Good faith deposit agreement template, Landlords frequently ask a new renter to pay one month’s rent beforehand plus a deposit. The deposit is held by the landlord until the tenant leaves the home. When there’s damage to the house or rent arrears the landlord employs the deposit to cover the expenses. Many landlords don’t protect the deposit. There are two types of authorised deposit schemes offered in the united kingdom. They are custodial or insurance based strategies.
As landlord/tenant problems are among the most common legal questions I receive from friends, I’d love to discuss rights and responsibilities regarding security deposits in this post. At the end I shall incorporate a sample letter you can send to a landlord for return of your deposit. Please note all info in this post is specific to California law. The laws of your state or authority may differ. Many states provide renter’s handbooks that would consist of significant laws, or you need to contact an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction for aid.
A landlord has 28 days to register a deposit with either a custodial or insurance type scheme. Information regarding the registration of the deposit has to be supplied to the tenant. Under the Housing Act there is a prescribed format for information to be provided. The landlord could be taken to court by the tenant where the information has not been provided in the right format. Tenants have the right to go back six years prior to taking action against the landlord.
Each time a tenancy is renewed the insurance on the deposit must also be revived for example if the landlord has a six monthly Assured Shorthold Tenancy and writes a new tenancy agreement in the conclusion of the six months afterward the deposit must also be renewed. To save on costs many landlords difficulty a tenancy for a fixed term period with a clause saying that the lien becomes a monthly contractual lien in the conclusion of the fixed term. By having one lien for the duration of time a tenant is at the property the landlord need only pay one fee to defend the deposit.