Deposit On Rented House

[chickx]

I moved out of my rented house on 1st February, the landlord came and inspected the house the following day!

The letting agent said they would return the deposit ASAP so after a week and not having received it i phoned them and was told they couldn't get in touch with the landlord and to give it a could more days and they would return the deposit!

I've now had over a week of them telling me that the money is transferring into my bank account and everytime i speak to the agent they say their bank has told them the money will be in my bank account that day!

I will be ringing them again tomorrow to see what is happening but will no doubt be fobbed off again with the same excuse!

Could someone give me some advice as to what i do next, who i can complain to, what i can do to get them to give me my deposit back?

Thanks

[DangerUXD]

Small claims, so many letting agents are con men who will not repay your deposit unless forced. Write to them and give them say 14days to pay then take them to the small claims court, tell them that. Their next tactic will be to try and deduct from the deposit some "Damage", they absolutely hate having to repay deposits.

[Eve]

Is your deposit being held in a tenancy deposit scheme?

[Buenchico]

The law requires that your deposit must have been held in a tenancy deposit scheme, and that your landlord (or his agent) must tell you which scheme has been used. If you don't get your deposit back you should complain to the relevant scheme:
https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/disputes-and-problems

[lcg]

personally, i would tell them that i have the next week off work and will go and stage a sit in at or just outside the offices of the letting agent unless they stump up the money rather sharpish. i would tell them that i am not budging until they give me cash or can confirm the money is in my account....and will happily stop every person they get browsing or coming in and tell them not to use their business as they don't give a stuff about their customers or paying up. i have used this tactic on many occasions, and it works surprisingly well.

[lcg]

to me, having 3-4 weeks is plenty of tell to get their act together......or you could try the more polite ways spelt out above :-)

[tonywiltshire]

If you commenced your tenancy after April 2007, your deposit should have been paid into one of three schemes, Tenancy Deposit Solutions Ltd, The Tenancy Deposit Scheme and the Deposit Protection Service, you should have been notified which within 14 days of receipt of the deposit.
My experience of Landlords and agents is clearly different to some others as I think the delay is probably due to some form of incompetence rather than an intention to retain the deposit. If there is no dispute the deposit should be returned if there is a dispute there is a free service offered by the elected scheme to resolve the matter. Discover who is holding the deposit and demand it is repaid in the absence of a dispute.