Landlords could face huge fines if they have failed to register old deposits, under new legislation, the Deregulation Act 2015, which came into force on 23rd june 2015.
Landlords should have registered deposits received from April 6th 2007 with an Approved Scheme and suppliynformationonpayees.
Property and landlord specialists at Kirwans, say that lawyers and letting agents need to be fully aware of their obligations in light of the new retrospective laws.
Landlords who have failed to act, could face county court action and fines of thousands of pounds if the situation is not rectified. They could also be prevented from recovering possession of their property under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988.
Danielle Hughes from Kirwans says, "This legislation has a
retrospective effect and has the potential to put landlords in a very vulnerable position. Landlords who have not protected deposits have only days left to begin taking steps to address the issue and make the necessaryarrangements.
"Shelter's website offers a database check on which tenants can determine within three minutes whether or not their deposits have been protected. It's thatsimple. No doubt savvy tenants will already be checking the position and waiting with baited breath in the hope that their landlord falls foul of the requirements.
"We'd advise landlords with tenants living in their property at any time from and before April 6th 2007 to carry out a historical review and take immediate action; or face potential fines,countycourt action and potentially be unable to remove tenants from property."
The Deregulation Act 2015 confirms that some deposits taken by landlords before April 6th 2007 may also need to be registered. This is because landlords are to protect deposits and serve the prescribed information at the
beginning oefach new tenancy.
This includes at the end of a Fixed- Term Assured Shorthold Tenancy.
Should the tenant remain in the property following expiry of a fixed term, the tenancy becomes what is known as a "Statutory Periodic Tenancy". This is seen as a new tenancy agreement in law.
If a deposit was taken before April 6th 2007, but the tenancy
ran on as a statutory periodic tenancy after that time, landlords will still need to fulfil the new criteria.