Deposit Claim Dispute Resolution for Landlords
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98 %queries receive a response in under an hour
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£ 250 m+assets litigated over in the last 12 months
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380 +5* reviews on Google
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500 +cases handled in the last 2 years
Any deposit received by a landlord or an agent on behalf of a landlord must be registered with an approved scheme within 30 days. Prescribed information must also be provided to the tenant within 30 days. This is a two stage process. The law has now changed so that this applies to ALL residential deposits no matter when they were received by a landlord and this includes historic tenancies.
We act almost exclusively for landlords. We are frequently coming across situations where we are instructed on behalf of landlords who are facing deposit claims by tenants for what may appear to be minor breaches.
Section 214 Housing Act 2004 entitles tenants to issue claims against landlords for up to 3 times the value of a deposit plus the deposit itself. These claims can amount to thousands of pounds.
If there are any issues such as the late registration of a deposit or a failure to provide full prescribed information to the tenant, a landlord cannot serve a valid section 21 notice until the deposit has been returned in full, without deduction. This can become a serious issue for landlords and lettings agents and one that is best tackled sooner rather than later. We encounter these situations frequently as part of our comprehensive eviction services work, with many of these requirements coming into force as a result of the Deregulation Act 2015.
Our team are experienced in handling these types of issues, including advising letting agents and landlords on the best approaches to resolve the problems in the quickest, cheapest possible way. If you are concerned you may have a deposit issue call 0345 314 2044 or email [email protected] and we will be happy to assist you.
No Win No Fee Eligibility Calculator
This is a non binding indication whether Helix Law Ltd might be able to offer you a "No Win, No Fee" agreement (also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement, or CFA). There is no cost of obligation for using this service and each case is assessed on its merits.
Area of work
We only enter into CFA funding agreements in relation to some commercial, property and construction disputes. We therefore need to understand what type of dispute you have so that we can assess whether a CFA might be appropriate.
Is the value in dispute more than £10,000?
This is important because typically it is only possible to recover legal costs, including costs funded on a ‘No Win, No Fee’ (or ‘Conditional Fee Agreement’), where the amount in dispute is over £10,000. If you have a dispute where your losses and damages are less than £10,000 it is unlikely we can offer you a CFA.
Is the value in dispute more than £10,000?
This is important because typically it is only possible to recover legal costs, including costs funded on a ‘No Win, No Fee’ (or ‘Conditional Fee Agreement’), where the amount in dispute is over £10,000. If you have a dispute where your losses and damages are less than £10,000 it is unlikely we can offer you a CFA.
Is the value in dispute more than £10,000?
This is important because typically it is only possible to recover legal costs, including costs funded on a ‘No Win, No Fee’ (or ‘Conditional Fee Agreement’), where the amount in dispute is over £10,000. If you have a dispute where your losses and damages are less than £10,000 it is unlikely we can offer you a CFA.
The dispute is:
Generally speaking tenants will not own assets. That means you might ‘win’ but not recover damages and costs- even if the court orders the tenant to pay. Whereas if your dispute is with a property owner we can usually recover your costs and damages from their share of the property.
Is your claim about an unpaid application for payment and/or retention greater than £20,000?
This is important as it helps us assess the likely cost; benefit for you, and our ability to offer you CFA funding.
Do you have a contract in writing or registered shares in your name?
The more evidence you have in support of your allegations, the better your prospects of success. The higher your prospects of success, the more likely we can offer you a CFA funding arrangement.
Is the issue arising recently or within the last 6 years at most?
All disputes are subject to limitation periods- this is the period of time in which a claim must be issued. Most limitation periods in our work are 6 years. There can be exceptions and upto 12 years is possible, but this is a factor that can increase risk to you and to us and might lead to us declining to offer a CFA. With the passage of time memories can/will also fade, and evidence can be lost or destroyed. Acting promptly can therefore be important.
Does the opponent own property in England and Wales?
We want to ensure we can force your opponent to pay if they refuse to pay. If your opponent has assets, usually property, we can have greater confidence of recovering money, property, or assets (or all the above), for you. Otherwise there can be risk that you have a good claim with good prospects of success, but if your oppoennt doesn’t own anything, you might not recover damages or losses.
Thank you for filling out the form
Based on the form, we think there is a good prospect we will be prepared to offer you a No Win No Fee agreement (CFA). Please confirm your contact details and a member of our team will contact you usually within 1 hour during usual business hours.
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People frequently tell us that we’re approachable and offer great advice.
They also tell us most solicitors are hard to get hold of whereas we’re happy to listen. The reason for this is that we value long term relationships and we’re happy to speak with business people, to invest our time in understanding your business and whatever your concerns are. Only at that point can we understand whether we’re the right people to help you.