A landlord from Gourock, who failed to protect his tenant’s deposit with an approved scheme, has been ordered to pay £1,500 in compensation.
Under the Tenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011, landlords must pay their tenant’s deposit into one of the government’s approved schemes within 30 working days of the start of the tenancy. However, Mark Bradley was found to have not protected his tenant’s deposit with any of the schemes for five and a half years. He kept it in a tin in his mother’s house instead.
In April 2014, Mr Bradley’s tenant paid £600 for a “rental bond” in instalments to Mr Bradley’s mother who kept it in the tin in her house. When, in September 2019, the tenant asked for £150 back from her deposit to cover for van removal costs at the end of the tenancy, Mr Bradley’s mother paid the money back in cash. However, the remainder of the deposit was withheld by Mr Bradley due to rent arrears and damage to the property.
The First-tier Tribunal for Scotland heard from Mr Bradley that it was his mother who dealt with the property, not himself. He pleaded that he wasn’t aware of the legal requirement to protect his tenant’s deposit with an approved scheme. He also told the Tribunal that the deposit wasn’t paid into such scheme initially as it was paid to his family in instalments and then his mother forgot to protect it as she was dealing with other family issues. Mr Bradley explained that he still had £450 in cash as his mother returned it to him.
Given the circumstances, the Tribunal concluded that a sum of £1,500 was reasonable for Mr Bradley to pay back to his tenant.
“Ignorance of the laws is no defence”
Commenting on the case, CEO of mydeposits, Eddie Hooker, said: “On face value there are some amusing elements to this case, but it is in reality a serious issue. The tenant’s deposit could have easily been misplaced or misappropriated and they have also been denied access to an impartial resolution service at the end of the tenancy. These are exactly the reasons why the deposit schemes were set up.”
He continued: “I fear that this type of case is not so unique. Even after 10 plus years of deposit protection laws, there are still many landlords that continue to be unaware of their legal obligations. It is estimated that only 85% of deposits across the country are protected in authorised schemes.
“Including Scotland, this equates to more than 500,000 deposits that fall outside of protection. As this case shows, ignorance of the laws is no defence. At mydeposits, we try to help our members and the wider industry understand their responsibilities and obligations to avoid situations like this happening.”
Mr Bradley said he was no longer letting out the property in question.
