No record of deposit at DPS - agreements says it was deposited

[epiphany66]

Hello all. Firstly I want to say that, following our recent ordeal, I wholly sympathise with landlords in regards to the number of regulations with which they have to comply.

The problem here is that the landlord had too much faith in the lettings agent to handle the deposit protection. We've just vacated the property in question and called the DPS in order to get our deposit back. They told us they have no record of the deposit for that address, even though it states clearly on the tenancy agreement that a deposit would be submitted to the DPS, including details of the deposit amount and their contact details.

Now, our landlord has been wonderful throughout our tenancy period. If it turns out it hasn't been protected, by law he is ultimately responsible regardless of whether or not an agent managed the property and we understand that a court could order him to pay 3 times the deposit in compensation if we were to take him to court. We would never accept that compensation off him as we understand it is the lettings agent who has failed to pay the deposit into the scheme on his behalf.

Neither of us received a certificate or ID number. I realise now I should have flagged this up a month after the tenancy began, but it simply slipped out of mind once we handed over the cash to the letting agent and got the keys. I (and the landlord for that matter) naively believed the lettings agent had handled everything and the deposit was safely in the hands of the DPS.

However, we are in the awkward position where we need our deposit back and both we and the landlord do not know where it is. To complicate matters further, the agent is a franchise and closed down operations a year ago. They say they have no record of the tenancy! Luckily we have our tenancy agreement as proof of the let.

My question now is, what action should I take? I really don't want to have to take the landlord to court as it wasn't his fault (morally if not legally speaking). Is the best thing for the landlord to attempt to take the agent to court and hope he is successful before paying our bond back? What would his chances be?

Thanks for any advice.

[thesaint]

Whilst you(and I)have sympathy for the landlord, it is him who is ultimately responsible.
I would tell him in the nicest terms that he needs to repay it, or you will have no option but to take him to court with the agents as joint defendants.

How does an agency that closed down say there is no record of a tenancy?

[theartfullodger]

As saint wisely says...

1st check it ain't in any of the schemes

Then follow advice here on getting it back (& the up-to-3xdeposit penalty!)
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad...a_tenancy_ends

[epiphany66]

How does an agency that closed down say there is no record of a tenancy?

It's a franchise so the office that managed the property (they only managed the initial part of it) is independent from the company as a whole. There's no central oversight in other words. The documents were supposed to be passed to an office in Rotherham, but they said they have no record of this particular agreement.

I think what's happened is they've only passed on the currently managed lets and not the "we've taken the fees now we don't give a toss" lets.

[epiphany66]

theartfullodger,

Thanks. No there doesn't appear to be any record in any of the three schemes. The one mentioned on the actual agreement is the DPS, but nothing there according to them.

[doobrey]

I think you are right in thinking that your landlord is not to blame, and are taking a very fair view of the situation. However ultimately LL is responsible for the deposit.

If you weren't losing anything then, from a moral point of view, I think you should let it go. However, as others have said, if the deposit has gone missing then you can and should ask the landlord to return it. The agent acts for the landlord. If the agent does something then, legally speaking, the landlord can be regarded as having done it. Or, in this case, not done it.

In turn LL should hold the agent responsible, if agent has failed in their duties. If (bearing in mind it is a franchise) the head office is responsible for the actions of the now-closed office, then LL should take the matter to the head office. Agents are required to belong to one of three approved redress schemes, so - again, if head office responsible - landlord should be able to escalate the issue if they complain to agent and do not get a satisfactory response. Other than that of course there is legal action. That is not your problem, though.