As agents we will collect and hold a deposit from the tenant at the beginning of the tenancy against any costs or losses incurred as a result of any breach of the terms of the tenancy agreement.

We are a member of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which is administered by:
Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited
3rd Floor, Kingmaker House
Station Road, Barnet
Herts EN5 1NZ
Telephone 0871 703 0552
E-mail  info@mydepsoits.co.uk
Fax  08456 34 34 03

If we are instructed by the Landlord to hold the Deposit, we shall do so under the terms of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and only in cases where an inventory report is provided by an inventory clerk and we draw up the tenancy agreement.

We hold tenancy deposits as Stakeholder.

At the end of the tenancy covered by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme
If there is no dispute we/the Agent will keep any amounts agreed as deductions where expenditure has been incurred on behalf of the Landlord, or repay the whole or the balance of the Deposit according to the conditions of the Tenancy Agreement with the Landlord and the Tenant.  Payment of the Deposit will be made within 10 working days of written consent from both parties.

If, after 15 working days* following notification of a dispute to the Agent and reasonable attempts have been made in that time to resolve any differences of opinion, there remains an unresolved dispute between the Landlord and the Tenant over the allocation of the Deposit it will (subject to B 4.3 below) be submitted to the ICE for adjudication. All parties agree to co-operate with any adjudication.

The statutory rights of either you/the Landlord or the Tenant(s) to take legal action against the other party remain unaffected.

It is not compulsory for the parties to refer the dispute to the ICE for adjudication.  The parties may, if either party chooses to do so seek the decision of the Court.  However, this process may take longer and may incur further costs.  Judges may, because it is a condition of the Tenancy Agreement signed by both parties, refer the dispute back to the ICE for adjudication.  If the parties do agree that the dispute should be resolved by the ICE, they must accept the decision of the ICE as final and binding.

If there is a dispute I/we must remit to Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited the full deposit, less any amounts already agreed by the parties and paid over to them.  This must be done within 10 working days of being told that a dispute has been registered whether or not you or I/we want to contest it.  Failure to do so will not delay the adjudication but Tenancy Deposit Solutions Limited will take appropriate action to recover the deposit and discipline me/us.
The Agent/we must co-operate with the ICE in the adjudication of the dispute and follow any recommendations concerning the method of the resolution of the dispute.

If a Landlord wishes to hold the Tenant’s deposit for an assured shorthold tenancy in England and Wales, he will have to be a member of a “Tenant Deposit Scheme”. He will be able to choose between two types of scheme: a single custodial scheme and two insurance-based schemes.

Custodial scheme
The tenant pays the deposit to the landlord;
 
The landlord then pays the deposit into the scheme;

Within 14 days of receiving a deposit, the landlord must give the tenant the prescribed information (to be set out in secondary legislation) about the scheme being used and the tenancy;

At the end of the tenancy, if the landlord and tenant agree how the deposit should be divided, they will tell the scheme which returns the deposit, divided in the way agreed by both parties;

If there is a dispute, the scheme will hold the amount until the dispute resolution service or courts decide what is fair;

The interest accrued by deposits in the scheme will be used to pay for the running of the scheme and any surplus will used to offer interest to the tenant or landlord if the tenant isn’t entitled to it.

Insurance-based schemes
The tenant pays the deposit to the landlord;

The landlord retains the deposit and pays a premium to the insurer - the key difference to the custodial scheme;

Within 14 days of receiving a deposit, the landlord must give the tenant prescribed information (to be set out in secondary legislation) about the scheme being used and the tenancy;

At the end of the tenancy, if the landlord and tenant agree how the deposit should be divided, the landlord returns all or some of the deposit;

If there is a dispute, the landlord must hand over the disputed amount to the scheme for safekeeping until the dispute is resolved.

If for any reason the landlord fails to comply, the insurance arrangements will ensure the return of the deposit to the tenant if they are entitled to it.

For more details please refer to:  www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1152035

If you/the Landlord decide(s) to hold the Deposit yourself, we will transfer it to you within 5 days of receiving it.  You/the Landlord must then register it with another Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme within a further 9 days if the Tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy.  If you fail to do so the Tenant can take legal action against you/the Landlord in the County Court.  The Court will make an order stating that you/the Landlord must pay the Deposit back to the Tenant or lodge it with the custodial scheme which is known as the Deposit Protection Scheme.  In addition a further order will be made requiring you/the Landlord to pay compensation to the Tenant of an amount equal to three times the Deposit.  You/the Landlord will be unable to serve a Section 21 Notice on your Tenant until compliance with the above conditions and the Court will not grant you/the Landlord a possession order. We have/the Agent has no liability for any loss suffered if you/ the Landlord fail to comply.

At the termination of the tenancy, an inventory check-out will take place.  The corresponding report clarifies if any items are missing, damaged or if the property/or parts of it is/are left in an untidy and dirty condition.  It is the Landlords responsibility to provide a list of deductions if any from the deposit and the cost the value of the items missing or damaged.  We are happy to provide estimates for the cleaning of the property.  We would then require a written instruction from the Landlord, specifying the amount that will have to be deducted from the Tenant’s deposit.  Enclosed to this instruction should be the list of items, together with their costs, that are missing or damaged.  We are bound by the tenancy contract to return the Tenant’s deposit as soon as reasonably possible, and we could be legally held liable for late payments of deposits to the Tenant.  Therefore if we do not receive the Landlords instruction on the amount to be deducted from the deposit within fifteen working days of the Tenant vacating the property, we are hereby deemed to have the Landlord’s instruction to release the deposit back to the Tenant without any deductions.