• Have you moved out of your rented property only to find that your landlord is refusing to refund your deposit?

• Is he ignoring your telephone calls and letters?

• Do you suspect that he hasn't protected your deposit in a scheme?

Despite the fact that landlords are supposed to have been protecting deposits since April 2007, many are still flouting the law.

But this is wrong. The tenancy deposit is your money! The tenancy deposit laws were set up to prevent this sort of thing happening.

What can you do about it?

Under the law you are entitled to go to court and make a claim for the return of your deposit, plus a penalty payment of three times the deposit money.

Many people think that this is unfair and that tenants are getting 'something for nothing'. But that is not the point.

The rule is there to make landlords follow the law. If your deposit had been protected properly, as it should have been:

• You would have been entitled to use the cheap and fast tenancy deposit arbitration scheme and

• You would have been guaranteed to get your money back, less any money which the arbitrator found was due to your landlord, no matter what - even if your landlord went bankrupt

If you make a successful claim under the tenancy deposit regulations, not only will you get judgment for quite a large sum of money, you will also making a protest against your landlords failure to comply with the law. And, you will be helping his future tenants.

If landlords knew that tenants would always take them to court, they would make sure the deposit was always protected!

"But" you say, "I don't know anything about bringing court claims, and solicitors are too expensive".

With the Landlord Law service this is not a problem:

• Your case will be handled by a specialist firm of property solicitors, and
• Your case will be dealt with under a conditional fee agreement. This means that you will not have to pay any legal fees unless you win the case, and
• There will be insurance cover for any costs order made against you if you don't win

You will also be able to ask the solicitors any questions you want about these or any other matters, before signing up.

What should you do now?

First you need to make absolutely sure that the deposit money is not protected. You do this by ringing up the three tenancy deposit schemes and asking them. Here are their telephone numbers:

• The Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS) : 0870 707 1707
• My Deposits : 0871 703 0552
• The Dispute Service (TDS) : 0845 226 7837

Then, once you are certain that your deposit is unprotected, complete the form you will find by following the link below.

What will happen then?

We will check the form over and then forward it to the solicitors who will be acting in your case. They will then contact you direct to discuss your case with you.