Eric Walker, managing director of Bushells, has come out and stated what many of us have been thinking; there are massive flaws in the tenancy deposit legislation.
Any system that holds one person financially responsible for another’s wrongdoing must be inherently unfair. Most people would agree with this but it does not stop the government holding landlords responsible for tenants’ lost deposits even when it is clearly the letting agency that is at fault.
Mr Walker makes a very good point when he recommends that the letting agents should have to submit to regular auditing. Anything less, potentially, puts the poor landlord in an invidious position.
He said “The real time-bomb is where agents hold the money in their own account and register it with a scheme, then for whatever reason cease to be members of that scheme. This leaves the landlord with a huge liability in the event that the tenancy is extended or renewed, as the deposit is legally no longer registered.”
Clearly this is not a situation that can be allowed to continue. Letting agents are getting away with losing, spending or just vanishing with tenants’ cash and landlords are being left holding the financial baby. It is nonsense and can surely be fixed.
