007 but renewed the tenant's assured shorthold tenancy between 6 April 2007 and 5 April 2012.
A landlord will have complied late if they protect your deposit or provide the required information after 6 May 2012 - and could be ordered to pay you 1 to 3 times the value of the deposit by a court. A landlord who doesn't protect your deposit at all can also be fined for failure to protect the deposit.



My landlord has not followed any of these rules until 12 days before the end of two years of tenancies! Do you think i have a good chance of getting compensation on this matter?

Any input appreciated!

BASIC FACTS:

I have an assured shorthold tenancy agreement
signed after April 2012

[Interlaken]

Seems you landlord made a mistake - he has done his best to correct things by protecting your deposit.

Do you want him hung,shot or to die by lethal injection?

Section 21 or the Housing Act 1988 is about possession and that is not what is at issue here.

There have been previous cases where landlords, by court order were forced to pay UP TO 3X the deposit they had not protected to tenants BUT since new rules came in earlier this year there have been no cases to date to go by - I stand to be corrected by others.

If you were to try to bring a case it would be at your own expense as and this is not a matter dealt with by the County Court small claims procedure.
Have you suffered in any way by not having your deposit protected until 12 days ago? Probably not because you were as ignorant of the law as your landlord and hopefully you had a peaceful, happy tenancy - after all it lasted 2 years.

To answer your last question - NO.

[thesaint]

You have a 100% chance of getting compensation if what you say is correct.
It will cost you a considerable amount to bring the claim(which you will be awarded back to you when you win).

I don't see why you deserve(not a requirement) compo though.

[chloemoss]

I have had to be vigilant due to remarks they had been making about structural damp that they were originally threatening to take costs for. This lead me to look further into this matter due to me being worried if they would return the deposit at all. To be honest apart from that we have left the house in great order

This year i have had to deal with harassment from Landlords that live next door to the property they own. They have decided because we are students they can do what the feel. I.E letting themselves in the house when they want.

I dont feel that this matter is that unfair

Seems you landlord made a mistake - he has done his best to correct things by protecting your deposit.

Do you want him hung,shot or to die by lethal injection?

Section 21 or the Housing Act 1988 is about possession and that is not what is at issue here.

There have been previous cases where landlords, by court order were forced to pay UP TO 3X the deposit they had not protected to tenants BUT since new rules came in earlier this year there have been no cases to date to go by - I stand to be corrected by others.

If you were to try to bring a case it would be at your own expense as and this is not a matter dealt with by the County Court small claims procedure.
Have you suffered in any way by not having your deposit protected until 12 days ago? Probably not because you were as ignorant of the law as your landlord and hopefully you had a peaceful, happy tenancy - after all it lasted 2 years.

To answer your last question - NO.

[chloemoss]

And i'd also like to state that i find it unfair they have been making intrest off my money for the past two years also

[Interlaken]

Well the harassment from the landlord by not 'allowing quiet enjoyment of the property' is a different matter.

Did you confront him on that matter? You can't really mix that issue with failure to protect the deposit.

[chloemoss]

Yes i have kept it separate, written to them on two occasions in which this has happened lately. They constantly knock without 24 hours notice and have let themselves in with keys that they have.

Penalties when a deposit is not protected or is protected late

Changes to the law in April 2012 allow courts to order landlords who fail to comply with the law on tenancy deposit protection to pay compensation to tenants. The penalties apply to deposits paid for assured shorthold tenancies that started, or were renewed, on or after 6 April 2007.

A court can order landlords to make a compensation payment of between 1 to 3 times the value of the deposit if a landlord:

only protect a tenants deposit after 30 days
fails to give the tenant details of the scheme used within 30 days
fails to protect a deposit.
A court can also order a landlord to protect a deposit in a scheme

I have just found this information on shelter.org it states that we could still claim compensation for the late coverage??

[Interlaken]

Yes, if you are prepared to fund the case yourself - it will cost ££££'s

Go and see a person from Shelter and see what their opinion is. As I wrote previously - as far as I know there have been no cases brought under the new rules - you could be the 1st.

[John Duff]

This sounds like a case of pure greed by the OP which was one of the reasons the rules were changed this year i.e. to discourage "profiteering" from tenants.

[thesaint]

And i'd also like to state that i find it unfair they have been making intrest off my money for the past two years also

How much interest are we talking about here?
The base rate is 0.5%.

Did you rent a room in a shared house, or was it a joint tenancy?
Has your deposit been returned to you? If not, what has happened to it?

[oaktree]

Write to your landlord. Tell him that he hasn't protected your deposit in the timescale laid down in legislation and that you want the deposit returned to you, in full, straightaway. Tell that if he refuses you will instigate proceedings for the return of your deposit plus any penalty the Court see fit to award. Send him copies of the legislation or point him towards the government website.

As already posted here, the cost of pursueing a case against him for the penalty may be very expensive. If you already have Shelter in your corner then perhaos they will write to him on your behalf?

The matter of interest on the deposit is usually covered in the agreement.

[chloemoss]

How much interest are we talking about here?
The base rate is 0.5%.

Did you rent a room in a shared house, or was it a joint tenancy?
Has your deposit been returned to you? If not, what has happened to it?

It is a joint tenancy, its 10 days before we leave and we are in dispute about damp which has been there since the start of our tenancy which they claim we need to pay for and redecorate

[westminster]

My landlord has not followed any of these rules until 12 days before the end of two years of tenancies! Do you think i have a good chance of getting compensation on this matter?

Yes. But you will need to pay a lawyer to pursue a non-compliance claim, and on top of your legal fees the court fees will exceed £1,000 because non-compliance claims are not allocated to the small claims track. You can claim your costs, however, and are likely to get them awarded if you win. But if the LL doesn't pay then you'd have to enforce the CCJ.

And i'd also like to state that i find it unfair they have been making intrest off my money for the past two years also

There is no automatic entitlement to interest on a deposit, and if the deposit is protected by the DPS the scheme currently keeps all the interest; it doesn't pay unless the base rate is over around 2.5%.

This year i have had to deal with harassment from Landlords that live next door to the property they own. They have decided because we are students they can do what the feel. I.E letting themselves in the house when they want.

If you have a joint tenancy for the whole rental property, then the LL should give you advance notice before entering for repairs/inspections.

N.B. in addition, ALL the joint tenants would have to jointly bring the deposit non-compliance claim, as co-claimants.

[thesaint]

It is a joint tenancy, its 10 days before we leave and we are in dispute about damp which has been there since the start of our tenancy which they claim we need to pay for and redecorate

I would concentrate on the damp issue.
Why hasn't the damp been resolved in the two years you were there? It's a long time to have put up with it.
Do you have correspondence relating to your reports of the damp?