kaladorm

Another update. I've contacted the landlords and informed them that, regardless of whether they want to appeal. the judgement must be paid. I've also informed them they they are well outside the 14 day limit to pay the judgement forthwith and that they are close to 30 days at which time the judgement will be registered as unsatisfied and remain on their credit record for 6 years. They have until next Friday to respond to my email, upon which we will be making a charging order against their property. Watch this space

Apparently so. They've not paid within the 14 days, I rang the court to get confirmation of the notice resent to us (as I didn't get the first one they sent) and the court told me they received a fax yesterday saying they are appealing: they've not paid the fees though so it's not yet been processed. The judge will then decide if they can appeal and a hearing will take place in crown court. Given the case was pretty clear cut I'm not sure what grounds they're appealing on, probably the fact that their letting agent didn't tell them about the DPS (which they've cited all along). We made it clear our contract is with them and if they want to take it up with the letting agent they can do, but they still cited this in the letter sent to the court for the initial claim, which the judge clearly did not see as relevant

I've already identified that they are the owners of the house (just to be prepared). I still don't think they fully comprehend the seriousness of the issue, even now a judgement has been made - i.e. registration of judgement, affecting credit rating, any additional costs if we have to make a charging order etc. When we arrived at court for the hearing (they didn't show), there was a hand written letter waiting for us there. Note that this was sent well outside of the 14 days to respond and basically monaed how it was our fault as we didn't ask for a reference number and we broke the tenancy agreement by causing damage etc etc... (i.e. nothing related to the issue under discussion which was the DPS). The judge pretty much ignored it

Well I should say we got a judgement for 3x the deposit (plus original). Payment is due tomorrow and I've not heard a peep from them - I sense a charging order may be on the way before this is truly over with

Yes I can confirm we did get 3x the deposit (as well as the original) as a judgement. I'm happy to answer any questions anyone might have about the process from my experience, as I researched it all quite thoroughly

So we had our hearing today and were successful in claiming our full deposit + 3xdeposit + court fees + costs. Our landlady had issued a cheque for the deposit which arrived shortly before the hearing. There wasn't time for the cheque to clear (given the trustworthiness of our landlady!) and so we went through with the hearing. I was concerned the judge may find that the deposit had already been returned but he made the order to state that the full deposit must be returned, with credit offered by the claimants for moneys already received. That way if the cheque goes through it has been upheld, if it bounces then we still have a judgment to be enforced

I've noticed in a number of posts (and think I've seen someone cite a case) that mentioned if the landlord protected the deposit between being issued notice and the court hearing it could be construed that the landlord had protected the deposit and the case be dismissed. I've received the following from TDS concerning this: "Thank you for contacting The Dispute Service. Ok, no deposits can be back dated so it may be harder for your Landlord to try and register your deposit."

I've noticed a few mentions now of issues with the landlord protecting the deposit at a later date. I don't know for sure if this is a guaranteed approach but, in the interest of avoiding any complications, I've heard that it's best to explain to all three TDS that any deposits lodged 'after' the tenancy has ended should not be accepted as they are not valid. Don't know if this works or not but for anyone else going through this process (and has already moved out) it doesn't hurt to drop them an email letting them know

Hi, I'm new to these forums, but since having trouble with our ex-landlords I've decided to register and update on my claim. We moved in to a place through a lettings agency but they specifically said that all deposit handling and other issues were to go through the landlords. The difficulty was that the landlords lived out of the country, however thankfully the contract said notice could be served to them at the letting agents address. The place was fine, though not perfect by any means, and a number of issues we had to fix ourselves (such as a leaking tap and broken bed) because the landlord was unresponsive. Upon moving out the landlord told us they would be charging £700 of the deposit for damages, a ridiculous amount, and refused to provide evidence or an itemised list with costs. Especially as one of them was for an overgrown garden, despite the fact that the landlord didn't check out the house for 3 weeks after we moved (and this June has been pretty hot!). It then turns out that the deposit was not protected at all. Despite the contract (signed by them) stating it would be protected and a letter from the letting agent saying they had agreed to protect it in such a scheme, it turns out its been held in their bank account. Because there was no option of going through the TDS dispute service, and as it seemed like the quickest and safest option of getting our deposit back, we decided to fle a claim. Using the wording from: http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=65430, I submitted a claim against them citing the Housing Act 2004 (sec 214). I also submitted: Copies of emails from all 3 TDS stating that no deposit was held. Copies of emails from landlord confirming deposit was in their bank account Copy of tenancy agreement stating deposit would be held in a TDS Copy of tenancy agreement stating notices could be served at the letting agents address Copy of confirmation form letting agent saying that landlord had informed them they would be putting it into a TDS I've just received notice this morning that the hearing at county court will be on the 9th August. I'll update with what happens, can anyone provide any advice on how these things go, what I need to prepare etc?