HELP please! Agreed to rent a apartment now being accused of sub letting!

[rdwe]

Hello,

Im in a spot of bother renting a summer apartment on a 4month contract. I found the apartment on ownersdirect.co.uk and emailed the landlady. (early January 2013)

She asked for £2,500 deposit to be payed up front, and £2,500 to be payed on the day of arrival May 20th, and then on the 20th of each month up untill Sept (4months). The apartment sleeps 8, i let her know that i was only going to have 6 of us in there, This was all agreed. but i must stress no contract of any sort has been signed.

Then 2 weeks later i find im unable to go, ask is it possible to recieve my deposit back which she declined because of potential missed bookings. So i say to her im going to fill my spaces so the apartment is still taken (meaning i get my deposit back, and the apartment is still filled for the summer), she is fine with this at the time.

I then post an advert on facebook to my friends and friends of friends and get a group of 6 lads, and a couple (i receive my 2.5k back) and forward on the names and contact details like the landlady asked. i mention that the couple and the group of lads do not know each other but are now friends on facebook. she is fine with this she says.

then after a couple of weeks after me telling her to deal with the others direct and effectively getting me out of the rental. so for a few weeks all is well and i dont hear anything.

then i get an email saying i have made the 'agreement' void, by filling my spaces with '8 indivduals' and that im sub letting the apartment (i stress i asked for the exact same amount of deposit that i payed so wasnt making a profit just breaking even and filling the places like she knew about). She also tried to say that because they havent payed the first full months rent 3 weeks before arrival that the 'agreement' is void. (still no contract has been passed over even with the lads asking for it she keeps delaying it on and on). So she expected us to pay 2.5k for the deposit, then pay another 2.5k 3 weeks we get to a apartment with out having signed any kind of contract.

All this is a private letting just via ownersdirect.co.uk

 

please can someone advise me where i stand legally having not signed a contract nor seen terms and conditions and if she can just say its 'void' and point blank refuse to return the deposit. we have tried to resolve the problem many times now and she is just refusing all emails now saying she welcomes a letter from my solicitor. Im worried i will have to pay the lads back the 2.5k and she keep mine.

id really appreciate anyones helpful input and any questions you have i will answer.

many thanks

[mariner51]

So a holiday Let, for what sounds to be a villa, pres not located in UK, so not an AST and not my area but my initial reaction-

there may be a verbal contract with you to supply/occupy in place with you, if owner is subject to UK law, evidenced by you paying deposit. Otherwise you may have to pursue under foreign Laws relating to property location.

I understand the owner's stance on sub-letting if the 8 people were not in your original party as she has no contract with them if you do not occupy. Facebook friends are not nec personal friends

Owner has declared cotract void, so only your deposit is forfeit. If friends paid their deposit to you and you have to repay them, you are still only £2.5 K out of pocket.

Did you take out any holiday Ins to cover cancellation fees?

[rdwe]

So a holiday Let, for what sounds to be a villa, pres not located in UK, so not an AST and not my area but my initial reaction-

there may be a verbal contract with you to supply/occupy in place with you, if owner is subject to UK law, evidenced by you paying deposit. Otherwise you may have to pursue under foreign Laws relating to property location.

I understand the owner's stance on sub-letting if the 8 people were not in your original party as she has no contract with them if you do not occupy. Facebook friends are not nec personal friends

Owner has declared cotract void, so only your deposit is forfeit. If friends paid their deposit to you and you have to repay them, you are still only £2.5 K out of pocket.

Did you take out any holiday Ins to cover cancellation fees?

 

Thanks for the reply, yes the apartment is in Ibiza Spain. The thing is she agreed to me finding replacements and happily took their details and was in contact with them for a few weeks before any issues were made aware to me. They was dealing with each other and everything was fine it seemed. Then it looks like she was looking for a way out of renting to them by saying I have advertised to 8individuals, which is kind of true I did advertise but that's how your able to fill my spaces. Finding 8 people to rent an apartment for 4months straight in ibiza is hard.

Then she was saying its void as the didn't pay the first months rent 3 weeks early still when there was no contract after asking numerous times.

So can she legally with hold the deposit with no official contract and just keep claiming I have voided the agreement when I haven't even seen clear terms and conditions.

 

I have been advised to go down my local Citizens Advice Baureu office and see what they suggest and can help me somehow.

 

Thanks again for your reply.

[rdwe]

So a holiday Let, for what sounds to be a villa, pres not located in UK, so not an AST and not my area but my initial reaction-

there may be a verbal contract with you to supply/occupy in place with you, if owner is subject to UK law, evidenced by you paying deposit. Otherwise you may have to pursue under foreign Laws relating to property location.

I understand the owner's stance on sub-letting if the 8 people were not in your original party as she has no contract with them if you do not occupy. Facebook friends are not nec personal friends

Owner has declared cotract void, so only your deposit is forfeit. If friends paid their deposit to you and you have to repay them, you are still only £2.5 K out of pocket.

Did you take out any holiday Ins to cover cancellation fees?

 

 

And no I didn't have any holiday insurance cover.

[Conniff]

Sending her the deposit would be the same as a signature, it shows you agreed to the terms and conditions and to all that was agreed.

 

You need to find a friend who can pretend to be a customer and see if it has in fact been given to another customer. Other than that, all the cards would seem to be in the landladies hand.

[BazzaS]

Not based in case law, but based in common sense:

 

If the "lads" are willing to pay to be let it : offer her the lads letting from her direct, if she won't accept them going through you.

 

She then has no loss, so no grounds for holding your deposit.

 

She can't have her cake and eat it too.

 

Does your contract with her stipulate which country (Spain, or which part of the UK : E&W, Scotland, or NI) has jurisdiction?

[Fox Morris]

Given that the contract is verbal, I don't think that the landlord can enforce a term that wasn't mentioned at the time i.e. she has no right to prohibit sublets and cannot demand payment terms different to those agreed. That being said, I believe the default position is that a deposit is non-refundable so it won't be easy to see any of your money returned.

 

After speaking with CAB, I would contact a solicitor. Try to find one offering a free initial consultation and a fixed price letter before action service to keep costs down. A letter before action is a final demand and is a warning to the landlord that you'll not just roll over and let her keep the funds. Solicitors fees are considerable but can be kept low by doing some of the work yourself, so try not to be cajoled into letting the solicitor take over (unless you want them to) or do any more than you asked.

 

Assuming the letter before action is unsuccessful, I would write to the landlord giving them one last chance to choose between mediation or small claims court. You can find more details about both processes here. You'll have a better chance of success with a solicitor than without one, but there's no guarantee that you'll win, or even if you do win, that the other side will be made to pay the costs. Likewise, if you lose, you could end up with two legals bills (but at very least one) and no deposit returned.

 

All this is predicated on the landlord being in England and Wales. If not then you'll have to seek the advice of someone in the correct jurisdiction.

 

Did you put any of the deposit on your credit card?

 

As for the merits of the case, I think the landlord will argue a non-refundable deposit of £25 per week, per person, is actually quite reasonable.