In that case they were in effect terminating your tenancy ie giving you the statutory notice period. See these notes - the fixed term and periodic tenancy para: Residential Tenancies, Rent Act Tenancies, Assured Tenancies, Assured Shorthold Tenancies My guess is the agents just want the additional regular income from admin charges etc, it may well raise them £100-£200 for very little work. I would not let through such an agent.

You are entitled to ask to go to a periodic tenancy, if the landlord agrees you should not need to pay any further admin fees related to renewal of tenancy agreements. Some agents "forget" to tell you this as they don't make money from it - admin fees are seen as a nice earner for some. Some even try to charge the landlord as well!! I rent one property and avoid dubious estate agents with lots of charges for tenants - I ask to see their schedule of charges for both myself and the tenant before doing business with them. They must also be members of the ombudsmans scheme. I'm alway open to rolling tenancies, no one can plan their life in 6 / 12month blocks it's ridiculous. Good luck with the house move. This leaflet on unfair terms is useful for tenants (chose the one titled Unfair tenancy terms ) Unfair terms guidance Check you new tenancy contract out before signing.

21st December - filed claim using Money Claim Online. Nationwide make you go all the way!

This actually seems fair unless you can absolutely prove the stains were present before you moved in ie they are on the incoming inventory. I say this because I took my landlord to the small claims court for a similar type of minor damage situation. Briefly: Incoming inventory showed a door with two marks. Outgoing inventory showed one mark and one damage (a small circular indentation on the veneer). I was charged just under £100 for a replacement door. I knew I had not caused any such damage and felt the damage was so minor that with a cursory look, it could be seen as a mark. I lost on the balance of probability. Why? Two points: First only the outgoing inventory identified damage present and a picture was produced (and yes I re-examined the door after moving out, you are entitled to that). The point on this was that one of the marks on the incoming inventory could have been cleaned off and a mark is a mark, not damage. More importantly, I expected the proceedings to be myself vs landlord, I did not expect to have 2 extra defendants. Who were they? The landlords husband and the estate agent acting for them. So the Judge has three witnesses (under oath) to say the damage was not there at incoming inventory, against myself. I just saw two marks, in and out. The Judge was very reasonable and explained his reasoning clearly and yes he applied the law. He even commented about it seeming to be an "ass" at times. The small claims court is best for this (but you must try to resolve it first with the Landlord or Agent - do all this in writing, keep the letters factual, avoid emotional statements), and I wouldn't say absolutely don't try it, just be prepared for the un-expected. I found the exercise interesting and would go through it again. Be prepared to spend some time getting forms filled in correctly, and be prepared for a bit of a wait (months). You'll probably need to allocate a day for Court proceedings. Incidently, the hearing is usually informal and not in a large court room for these simple disputes. Also you need to be aware that the defendant has the option of using a court near where he lives - it may mean you have the expense of travelling to court. Here is a starting point: Making a Claim Hope that helps.

Hi, Good luck - I completed a first small claim last year. I found the day in court both interesting and a very useful experience which I would repeat again. Nerves, yes especially as it was me as claimant vs three defendants. I have done jury service previously so it wasn't all new. I believe you may be able to take a friend for support, but check with and inform court first. And remember Judges are human - the one in my case was very reasoned and helpful, but do remember he can only apply the law as it is, even if to you it may seem "an ass" Hope it all goes well

Claim is on behalf of a family member following a serious accident. Banks will only deal with the account holder. I accept that is a data protection issue. But even after providing a letter from the hospital explaining the medical situation and recommending a third person deals with financial matters, things remain difficult. None provided any positive help. (Power of Attorney will do the trick, but it's long winded and not always practical - it will also cost money) You are wasting your breath talking by phone. I tried paying off an account with another bank only to be told on giving my name that that only the account holder could pay it off ?!?. A transfer to a supervisor rectified that matter but they could not tell me how much was owing, or even take the required amount. I had to verbally tell them what to take. Secondly, banks continue to enquire with the account holder even when they have written evidence of the fact the holder is incapacitated (and that can be a great source of stress and frustration). Thirdly, do keep a record of all communication, even a timeline history in eg Word as it will help you keep track of matters and help when filling in claim forms. The time is worth it. After accident – advised bank of situation: Nationwide informed of situation and asked to freeze bank account. Charges started accruing due to no money input and account holder unable to deal with matters. Things such as DDs failed accruing further charges with eg cards. Nationwide staff were generally understanding at this point, but it became clear they had no real decision making powers. However I managed to freeze the current account, which obviously caused issues with DDs. One real piece of advice, inform all financial institutions of the situation ASAP. Whilst they may ignore the letter as it has not come from the account holder, they cannot later accuse anyone of not advising. Get a letter from the hospital explaining the situation – they are used to dealing with these issues. Early Oct – request refund from bank: Provided letter from hospital, with a covering letter I had prepared, but eventually signed by my son, authorising me to deal with financial matters on his behalf. It also included a list of charges I requested be refunded. Mid Oct – appeal to bank against their refusal: After receiving refusal to first letter, I sent a written standard request appealing against the banks refusal to refund charges. The pro-forma I used is here: http://www.govanlc.com/step_2_letter%20_glc%20090406.pdf End Oct: Nationwide responded with a standard reply, this time not from the local branch but from the Member Relations Manager, Northampton. It included a booklet re complaining to the Ombudsman and also pointed out I had 6 months to pursue the matter with the Ombudsman. 4th Nov: Served Subject Access Request on Nationwide, receipt received.

