This Section 21 court case appeal could impact ALL landlords
2 years ago | 12 comments
Deposit return when the married name hasn’t been added?
6:03 AM, 16th May 2024, 2 years ago
3
Hello, My property was rented to an individual who paid the initial deposit which sits in a holding account. In December last year, we added her new husband to the rental contract and changed contract to new married surname.
We did not amend details on deposit being held.
She has since spit from her husband and moved to another part of the UK but he remains in the house.
She owes £800 in rent and has no intention of paying.
Can I reclaim the original deposit and ask the husband to pay a deposit and change contract into his name?
Thank you,
Paul
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Member Since March 2015 - Comments: 124
10:01 AM, 16th May 2024, About 2 years ago
Wow, there’s a lot of comings and goings!
Why does she owe £800 and not the pair of them? If you had added the new husband to the contract then they would be jointly liable.
With regard to the deposit, which scheme is this registered with? I understood it’s the tenant’s responsibility to notify the deposit scheme of any changes.
I would be inclined to mention the arrears to the husband/ex husband and ask him to pay. She hasn’t necessarily relinquished responsibility of the tenancy just by moving out…..if she surrendered her tenancy then you could claim the deposit against the rent arrears.
I would advise starting a new tenancy with him and asking for a new deposit – let’s hope they don’t kiss and make up!!
Member Since November 2022 - Comments: 120
10:48 AM, 16th May 2024, About 2 years ago
“Adding the husband to the contract”. What were the formalities? Did you allow the existing tenancy to be assigned from sole name to joint names or just agree that there would be a new tenancy with joint tenants? If the latter then that’s probably an implied surrender and re-grant triggering repayment of the original deposit to original sole tenant subject to any legitimate deductions for breaches pre-dating the surrender. Did you deal with the deposit properly? If not you could be looking at a penalty. I would suggest you get proper legal advice based on full facts.
Member Since October 2020 - Comments: 1177
11:27 AM, 16th May 2024, About 2 years ago
As above, you can’t just “add someone to the contract”. Unless you went through a proper process, you have likely created a mess.