On 8 August 2008 Judge Bullimore ruled at Sheffield County Court that the tenant was not entitled to the three times penalty where the prescribed information relating to a tenancy deposit was given late.  The landlord had given the information but after the end of the 14 day period allowed for this.

What had happened in the case was that the deposit was registered with the TDS / Dispute Service Scheme but the landlord's agent had not given the prescribed information to the tenant at the time.  Possession proceedings were started and this omission came to light.  The tenant was then given the prescribed information but the Citizens Advice Bureau who were acting for the tenant stll made an application to the Court for the penalty.  The Judge who originally heard this claim agreed with the CAB and ordered the landlord to pay the penalty.

The RLA backed the landlord's appeal and Judge Bullimore overturned the original decision.  After careful consideration of the complex tenancy deposit provisions in the Housing Act he ruled that the fact that the  information was given late did not mean that the penalty was payable so long as the required information was given to the tenant.  Here, the information had been handed over prior to the tenant putting in his application and this was enough to avoid the landlord having to pay the penalty.

This leaves open the cut off point for giving the information.  Does it have to be given before the tenant lodges his application with the Court or before the date of the hearing itself?  The Judge declined to rule on this point.  The Government intention was that the cut off was the actual hearing itself and this is in line with RLA legal advice regarding the interpretion of the legislation.

There is also a penalty for failing to register / protect the deposit under one of the schemes.  This was not in issue in this case but the same principles should apply so that the penalty would not be payable just because the landlord is late in protecting the deposit so long as it is protected before any hearing if a claim is made to the Court by the tenant for the penalty.

Nevertheless, the RLA advice is that you should both protect / register the deposit and give the tenant the prescribed information within 14 days of receiving the deposit to avoid the possible cost and worry of a Court application.  Likewise, you should give the tenant a copy of the official receipt you receive from the Scheme when you register the deposit.