Decision report 201100886

Summary
Ms C is the landlord of a private flat. She entered into a tenancy agreement in November 2009 with a person whose deposit was warranted by the council under their then newly introduced Rent Bond Guarantee Scheme (RGBS).

The tenant contacted the council's Private Rent Sector Access Team about repairs. They inspected the flat in July 2010, informed the landlord registration service, and advised the tenant to terminate her tenancy. Ms C said, however, that she was not contacted by her tenant with regard to needed repairs.

She complained to us that the council did not vet the tenant properly, did not contact her about the matter of the repairs and did not allow her input. She said that she was out of pocket as a result of the tenant's actions. Prior to complaining to us, however, she was reimbursed the full amount of the rent bond.

We upheld part of Ms C's complaint as we found that the role of the council team involved was ambiguous and that she was not given the chance to resolve the matter of the repairs with her tenant.

Recommendations
We recommended that the council:
• consider issuing instructions to officers as to how repairs issues raised by RGBS tenants will be dealt with and a properly documented audit trail established;
• ensure that in the instance where an RGBS tenant is advised to contact his or her landlord, that such contact is confirmed by the Private Sector Access Team before other action is contemplated and Landlord Registration contacted; and
• ensure that the circumstances where an RGBS tenant may be advised to terminate his or her tenancy be set out in appropriate officer guidelines.