Is tenancy void?

[beckthepeck]

I have an 'Agreement for an Assured Shorthold Tenacy' for 12 months. Because neither myself nor my husband had a job my landlord would only accept us if we paid the first 6 months rent up front. We did. Now we are supposed to pay the next 6 months rent upfront 4 months into our contract we moved in in February. However now my husband has a job so we asked out landlord if we could change the agreement to paying monthly but she says no and if we dont have the money by the end of the week she will start charging us interest. We think this is very unreasonable given that she intended to rent her place out monthly and were it not for the fact that neither myself nor my husband had a job at the time and now my husband does we think she is being unreasonable. She knows he has a job, we paid the first six months up front and we have small children etc.

 

Anyway, so now we are trying to find ways out of the contract because we do not want to give this woman any more of our money! So upon looking at our contract again we see that she did not sign our copy, nor we hers. I said to the estate agents at the time shouldnt we all be signing the same copy and even my landlord was annoyed about it. We asked the agent to do something about it - which they didntand the landlord didnt press for it to be seen to. Also, its probably just trivial but they spelt my husbands name wrong. Again i brought it up with the agents as did i with the landlord and she and we were both annoyed about it but yet again nothing was done to correct it despite my asking the estate agent to and the landlord asking them to as well.

 

Do any of these things mean in any way that the contract is void? If not oh well, i like living in the house, just do not think our landlady is being fair to us.

Edited June 24, 2009 by beckthepeck

[Maggie_moo]

Did it state in the contract that the second six months had to be paid in a lump sum? If so why are they asking for it two months early?! If the contracts have no signatures on I think they are worthless, however the downside is they could ask you to leave as there is no contract on both sides if nothing has been signed by both parties on both copies.

[beckthepeck]

Did it state in the contract that the second six months had to be paid in a lump sum? If so why are they asking for it two months early?! If the contracts have no signatures on I think they are worthless, however the downside is they could ask you to leave as there is no contract on both sides if nothing has been signed by both parties on both copies.

 

Yep, they wanted the next 6 months in a lump sum.

 

If I complain and say it is void because of the signature thing could they ask us to leave despite the fact we have paid until end of August when the 1st 6 months are up?

[Planner]

The signature issue is a dead end.

 

The issue here is not the fact that they wanted the next 6 months in advance, as you agreed to this when you signed the contract. The issue is that you can no longer afford a six months lump sum because your husband has unfortunatley lost his job.

 

Harsh as it may seem and emotional as you feel over it, you need to take a step back and look at this in the cold hard light of day, as a judge would (if it ever got to that!).

 

You are bound by the terms of the contract, this includes payment amounts and frequency. Is there a clause in the contract that states that interest will be charged on late payments? if so at what rate and over what period.

 

All that I can suggest is that you set out a payment schedule in writing to your LL (maybe include a cheque that wont bounce!) for the next month if you can afford it to show that you are sincere.

 

If she wont accept this, then the options are;

 

- You move out and she takes you to court for the remaining rent;

 

- You find a replacement tenant that she agrees with;

 

- You stay until you are evicted (this is what the Council will suggest if you want them to rehouse you). She may then take you to court to recover the outstanding rent.

 

Have you checked with the Council that you are claiming absoultley eveything you are entitled to?

[beckthepeck]

My husband hasn't lost a job, he has gotten a job.

[Planner]

My husband hasn't lost a job, he has gotten a job.

 

Oh yes!

 

Even worse then! there was never going to be any realistic chance you could pay it was there? Where did you imagine the money was going to come from? you really shouldnt of signed or insisted the contract be ammended so that it would be monthly payment after the intial six months.

 

I think the payment schedule in writing is your best way forward.

[beckthepeck]

We can pay it, but we asked if we could pay monthly as my husband now has a job and it is of course far nicer to pay monthly. I guess we took for granted that she would be nice and go along with that. Oh well.

[Planner]

We can pay it, but we asked if we could pay monthly as my husband now has a job and it is of course far nicer to pay monthly. I guess we took for granted that she would be nice and go along with that. Oh well.

 

So you have the money? Then you should just pay it as per the temrs of your tenancy agreement. I dont honestly think its the landlady thats being unreasonable here.

 

Not sure whay you have dropped the bit in about being charged interest if its never going to be an issue because you have the money to pay it?

 

Make sure that if you intend to stay and sign a further contract, its on monthly payments! Also keep in mind that if you intend to stay and you dont sign a new tenancy agreement your tenany will become a statutory periodic tenancy (rolling). In your case this will mean another 6 months upfront and another six months in the house. Keep that in mind!

[beckthepeck]

So you have the money? Then you should just pay it as per the temrs of your tenancy agreement. I dont honestly think its the landlady thats being unreasonable here.

 

Not sure whay you have dropped the bit in about being charged interest if its never going to be an issue because you have the money to pay it?

 

Make sure that if you intend to stay and sign a further contract, its on monthly payments! Also keep in mind that if you intend to stay and you dont sign a new tenancy agreement your tenany will become a statutory periodic tenancy (rolling). In your case this will mean another 6 months upfront and another six months in the house. Keep that in mind!

 

 

 

So when are we supposed to ask to change it to monthly?

[Planner]

So when are we supposed to ask to change it to monthly?

 

You can only ask to change it to a monthly tenancy when the current one is up for renewal (i.e. a month or so before the end of the 12 months). If she agrees (get it in writing) and make sure the new agreement is just has you want it.

 

If she disagrees and you stay beyond the 12 months, you will have a statutory periodic tenancy on the same terms/rent/conditions as the current one. This will include 6 monthly rent payments. So be careful as you could find yourself locked in for a further 6 months.

 

Having such a bi-annual tenancy period will also do 'something' to your and the landlords notice periods. While I am not 100% certain, rather than the 1 month notice a tenant will normally have to give to end a periodic tenancy you will have to give a full 6 months to end on a rent period. And rather than the usual 2 months a LL normally has to give they will allso be required to give 6 months notice. You should check this situation with CAB or Shelter as such tenancys are very rare.

Edited June 25, 2009 by Planner