A tenant is reported to have sued a lettings agency after its alleged failure to return his £375 deposit.
The Get Surrey news website reports that delivery driver Garry Musgrove, 50, signed a 12-month lease on a flat in Guildford in November 2021 but was at the time unaware that the agency handling the property did not register his deposit in one of the government-approved schemes.
Musgrove paid a deposit of £375, which was equivalent to one month’s rent: under the Housing Act, landlords are legally obligated to inform their tenants of deposit protection within 30 days or face paying up to three times the original amount.
The tenant says he received no information about the scheme: instead, he received an email well over a year later saying the deposit had been paid into a scheme and he does not know if it was placed in a scheme prior to that time. And then, at the end of the tenancy late in 2022, he was refused a deposit refund.
Local media in Surrey have not named the agent but Musgrove’s case was taken up by local firm Barings Law. In recent weeks the issue reached Manchester County Court and the tenant was awarded £788 in compensation.
A spokesperson for the firm is quoted as saying: “It exemplifies the importance of tenants’ rights and the significance of legal actions when those rights are violated.
We are committed to ensuring that people are treated fairly, and that justice prevails. Mr Musgrove's perseverance in the face of adversity is a testament to the power of the law to protect individuals from unfair practices."
You can see the local report here.
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Good for that tenant because I'll be doing the same amongst others matters.
What adversity did the tenant face? My guess is that the money sucking lawyers got 30% as a no win no fee deal. To be fair deposit registration has been in place since 2007 though so can’t say I have any sympathy for the agent but the tenant has not suffered and probably trashed the property which is the very reason they didn’t get their deposit back in the first place
Probably Fake news
Not sure why the automatic 3x wasnt awarded allowed in the Housing Act.
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