Landlords have you registered all old deposits held?

Landlords have you registered all old deposits held?

13:32 PM, 30th April 2015, About 9 years ago 19

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Landlords are being urged to register all deposits they have taken from tenants with an approved protection scheme before 23 June or face four-figure fines.register

Historical deposits, such as those taken before 6 April 2007, must also be protected following the recent Deregulation Act in which the Government attempted remove red-tape across the sector.

Landlords must register the deposit with an approved scheme such as the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, MyDeposits, or the Deposit Protection Scheme.

The fines for failure to do so are unlimited and up to a maximum of three times the initial deposit plus the deposit – a hefty amount in many cases.

“The deadline of 23 June is looming, and it’s not just hefty fines that landlords must be wary of, they may also find it difficult to remove tenants when they wish to if they have failed with their deposit obligations,” explains a spokesperson for landlord insurance providers Discount Insurance.

With tenants typically putting down six weeks rent upfront and the average monthly UK rent currently standing a £768, this means a likely deposit of around £1,152 –even higher in areas such as London.

Although there are no firm figures on how many landlords have not registered deposits held, some experts believe up to one in three landlords in England and Wales could face fines, with those who have had rolling tenants for many years most likely to fall into the trap.

“Those who have had the same tenants for several years could be most likely to caught out as they may not be aware that they needed to register deposits,” added the spokesperson.

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Comments

Dr Rosalind Beck

19:13 PM, 5th May 2015, About 9 years ago

Yeah. I was just joking. It won't affect me! I don't think it would affect many people as if someone has rented from you for more than 8 years they're usually not the type you have to serve a notice on anyway.

Steve Dalloway

11:26 AM, 1st April 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Michael Barnes" at "30/04/2015 - 14:58":

I believe that's not the case, we have a tenant who left after 10 years in 2014 and we failed to protect her deposit as we believed as you did. We are now facing a legal challenge after she left in 2014 of 15.25K as damages for not protecting her deposit. She did get all but £15 of her deposit back too.... Big Ouch - Protect it and remember to re-protect it if required every 6 months.

Dr Rosalind Beck

13:44 PM, 1st April 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Steve Dalloway" at "01/04/2016 - 11:26":

Hi Steve.
May I ask why it is so much? I thought the maximum they could claim was 3 months rent. Was it a rent of about 5k a month then?

Michael Barnes

16:06 PM, 1st April 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Steve Dalloway" at "01/04/2016 - 11:26":

Sounds wrong to me.
Certainly not what Parliament said they intended.

Can you let us know the outcome?

Romain Garcin

10:42 AM, 2nd April 2016, About 8 years ago

There is no requirement to protect deposits for tenancies that started before April 2007.
Steve's tenant may have moved in before that date but perhaps replacement tenancies were created later on.

From the amount of the claim, either the rent was very high or they are claiming for several tenancies.
In law all the requirements and penalties relate to individual tenancies so in principle they can indeed claim separately for each tenancy where Steve was allegedly in breach.

Michael Barnes

15:00 PM, 2nd April 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Romain Garcin" at "02/04/2016 - 10:42":

Thank you.

I had forgotten about signing new agreements, as I have stayed Statutory Periodic on all my affected tenancies.

Steve Dalloway

10:47 AM, 4th April 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Ros ." at "01/04/2016 - 13:44":

3 x deposit x number of renewals GULP !!

Dr Rosalind Beck

11:28 AM, 4th April 2016, About 8 years ago

Hi Steve. You definitely need some good legal help on this. To be fined just because you renew tenancies must go against the spirit of the law. I was once owed about 1,500 in arrears and the guarantor was going to pay up, when she realised I had obliged a tenant's request a year earlier for a new tenancy agreement, but not got the guarantor to re-sign. I never got a penny of it then, just for having done the tenant a favour. The law is an ass and very much stacked against landlords. Good luck with this.

Steve Dalloway

11:32 AM, 4th April 2016, About 8 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Ros ." at "04/04/2016 - 11:28":

Thank Ros, Yes its quite an unjust law in some respects, but we are on the case and I just wanted to highlight the issues so other landlords didn't fall foul of the law also...... It does make you think that the law isn't exactly even handed when it comes to this type of thing.

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