Tenancy deposit scheme Advice thread: Seeking professional, legal advice (UK)

[Rana]

Hi Guys, ive done a lot of research myself but I am struggling to find the answers to some disputes a friend of mine is having with with his previous landlady in releasing the tenancy deposit that was placed at the start of the let. Can any experienced or well versed lawyers, solicitors help on the following issues...

1.The landlady has disputed that an odour that cannot be eradicated in the Fridge/Freezer has lead her to replace it with a brand new F/F. Her argument is that the property needs to be returned back to its original state, therefore the smell should not be in the F/F. My friend argues that he did the best to clean the F/F and he was paying his rent on time to use the facilities in the property. Also, he consented to a deep clean payment of the property once the let had finished, and if the deep clean cannot remove the smell then he cannot be held accountable to pay more. The Landlady is insisting that he splits the costs of the new F/F with her.

What should he do legally and what can the landlady do legally in this matter?

2. The landlady insists that the tenant must clear all his bills that were used against her property. She is unwilling to release money because my friend had an outstanding bill with his electricity company. My friend argues that his account with his electricity company has been transferred over to his new property and he is paying his bill regularly to them.

Can the landlady withhold money from the deposit from the tenant if he has moved his electricity provider's account to the next property?

3. Wear and tear. The landlady has racked up a bill of approximately £1000 for replacing and cleaning certain dysfunctional items such as light bulbs that were not working, door handles that needed to be replaced and keys that went missing. She has also added the service charge of cleaners and engineers who were paid to do this work for her.

The friend has asked for the landlady to provide receipts of all of these works carried out to ensure that he isnt ripped off by her. But the question is, can the landlady realistically demand a complete replacement to light bulbs and door handles plus rack up the bill for the people who were to do the work for her?

 

[IMMY69]

Rana I know everything there is to need to know about this...

Let me read your post first

 

[IMMY69]

Ok here’s my reply,

1. Rubbish
2. Rubbish
3. Rubbish

By law the deposit must be protected with a regulatory body such as MyDeposit.
Every landlord must protect the deposit and serve the deposit certificate together with the prescribed information and and information to tenants leaflet to the tenant.

All the information regarding the deposit and what the landlord can deduct is contained in those documents..

The protecting of the deposit was made mandatory to protect tenants against bad landlords who made wrongful deductions.

Question one: was there a check in and check out inventory conducted by an independent company/clerk?
Does your friend have a copy and what does the check out inventory state regarding the condition of the property.?

Lightbulbs are tenants responsibility but a bulb will be between £1 and £5 depending on whether it is a normal bulb or an LED.... the landlord can reasonably charge £10-20 per light bulb, I.e cost of bulb plus labour.

There have to be receipts for everything.
The tenant has a right to see all the receipts.

Now here’s the crux...

The deposit scheme is a free service for the tenant. The landlord pays for the protection.
Your friend has to contact them and tell them what the landlord is doing. Then the protection service takes over.

They will demand the landlord pays the disputed amount to them, if it insurance based, and then they will arbitrate. They will force the landlord to present receipts, inventories etc and make a decision in it.

IF the landlord has not protected the deposit or served it properly to the tenant then they can be liable to pay the tenant upto three times the amount of the deposit......

Hope the above helps. Ask away if you have any further questions.

 

[IMMY69]

The landlady must also pay the undisputed deposit back to the tenant whithin 10 days of the tenancy ending...

So get what is owed and go to the deposit scheme for the rest.
Tell your friend not to agree to anything. Get them to pass their bank details to the landlord in writing requesting payment or the deposit

 

[IMMY69]

Hi Guys, ive done a lot of research myself but I am struggling to find the answers to some disputes a friend of mine is having with with his previous landlady in releasing the tenancy deposit that was placed at the start of the let. Can any experienced or well versed lawyers, solicitors help on the following issues...

1.The landlady has disputed that an odour that cannot be eradicated in the Fridge/Freezer has lead her to replace it with a brand new F/F. Her argument is that the property needs to be returned back to its original state, therefore the smell should not be in the F/F. My friend argues that he did the best to clean the F/F and he was paying his rent on time to use the facilities in the property. Also, he consented to a deep clean payment of the property once the let had finished, and if the deep clean cannot remove the smell then he cannot be held accountable to pay more. The Landlady is insisting that he splits the costs of the new F/F with her.

What should he do legally and what can the landlady do legally in this matter?

2. The landlady insists that the tenant must clear all his bills that were used against her property. She is unwilling to release money because my friend had an outstanding bill with his electricity company. My friend argues that his account with his electricity company has been transferred over to his new property and he is paying his bill regularly to them.

Can the landlady withhold money from the deposit from the tenant if he has moved his electricity provider's account to the next property?

3. Wear and tear. The landlady has racked up a bill of approximately £1000 for replacing and cleaning certain dysfunctional items such as light bulbs that were not working, door handles that needed to be replaced and keys that went missing. She has also added the service charge of cleaners and engineers who were paid to do this work for her.

The friend has asked for the landlady to provide receipts of all of these works carried out to ensure that he isnt ripped off by her. But the question is, can the landlady realistically demand a complete replacement to light bulbs and door handles plus rack up the bill for the people who were to do the work for her?

See above....

 

[Bewal Express]

The landlady must also pay the undisputed deposit back to the tenant whithin 10 days of the tenancy ending...

