How do you recover a rental deposit from a poor landlord?

The property was rented for a year and never inspected once, despite the contract stating it was going to be checked every 3 months. There was a telephone call requesting we put a cat flap in which was granted- but not in writing. Now they are saying we never gave permission for a pet let alone a cat flap and are keeping the deposit.|||If its not in writing, you are in the wrong.





You most likely will lose your deposit, even if you take it to small claims court.








Most landlords know the rules, and i wouldn't doubt it, if he set you up, by saying it was ok and not putting it in writing.





Lesson learned, you will know next time to get everything in writing, GL|||Obviously the deposit protection scheme was in force when you signed your original tenancy agreement as you state it was a 12 month let. If your landlord has not deposited the monies, and there are many companies he can use to do this, you can report him and claim 3 x the deposit given as it is law that he places your deposit with a scheme. If you are sure he hasn't complied with this you could always use the threat of taking it to court and point out to him about the 3x deposit as compensation to see if he will release the deposit. If he wont do what you need to follow this up. You can check out your rights and your next step to take by looking on website direct.gov or deposit protection scheme website. Just google it.|||By law the deposit has to go to a government deposit scheme meaning the landlord does not hold the money, that's illegal now, but I don't know who he would be with if any or how to find out, I'm sure he should have informed you but if he's dodgy then no


I don't know your deposit but a door is 300-600 pounds and I bet he won't change it,


I think computer share possibly in Bristol is one of the companies.





Ar---------- like him give us all bad names





Good luck try C.A.B





A landlords inspection is normally at 4 months because he has to give you 2 months notice to quit|||rubbish. read your tenancy agreement, there should be mention of a deposit scheme, contact them. if there isnt, search online, you can still try to fight for your money back. also in your tenancy agreement should be mention of a number of days the letting agent has to notify you of a problem or reason they wont return your deposit, if they did not inform you as to any problem or let it go beond the deadline, too late for them. a cat flap is NOT the price of a deposit, normally 拢595 or more. landlords are crooks, and need people to fight them, else they will continue to pull this kind of s**t. i am currently in dispute with my former landlord for similar reason. good luck x|||small claims court. that is only option. always use the deposit to cover last month's rent. then you gain control over deposit.|||Citizens Advice.|||Kidnap their children|||I'm a Landlord, we're not all crooks.





Providing your house was in England or Wales then other members are right - your deposit should have been put in a government scheme. There are only 3 and you can email them all using this simple form - they'll get back within 3 days. www.snorkerz.com/deposit.html





If the deposit is with one of them, go to the website and claim your deposit back. The landlord will say why he wants to keep some of the money and the scheme will decide what is fair. IF there was no signed inventory at the start of the tenancy you can claim the flap was there when you moved in and the LL will not be able to prove otherwise. If there is an inventory, and the scheme find in the LLs favour, it's only going to be 拢50/拢60 to repair the hole where the cat flap was.





IF the deposit wasn't in scheme then he can't deduct anything because it's unlawful. In fact, if he doesn't play ball then you can not only get your deposit back through the courts but also 3 times it's value in compensation. Don't get your hopes up though - a savvy landlord will realise that it's cheaper to repay the deposit than go to court.





Start with a letter similar to this





Letter Before Action





Dear Mr XXXXXXXX





RE: 123 High Street, Anytown, AT1 2AA





On the XXX of XXX 20XX I/We paid you a tenancy deposit of 拢XXX in respect of the above property.





The Housing Act 2004 introduced the concept of "Tenancy Deposit Protection" and obliges private landlords to protect/register all tenancy deposits with one of 3 approved schemes.





I/We have verified with all three schemes that the deposit you hold was NOT protected by any scheme. This is unlawful.





You must refund the outstanding balance of my/our deposit IN FULL within 14 days. If you fail to do so, I/we shall sue you for the balance due PLUS the statutory penalty for non-protection of deposits, which is three times the value of the deposit.





Yours sincerely