Express Mortgages Express Loans Bingo Lose Weight Franchising Dating Shopping Book Shop Find Spare Parts Cut Your Bills Wine Shop Legal Store FlatShare Cruises

TENANT FIGHTS TO RECLAIM DEPOSIT

Return of deposits is a prime cause of lettings disputes

Wednesday March 14,2007

By Maisha Frost

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(1)

A FORMER tenant has won a bitter battle to claw back the deposit she paid to a lettings agency.

But call centre worker Dawn Marshall was forced to wait months and had to fight hard to get the £725 refunded from the property company, Sherwoods in Taunton, Somerset.

Stung by the injustice of being denied what was rightfully both hers and her flat-mate's, 29-year-old Dawn asked Crusader to investigate.

Return of deposits is a prime cause of lettings disputes. But in Dawn's case there was no debate: all parties agreed she had left the flat in good order when the tenancy ended.

"But the cheque never arrived, " said Dawn, who had struggled to find out who was holding her money as the landlord changed agents during her last month of rental.

"The new agents, Property Angels, inspected the house when I left and agreed to the deposit's return. I had signed a new agreement with them and understood they were holding our money, " continued Dawn. "My agreement stated that if all was well then the deposit would be refunded 20 days after vacating the property.

"But I had to keep chasing them, and I was fobbed off with excuses. I was told I would have to wait for Sherwoods to release the monies.

"Sometimes, I was promised the cheque was with accounts and it would be chased up. Other times I was told it had been sent to Property Angels, which was not the case.

Then I was told the cheque needed the managing director's signature." Sherwoods did not return Crusader's call, but has now settled, although the first cheque Dawn received was unsigned. "I'm very grateful for Crusader's pressure. It helped the other parties focus, and saved me having to resort to the small claims court, " she said.

One of the biggest pitfalls for tenants is not knowing who holds the deposit. The implications are huge, points out solicitor Sian Evans of JST Lawyers, specialists in landlord and tenant matters.

"Agents often don't tell tenants who is actually managing a property and who has the deposit. It could be the agency or the landlord.

There's no legal requirement to reveal this but tenants need to ask and get it in writing beforehand." Lettings agencies are unregulated but a new disputes resolution scheme, headed by the Ombudsman, comes into force later this year.

Under the Secure Tenants Deposit Scheme, deposit money must be safeguarded by insurance. Tenants should ensure an agency belongs to the National Approved Letting Scheme (Nals) or The Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla).

CONTACTS: Kate Faulkner's Which? Guide to Renting and Letting, £10.99, 01903 828557/www. which. co. uk Nals: 01242 581712/www. nalscheme. co. uk Arla: 0845 345 5752/www. arla. co. uk

POINTS TO CHECK
All contract charges should be clearly spelt out.
Have all contracts independently checked.
Ensure an independent witness is present at inventory check.
Always ask who is managing the property and who holds the deposit.
Check out the Ombudsman scheme.

LETTINGS AGENCIES HAVE STOLEN FROM MILLIONS!

18.05.07, 12:03pm

The simple solution when dealing with lettings agencies is to withhold the final months rent, and leave the agency to prove their wrongful claims.

I have been involved with property maintainance for many years and seen many tenants robbed in this way, many have also followed my advice and not been robbed.

Unfortunately this allows some scum to evade their obligations but corrupt landlords and letting agencies who looked upon these deposits as a bonus have only themselves to blame!

• Posted by: The_Way_I_See_It • Report Comment