So get what is owed and go to the deposit scheme for the rest.
Tell your friend not to agree to anything. Get them to pass their bank details to the landlord in writing requesting payment or the deposit

I have feeling that the landlady hasn't used the legal scheme.

 

[IMMY69]

I have feeling that the landlady hasn't used the legal scheme.

Me too and in which case she’s in BIG trouble.
She will have to pay three times the amount of the deposit to the tenant.

 

[Bewal Express]

Me too and in which case she’s in BIG trouble.
She will have to pay three times the amount of the deposit to the tenant.

I am sure The tenant normally receive a message after the landlord uses the scheme, so he needs to ask his friend if they received a message. The chances are that she hasn't declared the property with HMRC either.

 

[Rana]

Me too and in which case she’s in BIG trouble.
She will have to pay three times the amount of the deposit to the tenant.

Okay IMMY, first of all brilliant help!

secondly here is the catch, so the Landlady has pretty much made a case that 100% of the tenancy deposit is disputed money (adding the unpaid utility bill and the F/F odour split of costs bill), whereas ive just checked case studies on the Tenancy deposit scheme website and these two points of dispute are realistically unwarranted and in most cases, the Tenant will be awarded in these disputes).

Can the tenant (my friend) argue that the landlady made unwarrented disputes and didnt release a penny in the first 10 days because of this? This tenancy ended last year but the stubborn approach of the landlady and the estate agent favouring her because she is still their client has not allowed any resolution as no proper information was relayed to my friend

 

[IMMY69]

Okay IMMY, first of all brilliant help!

secondly here is the catch, so the Landlady has pretty much made a case that 100% of the tenancy deposit is disputed money (adding the unpaid utility bill and the F/F odour split of costs bill), whereas ive just checked case studies on the Tenancy deposit scheme website and these two points of dispute are realistically unwarranted and in most cases, the Tenant will be awarded in these disputes).

Can the tenant (my friend) argue that the landlady made unwarrented disputes and didnt release a penny in the first 10 days because of this? This tenancy ended last year but the stubborn approach of the landlady and the estate agent favouring her because she is still their client has not allowed any resolution as no proper information was relayed to my friend

Ok so for the utility bills I am 99.9pct sure the landlord will not know whether a utility bill remains unpaid unless the utility company has changed the meter to pay as you go meter.
Under data protection laws a utility company is now allowed to disclose a clients information even if it’s the landlord asking......

Has the tenant contacted the Deposit Service?

 

[Rana]

Ok so for the utility bills I am 99.9pct sure the landlord will not know whether a utility bill remains unpaid unless the utility company has changed the meter to pay as you go meter.
Under data protection laws a utility company is now allowed to disclose a clients information even if it’s the landlord asking......

Has the tenant contacted the Deposit Service?

The tenant is gathering information for his case before the 3rd of January when all offices re open. What he has done in the meanwhile is respond to an email, copying in the estate agent and asking them to provide the following...
1)copy of the check in inventory
2)copy of the check out inventory
3)copy of the tenancy deposit scheme signed by both parties
4) copy of the tenancy agreement

he has also requested the land lady to provide the following
a) a formal request for all the deductions she would like to make from the deposit.
b) receipts and invoices for the works carried out for these costs
c) receipt of the replaced F/F

He finally asked the landlady to provide legal proof from the tenancy deposit scheme that makes him liable to pay for unpaid utilities at the property even though all accounts are transferred with him to the next property.

This email will reach the office on the third of Jan. We are working strongly doing our research in the meanwhile

 

[IMMY69]

The tenant is gathering information for his case before the 3rd of January when all offices re open. What he has done in the meanwhile is respond to an email, copying in the estate agent and asking them to provide the following...
1)copy of the check in inventory
2)copy of the check out inventory
3)copy of the tenancy deposit scheme signed by both parties
4) copy of the tenancy agreement

he has also requested the land lady to provide the following
a) a formal request for all the deductions she would like to make from the deposit.
b) receipts and invoices for the works carried out for these costs
c) receipt of the replaced F/F

He finally asked the landlady to provide legal proof from the tenancy deposit scheme that makes him liable to pay for unpaid utilities at the property even though all accounts are transferred with him to the next property.

This email will reach the office on the third of Jan. We are working strongly doing our research in the meanwhile

Was the tenant served with the deposit certificate/prescribed information?
Did he get an email confirmation from the scheme stating it was protected?

If the answer is no to the above then check the tenancy agreement. All the assured shorthold tenancy agreements have a whole section in the deposit and with which scheme it is protected with and some information as to what the tenant must do after vacating the property....

Check the tenancy, see which scheme is mentioned on it. It will have their contact details. If not then google it.
Contact them and tell them that my tenancy states that the deposit is protected with them and this is a signed contract. He has to give his name and tjey’ll Be able to tell him whether it was protected and what steps he must now take...

If it’s not protected then he should be able to escalate it with them directly....

 

[Rana]

Ok so for the utility bills I am 99.9pct sure the landlord will not know whether a utility bill remains unpaid unless the utility company has changed the meter to pay as you go meter.
Under data protection laws a utility company is now allowed to disclose a clients information even if it’s the landlord asking......

Has the tenant contacted the Deposit Service?

Utility companies are ‘now’ allowed to disclose a clients information??

 

[IMMY69]

Utility companies are ‘now’ allowed to disclose a clients information??

No they’re not.

 

[IMMY69]

Utility companies are ‘now’ allowed to disclose a clients information??

Sorry I just saw what I wrote.
I meant “NOT” allowed