It is always best to come to an agreement if at all possible. If all parties agree, the deposit money can be allocated and paid within a working day, rather than having to wait for a potentially lengthy dispute process that can take a couple of months to resolve.
Of course sometimes agreement will not be possible, and in these cases the tenants have a legal right to adjudication from the deposit scheme. The onus is on the tenant to initiate a Release Request and request resolution from the deposit scheme within 90 days of the tenancy end date and we provide them with instructions to do so. If a tenant does not request resolution within 90 days, we will pass any claimed funds onto the landlord.
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Release Request Initiated: When a tenant starts a Release Request with mydeposits, we will notify you straight away via email. At this initial stage, no action is required from you, but we advise you to ensure you have uploaded all of the relevant evidence to our site in preparation. To progress the dispute, the tenant must wait 10 working days and if the release remains unresolved, the tenant must move the case to Resolution. mydeposits will take a first look at the claim and decide if they accept or reject the dispute. If mydeposits informs us that they are rejecting the tenant's request, or if the tenant fails to progress the case to Resolution, we will pay you any claimed funds within a working day.
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Resolution Confirmed: When mydeposits confirms they are accepting the case for Resolution, we will notify you straight away and give you 5 working days to make sure all evidence has been uploaded to the OpenRent site that you wish for us to pass onto mydeposits for them to take into account when deciding how the funds should be treated. You can see mydeposits guidance here. It is important to ensure your evidence clearly shows the condition of the property at the start of the tenancy as well as at the end, that dates are included, and that any invoices are itemised rather than general. If any claim is uncertain or unclear, the default is that the funds will be returned to the tenants. Once the 5 working days have passed, we will send the evidence and disputed funds to mydeposits, after which no further evidence can be provided.
Note: If you do not wish to use the ADR service to settle the dispute, but instead wish to do so in court, you need to tell us as soon as you can and within the 5 working day deadline. We are still obligated to send mydeposits the disputed amount if you opt for this. You will then need to provide us with a court order that specifically references mydeposits and the deposit amount within 6 months of the case being confirmed by mydeposits. If you do not provide a court order within this timeframe, the funds would be returned to the tenants by mydeposits.
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Resolution: The guidance from mydeposits is that once the evidence has been provided, depending on the complexity of the dispute, a resolution will be issued in 1-2 months. We are unable to expedite the process, and will be in touch to confirm the decision as soon as we are told.
- Adjudication Result: mydeposits will confirm the result of their adjudication process, and we will inform you straight away and issue any funds due to be passed onto you within a working day. mydeposits return any funds to the tenants directly. The decision from mydeposits is binding, and should you feel entitled to additional compensation we would recommend that you seek independent legal advice.
Please note that this article is only relevant for tenancies where the deposit is protected in OpenRent's account with mydeposits. If you are unsure, please check the tenancy deposit section for the relevant tenancy here, and otherwise contact the deposit scheme on the details provided there directly.