Deposit for flat

[lostandconfused]

Hi, i hope someone can help.

In July 2006, me and five others moved out of a student house.
We spoke to the landlord to request our deposits were sent back to us.
He said that he needed proof that all the utility bills had been paid, and not to send it recorded delivery as he's in the army so no-one would be there to sign for it.

So i sent a copy of the bills to him and heard nothing for a few months. Anyway when i spoke to him he said he had never recieved them, unfortunatly i had sent the original copies and it took just over a month to get new ones from npower.

He still hasnt returned our deposits, but yesterday i found out he had returned them to one of the housemates but not the other 4.

I had pretty much just written it off as it was £255 and it didnt seem like worth the hassle, but when you multiply that by the 4 he still owes its over a grand he's made off us.

My question is, doesnt the fact that the bills are all in my name so if we hadnt paid them they would chase me not him, mean that even though he claims not to have received them not be a reason to return our deposits?

And how would we go about getting this money back? as far as we can tell he has moved house and possibly changed his mobile number (hes not answering it anyway) the hosue we rented is still owned by him, and rented out to new tennants.

Thanks!

[SMHarman]

https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

Complete this and send it to him. If he is in the army he should be pretty easy to track down. The current tennants should have contact details for him (or his managing agent).

Your claim will set out the basics...

1 We (all of you should just claim together) rented place from date to date
2 As part of this rental agreement we paid a deposit of 1275
3 We gave notice on date and terminated this lease on date as set out in the lease
4 The repayment of this deposit was requested on date
5 The landlord (defendant) requested proof that all utility bills were paid up to date before he repaid the deposit monies.
6 All utility bills were paid up to date and the utilities changed to the name of the landlord on date. This information was sent to the landlord on or about date
7 To date only 255 of the deposit has been repaid.
8 We are claiming 1020 of the deposit plus interest due (any set out in the lease) or statutory interest at 8% of (work it out to the date you submit the claim) amount due to you all 1020 X 8% X Days he has had your deposit (from the outset)/365 and 2 pence per day until paid.

If you have done everything as set out this is a pretty open and shut case, he should either cave and repay, or if he wants a fight will have to counterclaim why he is witholding (and has 14-30 days to do this). All you guys will need is proof of the actions above.

To file will cost you GBP30.

[lostandconfused]

thats just what i was after, thanks!

just one more question before i have a look into it, am i going to have to try and find his adress or will the court do that if they judge in our favour?

[Shaun]

My question is, doesnt the fact that the bills are all in my name so if we hadnt paid them they would chase me not him, mean that even though he claims not to have received them not be a reason to return our deposits?

As long as you closed all your accounts and gave his name as the land lord there's no need to show him anything. your dealings with the utilitys is none of his business.

When I worked for British Gas for a while we used to get a lod of landlords ringing to see if the tenants had paid their accounts. We used to tell each and every one to mind their own business. :)

---------- Post added at 17:39 ---------- Previous post was at 17:36 ----------

thats just what i was after, thanks!

just one more question before i have a look into it, am i going to have to try and find his adress or will the court do that if they judge in our favour?

You need his address.

Send a copy of the form SMHarman suggested to him first stating you give him 7 days to pay (14 if you're feeling generous) or you're filing it with the court. He'll probably cave at that point but if not then file it and wait. :)