Please also visit http://socialwelfarelaw.wikispaces.com/Tenancy+Deposit+Links for more info about tenancy deposits including caselaw
Hashemi & Johnson v Gladehurst Properties Ltd]]//, HHJ Cryan, Clerkenwell & Shoreditch County Court, 9 December 2009
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2010/06/tenancy-deposits-a-novel-argument-on-hold/
Claimant can bring claim even though he is no longer holds a tenancy to which the claim relates.
Draycott & Draycott -v- Hannells Letting Limited [2010] EWHC 217 (QB) _ Landlords may get away with late complaince if the 14 day requirement isn’t part of the TDS that the Landlord places the deposit with. See http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2010/02/two-weeks-three-months-whatever-tds-in-the-high-court/
Drozd & Matusyk v Borsellino Bedford County Court 19 December 2007
Tenant issued claim prior to end of tenancy. Landlord had failed to protect deposit as required and was ordered to repay £350 deposit + 3x deposit £1050 + £220 costs within 14 days.
Ford v Adjarkoh & Gold Crown Lettings Services Ltd Bedford County Court 28 February 2008
Tenant entered defence to possession claim by landlord on basis that deposit paid to agent had not been protected. As the section 214 liability arose out of agent’s negligence, agent agreed out of court to make a payment to landlord. This was offset against the tenant’s alleged rent arrears in return for the tenant dropping the section 214 claim.
Stankova v Glassonbury Gloucester County Court 10 March 2008
Tenant issued the claim prior to the end of the tenancy. Although the deposit had been protected by the time of the hearing, the tenant had never been provided with the prescribed information about the scheme. Landlord ordered to pay 3x deposit £1800 + court fee of £75.
Badhan v Singleton and Hill Wolverhampton County Court 2 July 2008
Tenant counterclaimed for 3x deposit during possession proceedings for rent arrears. Court accepted this and matter was settled by a consent order that there were no arrears. Harvey v Bamforth Sheffield County Court 8 August 2008 Landlord’s appeal to a circuit judge – A landlord who had provided information about a tenancy deposit scheme later than the specified period of 14 days was not liable to pay the penalty of three times the value of the deposit. Information was provided after 14 days but before the section 214 claim.
Ferguson v Jones Birmingham County Court 5 November 2008
Landlord failed to protect deposit within 14 days and only protected it once possession proceedings had started and the tenant had counter-claimed for disrepair. Judge ordered landlord to repay 3x deposit and said that to interpret section 214 in any other way would be contrary to intention of parliament.
Unknown v Diamond Properties Leeds County Court 8 January 2009
Deposit was not protected within 14 days of receipt and prescribed information was not given to tenant until proceedings had been issued. Solicitors acting for the letting agent argued that the intention of the legislation was not to penalise landlords/agents who failed to comply within 14 days of receipt of deposit but to penalise those who had failed to protect the deposit by the time the case comes to court. Judge accepted this and triple payment claim was dismissed.
Saad v Hogan Brentford County Court 16 February 2009
Deposit of £1000 paid for fixed-term tenancy prior to introduction of tenancy deposit legislation. In November 2007 a further fixed-term tenancy was granted in the same property. The new tenancy agreement provided for payment of a £1000 deposit but no new deposit was physically handed over – instead the original deposit was retained by landlord.
In June 2008 landlord issued section 8 notice based on rent arrears. Tenant defended on basis that landlord had failed to protect deposit and asked that the triple payment compensation due to her be offset against the rent arrears. By the date of the hearing there were 4 months’ rent arrears. Judge did not accept tenant’s defence and made outright possession order under Ground 8. Tenant appealed to circuit judge who accepted her defence. Landlord was ordered to pay £3000 which was offset against rent arrears.
