Whether you are a landlord, letting agent or tenant, there are several important timeframes to be aware of when it comes to tenancy deposits in Scotland. Some are set out in legislation, while others relate to the way deposits are repaid or disputes are handled at the end of a tenancy.
Protecting the deposit on time
For any landlord who takes a deposit from their tenant, it is a legal requirement that they protect it with a tenancy deposit scheme, like SafeDeposits Scotland, along with providing their tenant with prescribed information which includes key details relating to the deposit, such as the contact details for the scheme it has been protected with.
There is, importantly, a time limit wherein this must be completed.
Landlords must complete both of these duties within 30 working days from the tenancy start date. If they have failed to do so, the tenant may be able to raise a case with the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber), which can order the landlord to pay the tenant up to three times the deposit amount.
Repayment of the deposit
When it is time for the deposit to be repaid, either the landlord or the tenant can submit a repayment request. The other party will have 30 working days to respond to this, and either agree or disagree with the proposed amount to be repaid. If there is an agreement, then payment will be made within five working days of this being confirmed.
If the tenant has requested repayment, and the landlord does not respond within 30 working days, payment will be made in full to the tenant within five working days of the period ending.
If the landlord has requested repayment, and the tenant does not respond within 30 working days, then any amount the landlord has claimed will be paid out to them by the scheme within five working days of the period ending, and the unclaimed amount will continue to be held by the scheme until the tenant reclaims it.
If there is a disagreement during the repayment process then, if the tenant chooses this route, the case moves on to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
Self-resolution
If you find yourself in a deposit dispute at the end of the tenancy, it is much faster to use ADR rather than the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service. The ADR process works in different stages, which each have their own associated timeframes. Please note that the timeframes detailed here are specific to SafeDeposits Scotland, and may vary for other tenancy deposit protection schemes.
The first step of the process is self-resolution. SafeDeposits Scotland believes that most disputes can be resolved simply by the parties involved communicating with one another, and attempting to come to an agreement that both are satisfied with. The self-resolution stage involves an online chat box being used for both parties to communicate, and works in cycles of five working days. If after five working days no attempts to resolve have been made, the cycle restarts. If however, an attempt has been made and parties cannot reach an agreement, the case will progress to the evidence gathering stage.
Evidence gathering and adjudication
At the beginning of the evidence gathering stage, any undisputed funds will be released back to the tenant within five working days. Only the amount that is in dispute will continue to be held by the scheme until the ADR process is over. During these same five working days, the landlord or agent acting on their behalf must submit a detailed summary of their claim, along with any accompanying evidence to support it. If this has not been completed within the allotted timeframe, SafeDeposits will consider there is no contest, and the disputed funds will be released back to the tenant.
Following this stage, the tenant will then be given their own five working day window of evidence submission. They will be permitted to review the landlord’s summary and evidence, as well as submit their own comments and counter evidence. Once again where this has not been completed within five working days, SafeDeposits will consider there is no contest, and the disputed funds will be awarded to the landlord.
Once both deadlines have passed, evidence will be reviewed by a resolution executive and the case will then be passed on to an impartial and independent adjudicator. The adjudicator will make their decision based on the evidence provided to them, within 20 working days. Within a further five working days, the adjudicator will provide the involved parties with a report outlining their decision and reasoning. The tenant and landlord are then given a 10 working day period plus one grace day to request a review of the adjudication decision. Such a request will only be accepted, however, if there is good reason to believe that the adjudicator has erred in fact and/or law.
If no review request is made, funds will be paid within five working days. If a review request has been made however, following the review request window, the adjudicator will have five working days to either accept or reject the review. If rejected, funds will be paid within five working days as normal. If accepted however, the case will be passed on to a new adjudicator, who will have 10 working days to make their decision, and a further five to submit their report. At this stage, no further review requests would be accepted, and this decision would be final. Funds are then paid out within five working days.
