Hi everyone Thanks very much for your help. Yes, I had thought of going down the route of negotiating a new tenancy agreement with them, as they have been good tenants in most other respects. Need to look into this over the next week. NewSAHD - re your points: 4) PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS a) Did you provide an inventory at the beginning of the tenancy? Yes b) Related to this, when did the tenancy commence? March 2009 c) And, again, related question, was a deposit paid AND if appropriate has it been protected? Yes, and it is in the DPS d) What, if any, physical amendments have been made (or may be made) to your property by your tenants? I don't know, they haven't told me about any and I haven't been able to inspect the property since I found out - yet. I got tough with them yesterday and they have agreed via email to stop the childminding until I have decided what to do, although of course they could be lying.... but I think they have been to see their solicitor so that might have changed their minds.

Hi I discovered on Friday that my tenants have been running a childminding business from my property since November 2009. The tenancy agreement specifically excludes running a business or a profession, and I have not given them my written permission, but they say they don't need it. Is this true? Thanks

Hi MrShed, I do have a written agreement with the Agent, which I have just checked. In it I clearly indicated by ticking a box that the initial tenancy agreement should be for 1 year! Also, there is a clause that says the agent will 'Negotiate the terms of the tenancy between yourself and the tenant and ensure that an appropriate tenancy agreement and notices are prepared and signed by or on behalf of the landlord and tenant." So they can sign on my behalf, but the agreement should be appropriate which I take to mean should comply with my instructions. The agent is not a member of ARLA, but is a member of something called the Property Ombudsman - is this worth anything? Thanks for all your help.

The verbal agreement was superseded by the written agreement - and the written agreement I signed was changed by the agent and tenants. If I wasn't aware of the change I don't see how I can have agreed to it? I am not disputing the tenancy itself, but the fact that the term of the contract was changed by other parties.

Hi I admit I am a fairly inexperienced landlord, I only started renting out my house a year ago. As I had never done this before I decided to use an agent to draw up the agreement, particularly as I was re-locating several hundred miles away and it was going to be logistically difficult to manage things myself. I found some tenants who seemed very nice via gumtree, and I agreed verbally to rent the house to them for two years at a given rent. I then instructed the agent to draw up an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement, with an intial fixed term of twelve months which would be renewed to run for the full 2 years, or longer if they wanted. The agent drafted the agreement, emailed it to me, I approved it and sent it back duly signed. The tenants moved in, and some problems have arisen which I won't go in to here, but I was (and am) still happy for them to renew the contract which expires on the 9th March. I called them to let them know that the contract needed renewing, and to my great surprise they informed me that the contract they signed was for 2 years, not 12 months! I contacted the agent about this, and he has sent me a copy of an agreement which is signed by the tenants and the agent for 2 years. I have never seen this contract. They obviously changed it without my knowledge, and never bothered to either send me a copy or even inform me. So, my question is to anyone who can advise on such matters, if the agent and/or the tenants changed the terms of the agreement without my authorisation, and bearing in mind my signature is nowhere to be seen on the 'other' version of the agreement, is it legally binding on me? I wanted to introduce a small rent increase for the second year, but the contract they have prevents me from doing that. I have copies of emails between myself and the agent telling him what terms to put in the contract i.e. 12 months, but he did not follow my instructions. Many thanks

I am in the middle of a long Court battle against NatWest regarding banking charges and an overdraft I have refused to pay back because of the charges they owe me. I won't go into all of the details here, but the overdraft was terminated 2 years ago. I have recently started receiving letters from the Credit Management Unit telling me the interest they are continuing to charge me each month at the unarranged borrowing rate (around 29% I think). The interest they have now added has almost doubled the original overdraft......... What I want to find out is: If an agreement has been terminated can they still charge interest according to the T&Cs - which surely must no longer apply as the account has now been closed? I can only claim statutory interest of 8% on my charges, so why does this not apply to them on the amount they claimed as of the date of termination. Doesn't seem fair to me! I would be very grateful for advice on this. Thanks

Hi rory Thanks for clarifying this, I think I might have them for not complying with the Act as well then. I am asking for default removal as well as the charges refunded - I will let you know how I get on!

Hi roryThanks for coming back so quickly. I am confused about the different kinds of defaults, because I have no written agreeement for the overdraft facility and nasty natwest never actually requested me to repay it before registering the default - which makes me mad!I have started my claim for the charges and am about to start Court action so hopefully this action will sort it out instead. One more question, if part © of the determination you posted has not been complied with, could the CCA apply and if so how?Thanks again

Hi I am engaged in a very nasty battle with NatWest re three defaults on two loans and an overdraft. The overdraft is entirely made up of bank charges plus interest. I served them with a CCA s77 request - the two loan agreements can't be found and defaults have been removed (small victory for me after several years). However, NatWest have stated (correctly as I since discovered by reading posts on this website) that s77 does not apply to overdrafts.My question is, if overdrafts are not regulated agreements under the CCA, then can a default be registered? Natwest are refusing to remove the default on the overdraft because they say the CCA is not relevant and the overdraft is not regulated by the CCA. But I thought credit defaults can only be registered on regulated agreements? In order for a default to be registered with a credit reference agency, surely there has to be a signed agreement and repayment plan for a breach to take place? Can anyone help clarify this? I am unable to find a clear explanation of this elsewhere.Many thanksplanetparker

I only sent my DPA letter a week or so ago, so no reply yet. But if they come back with the pathetic 'microfiche' excuse then count me in! Will post again as soon as I know.

