Students across Cardiff have been having trouble getting their deposit money back since, well, forever.
Tenancy Deposit Protection is a law that finally helps. From April 6 2007, all deposits taken by either your agencies or landlords must be protected by a tenancy deposit protection scheme. It’s not very exciting but could save you losing your deposit.
It also means that if your landlord decides to unfairly charge you £50 to clean a carpet or £30 for dusty light shades you can get it solved without lots of problems, enabling disputes to be settled quickly. If your landlord fails to protect your deposit, you’re within your rights to talk to Cardiff County Court. They could even have to pay you up to three times your deposit back.
There are three ways they can protect your deposit.
Two are insurance based schemes and are supported by a free dispute resolution service. So if you disagree with your landlord taking your deposit, you can get them involved, for free, to have the final say.
The third scheme means your money will be put into a central pot and you’ll get back the interest it gains over the year, which will pay for a night out.
By law, landlords must give your deposit back within 10 days of your contract ending.
That’s why it’s so important for you to ask your landlord or agency where your money is going!
1. Get insurance – trust us, you’ll be sorry if it all got nicked. It’s also worth seeing if your insurance covers you for legal fees just in case any disputes pop up with your agency / landlord
2. Keep a copy of the tenancy agreement, so you can ensure that you know if your agency is breaking it or not.
3. Keep all receipts safe, especially deposit receipts.
4. Make sure your agency / landlord fill in an inventory with you. The more information you include in it the more useful it will be when negotiating getting your deposit money back.
