Landlord Refusing To Give Me Money Back

[beezaneez]

i went to an estate agent yesterday, he told me to fill in an initial form, requesting guarantors details and my details, i filled it in, then i paid him 450 rent deposit( without me even being accepted ) and £20 for the credit check form. today he asked me is my quarantor a home owner ? i told him no, he rents his home, estate agent told me that he needs to be a home owner and i could not get my money back now. if he had of told me yesterday that i needed a home owner to quarantee me i wouldnt have went ahead with application.

what is the law on this , i am not letting him rip me off for 470 pounds

[sandyRoe]

Small claims court.
What's the name and address of the agent? They deserve the spotlight of bad publicity to fall on them.

[knowabit]

If it was a rent deposit, then surely you should get it back as you are not now going to rent the property? I would go straight round there and demand your money back, and then call the police if he refuses!

[Peter Pedant]

ssmall claims

quite alot already from the usual suspects on suing

first of all you to return to the agent with this letter

Dear Sir
Letter before action
PLease return the £470 that I gave you yesterday
or else I will sue in the small claims court
Yours beezneez

then post to us again

straightforward

[joko]

a deposit is reliant on two people fulfilling their part of the deal - as he is not going to stick to his side of it the agreement is void and so he cannot keep it.

there is no reason he cannot return it, it is not like it has been used for something else, in expectation.

could you not just give the name of another homeowner?

[Peter Pedant]

Oh, if he is taking deposits,
he has to be a member as a scheme
when it is all done and dusted - inform the scheme

but DONT do this as the only remedy

you probably need to get on with a small claim

[themas]

I think this will be what is called a holding deposit, rather than a deposit related to renting a specific property. Sometimes these deposits are said to be non-returnable.

Did you sign anything related to the deposit? If so, look at the small print & see what it says. If it says non-returnable you might have a problem because it may not be easy to prove that the agent misled you about the guarantor's status. However, the form you completed should have included a question asking whether the guarantor was a home owner & you could point out that the absence of this question was a complete failure of openness by the agent.

If the agent firm belongs to a trade body you might find they have a disputes procedure you can use as an alternative to a Court claim.

[Peter Pedant]

even if it is a holding deposit as you say Themas

he has a claim for his money back - I mean £500 for 'is your guarantor a freeholder ?' 'No' 'I am keeping the money'
is hardly the essence of ENglish Contract Law

specifically Contract unfair terms act 1977