refund of deposit on rented property

[bookworm_1]

I closed my business on 31st March and vacated rented property I had leased since August 2001. I paid a deposit of �450 + 3 months rent in advance, and paid the rent monthly from September 2001 untill March 2009. I have requested a refund of my deposit from the landlord, but up to now have not recieved a reply. Can someone please tell whay my rights are in this case. The property now has a notice in the window advertising it is available to rent
Thank you in advance for any help, or advice.

[kira000]

What did your contract say about leaving the property? Did you have to give notice? What was the term of your lease?
If you just packed up and left before your lease was up, or ithout giving the correct notice, then you will be liable for the rent till your lease expires- which means you wont get your deposit back unless there is some left after covering your unpaid rent.

[bookworm_1]

The lease on the business expired on 24th August 2008, and was never renewed, I have looked at the lease and there is no period of the length of notice to give, all rents were paid up untill March 2009 and I had repainted the property so as to leave in the same condition as I had found it. It is now being advertised as available to rent. This being the case can I assume that I am entitled to my deposit and the 3 months rent I paid in advance to be refunded to me ?

[themas]

If this was a normal commercial lease, then rent would be payable in advance (generally 3 monthly) throughout the term. If you are saying that you paid rent in March 2009 & had always paid every 3 months up to then, then your rent was actually paid up to June 2009. If you correctly terminated the lease in March (i.e. let the landlord know and he accepted it) then you should get the payment you made in March back. But why did you pay it? Did you not know you were paying in advance all the time? Check the lease to make sure that was the requirement.

So far as the deposit is concerned, there should have been a checkout done (jointly by you and the landlord)when you left. The landlord would then have been able to say whether any repairs etc. which you were responsible for under the lease had to be done. If none, then the deposit should be returned. If no checkout was done & you do not have photographic evidence of the condition you left the property in, you may well have a problem if the landlord claims you left it in a state where he had to spend the deposit money on things you should have done. It will be your word against his.

Ultimately, if you can't get satisfaction you will have to take him to the small claims Court.

[bookworm_1]

I paid a 3 month deposit in August and from September paid monthly, the landlord effectively ignored me from when I gave notice. I have now served the landlord with a final demand for a refund of the money. I did take photographs of the property when I had completed the decorations.