Colin Robertson's wife Julie had just given birth to their second daughter when the couple received a notice to quit their flat in Glasgow, only five days after signing a new six-month lease agreement in August.
They were rescued by Royal Bank of Scotland, which agreed a mortgage through the Help to Buy guarantee scheme, and did it quickly enough to get the family moved into their first home in East Kilbride with a few days to spare.
Mr Robertson said: "We had been planning to wait a year but we went searching as soon as possible, fell in love with the house straight away, and the bank started the process immediately."
Then letting agents Hamilton-based GSL told him there was a problem with his £500 deposit due to an issue with the transfer to GSL of the lettings business of his landlord's original agent Boomerang.
GSL's director Scott Craig said Boomerang had followed the practice of asking for an "advance final month payment" rather than a deposit, which had led to confusion.
But Boomerang director Mario Kerr said all advance payments had been ring-fenced in a separate account and transferred securely to GSL last December, which Mr Craig confirmed.
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