LANDLORDS FACE HUGE LOSSES AND DISPUTES WITH FAKE DEPOSIT SCHEME
LOST REVENUE: Landlords are facing huge losses
Sunday June 7,2009
By Chris Torney
Landlords could be left thousands of pounds out of pocket after giving their tenants’ down payments to a companywhich is falsely claiming to be part of the official Tenancy Deposit Scheme.
Since a law change in 2007, all deposits taken by private landlords have been required to use this scheme.
The aim is to resolve disputes and ensure landlords do not unfairly hold on to deposit cash at the end of the tenancy.
Only three companies have been given authorisation by the Department of Communities and Local Government to administer the scheme.
But the website Mytenancydeposit.co.uk, claims it is running the scheme as part of Tenancy Deposit Solutions (TDS), one of the officially accredited firms.
TDS, however, has this weekend issued a warning, saying that it has no links with Mytenancydeposit.
It has urged any landlords who have done business with the unregistered firm to seek legal advice, and added that those who have may be failing to comply with the law on deposits. T
DS runs a website with a similar name, Mydeposits.co.uk.
A TDS spokeswoman said: “Any landlord using Mytenancydeposit should be aware their deposits are not protected. Not protecting with one of the three government-authorised schemes can lead to penalties.
“You should immediately use one of the three schemes to comply with the law.”
These are the Dispute Service; the Deposit Protection Service; and Tenancy Deposit Solutions, as above.
Mytenancydeposit failed to respond to Your Money’s requests for comment.
For more information and to check whether a company is accredited by the government to run the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, go to www.direct.gov.uk/tenancydeposit.
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