Piggott v Slaven Great Grimsby County Court 23 February 2009
Deposit paid for tenancy prior to introduction of tenancy deposit legislation. Tenant moved to another property of the same landlord after the introduction of the legislation. Landlord returned £75 and retained £525 of original deposit describing it as ‘rent in advance’. Landlord served section 21 notice and started possession action. Tenant defended possession claim on basis that deposit had not been protected and counter-claimed for triple payment. Judge found that £420 was not held as ‘rent in advance’ as the tenancy was a weekly periodic tenancy with rent of £105 payable weekly in advance. The £420 was therefore a deposit and should have been protected. Possession claim under sec. 21 dismissed as landlord not entitled to serve section 21 notice and landlord ordered to pay 3x deposit £1260 within 14 days.
Universal Estates v Tiensia Croydon County Court 23 February 2009
Landlord failed to protect deposit within 14 days and only protected it with Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd (trading as mydeposits) once possession proceedings had been started for rent arrears. Tenant counter-claimed for triple payment on basis that initial requirements of the mydeposits scheme had not been complied with – the scheme rules stated that the full amount of the deposit should be protected within 14 days of receipt from the tenant. Judge agreed that to comply with this particular scheme’s requirements, the deposit should have been protected within 14 days – there was no scope for late compliance. Landlord was ordered to pay tenant 3x deposit (£7200).
Seghier v Rollings Bow County Court 6 March 2009
Landlord failed to protect the deposit within 14 days. It had been protected by time of court hearing but prescribed information had not been supplied. Judge ordered landlord to repay deposit + triple payment totaling £2780.
Beal v McCartney Plymouth County Court 12 March 2009
Former tenant started 214 claim and claim for breach of quiet enjoyment after having been evicted following repossession claim by landord’s lender. Judge ordered landlord to repay deposit, pay triple compensation amount and awarded £500 damages for breach of quiet enjoyment.
Da Costa v Pinter Bromley County Court April 2009
Tenant issued the claim after the tenancy had ended. Deposit was protected and prescribed information given prior to the hearing. Judge was not satisfied with late compliance and ordered landlord to pay 3x deposit £6750 + return of deposit £2250.
Ansbro v Tag & Co Darlington County Court 13 May 2009
Section 214 claim against an agent dismissed on grounds that sec. 214(4) only effective against a landlord. However, the tenant has sought leave to appeal as sec. 212(9)(a) makes clear that references to landlords includes references to people acting on their behalf.
Woods v Harrington Haverfordwest County Court 19 May 2009
12 month AST granted in May 2008. Section 214 claim issued by tenant after tenancy ended via surrender in March 2009. In April 2009 landlord paid deposit into scheme and counter-claimed for damage. Judge refused to accept late compliance and ordered triple payment + return of deposit. Directions were given on landlord’s counter-claim.
Delicata v Sandberg Central London County Court 2 June 2009
Ms Sandberg was granted a 12 month AST in July 2007. The deposit was not protected until August 2007. The landlord had served a s.21 notice on the same day the tenancy agreement was signed. In April 2008, Ms Sandberg was sent to prison. She had notified the landlord in advance. While she was in prison and without warning to her, the landlord issued accelerated possession proceedings relying on the s.21 notice from July 2007. A possession order was obtained and then in April 2009 a warrant of possession, both while Ms Sandberg was in prison and without her having been served with papers there. She returned to the flat on her release in May 2009. The landlord applied for a warrant of restitution. At court, the DJ accepted that the possession order should be set aside. The landlord could not rely on a s.21 notice served while the deposit was not protected – s.215(1) Housing Act 2004 – as it was invalid.
O’Brien v Hill Barnet County Court 22 September 2009
12 month AST granted on 9/6/08. Sec. 21 notice served on 12/6/08. Deposit received on 2/7/08 and registered with the DPS within time on 7/7/08. Landlord later sought possession relying on sec. 21 notice served on 12/6/08. Claim was initially struck out on basis that sec. 21 notice invalid as sec. 213, HA2004 had not been complied with. Landlord applied to restore the claim on basis that sec. 213 did not apply as no deposit had been received at the time when sec. 21 notice served. This was accepted by the judge and a possession order was made.
