In what is believed to be the first prosecution of its kind, an Edinburgh
landlord has been ordered to pay a hefty sum to his former tenants for failing
to protect their deposit.
Case Brought Before the Sheriffs Court
The tenants bought their case against the landlord after discovering he had
failed to place their £1,150 deposit into one of three government approved
deposit protections scheme at the beginning of the tenancy. Edinburgh Sheriffs
Court ruled that the landlord must pay the tenants £3,450 for failing to
protect their deposit, which is three times the amount of the original
deposit.
BBC News Report
A leading housing charity, Shelter Scotland, has welcomed the decision from
the court. They say it sends out a warning to other landlords about the perils
of not abiding by the deposit protection law.
In a statement made to the BBC, the Director of Shelter Scotland said:
“The tenancy deposit scheme is a transparent and fair system brought in last
year under a fanfare of publicity and awareness, so there is no reason why any
landlord in Scotland should be failing to protect their tenants’ deposits.
This is a landmark ruling that should inspire confidence in all those tenants
who fear their deposit is not being protected to take action and should act as
a strong warning to all landlords who are not protecting their tenants’
deposits to do so.”
Warning to Landlords
So landlords beware: if you fail to protect your tenants’ deposits, you, too,
could end up on the wrong side of the law!
