I have rented a property for two years from the same letting agent. This year we discovered that our landlord had defaulted on his mortgage and the mortgage company have employed a company to be receivers of rent. At the time, the letting agent advised us that it would be unlikely that we would get our deposit back as they had passed it on to the landlord – I was unaware they had done this and from my experience a letting agent keeps hold of the money. They have at no point proven they passed the money to the landlord and they did tell me the landlord was bankrupt but the bankruptcy register does not have them listed.
The letting agent did agree, and put in writing, that at the end of the tenancy they would pay us a sum of money (not the full deposit amount but about ¾’s of it).
After being told this, I sent two letters by recorded delivery to the landlord at the two different addresses I have been given for him – one has been returned to me as ‘addressee’ moved away and the other was never picked up from the delivery office. More recently I have discovered a third address but the letter could not be delivered and is waiting to be picked up.
We have now reached the end of our tenancy but the mortgage company are happy for us to stay on in the property but they have swapped the letting agent; this is not an issue for us at all. Since a new letting agent has been appointed the old agent has now said they will return our money when we move out of the property and when this happens we should come to them – this could be a year or two down the line.
My query is where I stand now - I have two choices, do I chase the old letting agent for the money they agreed to pay me even if it is short of money? If they refuse to pay it me now am I in the position to argue otherwise? I have it in writing that they agree to “pay at the end of your tenancy’ – does this apply to my situation? I would have thought that now the letting agent has changed and I am signing a new agreement that my tenancy has ended – is this correct?
My other option is to try and to take the landlord to a small claims court – as I have not managed to determine his address or make any contact with him, can I still take him to court? All I have to go on is a name and potentially three former addresses – I have checked the electoral roll and he is registered on one of those addresses but as I said before, the letters have been returned by royal mail. Are the returned letters enough evidence to show I have done everything in my power to contact the landlord?
I spoke to the mortgage company to ask for his details but they were unwilling to help in anyway as I could not prove that I was the tenant. I suggested that I write to them with my request with the return address as the property for which the mortgage is connected to but they wouldn’t answer!
Any help or advice would be much appreciated!
Thank you.
The letting agent did agree, and put in writing, that at the end of the tenancy they would pay us a sum of money (not the full deposit amount but about ¾’s of it).
After being told this, I sent two letters by recorded delivery to the landlord at the two different addresses I have been given for him – one has been returned to me as ‘addressee’ moved away and the other was never picked up from the delivery office. More recently I have discovered a third address but the letter could not be delivered and is waiting to be picked up.
We have now reached the end of our tenancy but the mortgage company are happy for us to stay on in the property but they have swapped the letting agent; this is not an issue for us at all. Since a new letting agent has been appointed the old agent has now said they will return our money when we move out of the property and when this happens we should come to them – this could be a year or two down the line.
My query is where I stand now - I have two choices, do I chase the old letting agent for the money they agreed to pay me even if it is short of money? If they refuse to pay it me now am I in the position to argue otherwise? I have it in writing that they agree to “pay at the end of your tenancy’ – does this apply to my situation? I would have thought that now the letting agent has changed and I am signing a new agreement that my tenancy has ended – is this correct?
My other option is to try and to take the landlord to a small claims court – as I have not managed to determine his address or make any contact with him, can I still take him to court? All I have to go on is a name and potentially three former addresses – I have checked the electoral roll and he is registered on one of those addresses but as I said before, the letters have been returned by royal mail. Are the returned letters enough evidence to show I have done everything in my power to contact the landlord?
I spoke to the mortgage company to ask for his details but they were unwilling to help in anyway as I could not prove that I was the tenant. I suggested that I write to them with my request with the return address as the property for which the mortgage is connected to but they wouldn’t answer!
Any help or advice would be much appreciated!
Thank you.