Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to pay rent arrears and a rent deposit owed by Mrs X’s tenant for whom it paid a rent deposit guarantee in 2015. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about rent arrears and damages caused to her property which she rented to a tenant who vacated in February 2022. She says the council paid a deposit guarantee for the tenant and that it should pay her for the rent arrears which were left unpaid and for the initial rent deposit when the tenant vacated in 2022.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by the complainant and the Council’s responses.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X says the Council paid a bond guarantee for a tenant whom she housed in a rented property which she owns in 2015. In earl 2022 the tenant left the property without formal notice and owing her rent arrears of £2,400. In addition, she says the property was left in a poor state which has cost her a considerable amount to put right.
7. Mrs X sent a complaint and photographs to the Council in February 2022 and says that the Council should pay her the outstanding arrears and also the initial two months deposit guarantee.
8. The Council told her that the deposit guarantee terms were effective for the first 12 months of the tenancy and expired in 2016. The tenant had no arrears when Mrs X said she was going to sell the property in 2021 so the Council has no obligation to guarantee the deposit. It reminded her that she had a tenancy agreement directly with the tenant and the Council has no legal obligations to either party in what it says is a civil matter.
9. We will not investigate this complaint which concern matters which the complainant has been aware of for more than the 12 months timescale for receiving complaints. Mrs X became aware of the matter when the tenant vacated in February 2022 and she did not complain to us until May 2024.
10. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wish to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking. We have some discretion to consider older complaints but if she had complained within 12 months it is likely we would have advised her to seek a legal remedy against the tenant with whom she held a legal agreement.

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Final decision

11. We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to pay rent arrears and a rent deposit owed by Mrs X’s tenant for whom it paid a rent deposit guarantee in 2015. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mrs X could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman