mindy Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Hi, wondered if anyone had experienced requesting the return of a deposit from the DPS?? my tenant has left the property. i protected her £500 deposit with the dps a few weeks ago when she moved in. she has now loeft owing rent of £210 and with no notice and with loads of bills outstanding. i therefore stated on the repayment request that i wanted to retain all of the deposit. when u go on the request of a deposit part of the DPS web site, it only asks you how much you want to retain and does not allow you to state why which i think is silly as this would give the tenant a reason for the hold back of the deposit. it also does not allow you to provide the forwarding address and sends the repayment paperwork to the tenant at the address that they have just left !!! i cannot see why on earth this is like it but was told by the lady at the dps that this is the way they do it !!! i was then told that if the tenant does not respond to the paperwork (which i have got to get the new tenant to give to me and then send onto the new address!) if there is no response then the deposit stays where it is and i have to go to COURT to get the money back from the DPS. OR if the tenant disputes it and we go through the dispute process i still have to go to court to get the money back!!! SURELY THIS AINT RIGHT??????????? anyone had any experience in this? or know of a better scheme as i wont be using them again thats for sure! ta Mindy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Dewsberry Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Well well First of all Mindy thank you for this post - the very first on here ref DPS and problems .... This exact situation was "highlighted" in some very heated exchanges on here some months ago just b4 the new "fair" system was introduced ..... Personally do not and will not use custodial scheme EVER if i can avoid it for this very reason plus a whole lot more ..... Sending to prev add is clearly nonsense .... This i suspect will be the tip of the iceberg ..... If you cant get hold of T then make a single claim on it . Recommend that you use www.mydeposits.co.uk and pay the £58 set up and £30 per dep fee - as this is for T protection it is only right and fair that you charge the T for this service within your " admin fee " when setting up tennacy ..... This will hopefully be a good thread .... Please keep us upt to date of progress Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grosvenor Posted August 17, 2007 Report Share Posted August 17, 2007 Mindy, scroll down the list of topics to..... Bonds - who is doing what and why ?, Plenty of information there for you. Completly agree with Simon; I too will never subscribe to ant kind of depository for my T's deposits. I am not a rogue landlord and have never withheld any deposit without agreement with the T. .....and I dont like being 'bundled' with these people and told how to conduct myself by central government, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted August 18, 2007 Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 Hi, Some landlords are going to be forced to use DPS because the TDS will not insure a non-UK resident landlord. So, if you are a landlord that will be living abroad or if you are a letting agent protecting a deposit on a non-UK resident landlord then - at this point in time - you are going to have to use the DPS. FYI ..... Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Dewsberry Posted August 18, 2007 Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 It also a legal requirement of an ast to provide a uk address to serve notice upon - i'm quite sure it is not beyond the realms of possibilty to use this address for ins scheme.....! for those that need to ....or even a friend or relative's uk address..... Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spire Posted August 18, 2007 Report Share Posted August 18, 2007 Well I have decided that I am not going to take deposits any more, I am now charging an Arragement Fee which is none refundable, or any part there off, so I do not have to worry about the deposit scheme/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Dewsberry Posted August 19, 2007 Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 How much are you charging for the arrangement fee? If Tenant has no financial commitment (bond) then what possible incentive is there for him //her to look after prop or even return it clean ? If you are working on this basis you might just as well take a deposit and put it in the custodial scheme (free) to at least get some chance of T looking after prop ?? Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPEL Posted August 19, 2007 Report Share Posted August 19, 2007 Not sure about Mark's statement that LAs holding deposits for non-Resident landlords cannot use an insurance based scheme. Please confirm where this is stated. My understanding is that if the deposit is held in a ring fenced UK client account then it is alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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