The statutory declaration form is a legislative requirement and is required if one party requests for the deposit to be returned to them, but the other party does not respond to this request. This only applies to our custodial scheme where we hold the deposit funds for the duration of the tenancy.
If successful, payment of the deposit can be made to the requesting party without the other party having to respond. This is a legal document in which a statement is confirmed to be true and the requirement for this document has been set by legislation. The document will need be signed and witnessed by a solicitor, Commissioner of Oath, Notary or Justice of the Peace in order to make it a statutory declaration.
When one of the parties requests the deposit to be returned to them, the other party has up to 30 working days to agree or disagree to the request. If the party has not responded after the first 15 working days, we contact both parties via email to let them know that the responding party has not yet answered.
At this point, the party who raised the repayment request is sent an empty template of the statutory declaration form to fill in and subsequently return to us. The document cannot be processed until after the deadline has surpassed for the response to the repayment request.
Once received, our processing team will check the form and if it has been completed in line with the legislation requirements, it will be accepted. We will then send a copy of your completed application and exhibits to the other party and ask them to respond within 14 calendar days. This timeframe has also been set by legislation. If they do not respond, we will make payment according to the original repayment request. If they do respond, the statutory declaration form will no longer be applicable, and the case will move forward as per the standard repayment process, becoming a potential dispute should the party not agree.
If we reject the form, we will contact you to advise as to the reasons why, and you will be required to send us a new form.
The party submitting the statutory declaration will firstly have to fill in their details (i.e. name, tenancy address, deposit amount, etc.), and then state when the tenancy ended and how much of the deposit they wish to claim back according to the repayment request already raised.
Next, they will have one of two options to choose from:
Following this, they must confirm if they have had any contact/correspondence with the other party after the tenancy ended (the date being the same as stated in the repayment request). If they have had contact, it should be attached as Exhibit 2. However, please note that Exhibits are not compulsory for an application to be successful.
Lastly, they will need a witness (solicitor, etc) to sign the form and declare the address where this was done. They will require the witness’s signature, and stamp if available. Please note that there is sometimes a cost associated to this, but shouldn’t cost more than £9.00
Statutory Declarations can either be sent to us by post or a copy of this document can be emailed to us. If you chose to email in, we recommend that the original document is kept on file for future reference.