Advice on getting my deposit back please...

TheOnion

Hi,

In a nutshell I agreed to rent a house on the grounds that a number of jobs would be carried out on the property. On moving in (March 2012) and after having paid a months rent and deposit of the same amount, I discovered alot of these jobs had not been done. I tried to politely and reasonably agree with the agent and landlady on a date for when these jobs would be completed as I was now paying rent for a house that was not in the condition I had agreed to rent it. They were both rude to me about this.

So I went to Threshold and they advised me to send a letter to the landlady, and I gave a copy to the agent. The letter outlined the issues needing rectifying, and if they weren't done by a certain date then I would legally issue them with 28 days notice of termination. Please note there is no lease, but Threshold told me there is still a legal agreement since money was paid and keys were exchanged.

On receipt of the letter the landlady phoned me and told me she couldn't come up with everything I had asked for and would like me to leave when the month was up...I was relieved to be honest as I have no desire to remain in this house or to deal with those people for any length of time.

Threshold told me that technically a verbal notice of termination is legaly invalid but I decided not to rock the boat by asking the landlady for a written notice and just let it lie.

However I am quite anxious about the fact that she will not return my deposit to me. She has no rightful reason not to...I have not damaged the property in any way or done anything that would legally allow her to retain it. But she is not a nice woman and I absolutely don't trust her.

So I'd appreciate people's advice on what action I can take should she decide to withold my deposit from me when I move out next Monday the 9th of April. I will be straight down to Threshold of course. But aside from Threshold, I'm just wondering is there anything else I could do? Am I right in thinking all they can do is ask her to give it back? And if she doesn't, then we pursue legal action? Her husband is a barrister by the way. Wondering if there's some other way to shame her into giving it back (like phoning Joe Duffy for example!) instead of having to go down the legal route if it comes to that?

Any constructive advice is most welcome Obviously it's quite possible the she will return my deposit, but like I said I really don't trust her - they already lied to me about the condition the house would be in when I moved in.

Thanks very much

ProudDUB

Forget about Joe Duffy. That is just being silly. They won't really care about a spat between a tenant and her land lady & nor will the listeners. They also won't give you the time of day for fear of being sued for slander by the land lady.

Threshold hold no legal authority whatsoever, and can not make her do anything. If she refuses to give you your deposit back you will have to file a claim against her with the PRTB. (It can take well over a year to get a PRTB resolution, so be prepared to be without your money for a LONG time if you have to go down that road.) Suing the the land lady old fashioned way is not an option. The courts refer matters of this nature to the PRTB now. The legal system would be clogged with disputes like this if they didn't.

Learn your lesson from this. Make sure all important work has been done before you move in to a property. Get a lease drawn up. Get an inventory of contents. Take pictures of the place before and after you move in and prior to your moving out. Not doing so makes any issues and disputes a case of your word against someone elses & they are VERY hard to resolve.

TheOnion

Thanks very much ProudDub. Yeah I know the Joe Duffy thing is silly, was just wondering if there was some way of shaming her into it but never mind!

Ok so the PRTB is the place to go if need be, thank you.

Yeah photographed all pre-existing damage on the property but did this since I've been living here, hopefully it will still count if needed.

I have learned my lesson indeed.

And I did request a lease, I just never got one!

Hopefully she just gives it back to me and I won't need to pursue her for it.

Thanks again

TheOnion

Actually I have another question.

Can I refuse to give back the keys until I get my deposit back? Or would that be illegal?