The Tenancy Deposit Schemes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012

PART 2 N.I. Appointment of Scheme Administrator

Appointment of Scheme Administrator N.I.

3.—(1) The Department may appoint a person who has applied to the Department to establish and maintain a tenancy deposit scheme of a description prescribed in Part 3 where the Department has approved that application under the Regulations.

(2) The Department must not approve an application where the applicant:—

(a) has been convicted of any offence involving fraud or dishonesty;

(b) is a bankrupt, [F1 or is the subject of a bankruptcy restrictions order;] or

[F2 (ac) he is a person in relation to whom a moratorium period under a debt relief order applies or he is the subject of a debt relief restrictions order ; or]

(c) is disqualified from being a director of a company.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 3(2)(b) inserted (21.4.2015) by The Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 2005 (Consequential Amendments) Order (Northern Ireland) 2015 (S.R. 2015/159), art. 1, Sch. para. 50(3)

F2 Reg. 3(2)(ac) inserted (7.3.2016) by The Debt Relief Act (Northern Ireland) 2010 (Consequential Amendments) Order (Northern Ireland) 2016 (S.R. 2016/108), art. 1, Sch. para. 58(3)

Coming into force of a scheme and amendments N.I.

4.  Upon application by a person approved under regulation 3 neither a tenancy deposit scheme nor any amendment to that scheme shall come into force unless approved by the Department.

Approval of a tenancy deposit scheme N.I.

5.  The Department shall not approve a tenancy deposit scheme where:—

(a) the scheme is not of a description prescribed in Part 3 (description of schemes);

(b) the scheme administrator and the scheme do not satisfy the requirements of Part 4 (financing and accountability requirements);

(c) the scheme administrator does not satisfy the requirements of Part 6 (dispute resolution);

(d) the scheme does not include a customer service facility which is available to users of tenancy deposit schemes for the purposes of, in particular:—

(i) handling enquiries in relation to the tenancy deposit scheme whether made by telephone, letter, or electronic means; and

(ii) dealing with complaints about the tenancy deposit scheme, including complaints about the service provided by the scheme administrator;

(e) the tenancy deposit scheme is not available to all landlords, including those living outside of the Northern Ireland jurisdiction but operating in Northern Ireland, and their tenants.