A tenant forgot to claim back a deposit of £5,250 and eventually only did so after being tracked down by staff at tenancy deposit scheme SafeDeposits Scotland – more than 12 months after the tenant had moved out of the rental property in central Edinburgh.
The deposit and rent on the property, which was vacated in spring 2016, had been paid by the tenant’s employer.
Only after repeated attempts by SafeDeposits Scotland to reach the former tenant by email, text and phone was the deposit paid back to the employer, over 12 months after the tenant left the property.
Victoria Nixon, operations manager of SafeDeposits Scotland, said: “We’ve been aware of this sizeable unclaimed deposit for over a year and it’s astonishing that such a large amount could go unnoticed for such a long time. We’re relieved that it’s gone back to where it belongs.
“We’d urge companies who have paid for employees’ rented accommodation to check that they have received the money that they’re due. We’re only allowed to contact the name on the lease, even if it’s not the leaseholder who has been paying the rent. We can’t automatically pay money back as by law tenancy deposit schemes do not hold bank details for tenants.
“It’s understandable that an employee might think that someone else will be dealing with the finances and ignore our messages but they’d be wise not to.”
We're excited to announce that we're working on building a shiny new website for readers of Landlord Today! As part of this process, commenting on articles will be temporarily disabled. We look forward to sharing our new and improved Landlord Today website with you shortly!
.png)
(1).png)
