chickpea

Update: LA rang this morning, to say that he'd had an email from the DPS and it appeared they had agreed to repay £255 to us, £270 to the tenants. He said he had to read it a couple of times to quite believe it, but if we were happy to let go of the other £15 we'd disputed, all he had to do was click to say he approved of the repayment. Following a couple of hours of euphoric disbelief that it could all be resolved so easily, I'm now back to wondering (and worrying) that perhaps he's misunderstood, and that the repayment agreement is actually only for the tenants to receive the undisputed amount. If that was the case, wouldn't the DPS return ONLY the undisputed amount - which was £255 to the tenants, NOT £270? I'm utterly confused - we also recieved a text from the lead tenant this morning, asking us what the £270 was for.... :S

I think we're going to have to talk to the DPS ourselves (if we can - LA has the ID number for th deposit,not us, so perhaps they won't speak specifially about this to us?) It could be that the LA has misunderstood what he's been told...which is what I'm worried about. Or maybe it's become more complicated because the tenants have lost their ID number, so have to now prove who they are?? I don't think I'll hold my breath!

As I understand it, the DPS have said we have to start the process again - how many opportunities do the tenants get before the DPS end the case and release the money? Knowing our tenants, this could go on indefinitely (we know that they have a long-term habit of ignoring paperwork and requests for info).

Here's what the LA emailed us this morning - Have heard from the DPS who confirmed that our repayment request (i.e. we retain a sum of money) has been rejected by the lead tenant. As a result either party can start the repayment process again but this time, we would be asked if we wanted to use the ADRS (Alternative Dispute Resolution Service). You may recall we have been here before and we have!! The tenants, as previously, are sent a “statutory declaration form” that in addition to rejecting our claim, have to complete, sign, have sworn by a solicitor or similar, and return to the DPS. They have not!! True a solicitor will charge for a “swearing” but it should be about £5.00. Because they have not returned the “stat dec”, it all goes back to the beginning………….again! So……I have requested a release of bond, withholding the original £266.98. The DPS have though confirmed we now do nothing until the other side respond as they should. We continue to wait and see!!

Sorry, Julles - cross-posted. This is why I'm confused. The info I have had from our letting agent, as given to him by the DPS, is that he has requested part of the deposit, the tenants disagreed, the LA agreed to go to arbitration. The tenants were then sent a statutory declaration form to be witnessed...they haven't returned it so the whle process starts again, and, according to our LA, the DPS have said we don't have to do anything until the tenants respond to our request to withhold part of the deposit. I'm lost!

Thanks Mortitia. TBF, our letting agent has taken this on himself and is very keen to get it right. I can't see our tenants doing anything in a timely manner, let alone anything which involves them putting themselves out (they are not very bright and have clearly not worked out that it is in their best interests to do so!). We were pessimistic abouth recovering any part of the deposit, but it sounds like we may by default,so happy days!

Thanks Julles. Our LA is dealing with this and has been in telephone contact with the DPs, which is how I know that the tenants aren't responding. From what he said (LA), the DPS are waiting on the tenants to have THEIR side of the single claim process witnessed - does that sound correct? I am slightly concerned because our LA has never had to deal with this before - although he is keeping in close contact with the DPS to make sure he's doing everything correctly on our behalf. The tenants left a forwarding address (although it was different from the post-tenancy address given on the tenancy agreement - could this be the problem?)

Quick summary of the situation - deposit protected with DPS. End of tenancy - we requested £270 to be withheld, to cover plumbing costs and redecoration of ceiling. Tenants have lost their unique id number (we found all paperwork associated with the tenancy dumped in the bin), so the process has started all over again. DPS has written to the tenants 3 times now, stating that they need to have a statutory declaration witnessed by solicitors or similar...no response. What happens now? I've tried to understand the DPS terms and conditions, but got lost very quickly - to me,it reads as though the disputed amount will be turned over to us automatically if the tenants continue to ignore requests from the DPs. Is that the case?