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About LinkBacksWell thats the thing I am not sure as I cannot find anything which discusses that.
They took the money off me etc they were there to provide me with some security that
they are reliable and responsible landlords.
Well thats the thing I am not sure as I cannot find anything which discusses that.
They took the money off me etc they were there to provide me with some security that
they are reliable and responsible landlords.
If you rent this house through a letting agent then your contract is with them and NOT the owner of the house.blitzen - how do you know the letting agent is responsible I need to be able to back
it up with some laws and stuff. Also we signed in 2006 (6 month contract) but
about june this year he said he wanted to put the rent up which we accepted. We
didnt sign a new contract though but we have it in writing where do we stand
contract wise.
Any monies paid for a deposit would NOT be in the possession of the landlord as that would not be lawful as once again you rent the house from the Estate Agent and not the landlord.
Basically there are two things that dont ring true here:
1. The agency cannot give the deposit back to the landlord and withhold it from you without giving you a reason why? Have they?
2. Was an inventory/state of repair list made when you moved in? Either by yourself or by the Estate Agent? There certainly shouldve been. If so, did you sign it to agree to it?
3. The landlord should have NEVER seen your deposit and strictly speaking i think you are being lied to. If he has it now, now you have vacated, i think the chances of you getting it back are slim.
Action
What i would do is send the ESTATE AGENT another email and tell him you require your deposit back in your account (not a cheque) within 14 days. If this does not happen, you will filing in the small claims court for any loss you have incurred including any hardship felt from this. You will also be claiming all fuel costs/telephone call costs and any other out of pocket expenses.
Basically, double what they owe you. MAKE SURE its the agency you take to small claims though AND NOT the owner of the house. Your contract is with the Estate Agent remember.
Once you have an answer whether you need to go to court or not, then make sure you write a letter to your local newspaper aswell. If the agency hears about this they will cough up straight away.
The only thing is, there is something you arent telling us. You are only entitled to your deposit back if there is no damage to the property. You must also have all the decoration in the same colour as it was when you moved in. All gardens mustve been maintained to a decent standard. No bills should be outstanding.
If you personally have no proof of the state of the property when you moved in, there is no way you are going to be able to prove that it's as good now. Therefore you will lose.
BUT!!!!!
If you still have your contracts you got from the agency, they can and will unwittingly save you. It is up to the AGENCY to conduct the inventory when you first take possession of the property. Ask them for a copy. If they did not do this then make you own, post date it, and send a copy to your landlord and the Estate Agent.
If the agency refuse to give you a copy if it was done, get a solicitor to write them a letter demanding it.
To be honest, i doubt the agency did do the inventory. They sound like a right shower to me.
The most important thing to remember is that your claim is with the ESTATE AGENT AND NOT THE OWNER OF THE HOUSE.
You have never paid money directly to the landlord (or shouldnt have done) so in the eyes of the law, the Estate Agent is your landlord.
Last edited by Blitzen; 05-12-2007 at 10:24 AM.
enless its the endpoint he dosen't trust, ie the dodgy looking cybercafe.Originally Posted by G4Z
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This is one of the reasons why I never pay the last months rent. Better for them to come and chase me rather than the other way around.
Basically it comes down to a claim against the agency in the small claims court. I bet that as soon as they received such notice of your intentions they'd cough up pretty quickly.
"Reality is what it is, not what you want it to be." Frank Zappa. ----------- "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." Huang Po.----------- "A drowsy line of wasted time bathes my open mind", - Ride.
Well he didnt reply to the email sent yesterday (not that is was necessary) so
tomorrow we shall see what his intentions are.
OK blitzen here are a few more details for you.
When the contract was signed the agent did an inventory with us. basically there
was only minor damage and no furnishings beyond the built in kitchen.
we took many pictures when we moved in and when we moved out we took many
again. We did a proper job cleaning wise and the place looked better than when
we moved in, we made no decoration changes.
I am still unable to find some good case studies about who is liable in this case.
We signed the contract with the agent present and paid the deposit to them, but all
rent was paid directly to the landlord so the letting agent does not manage the
property. The deposit was transferred to the landlord at the start it would appear.
In the contract all it really states about the deposit is that the landlord has to return
it within a short period of time.
---
when it comes around to small claims court and how much to ask for. Ideas for
what I could charge for and how much would be handy.
If you took him to the small claims court I'd go for deposit + any costs, that way you aren't being unreasonable.
Your point there is worrying. The letting agency manages the property so why were you paying rent directly to the landlord?
Right.
By the sounds of it, your opinion is that the house, besides reasonable wear and tear, is left in a good state.
