landlord issues rent arrears

[mariner51]

messycess you say you have occupied property for 18 months, but have failed to mention date T commenced nor duration of fixed term (6,12,18,24,36 months) nor rent due frequency.

All this is rel to determine what s21 form should have been served (21a or b). Expiry date requirements vary.

s21 is a no fault notice, so rent owing etc are only assumptions for reason.

No s21 can be validly served unless deposit protected i approved scheme AND required info sent to T within reqd timescale.. It does not have to detail your rights, other than refer to HA 1988.

 

LG s21 remains valid for life of that particular AST, The expiry date only refers to the earliest date the LL can consider applying for a Court repo order (not before end of fixed term)

 

messy you do not have to vacate by 9 Feb but if you do, you sahould serve your own valid NTQ.

I would also moderate your stated opinion of LL. He may be trying to service a mort on property to prevent lender repo and your subs eviction or on 31st Jan 13 havew to pay sig tax to HMRC (rental profits are assesed at 40% rate)

If you read this forum you will realise there are many reluctant LLs renting thieir only proeprty with no cash reserves.

I doubt any shop would allow youto take away £300 groceries without full payment at checkout.

[messycess]

hi mariner5 ive read your post a couple of times now and im not sure i understand what you mean or if you just think im in the wrong.

 

No i wouldnt expect 300 pounds worth of shopping for free but if i pay a monthly contract for a internet and tv package i would expect to get the full service and if i was unhappy with the service i was recieving i should be able to complain about it !

 

I appreciate all the help ive had on this thread but one thing ive notice is there is no mention of the fact he has turned up out of the blue on many occasion without 24 hours agreed notice. Which i thought is against the law??

 

I should just pay my rent on time keep him happy and put up with it? Are tenants always in the wrong and landlord holier than thou??

 

If my personal opinions of landlord should not be on here i will remove them. I am sorry i just wanted to put as much info as possible.

 

and this is all my opinion only

[messycess]

oh sorry mariner5 got carried away a bit there.

 

The tenancy started on 10/06/2011 and was for 6 months since that expired we have been on a month to month rolling contract.

[mariner51]

No I am not suggesting you are nec 'wrong'. SPT notice periods are defined by Statute.

s21 is no fault repo, no reason reqd

If more than 2 months rent owing on rent statement, then LL could serve s8g 8,10,11 request for repo order

As for £300 grocery bill, I have yet to find a supermarket, cornere shop or pub that will sanction such credit tab, yet :: cannot be assured of repo unless 2 month rent is due.

 

24hr Notice is only required for access (unless in emergency)

LL knocks on door, does not demand entry but delivers message, requires no Notice. Court may decide frequent contact by any means costitute harrassment of T

Edited December 22, 2012 by mariner51

[messycess]

so i logged onto the council website this morning to find our band A status is confirmed and we are top of the list. Which is a great weight off our mind.

 

Im not completely convinced we will find a place before the 9th of feb so would the best plan of action be to contact landlord and tell him we might be here longer? Or just say nothing until the 9th feb?

 

Would the fact we are in £225 arrears (and quite likely to be in arrears still next month) mean he can evict us any quicker? Or is it as you say only if the arrears are 2 month

[raydetinu]

looks ok tthen, arrears of that amount should not be sufficient to get accelerated repo. so you should be ok.

always best to keep LL informed about your situation so he can plan to relet.

good luck with new place.

[messycess]

well we have been accepted for a property now and should hope to be in before the s21 is up. The 225 rent arrears will be paid tomorrow but our next month rent is due on the 10th and we have no way of paying this on time.

 

Im still very tempted to say keep the deposit for the last months rent but then if the house we are moving into is not ready for us we will be stuck.

 

Or could we just make sure we have a months worth of rent ready for when s21 is up so we wont be in the 2 months arrears category??

 

Sorry to be a pain!

[mariner51]

2 months rent owing only applies to s8 g8 repo, not s21 (no fault) repo action, so save your money for future costs.

If you vacate before s21 expires, you should provide LL with written Notice of Intent and specified date. This may help to avoid your liability for s21 Court cost, though LL culd pursue you for up to 1 month rent until stat 1 month expiry of your NTQ. Councils/HAs usually expect prosp Ts to accept & occupy their property within14 days, so expect a dual rent period. s21 hearing costs will be min £175, poss applicable to outgoing T.

LL can still pursue you for due rent owed and you may end up with a CCJ Judgement.

[messycess]

we have been approved a house which should be ready by end of this month which is a huge relief.

 

We asked the landlord if he would keep the deposit as last month rent but he point blank refused.

 

We can borrow the money to pay

last month rent so that is sorted.

 

My real issue now is with the deposit and the 1 broken tile in the bathroom.

