Late deposit protection?

Reply to the comment left by Sandra at 27/06/2023 – 12:25
Please don’t rely on what a friend’s daughter might do over the next 5 years, however close that relationship might be.

That’s a long time in a young girl’s life, and much will change.

Please cover yourself on all aspects of letting.

My advice is to protect the deposit IMMEDIATELY.  I use and recommend MyDeposits. Will cost you for registering (a guess) £60 or more then £30 to register the deposit. I do remember it said as long as a deposit was registered during a tenancy one could get away with it. Surely at the end of the day you would prefer a deposit? 

Reply to the comment left by Yvonne Francis at 27/06/2023 – 13:02
Yes I would prefer the deposit but don’t want any issues.

There are no guarantees of no issues Sandra. You are being naive if you think ignorance of such situations will mean no problems. This tenancy seems to have been going on for a time already. Do you have a tenancy agreement? If not maybe time to set one up and set deposit in line with new agreement. Your original ask was about the deposit but have you complied with all the safety issues ie gas, electrical etc and insured property in line with renting?

Reply to the comment left by RoseD at 27/06/2023 – 13:15
Yes got electricity and gas certificates and tenancy agreement. House has been rented for a year with no issues.

Good. So….do the correct thing and deposit the deposit. It’s for your own protection too as already outlined in other replies. It is, as I’ve already stated, against the law to retain the deposit.

Sandra No point in registering the deposit now as you would still have to return it to serve notice so might as well give it back now, the tenant can however still make a claim against you for up to 3 x the deposit should they so desire. If you do go down the registration route then use the custodian route as offered by both the TDS and DPS as there is no charge for these schemes. Dont mean to be blunt but given that the deposit registration legislation has been around since 2007and say you didn’t know about it would indicate you shouldn’t be self managing and would be better off employing an agent to look after the house for you..

Let’s say friend’s daughter meets a partner and all goes wrong and the house gets trashed. People or circumstances change and you could be left picking up the pieces.

Did you give How to rent booklet?

I think it’s too late to protect the deposit so give it back. If the house is damaged likely it won’t be enough anyway.

Reply to the comment left by RoseD at 27/06/2023 – 10:43
Rose D is 100% correct. Get the deposit in a scheme. I am in the process of learning the hard way. In short I forgot to get it deposited, realised 6 months into the tenancy and got it registered. 7 months later I get a demand from a no win no fee solicitors (CEL) for a minimum 1 months rent as a penalty plus covering the tenants legal fee’s. No recourse, statutory penalty between 1 and 3 months set by the government. Needless to say the landlord/tenant relationship isn’t currently going well……

From the governments website –

At the end of the tenancy
The court may decide that you will not have to leave the property when the tenancy ends if your landlord has not used a TDP scheme when they should have.

As you have missed the 30 days deadline you could be in stuck, simply returning the deposit (with proof it has been returned) might get you out of it but lets hope you don’t have to evict. It depends how long ago the tenant moved in, if its only a few months you might get away with it, once it has become a periodic tenancy or greater than six months I think you may have an issue – I don’t actually take deposits, never have.

Went to court once when a tenant disputed my S21 and got the assistance from the ‘duty court solicitor’ who smugly pointed out I hadn’t registered the deposit, wiped the smile of both their faces when I produced the signed piece of paper stating that she hadn’t paid any deposit.