Mydeposits puts case study disputes online

Tuesday 24th April 2012

Mydeposits, the tenancy deposit protection scheme launched by the National Landlords Association, has released a series of adjudication case studies to give landlords and letting agents a ‘behind the scenes’ look at how deposit disputes are resolved.
 
Only just over 1% of deposits protected with the scheme give rise to a dispute needing formal resolution at the end of a tenancy.  
 
The case studies are actual adjudication decisions covering issues such as damage caused by a frozen pipe leak in winter, garden maintenance and unfair re-letting fees. The case study library will be expanded each month with new examples of common dispute issues.
 
Eddie Hooker, chief executive of the scheme, said: “Often landlords and letting agents who are facing a dispute with a tenant aren’t sure of the process adjudicators go through to reach their decision.
 
“These online case studies will lift the lid on the adjudication process and will provide detailed reasoning on how the adjudicators reach their decisions.
 
“We want our landlord and agent members to be better informed in the unlikely event of a dispute, and that means providing quality evidence to substantiate their claims for withholding the deposit.
 
“The law clearly states that the deposit remains the tenant’s money and that they are entitled to get it back at the end of their tenancy provided they have met the terms of the tenancy agreement. The onus therefore lies with the landlord or agent to provide evidence.

“Anyone facing a dispute might find these case studies useful when preparing their evidence for submission.”
 
The case studies can be found on the my|deposits website:

http://www.mydeposits.co.uk/landlords/casestudies