last minute change of tenancy date?

[callumsgran]

Saturday morning all ready to move, when i get a call from letting agent saying landlady has changed the moving in date!
Now we have a piece of paper (the receipt for letting agents fees) saying tenancy to start on 18th November
Can we claim for additional expenses and inconvenience? (we are in now) but the whole thing has been a nightmare!

[callumsgran]

Bump

[MrShed]

Did you get my PM cb?

[callumsgran]

Hi yes i did but wasnt sure what you meant?
I take it i cant claim anything then as the contract wasnt set in motion?

[MrShed]

Sorry - ok. The tenancy had not begun. But the contract was still in force. This means that you can claim for actual financial loss due to the breaching of the contract. Do you have a copy of the contract signed by her stating the original date?

[callumsgran]

no afraid not, she didnt sign anything all i have is the 18th stated on the receipt for the admin fees i paid the letting agents and thats when the date was set at as far as i was concerned as i have heard nothing to the contrary until saturday last

[MrShed]

Ah....well, no signature means no claim unfortunately CB!

[callumsgran]

Could i not make the agents pay as they should've been aware of this?

[MrShed]

Thing is, without a signed contract you are going to struggle to get anything done. You can obviously try them, but any court case is almost bound to lose.

[Nightmare4banks]

Cillit,in reply to your post:

Please answer the following questions:

1.Did you and the landlady sign the tenancy agreement?

2.If yes,what date was the starting date of the tenancy?

The answers to these questions should hopefully enable me to assist you further.

[callumsgran]

N4B
1 no the landlady didnt sign anything
2 i have a referencing fee-agreement and receipt which states property is reserved until 18th Nov and signed by letting agent and myself

[Nightmare4banks]

Cillit,in reply to your post and in my opinion:

1.You DO NOT have any form of redress with the landlady as the contract had not been signed yet - I agree with what Mr.Shed has already mentioned.

2.Regarding the letting agent,this signed receipt was for reserving the property for you until the 18th of November rather than the moving in date being the 18th of November which are two totally different issues.

By the way Cillit,what are the exact words written on this receipt?Please post them here as this may change my view.

[callumsgran]

Dont worry its not worth the bother i'm just so fed up with it, the date was given as the 18th as that was the day we were able to move in due to finances, i would've thought the least the agents could've done is to keep in touch with landlady so that we all knew where we stood!
I just feel very let down

[Nightmare4banks]

Cillit,

Cheer up and settle in your new property!

Also,if you are upset and angry it clouds your thoughts and ideas.

When you feel ready,post the wriitten details on the receipt.

Remember I do not think is a good idea to have a clash with the letting agent at the start of the tenancy.Also,as time goes by you may find out more which could potentially make your case stronger.All you have to do,is let us know the chain of events.

So,what is the rush? Remember you can sue for breach of contract - if we can establish this - 6 years after the event.

So,save it for the end of the tenancy and even better after you have moved out!

Keep smiling!

Remember you are not alone.We will do all we can to help you.

[callumsgran]

Thanks N4B, you have cheered me up no end!
You are sweet, i just feel under so much stress at the moment what with this and my employment issues but you are right of course, i should just settle in and bide my time.
Thank you again x

[breadline]

It will all sort Hun, I'm sure there will be a few things you can pull her up on over the term.

I will bring a nice bottle of wine so we can kick back and Cristen your new fire