Hi thunderpuss2k - which book are you looking at? Sounds like I could do with a copy of it myself! Thanks

Hmmm - conflicting opinions! Maybe I should submit the full claim first anyway, you never know they might settle before it goes to court. Looking at around £7k I think. Is the £5k limit strictly upheld by the courts, or are they flexible if it is such a straightforward case?

I have tried to find others who are in a similar situation elsewhere in the forums, but no luck so far. I have a large claim against Natwest re my current account. My account was opened in 1991, and so far I have the last 6 years' worth of statements (still waiting for the rest). I added the charges up last night = 4538. If I add interest to this at 8% it takes me over the £5k limit, and if I add it at the unauthorised borrowing rate (which I really want to do) it takes me well over. I was thinking I could divvy up the claim e.g. maybe only claim for 4 years' worth plus interest in one claim, and send a separate claim for the rest. Could I put in two separate claims at the same time, or would I have to wait until one was settled before I put another one in? Also, do courts cost count in the total amount of the £5k claim (if it came to that)? Any advice or experience of similar situation appreciated. Thanks

That's encouraging - thanks! I'm going to send off the DPA request anyway with all my previous addresses as the reference instead.

Will a DPA request work without the account number? Has anyone managed to get information without the account number? Thanks

I have phoned both Customer Services numbers for RBS and Natwest and asked for details of my closed accounts (they were all closed in 2004). I have security details, previous addresses, opening and closing dates and credit limits (from my credit report) - everything except the account number as I moved house at the end of last year and threw everything away (how I regret it now). They refuse to give me the account numbers over the phone, nor will they give me an address to write to to get this one piece of information. The woman I spoke to at RBS Customer Services even admitted the information was on her screen, but she refused to give it to me! She then changed her story and said that after 3 months' all data on closed accounts is deleted. Of course I don't believe her - I used to work for the RBS group myself and I know they keep customer information going back for years. The charges for all these credit cards are likely to be quite large, and I am determined to pursue it further. Has anyone else managed to get this information out of RBS/Natwest? Thanks

Referral means a direct debit/cheque has come in but there insufficient funds to pay it - the bank checks your acount and decides to pay it anyway. They pay it and charge you a referral charge (which is usually less than the bounced DD charge). They say the charge is to account for the extra work in looking up your account on the system and getting a decision to pay the DD. They will charge you for going overdrawn/over your OD limit as well. There is usually a limit for these charges - Natwest for example will only charge you 3 referral charges per month even if they pay out more than three times. Bounced DD charges have no limit - can be charged as many times as they like. Regards Long time bank worker

INT CAPITALISE Hi - this means that the interest charged on your account has been added to the debt i.e. 'capitalised'. This is an accounting term - this means that further interest is charged on the total debt i.e. you will be paying interest on the capitalised interest as well........ Hope this helps. P.S. I am a chartered accountant, and I work for a bank

INT ACCR CR ADJ INT PAID CR ADJ These two are accounting entries for interest accrued and paid - looks like they are adjusting your account and crediting interest back to your account i.e. paying you back. The other one I'm not sure - a charge for printing statements maybe? Different banks use different accounting abbreviations, and this isn't a standard one. P.S I am a chartered accountant, and I work for a bank!

Hi Sophie Which address did you send your DPA request/Claim to? I want to claim on my Beneficial credit card as well (account is closed now so I need to get the info first). Thanks Janet

Got the following address from this website: http://www.bankofscotlandhalifax.co.uk/contactus/complaints.shtml Bank of Scotland Customer Relations PO Box 29112 Dunfermline KY11 2ZX 0845 850 1368 FAX 0845 128 1385 Called and asked for address for Data Protection Officer and was given this: Nexus Halifax PLC PO Box 548 Leeds LS1 1WU

Oops - slight typo there - the address should be: Nexus Halifax Plc PO Box 548 Leeds LS1 1WU

I'm posting this under the Halifax Forum as the B of S is now part of that group. Contact Details: Got address from website: http://www.bankofscotlandhalifax.co.uk/contactus/complaints.shtml Bank of Scotland Customer Relations PO Box 29112 Dunfermline KY11 2ZX 0845 850 1368 FAX 0845 128 1385 Called and asked for address for Data Protection Officer and was given this: Nexus PO Box 548 Leeds LF1 1WU

Doesn't prove that particular cheque was made out to them. I've had problems with this before. You could write in any name on the counterfoil. The cheque number only proves the cheque has been cashed. You can go back to your bank and ask them to trace who cashed the cheque, but they will charge you for it and it can take a while. It's less hassle to take a copy upfront...... Only a suggestion.......!

Just a suggestion, but I am taking a photocopy of each cheque I send so that if they cash it and then claim they know nothing about it I have evidence to back it up.