I shared the owners house for a monthly rent and deposit, which we
agreed verbally. We also agreed one month's notice on either side. The
owner wanted to be paid in cash. Nothing was committed in writing. The
owner got into a dispute with 'others' that had a 'vested interest' in
the property, so I gave notice and left. In fact, I left early.

Now, the owner will not refund my deposit. Have I 'damaged' an action
for recovery by paying in cash and not obtaining a receipt from the
owner? In this respect I can present bank statements showing ATM
withdrawals on all the days I made cash payments.

I shared the owners house for a monthly rent and deposit, which we
agreed verbally. We also agreed one month's notice on either side. The
owner wanted to be paid in cash. Nothing was committed in
writing. The owner got into a dispute with 'others' that had a
'vested interest' in the property, so I gave notice and left. In
fact, I left early.
Now, the owner will not refund my deposit. Have I 'damaged' an
action for recovery by paying in cash and not obtaining a receipt
from the owner? In this respect I can present bank statements
showing ATM withdrawals on all the days I made cash payments.

It just makes it harder. You might ask the owner to confirm they declared to
payments to HM Revenue and Customs to concentrate their minds a little.

Peter Crosland

Peter Crosland wrote:
I shared the owners house for a monthly rent and deposit, which we
agreed verbally. We also agreed one month's notice on either side. The
owner wanted to be paid in cash. Nothing was committed in
writing. The owner got into a dispute with 'others' that had a
'vested interest' in the property, so I gave notice and left. In
fact, I left early.
Now, the owner will not refund my deposit. Have I 'damaged' an
action for recovery by paying in cash and not obtaining a receipt
from the owner? In this respect I can present bank statements
showing ATM withdrawals on all the days I made cash payments.


It just makes it harder. You might ask the owner to confirm they declared to
payments to HM Revenue and Customs to concentrate their minds a little.

Peter Crosland



I read it as the OP was renting a room, so it may be covered by the
"rent a room" scheme - the landlord need only tell HMRC if they are
getting more than 4250GBP a year from it:

http://masl.to/?S29741E4E

Perhaps if the OP could mention roughly how much deposit is involved and
what reasons the owner has for retaining it?

If the OP mentions to the owner that he is starting to take legal action
to recover the money and that he will take it to court if necessary -
then the owner will no doubt realise that the reason for wanting payment
in cash may surface.

Don't lawyers give a half-hour free discussion?

Personally, I would head for the CAB - they may contact the owner and
try to sort this without getting all legal.


--
Sue

On Tue, 5 Dec 2006 09:30:06 +0000, Palindr?me
wrote:

Peter Crosland wrote:
I shared the owners house for a monthly rent and deposit, which we
agreed verbally. We also agreed one month's notice on either side. The
owner wanted to be paid in cash. Nothing was committed in
writing. The owner got into a dispute with 'others' that had a
'vested interest' in the property, so I gave notice and left. In
fact, I left early.
Now, the owner will not refund my deposit. Have I 'damaged' an
action for recovery by paying in cash and not obtaining a receipt
from the owner? In this respect I can present bank statements
showing ATM withdrawals on all the days I made cash payments.


It just makes it harder. You might ask the owner to confirm they declared to
payments to HM Revenue and Customs to concentrate their minds a little.

If you could show that you had lived at the premises then IMHO a court
would sumise that payment of some sort had been made.

Robert
Robert