Claiming back the deposit on an apartment rental

Can I ask a bit of advice? I have just recently moved flats (1/5) and still haven't got the deposit back from my old place. I left the flat in perfect condition and the landlord said that he would transfer the money. Am I worrying too soon, and if I haven't got it back by the end of the month what steps I can start taking to try and recover it? Any advice would be great.

he can legaly hold it back for six months. so ask politely and dont get stroppy.

i believe they have 6 months to transfer the kaution and are often complete b'stards about releasing all of it/some of it. tread carefully (but try not to let them take the piss) as if you go upsetting them they could just delay things just to piss you off.

EDIT, genau gideon

Take in to account that they often hold onto the kaution until the electric, heating etc. have been paid for, which can sometimes take a while and is often out of the landlords control, they're not all thieving bastards!

Just most of them

But not the entire Kaution, just a proportion which reasonably represents any additional charges which might be levied...

Is it really six months? I thought it was just "within a reasonable time".

Six months! My god that is a long time. I just hope he 'remembers' (and although I need that money, I hope I haven't forgotten about it by next winter as well)

Have you asked him about it? Have you asked when he will be transferring it to you? You can do this politely and it's perfectly acceptable. There's a big chunk missing from your story, I mean it's not like you've posted saying "My landlord won't give me back my deposit". You say you moved on 01/05. Is that May 1st or January 5th? I presume the former, but unless you clarify on that and what conversation you've had with the landlord then any advice given here is pointless.

Edit: I see you're British so then it's May 1st. Not too long since then, but if you haven't actively asked him about it then I'd suggest you do so. If he's holding it for some reason then he's obliged to tell you why.

@ keydeck: yes, you're right it was the 1/5/06. I was just getting impatient, as I expected it to be an automatic thing that would have straight away (pretty much in the same manner that he expected to be paid rent!). There were no problems as he was more than happy with the state of the flat, etc. I'll wait til the end of the month and then get my ex-flatmate to gently ask what the story is.

Sounds like a fair plan.

I've been in and out of a few apartments here and I am also a landlord myself so I can see it from both sides.

I know that they will often be more lax with giving you your deposit back than they were at making sure you paid your rent. Unfortunately landlords can get difficult and start picking on tiny, normally inconsequential things if you get on the wrong side of them. That doesn't by any stretch mean you should let them walk all over you though. I'd ask your ex-flatmate to ask the landlord directly and as much as possible try to get a direct answer. As I said, if there is a reason, other than laziness, that your money is being held then you are entitled to know why. If it is something with the apartment then it is very important that you be involved in that process as soon as possible otherwise you might risk losing out on more than is necessary.

A small point but that doesn't make it any clearer, the North Americans, (and maybe the South Americans too, I don't know!) amongst us would still read that as the 5th of January. Remember they refer to the 11th September as 9/11.

Given that drea is a British-English female from Gloucester, writing from Manheim in a German based forum about a problem in Germany, the chances of confusion with the date are small, unless, of course you are an Amercian reading this. But that goes with the territory.

Not the North Americans, I think it's just Americans who do the month-day-year thing. Canadians do day/month/year like the rest of the world ;-) Ok, back to topic.

Well, officially we are supposed to do it like the rest of the world but the states have so much influence on us that in reality much like the metric vs. imperial thing we get stuck in the middle and have to do both. It can lead to a lot of confusion.

I quote from the Guidelines to TT (admittedly about organising an event but it's just as valid):
be sure to use international formatting, again like "11.Sep.2001". If you write "09.11.2001" the Americans will think you mean 11th September whilst the Brits will think you mean 9th November.