Flatmate leaving joint tenancy

[murphyh2]

Hi,

 

Was wondering if anyone had any advice on this situation. My flatmate's visa is expiring and she is leaving to go home to her own country the first week of December. She has advertised her room to get someone to take over her part of the lease hopefully before she leaves. We have a joint shorthold tenancy that expires end of Jan 2009.

 

She is asserting that if she leaves without finding anyone, then myself and my other flatmate would have to pay her rent. I know we have a joint tenancy, however, if she goes and her name is still on the lease then she is still jointly and severally liable too as I understand it. I asked the letting agency what would happen if she fails to pay - would it come out of her deposit? And they said no - that's not what the deposit is there for. That we would have to agree to cover the rent, or else not let her go. I can't stop her from leaving as there are immigration issues involved.

 

I have checked the tenacy agreement and it explicitly states that the deposit is for (among other things) rent arrears. However, I'm worried that as she is going to be in another country, and the Agency don't seem inclined to pursue it with her, that I and my other flatmate would end up having to pay the rent, and she would get her full deposit back.

 

What happens in cases like this? Can someone just leave a joint tenancy and expect their roommates to pay the rent, without it affecting their deposit?! Why on earth would anyone sign a joint tenancy agreement in that case?

 

I have a friend trying to break a joint tenancy lease early too, and if she goes before getting someone else to take over her part of the lease she was told by her Agency that she would lose her deposit.

 

Can someone shed some light on how this usually goes, or what my rights are/are not? The Agency seems to be saying something different to any other agency I've ever gone through.

 

Help appreciated!

[Steve__M]

In reality any shortfall in rent at the end of the tenancy will come out of the deposit. What the agent is saying is that the landlord needs the rent now, and cannot dip into the deposit each month to get the shortfall. What you really want is an agreement that at the end of January the agent should refund the deposit to you. This allows you to withhold a proportion of the amount from the ex-tenant. The agent may not wish to get involved though. (Also may depend on the tenancy deposit scheme being used. Eg, the DPS scheme nominates a "lead tenant" to which the deposit is returned. The lead tenant therefore has quite a lot of power).

 

Unfortunately, should you be unable to recover the rent in this way there is likely to be little you can do. The agent/landlord would jointly sue all tenants for rent and pursue those they can get their hands on. It is highly unlikely that you could recover the rent from a person who has moved permanently abroad.

 

Landlords demand joint and several agreements precisely because they don't want to get involved in house-share politics.

[MrShed]

Worst case scenario - you guys have to pay all the remaining rent and no cover from this from the deposit. This the agent are entitled to do, and it sounds like they are doing it.

 

You would have to sue the departing tenant to get recompense - basically impossible if they are leaving the country.

 

You are going to get stung on this one without recourse I am afraid.