 

Can he seriously charge me

a full re lay of the bathroom for 1 broken tile??

 

Also if there is a dispute who decides who is right or wrong?

[raydetinu]

when you move out, inform the dps sheme and ask for deposit back, that will trigger LL to claim for deductions and if you cannot agree, then use the dispute service and if that does not work go to court and let a judge decide.

[messycess]

an update guys. We have now moved out of the property on 9th feb. landlord asked his letting agent to come and do a pre check out inspection. The letting agent told us we should patch up the holes drilled in the walls and paint over some of the stains on the wall which we did. He also said the broken tile is wear and tear ! So we applied for our deposit repayment on sunday. We were 125 in arrears when we left. The status of the deposit is "awaiting landlord response". Is there a timescale he has to respond within or could we be waiting for ages for it to be returned ? Thanks for the help

[mariner51]

Not sure of LL response time allowed, poss 2-3wk. Expect him to refuse return of full deposit to you, or at least £225 for rent owed. He can accept/reject DPS ADR process. If deposit not then returned to you you will have to sue for return of full deposit in SCC. If LL releases deposit, or rejects ADR, he can still sue you in SCC forrent owing and any T attributable damages.The loser pays Court fee and allowable expenses, say £150.

Contact LL and negotiate. Concered he is entitled to £225 from deposit, for rent owing (50% dep?). He MAY decide forfeiture of remaining deposit is not worth the gamble/hassle, tho he may not.

[messycess]

Well this is odd i have been looking through the inventory and there are some blatant mistakes such as beige carpet in hallway when it has always been laminate and spot lights where there are just normal bulbs ?? And many more. The letting agent has told me their are photos of before and after we rented the property but how can i be sure the photos were taken before WE moved in and not the previous 2 tenants that we know of ? Starting to think im never going to see any money back from him !

[raydetinu]

did you get a copy of the inventory/condition report when you moved in and did you sign it as being true?

if not how can they expect you to agree it when you leave!

[mariner51]

ray, a move-in inventory signed by T is preferable but not stat requirement, only that one was provided with x days allowed for T update & return. Onus on LL to show MI inventory provided/sent and onys on T to show return, with acceptance or any alterations requested after T inspection, say within 7 days of receipt.

Photos without date/time stamp should carry less weight with DPS ADR unless LL can provide subs dated receipts for change in floor covering etc

[messycess]

I have report from letting agent and have inspected the place my self. You moved into a lovely well kept, well decorated house and moved out 18 months later leaving a filthy disgusting stinking dump. To return the decorating to it's previous condition will cost £725 to repair other items is £400 you also owe £125 in unpaid rent. You have 7 days to pay £1250 or I will take legal action.

[messycess]

This is the shocking txt i received today. I have asked for a breakdown of prices for the ridiculous decorative pricesi i told him i will collect these from his house but he said if i go near any of his propertys he will call the police !!!

[messycess]

to call it a dump when we left is just insulting. Yes there are a few marks on the walls and we didnt clean the oven. Carpets have been professionaly cleaned . Also the photos were taken well before we moved in. I went to the letting agent and they could not provide me with a date they were taken. They have photos of the garden etc. when we left but no move in photos to compare it too

[raydetinu]

have you got photos when you left, that is what will count!

[messycess]

No we never took photos unfortunately ! We also never signed the inventory and sent it to landlord at start of tenancy

[raydetinu]

It looks like a judge will have to decide then!

[messycess]

Right guys thought id start this on a new thread (hope thats ok)

 

Quote recieved from landlord

 

fully redecorate property inc: woodwork, doors and ceilings - £350

 

Full clean including steam clean / deep wash carpets - £199

 

caulk all edges and frames / re seal bath / repairs to skirting and woodwork - £75

 

remove all rubbish / goods left on property £99

 

total - £723

 

(waiting for further written quotes)

 

Unbelievable !!

 

Surely to fully re decorate would be classed as betterment ? We had the living room professionally cleaned the day we left £26.

 

The cleaner told us the carpet is a good few years old and there is no underlay so any stains will just stay in carpet or rest on concrete.

 

we told him we couldnt take the swing set in the garden and he said he would let me know a convinient time to get it and rubbish in the garage we will take to the tip.

 

He has not stated what woodwork needs repairing or where this damage is and more importantly there is no reference on our inventory to the condition of (whatever it is ) from the move in.

[The Carpet Cleaners]

I am afraid the carpet cleaner does not seem to know his stuff.... You can clean carpets without any underlay, just have to use a different method to the usual hot water extraction method.... and £199 for just the carpet clean is a very good price for a whole house worth of carpets.

[messycess]

Its not a whole house worth only 2 rooms according to check out inventory.

[ims21]

Two threads merged...only one thread needed for this issue. That way the whole story is in one place.