Adjudication Case Studies

Case Study - Unable to Contact Landlord

Case Details

The Tenant paid the Landlord a deposit of £1,800 upon moving into the property. The deposit was held by the Landlord for the duration of the tenancy, and protected with my|deposits. At the end of the tenancy, the Tenant contacted the Landlord to have the deposit returned. The Tenant claimed that the Landlord could not be contacted, and that the full amount of the deposit had been withheld without explanation. The Tenant subsequently raised a dispute with my|deposits. The scheme also attempted to contact the Landlord and ordered them to lodge the disputed deposit amount within 10 working days. The Landlord also failed to respond.

Evidence

The Tenant provided the Deposit Protection Certificate to prove the deposit was protected with my|deposits. They were also able to provide evidence of their attempts to contact the Landlord.

Adjudicator's Findings

The adjudicator was satisfied that the Landlord had failed to respond to any of the Tenant’s requests to have the
deposit returned or specified why the amount had been withheld. The adjudicator was also satisfied that the
Tenant had made no admissions to being liable for any costs in his submission and that none of the evidence
provided indicated any liability on the part of the Tenant.

When the dispute was lodged, the Landlord failed to respond by way of a Dispute Rebuttal Form. The Landlord also failed to lodge the disputed amount of £1,800 with the scheme within the time limits set out in the Scheme Rules. The scheme rules state that the burden is on the Landlord to justify retaining any part of the deposit.

The adjudicator ordered the Tenant be paid the sum of £1,800 by the my|deposits scheme.

Key points from the case

• The Landlord had breached the my|deposits Scheme Rules by failing to return the deposit to the Tenant
without adequate explanation. Tenancy Deposit Protection was introduced to ensure Tenants fairly
receive their deposit back at the end of the tenancy.

• As the Landlord could not be contacted and failed to return the deposit money, or lodge the disputed amount with the Scheme during the dispute process, my|deposits paid out to the Tenant the £1,800. Under the Scheme Rules, Landlords who do this will have their membership revoked by the Scheme and will also be pursued through the courts for the deposit.

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