I am a Good Landlord, but need help for my tenant cousin please

From Paul Shamplina's article >> https://www.property118.com/what-does-the-deregulation-act-2015-mean-for-landlords/

Deregulation Act 2015 tenancy deposits

The requirement to protect a tenancy deposit taken for an assured shorthold tenancy in England and Wales was introduced on 6 April 2007, following its inclusion in the Housing Act 2004.

Deposit protection legislation was introduced because the government recognised many deposits were being unfairly withheld at the end of a tenancy. So the aim behind the Tenancy Deposit Protection is to raise standards in the lettings industry and ensure tenants are treated fairly at the end of the tenancy.

The legislation covers virtually all new assured shorthold tenancy contracts used by letting agents and landlords to let a property in England and Wales.

Since the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) legislation came into force, there have been a number of cases before the courts in which the wording of the legislation has been under scrutiny. These cases include Superstrike Ltd v Rodrigues and Charalambous v Maureen Rosairie Ng.

But overall the Deregulation Act 2015 has provided much needed clarification on the steps that a landlord must take to comply with TDS legislation.
Deposits taken before 6th April 2007 and tenancies that became periodic before April 2007

Deposits don’t need to be protected if a tenancy deposit was received for a fixed term tenancy before 6th April, or if the landlord holds the deposit against a statutory periodic tenancy, which also started before April 2007.

However, if a landlord wishes to gain possession of the property under Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, the deposit must be protected and the Prescribed Information issued to the tenant prior to serving the Section 21 notice.

Landlords will not face any financial penalties for non-protection of the deposit.
Deposits taken before 6th April 2007 and tenancies that became periodic after April 2007

Deposits taken before 6 April 2007, for tenancies that are still running and have moved onto a periodic tenancy on or after this date, now need to be protected in a Tenancy Deposit Protection scheme. If a deposit remains unprotected, the landlord could potentially face a fine.
Deposits taken on or after 6 April 2007

Landlords who took a deposit on an assured shorthold tenancy (AST) after 6th April 2007 and correctly protected and served the Prescribed Information to their tenant do not need to reissue the Prescribed Information to the tenant on future renewals of the AST, or if the AST rolls into a statutory periodic tenancy.

This is so long as the tenancy details haven’t changed (i.e. landlord, tenant and property information) and the deposit remains in the same tenancy deposit protection scheme.

Prescribed Information can include details of a person representing the landlord. The act confirms that where an agent has protected the deposit on behalf of the landlord, the agent’s contact details may be provided in place of the landlord’s.

Pro bono
PossessinFriend.uk will point her in the right direction ( providing we're not acting for her Landlord 😉

I hope this information from the RLA will be of help. It should mean your cousin still has a little time. You can read the full article here:-
https://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/guides/deposit-protection-from-2015.shtml
"Deposits taken from April 6th 2007 - April 5th 2012
The landlord was previously required to protect the deposit within 14 days of receipt. However, thanks to the Court of Appeal, landlords could protect the deposits as and when a tenant chased them for the deposit penalty. The result of this was an amendment under the Localism Act 2011. This amendment gave all landlords, who had taken a deposit and failed to protect it before April 6th 2012, an amnesty period of 30 days within which to protect these deposits and serve the prescribed information.

If these deposits were still unprotected by May 6th 2012 then the landlord is open to the financial penalties and is not able to serve a Section 21 notice until the deposit is returned.

If a landlord complied with the deposit protection legislation within the 14 days or by May 6th 2012 and there have been no significant changes to the details of the tenancy since then, the landlord should still be compliant with the deposit protection legislation and no further prescribed information needs to be given from now on. Please do check with your deposit scheme that the deposit is still protected however.

Please note that if your deposit was taken before April 6th 2007 but a new fixed term was agreed in the period April 6th 2007 - April 6th 2012 then the deposit should have been protected by May 6th 2012 and the prescribed information served to the tenant and anyone who paid to the deposit.

If the tenancy had already ended by April 6th 2012, then the financial penalty does not apply and the landlord cannot be chased by the tenant for it.

How long does the tenant have to chase the financial penalty?
Tenants are bound by the statutory limit of 6 years on chasing a landlord through the small claims court. This applies from the moment that the breach occurs. This means that tenants have 6 years and 30 days from the receipt of the deposit in which to chase the landlord for the financial penalty.

To complicate matters somewhat, the RLA takes the view that the statutory limit is also reset by the two amnesty periods that the Localism Act and the Deregulation Act have provided to landlords.

For those caught by the Localism Act the following applies. Where a tenancy deposit was taken between April 6th 2007 and April 6th 2012 and the deposit was unprotected afterwards, the landlord can be chased for the financial penalty up until May 2018. For tenancies that had come to an end before

Under the Deregulation Act, landlords who took a deposit before April 6th 2007 and then had their tenancy go statutory periodic after this date have until 23rd June 2015 to protect the deposit and provide the information. If they don't they can be chased for the deposit up until the end of June 2021."

You don't mention whether the periodic tenancy is a contractual periodic (one set out in the tenancy agreement), or a statutory one and why you say each year is a new one? You also mention the change in the tenancy ie an existing tenant being removed. How was this done? It may be that this did mean that at the least a new prescribed information should have been served, but we'd need more detail to work that out.

If she acts fast and follows the correct procedure your cousin should have until 6 May 2018 (or is it the 5th) to make a claim.

As much as I'm loath to direct anyone to Shelter I do refer to their website quite regularly myself.
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_compensation_claims

Reply to the comment left by Chris Daniel at 09/04/2018 - 15:20
Hi Chris

The URL you posted isn't working. Was there a typo? Feel free to re-post as you're offering a pro-bono service.

Daniel,
Typo in web address, sorry -( Thanks Mark )
http://www.PossessionFriend.uk
Mention for your cousin to ask for Chris and refer to your post in Property118.
Due to pro bono, my advice /time will have to be limited ( hope you both understand )