Question

Deposits and Tenancy Deposit Schemes (England) | Landlord Wants Tenant to Leave (England)

returning deposit and S.21 notice

4 Jan 2018 | 1 comment

Can I put a cheque under the door of a tenant, for the amount of the deposit, (not in any protection scheme), and at the same time the S.21 notice ?
Or am I legally bound to put the cheque under the door one day (photographed) and maybe “Return of Deposit” written on the envelope containing the cheque, and then the next day the S.21 notice ?
It is no good me assuming I need to wait for the cheque to clear, as I doubt the tenant will pay the cheque into his bank account. His motive would be to claim that he never had the deposit back. But I have read in your website that this is no defence, so long as I have a photograph of the cheque going under the door. The tenant arrives back late, and avoids any requests for appointments.

Thanks in advance for an opinion on this.

Answer

1 Comment

  1. guildy

    You shouldn’t put the cheque and notice together. The deposit must be returned before the 21 is served.

    We recommend once the cheque has been delivered that you wait a minimum of 7 days before serving the section 21. This allows time for the tenant to bank the cheque because it’s much easier that way. You don’t really want the argument as to whether they need to bank it or not.

    If it’s not been banked within 7 days, then we accept, you have to move on and so serve the section 21.

Submit a Comment

View your previously asked questions. (Will only show questions from August 2020)

(Link above back to topic only works for questions added after end of August 2020)