Bihari v House Trader (UK ) Limited. 14 January 2010, Central London County Court While we wait for the forthcoming High Court and Court of Appeal decisions in tenancy deposit cases, here is a tenancy deposit appeal, but, alas, only to a Circuit Judge, so not binding. Mr B rented a two bed property from September 2006 and paid the deposit of £850.00 in respect of that AST in September 2006. The AST was renewed in September 2007 and the landlord/agent House Trader (UK) Limited did not protect the deposit after renewing the tenancy. The landlord rejected Mr B’s representations that it should be protected and the claim came to Uxbridge County Court. At first instance, the District Judge accepted the landlord’s argument that s.212-214 Housing Act 2004 did not apply to renewed tenancies where the deposit had initally been paid before April 2007. HHJ Faber at Central London County Court allowed the tenant’s appeal, apparently on the basis that there was a deposit paid in relation to the premises and there was a post April 2007 tenancy agreement stating that a deposit had been paid in respect of that tenancy.
The landlord was ordered to pay £3400, being the deposit and 3 x penalty. Mr B was not legally represented, the appeal being conducted with help from a housing support worker, citing previous circuit Judge decisions in Saad v Hogan, Brentford County Court 16 February 2009, and Coutinho v Atkinson, April 2009, Clerkenwell & Shoreditch County Court.
I shall be grateful for details of the case going through the appeal in High Court and/or Appeal Court. I am specifically interested in deposit paid in to a landlord before April 2007 and subsisting under a new letting agreement signed after April 2007; on what construction of wording or facts it is considered to have been transferred;
The fact of the last case listed by you are relevant.
I think that it is a poor law which would demand that a landlord returns an initial deposit and a tenant returns it back instantly in order to establish the payment of a new deposit. It seems the spirit of the law is subservient to the letter. Statutes will never embrace all possible future facts in order to create legal clarity; the spirit of the law must be considered.
Thank you
Christina Nicholas
Hello
My case is awaiting permission for an appeal. My case is very longwinded. We started a tenancy on 4th June 2008 and believed our landlord had protected our deposit as per the tenancy agreement, we had concerns around december 09 time with the property and made enquiries to where our deposit was, we were told it was in our landlords bank account and not in scheme, we gave the landlord 7 days in which to put the money into the scheme and was assured that it had been done, despite being given an incorrect account number and details, we then received a section 21 notice from a solicitor dated 24th december 2009 and was delivered on 31st december 2009. We commenced court proceedings on the advice of shelter and the dps, my landlord failed to answer the court and default judgement was entered on 29th Janaury 2010 believing the court would just order my landlord to either return the deposit and 3 times the amount, no the court judgement dated 15th february 2010 stated assessment for an amount to be decided by the court, and the court kindly altered the claim to a part 7 also. my deposit remained unprotected until 22nd february 2010 at which time we were already serving our notice to leave the house, so it served no purpose for it to go into the account for all of 2 weeks, my landlord disputed the amount, thus revealing the intention i believe was never to protect it all along. There was another error my the court that the tape was not put in to record the transcripts which means the chances of an appeal are very unlikely, plus adverse costs order against me. i then had 2 further judgements that had parts on that did not even exist and an order that was not an order. i have complained to the court but I am not hopeful of a sucessful outcome, a solicitor is too costly for me. Any assistance would be very much appreciated.
draycott v hannels also concerns me as this 14 day initial requirement is not there, and yet the terms and conditions on the dps site are quite clear, I am trying to obtain the terms and conditions that would have applied in june 2008 and see if they differ somewhat
The link for our account of Draycott v Hannells is at
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2010/02/two-weeks-three-months-whatever-tds-in-the-high-court/
Your link is to page 2 – which is a moveable feast.
We also now have
O’Brien v Jones
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2010/06/all-mimsy-were-the-borogroves/
on the preliminary requirements of the TDS scheme.
Thanks NL, to be honest with my limited time I’ve largely been concentrating on updating the similar page of the Wiki which is linked at the top of this page
. Ty kindly for the linkage info.