Scottish landlords face hefty penalties if they fail to pay deposits into the Scottish government’s new tenancy deposit scheme by Tuesday’s deadline.
Around 35,000 deposits worth more than £23 million have been paid into the scheme, launched in July with the aim of reducing the number of disputes between tenants and landlords. But many landlords have not yet paid in the deposits received from tenants – and they have until next Tuesday (13 November) to do so. That’s the date by which any deposits received from tenants on or after 7 March 2011 and before 2 October 2012 must be paid into one of the scheme’s three providers. Any deposits taken since 2 October have to be paid into the scheme within 30 working days of the beginning of the tenancy. Those that fail to do so could be fined up to three times the deposit amount, while there’s also the threat of court action.