This may also be helpful for you, it has a paragraph on repairs and maintenance: Information for Tenants

You should not deduct any money from the rental payment, you will then be in default of your tenancy contract and that will not look good if you do go to court. You may also get charged late payment penalties - check your contract very carefully.

Return the undisputed part of the deposit ASAP, 10days is reasonable - remember the tennant may need a deposit for another rent so be fair. The disputed part must be explained in writing to the tennant, again within 10days is reasonable. You should also have estimates for the repair (several and formal estimates). Your letting agent should advise you if you have a full management contract with them. There is some good guidance here: Association of Residential Letting Agents You should also make yourself aware of the OFT guidance - there is a useful tennants guide for download here - as a landlord you will find it helpful also: Unfair terms guidance Hope that helps

I had a similar situation with a short rent. Basically on leaving I was to be charged for cleaning plus a small damage to the back of a door. I pointed out the poor condition on the incoming inventory and the fact that I had during my tenancy cleaned up mould, dust and marks. The cleaning part was refunded. However, the door damage was noted as two marks on the incoming inventory, whilst on the outgoing inventory one mark and one damage was noted. I know I did not cause the damage and it required close inspection to realise the door veneer was slightly indented and not a mark (about a one inch circular indent). I did go to court but lost (small claims court). Basically, the judge has to apply the law, even if it may seem "an ass" at times. What I had not expected was myself against three witnesses!! Who were they? The landlord, the landlords husband and the letting agent!! Of course they all had the same story and under oath stated the door was not damaged at the start of the let. The Judge sees three witnesses under oath vs one claimant under oath. In fact, the Judge believed I was telling the truth but ruled on the balance of probability and I lost! The letting agent did get some terse words from the judge as the tenancy contract did indeed contain very unfair terms (that was upheld by an earlier complaint from myself to OFT). Basically, if you are renting take photos of everything like marks, stains, damage and make absolutely sure it is on the incoming inventory. My outgoing inventory included things like spiders webs, small splashes (about 1-2mm in diameter!) on the kick space. It was clear to me they viewed my deposit as extra income. All in all it cost me a couple of letters, £30 in the small claims court plus £99 loss of part of the deposit for a new door (I doubt if it was ever replaced as the door functioned as it should!!) and half a day for court appearance. For the defence, well both the landlord and her husband spent time at court, plus the agent had two persons present (one witness, one as support). Even though I lost, it was worth the effort - some tips: - Keep a record of all exchanges with dates and times. - Photograph everything that is disputed (indeed insist that you can revisit the property with a witness of your own to get your own photos of the disputed items) - You MUST try to resolve the dispute with the landlord and letting agent first. Write a letter explaining the facts and keep to the point, emotions and opinions are not helpful (OK you may feel better but they really are of no use). Set a deadline for a response (eg 14 days). - If you are still not satisfied, start reading about a small claim here: Making a Claim Court clerks can help you fill in forms, but they will not and can not advise you, they are not your solicitor or legal adviser. Having said that, I found them to be helpful and courteous. - Again fill in court forms with facts and keep short and to the point, as I said earlier, emotions and opinions are not helpful and the judge will ignore them - he is just applying the law as it stands. Include photos, even a plan of the rented property - this will help the judge understand any detail. - How long will all this take? Well expect months not weeks. And one last comment, I abandoned renting and invested in a second property. I now rent that property so I'm now a landlord and can see things from another point of view. I concluded that landlords get away with keeping part or all of a deposit because most people are nervous about challenging, especially if they are offered part of the deposit back "as a carrot". If you know you did not cause damage, stick to your guns. I actually believe in being fair and reasonable as a landlord, but yes I do expect rent as agreed. I don't agree with large penalties if rent is late by a few days on one occasion, everyone makes mistakes or has a late pay cheque. Repeated lateness however becomes a problem, I expect my tenants to be fair and reasonable to me also. The best approach is to keep the landlord and his agent informed if things go wrong with payments. I hope that helps - do not be nervous about challenging, but do remain reasoned and courteous. Be prepared to do a bit of reading and research. And remember, the deposit is your money, not the landlords unless you have proveably caused damage during your rental. More help on Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts can be found here - there is a small guide for tenants and can be downloaded - check the points against your rental agreement: Unfair terms guidance Good Luck