Tenants                                                                                                            

If you are looking to rent a property in London or the county of Essex, Victor Michael can assist you with your property search, we have a selection of Houses, Apartments, Studio flats and House room shares to choose from all with different prices to suit different budgets.

As a professional letting agency we ensure that all our landlords are fully aware of the statutory legislation and uphold their legal obligations in order to protect our tenants rights and safety. It's imperative that our tenants are living in a safe and clean environment and that all our properties meet these strict property regulations. What Victor Michael can offer potential tenants when searching for properties and processing your applications.

1.     Expert Professional lettings advice, local knowledge and helpful guidance.                           
   

2.   A wide selection of properties currently available for rental in London and Essex.

3.   Property alerts for all new properties to your mobile, tablets and email property alerts.

4.   Comprehensive property particulars including photographs, EPCs and Floor plans.

5.   We use professional third party reference providers, when processing applications. 
   

6.   We ensure your security deposit is protected in a regulated scheme with the TDS.

This is held as a security deposit against damages and any other breach of the tenancy agreement. Victor Michael Limited is a member of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme, which is administered by:

The Dispute Service Ltd,

PO BOX 541

Amersham

Bucks

HP66ZR.   

T:     0845 226 7837          

F:     01494 431 123          

E:     deposits@tds.com

•          If we are / the Agent is instructed by you / the Legal Owner to hold the Deposit, we / the Agent shall do so under the terms of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

•          If you, the Legal Owner, decide to hold the Deposit yourself, we will transfer it to you within 5 days of receiving it. You / the Legal Owner must then register it with another Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme within a further 9 days if the Tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy. 

•          If you fail to do so the Tenant can take legal action against you / the Legal Owner in the County Court.  The Court will make an order stating that you/ the Legal Owner must pay the Deposit back to the Tenant or lodge it with the custodial scheme which is known as the Deposit Protection Scheme. 

•          In addition a further order will be made requiring you/ the Legal Owner to pay compensation to the Tenant of an amount equal to three times the Deposit. You the Legal Owner will be unable to serve a Section 21 Notice on your Tenant until compliance with the above conditions and the Court will not grant you / the Legal Owner a possession order. The Agent has no liability for any loss suffered if you / the Legal Owner fail to comply.

       or

•          If you / the Legal Owner decide to hold the Deposit and the Tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy you / the Legal Owner must specify to us / the Agent prior to the start of the Tenancy under which other Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme the Deposit will be covered. 

•          If the Deposit is covered by Tenancy Deposit Solutions, you / the Legal Owner must provide proof of membership, together with a copy of the insurance policy before the Deposit can be released. If the Deposit is to be sent to the custodial scheme known as the Deposit Protection Scheme, we / the Agent will forward the Deposit to the DPS and register the details of the Tenancy.

•          The Agent holds tenancy deposits as a Stakeholder.

•          At the end of the tenancy covered by the Tenancy Deposit Scheme

•          If there is no dispute we/the Agent will keep any amounts agreed as deductions where expenditure has been incurred on behalf of the Legal Owner, or repay the whole or the balance of the Deposit according to the conditions of the Tenancy Agreement with the Legal Owner and the Tenant. Payment of the Deposit will be made within 10 working days of written consent from both parties.

•          If, after 10 working days following notification of adispute to the Agent / Member and reasonable attempts have been made in that time to resolve any differences of opinion, there remains an unresolved dispute between the Legal Owner and the Tenant over the allocation of the Deposit it will be submitted to the ICE for adjudication. All parties agree to co-operate with any adjudication.

•          When the amount in dispute is over £5,000 the Legal Owner and the Tenant will agree by signing the Tenancy Agreement to submit the dispute to formal arbitration through the engagement of an arbitrator appointed by the ICE although, with the written consent of both parties, the ICE may athis discretion accept the dispute for adjudication.

•          The appointment of an arbitrator will incur an administration fee, to be fixed by the Board of The Dispute Service Ltd from time to time, shared equally between the Legal Owner and the Tenant. The liability for any subsequent costs will be dependent upon the award made by the arbitrator.

•          The statutory rights of neither, you / the Legal Owner or the Tenant(s) to take legal action against the other party remain unaffected.

•          It is not compulsory for the parties to refer the dispute to the ICE for adjudication. The parties may, if either party chooses to do so, seek the decision of the Court. However, this process may take longer and may incur further costs. 

•          Judges may, because it is a condition of the Tenancy Agreement signed by both parties, refer the dispute back to the ICE for adjudication. If the parties do agree that the dispute should be resolved by the ICE, they must accept the decision of the ICE as final and binding.

•          If there is a dispute, I / we must remit to The Dispute Service Ltd the full deposit, less any amounts already agreed to by the parties and paid over to them. This must be done within 10 working days of being told that a dispute has been registered whether or not you or I / we want to contest it. 

•          Failure to do so will not delay the adjudication but The Dispute Service Ltd will take appropriate action to recover the deposit and discipline me / us. The Agent must co-operate with the ICE in the adjudication of the dispute and follow any recommendations concerning the method of the resolution of the dispute.

Refund of Deposits

The Deposit must be refunded directly to the tenant unless there is a dispute; see deposit section as detailed above.

Quick Links: Conduct and Membership Rules | Money Protection Certificate | Tenancy Deposit Scheme Certificate