I have some issues with my LL, and have spent many an hour hammering the internet for information – I require additional clarification on what I’ve found out so far, any advice would be much appreciated! I have been a tenant with the same LA for over 2 years and lived in two properties through them. I moved into my current rented property in September 2009, when my LL purchased the property I was renting at the time, and I agreed to rent her property through the same LA. In January this year, the LA asked that all payments should be made to them in cash as they were ‘having problems changing banks’. Whilst this seemed a little strange, I had no issue or cause for concern as I had an excellent relationship with the LA, they had gone above and beyond their legal duties as LA, and I was very happy with the admirable way they looked after the tenants as well as the landlords. I made payments in cash, and received receipts for the same. At the start of March, I received a phone call from my LL stating that I should not make any further payments to the LA, and that she would provide bank details for me to pay rent directly to her. She informed me that she had not received payment from the LA for February’s rent, and that she could not get in contact with anyone from the LA (office closed, no-one answering phone etc). She did confirm that at the end of Feb she spoke to a lady at the LA over the phone; it was someone she had not spoken to previously, and the lady stated that she was ‘a family friend helping out’. The LL told me that the lady confirmed that Feb rental had been paid, and that payment would be made to my LL asap. According to the LL, no payment was made. My LL shortly afterwards posted the new tenancy agreement (AST for 6 months), and after adding some additional terms and conditions, I signed the AST. I would have preferred to move out of the property (I have met the LL and she can be very difficult, especially when you are voicing her errors or issues!) but as I did not have a security deposit (the LA had used the deposit as a rent payment on the previous property when my partner had to have emergency heart surgery and our funds hit the floor), and did not have the money to move, I didn’t see I had much choice. In the same correspondence, the LL also made additional claim that the LA had gone into liquidation, however, despite requesting the information three times in writing, she has yet to provide details of the Receivers, which makes me suspect that the LA has simply vanished and is not actually in receivership. Under the new AST, the rent for March fell due on 21.03.11, however, following issues with my tax credit payment I was only able to pay £150.00 (the rent is £525.00 per cal month). I informed the LL of my circumstances in writing and confirmed that a) if the tax credit issue was resolved quickly, the rent would be paid as soon as I received the shortfall payment or b) if the issue was not resolved quickly enough, I would pay £50.00 on 25.03.11, with the full outstanding balance to be cleared on 01.04.11. My LL has now stated in writing that unless payment is made in full by 25.03.11 for Feb rental (under the previous AST and already paid to the LA), and Mar (under the new AST), she will go to CC for a possession order. I have looked up the terms and understand that she is not in a legal position to seek such an order as there is less than two months rent arrears and the offer/reasons for late payment I have made for the arrears is reasonable, and also that she has not supplied any Notice of Intention. She also claims that she has filed a complaint with the police in regard to the LA, as it is a criminal matter, and that she requires receipts for payments made to LA dating back to Dec 2010, despite confirming in writing that she has received the rental payments for Dec and Jan (albeit late). Sorry to go on, but I wanted to provide a full background, and would appreciate greatly any advice offered on the following points of concern: As far as I can tell, the non-payment of rent by the LA is a civil matter, not a criminal matter as it involves the breaking of a contract by the LA, and as such the LL would have to sue the LA. Is this correct? Is there a difference to LL/tenant obligations if the LA has just vanished rather than gone in administration? Can my LL demand receipts for a 3 month period even when she has confirmed payment received for 2 of them? And what happens if I cannot find all receipts? (I am currently missing one receipt for a payment of £160.00). Am I legally obliged to provide any receipts at all? I am a good tenant, and always make my rent the first bill I pay; I am in no way trying to get out of paying anything. I understand my LL concerns about the loss of her money, but I do object to being treated like I have done wrong and being threatened with eviction when she has no right to do. I am also having a nightmare with trying to get her to understand that whilst the boiler is indeed covered by a Home Care agreement as has a safety certificate, the other gas appliances do not have the same, and her Home Care agreement does not cover these. This is the mentality I am dealing with, so I need to be 100% certain of my legal obligation so that I can be sure where I stand, and not be harassed or bullied which is what I feel she is trying to do (repeated mention of it being a ‘police matter’, demands for rent confirmed as already paid, threats to evict etc). I feel she is trying to railroad me, and, with her coming to inspect the property on Saturday (I can’t wait ), I want to be able to firmly stand my ground should she make any demands that she is not legally entitled to do so. Thanks so much in advance for your help!!