TELL the agency that you want them to go to the house with YOU present to check off the inventory.
Once they are satisfied demand THEY return your deposit.
Forget everything else!
If this is a letting agency or Estate Agent it is THEM that must decide to return or keep your deposit and NOT the owner of the house.
The Lettings agency have the money. If they have given it to the owner of the house, this is neither here nor there. THEY must return your deposit if the house is of a reasonalb estandard.
Like i said...give them 14 days in writing and demand your full deposit back unless there is anything wrong in the house. Keep all your evidence and share it with them if neccessary.
If they do not return it then file at small claims.
I have been a private landlord for about 14 years now and the inventory is the key. If the damage to a property is only wear and tear, you are still entitled to your full deposit back.
The only way they could hold it, is if there are outstanding bills such as rent, council tax, gas, water, electric.
Make sure you have proof of the payment of final bills.
I must say though...it still seems there is something you arent telling that could change the outlook on this.
Don't bother with email. Send letters by recorded delivery and keep copies. It's more hassle but it will show you are serious and you can keep tabs of everything. Email can be discarded or simply not read.
"Reality is what it is, not what you want it to be." Frank Zappa. ----------- "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." Huang Po.----------- "A drowsy line of wasted time bathes my open mind", - Ride.
Well he hasnt emailed yet and its gone 10 30.
There is nothing I am not telling you Blitzen, the bloke said on the phone that he was
sorry that he hadnt done it yet and that he would do it by today which he hasnt. He
is just trying it on. Thank goodness that the law has changed, just a pity it was too
late for us.
I understand what you say about going to the letting agency but they didnt manage
the property as in collecting rent, taking care of repairs and checking the condition
of the place. The last place we had was the same the agent advertised it and
arranged the signing of the contract but after that they had nothing to do with it.
I can still find no legal reference to situations like this.
tomorrow I will go see the citizens advice and hopefully they will have some info
about such things.
-
Iranu I will definitely do as you suggest with recorded delivery when it gets to the small claims but.
With regards to claims do I need to keep reciept of everything? like the paying for
parking slip etc. I want to make it a reasonably high as possible to punish him.
Hello again,
Well its now midnight friday and we didnt get any email from him. We tried to call
him but his phone is switched off.
As such we sent an email saying that if he doesnt contact us by sunday evening
saying he has done the transfer we will proceed with a claim in the courts.
Which means I need to send a letter tomorrow so he will get it monday. Now how
long should I give him to pay up from receiving the letter I am thinking by thursday
to contact us that he has done the transfer.
The thing is will I be able to submit the claim on my gfs behalf?
There is also something called money claims online anyone know what that is?
Is it worth going through a solicitor? how much is that likely to cost? I assume that
I make make the fees a part of the claim.
Usually 7 or 14 days is a reasonable period for him to respond. Not sure how I would proceed from here, but I would suggest the CAB may be able to guide you with exactly what you should do.
I was going to go to CAB but they are open mon to fri 9am till 12am.
Not much use to people who work really..... I will send the gf but it will be harder
for her. They have a telephone line to buts thats only 2pm till 4pm and talking on
the phone is not the same.
I have since been reading up on small claims court and it seems a summary
judgement is what is needed where they see that the defendant has no worthwhile
defence. Seeing as the landlord has said he will pay and just keeps not doing it
what possible defence could he have. "my defence is that im a ?.."
Any advice is still appreciated.
Just to finish off the thread the git finally paid on the Tuesday of this week.
He finally replied to the email at 9.04 on sunday, in which he said he found the
email rude and insulting.
All we said was "As you have not paid the money on thursday like you said you
would and have not contacted us to say you wouldnt be able to do it, please contact
us by sunday 9pm otherwise we will start legal proceedings."
He also said he only just got back and said that he told us he would pay when he
got back. He said thursday on the phone and he wrote it in an Email, if he couldnt
do it then why didnt he get his wife to bloody email.
In the sunday email he also said he would do the transfer the next day (why not
just do it there and then) he then didnt do it and finally did it on tuesday.
Me gf emailed saying we received it thank you. Then he sent back an email saying
Next time dont be so rude not all landlords are bad.
When all said and done we got the deposit back without too much hassle I just
wonder when we would have got the money back if we hadn't of mentioned legal
action. Was it what made him pay up or did we just aggravate him unnecessarily
I guess I will never know.
The big question is should we send an email back detailing why he is an arse.
Just leave it now mate - you're better than that
Glad its sorted
Forget about the fool now and be glad you got your dosh back.
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