Deposit Refund

[CarolineC]

As a new landlady I am coming to the end of my first lease. My tennants are vacating the property next week and I have agreed to meet them to return keys etc. However my tennants appear to expect immediate refund of their deposit. As far as I can tell my property is in good order and in this respect I intend to return the deposit in full. My only concern is for outstanding utility & council tax bills. I understand that I am ultimately liable if these are unpaid. What is the correct procedure as far as these are concerned. Can I ask for evidence of final bills settled? What is a reasonable time frame for covering these issues and returning the deposit - is two weeks fair?

[P.Pilcher]

O.K. Caroline the procedure I adopt is as follows: When tenants move in, I agree meter readings with them. These I telephone to the appropriate utility companies together with the tenant's name and the address of the property. I repeat this process when they move out. Thus the tenants alone are resposible for these debts. I also notify the local authority in writing that said tenant has moved in and repeat the process when they move out. Similarly they are then liable for council tax, not me. When they move out I NEVER refund their deposit as I collect the keys but promise them that a cheque will be put in the post. This obliges them to give me their forwarding address which can also be passed to the utility companys and L.A. I then refund their deposit promptly, having discussed any deductions with them at handover time.

P.P.

[CarolineC]

Thank you this has been helpful.

Caroline :)

[Paul_f]

P.Pilcher's advice is very good but there's one thing I would do to make sure you don't fall foul of the Data Protection Act as you surely will if you're not careful.

You do not have any authority to pass on the outgoing tenant's address to anyone - and that includes the utility companies - without their express permission (try getting the info from the utility companies and see how far you get!). This would entail your making sure they have signed your pre-tenancy terms (what pre-tenancy terms I hear you say!) in which they give this permission to you to give this information to "any relevant authority" on their vacation from the property. It won't prove they have actually moved there as it could easily be that of a friend or relative, but it's a step in the right direction.

Never, ever pay back the deposit in cash, and write into your AST a clause stating it will take a minimum 14 days (I use 28 days). Whatever you do don't pay it back on the day unless you are experienced in what you're doing. If you have internet banking facilities you could always make a BACS payment directly to their account, another very useful piece of information. This is how I always return deposits nowadays.

[zoe]

can I also add that if the bills are in the tenants name that the LL will NOT be liable for them under any circumstances.

Zoe