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In a game changing decision an appeals court has ordered a landlord to pay three times of tenants deposit for not complying with prescribed provisions (16 November 2012)

Date: 16/11/2012
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, In a game changing decision an appeals court has ordered a landlord to pay three times of tenants deposit for not complying with prescribed provisions

In a game-changing decision, a buy to let landlord has lost a long running dispute with a tenant because of minor omissions in the information provided about deposit protection arrangements.
According to the prevailing law the landlords must protect tenants’ deposits and provide them with information prescribed by The Housing (Tenancy Deposits) (Prescribed Information) Order 2007 within 30 days of receipt of the deposit.
If the prescribed provision is not complied with the tenant is entitled to go to a court for the landlord to pay him or her penalty of between one and three times the amount of the deposit.
The tenant’s right to apply to a court continues even after the tenancy ceases.
In Ayannuga v Swindells, the case ruled on by the Court of Appeal last week, the landlord had sought possession of the property. The tenant countered by claiming that the landlord was not in a position to do so because the protection of deposit rules had not been complied with in their entirety.
The landlord did not dispute that there had been minor omissions in the information provided but said this was of no significance because all was explained in the literature of the scheme that had been used.
And that the tenant had not suffered as a result.
In a lower court the housing solicitor for landlord argued that the minor ommission of information had in fact had not done any damage to the tenant and his argument were accepted and the tenants application was dismissed the claim on the basis that the tenant could easily have found out all the information from the provider of the scheme.
The case was dismissed but the tenant appealed.
But the court of appeal came out with a ruling which could serve as a warning to all landlords to ensure they provide tenants with complete deposit protection paperwork.
The Court of Appeal agreed with the tenant. It was of no significance that the information could have been provided by way of a protection scheme leaflet. The fact was the information that should have been provided but had not been provided.
It both ordered the return of the deposit and payment by the landlord of the maximum permitted penalty, three times amount of the deposit.

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