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When your landlord or agent won’t respond to your calls or messages it is important to take the right steps so that you can force them to return the deposit. The law is on the side of tenants, there are plenty of ways to get your deposit money back.
The most important thing to do is check your deposit is protected in a government-approved deposit protection scheme. If you are not sure how to do this contact one of our tenant advisors on 020 3476 6648 or email a copy of your tenancy agreement to info@justicefortenants.org. We will check all the deposit schemes for you.
You are entitled to your full deposit back and more under The Housing Act 2004. This law was put in place to:
We have successfully helped many tenants recover their full deposits and up to 3 times the amount of their deposit in addition as compensation. Fortunately, a landlord can’t simply ignore letters of action as a judge can award settlement in default. In plain English, if they don’t respond, the case can be won anyway and the landlord’s property can be sold without their consent to pay the deposit back and compensation.
To find out more please see: (Your right to compensation)
You can submit your evidence to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). This is a free service. An independent arbitrator will look at the evidence submitted from both sides and see if there is any valid reason that any of your deposit money can be withheld, then pay you your deposit back (minus any deductions that they believe are reasonable). To find out more please see:
Alternative dispute resolution for tenancy deposit and bond disputes