registering deposit

[salavan]

Hi ive been reading on this web site about agents taking deposits and not registering them with the DPS, can anybody tell me what should be done / what proof should one ask for to make sure the agent has done his job properly and registered the deposit

thanks

[Mortitia]

HI Salavan,

I can only comment on the government run DPS (Deposit Protection Service) for sure as that is the one I recommend and use but I'm sure the others must follow a similar line.

On joining the scheme and placing the deposit the Landlord or Agent is given an ID number. This same number can be used for more than one property and is particular to that agent/landlord.

Each deposit has a separate ID number so agent/landlord has two numbers. All this is done on email so you could ask for a copy of your particlular deposit via that agent- in fact if would be a good thing to do so you know exactly where things are.

After the deposit is placed the tenant is emailed or written to with confirmation of this and he/she is given their own personal deposit ID number to keep safely. At the end of tenancy agent /landlord activates deposit return online and tenant has to put thier number in to get deposit sent to them at new address or transferred to their bank account.

I had to give a full deposit back yesterday but my tenant had lost his ID number. He went online and followed the prompts to retrieve his number and said it was quite easy.

Hope that clarifies things for you.

Mortitia