Hi there, This forum seems to be pretty good so any help really appreciated. I have rented a property for almost a year. Split with partner and decided to rent out the living room in order to meet the rent. This obviously breaches terms of the tenancy agreement with the landlord. The amount of rent that was agreed with the sublet was £100per month more than 50% of the rent although when he asked at the time I said it was 50%. He agreed on the amount, paid the deposit and moved in. We had some mutual disagreements with regards to how we lived together practically and decided that it was best if he moved out after two months. At this stage it was still amicable. Now two days after moving out of the property he says that he wants the difference that was above 50% and will move this to small claims court to get the money. When he challenged me about this I admitted that the amount was higher than 50% of the actual rent. Does he have a case? It's worth noting that morally I was going to pay him back the money (it's not really that much) but he has now blown this whole thing out of proportion so much with many threats about small claims court and the effect a ccj would have on my life. He also works in financial law and believes he has the upper hand. At this point I would prefer the landlord not to know as my own very large deposit is potentially at risk for breach of terms. However I believe to have a reasonable relationship with him and have always paid the rent on time. There is also a situation where I have paid this guy his deposit back in cash instead of by transfer. I haven't got any record of this but he has made a small admission to receiving it via email and I doubt he would lie about this as he doesn't seem as though he is that kind of person. But I could be wrong. Given his profession it would be unethical of him to state such a lie. Another point to note is that he did not pay bills for the first three weeks of his stay as he was still living in his other property and on holiday for this time (he had keys though and moved some of his stuff in). Any help really appreciated. I really just want to know do I have a case to defend this if he does go to court. All agreements between me and him were verbal so nothing is recorded although he has a copy of my tenancy agreement. Thanks

Hi, I have a problem with my landlord concerning an overpayment of rent. I started to rent a house through an agency the 25 sept 2009. The rent was £700 a month and I paid it directly to the landlord. I sent him a 1 month notice letter the 19th of november 2010 stating that I will leave the house 1 month later, the 19th of december 2010. For the last month to pay, I paid only £575 because I didn't stay a full month. My calculations was £700x12months/365days=23.01 daily rent. then I multiplied 23 by the number of day I stayed so from 25 november until 19 december, 25 days. The result is £575. Right, after that, the 25 of december I paid £575 by mistake to my landlord. So I did a £575 transfer of overpaid rent. The problem begin when I ask to get back the overpayment. The landlord is telling me that I had to pay £700 for december (so the 25th of november) and I did only £575. So I explained it to him (that I paid for 25 days oand not a full month) but he doesn't want to refund me the £575. What sould I do ? Am I wrong ?

Hi all We are moving into a new house in London, and have failed an independent referencing check. I earn enough, and have a good reference from the current landlord, but failed on my credit score. My partners parents have offered to be guarantors, however, we had assumed the fact that they own their property outright would be enough to secure. The referencing agency have said though, that they need to be earning enough to cover the rent. One of the parents is redundant, and the other works part-time - they have enough in savings to not need to work. We are told by the lettings agent that there is nothing that can be done - they either earn enough or they dont. Is this the case, or would the referencing agency take into account the property and assets they have? Thanks Ian

Hi, My flatmate of 4 years moved out in July at which point the letting agent revealed to me that he was 10 months in arrears with his rent. When I asked the letting agent why I hadn't been informed I was told that a letter addressed to both of us had been sent, but obviously my flatmate had intercepted it before I could. After much stress and argument I managed to receive half of the arrears from my flatmate, but he still owes the other half. I know that according to my agreement I am "joint and severally liable" for the payment, but my question is: Is there comeback for me against the letting agent, as they have left it so long to tell me about this (and they are still in no rush to let me know what they intend to do), and secondly, as my ex-flatmate has already accepted liability by paying half of the arrears, can I sue him for the other half, if he refuses to pay? I now have a new agreement with the letting agent with a new flatmate - as this is nothing to do with them, do the letting agent have any powers with regards to claiming the rent back? Any advice would be gratefully received!