Landlord withholding deposit - not clear who is legally responsible

burmo

Hi,

I'm looking into this for a friend of mine and would appreciate some feedback.

There is a house with a lease that ended just now. The lease has five names on it. My friend came into the house early last year and the policy at the time was to give the deposit to the outgoing person.

This was done and she has a receipt from one of the named tenants on the lease. She since moved out again at the end of last year on good terms and the landlord told her that she would get her deposit back at the end of the lease term, which is now. I didn't agree at the time but it was only a few weeks in the difference.

The other tenants who moved in December / January are now also trying to get the landlord to give back the money and he says to get it off the current tenants. I think there is only one person on the lease who is still around. The guy who moved into her room has not given any deposit and also his rent is lower than hers was previously. Now if I was him I certainly would not give her the deposit as she doesn't even live in the house anymore and the existing lease has expired.

During this time she paid her rent to the original lease tenant and he paid the landlord so she also does not have any rent receipts. Wasn't there something about being required by law to give receipts? Or because it was a group tenancy contract that there was no requirement for individual receipts?

My question is legally does she have a case against the landlord or the tenant to which she gave the money (who is also trying unsuccessfully to get his deposit back as well as he is leaving the house and is on good terms with my friend). Is it a case that she legally (how? small claims court?) has to follow her friendly ex-housemate for the money and then it's up to him to follow the landlord?

A very murky situation. Lodge a complaint directly with the PRTB? How does that work when her name was never on the lease?

Note: I agree that in all cases I personally would only ever transfer money directly to the landlord, avoiding a lot of this problem.

Any opinions appreciated.

RedPlanet

burmo wrote: »

Is it a case that she legally (how? small claims court?) has to follow her friendly ex-housemate for the money and then it's up to him to follow the landlord?

Probably that.
Get the money off the person you gave it to.
Follow the money.
But what a ridiculous scenario. She probably hasn't a leg to stand on legally.

nickyjellybaby

Hi,
I'm finding your post a little confusing but here's my part:

Yes you are all legally entitled to receipts for rent paid but not individually, just one for the whole rent (called the red book as by law and stated in landlord and tenant act amendment 2004) however, with bank transfers there is a paper trail. A red book would be important in the case whereby a landlord calls by to collect cash

I'm in this business over 10 years and I have to say, the biggest hassles come from this type of scenario, people coming and going with or without landlords knowledge and no updating of the lease for each tenant moving in and out.
There would be no point updating the lease without an inspection of the whole property as all tenants are regarded as one tenant in the eyes of the law. Much as all landlords are regarded as one from a legal stand point.

Can I ask, is the landlord letting out individual rooms him/herself or is this something you tenants are undertaking yourselves? Are you informing them of the new tenants with references etc? Is the landlord missing out on rent as tenants are moving in and out? Have the original tenants broken their lease term?

I can't say your friend has any leg to stand on if this is something undertaken by tenants within the house themselves. On another point, legally if anything is wrong with the property the original tenants can be held liable as they are bound by the terms on the contract particularly if they have not informed the landlord of who they are subletting to.


Let me know a few of the above and I'll see if there's any way your friend can get her deposit back

nic

burmo

Agreed, terrible situation.

She was asking me about my opinion about seeking the deposit from the new guy who took her room... should she take it if she can get it?

burmo

Nickyjellybaby: Thanks for your reply.

I will answer what I know now and then get the rest from her later.

The tenancy agreement length has not been broken.
The landlord has been aware of people leaving and arriving the house.