A case that The Property Ombudsman (TPO) was asked to review came from a landlord against a letting agent concerning the nature of the deposit taken for a tenancy.
The landlord said that he instructed the letting agent to take a traditional cash deposit from the tenant, and that he signed the Tenancy Agreement which contained this information. The landlord said that the Tenancy Agreement stated that the letting agent had collected a deposit of £800, but that they refused to transfer these monies to an onward letting agent. The landlord complained that the agent subsequently informed him that the deposit for the property was in the form of an alternative deposit scheme, which he did not agree could be used for the tenancy.