deposit not protected and ll harrassment

[gabbyevs]

im writing this on behalf of my sister

 

shes a tenant in a shared accomadtion (Live out landllord) about to leave after numerous disputes with LL

 

she took over the broadband/tv pacakge when another tenant left- i did tell her not to but the LL at the time assured her his agreement that she could deduct from the rent

 

a new cotract was set up with virgin which the LL agreed t back in november 14, and everything was fine she deducted it from her monthly rent and he didnt have any problems with it

 

come to last month she gives her required 1 month notice to leave and he starts hassling her about when prospective tenants can come and view the room-she said is it ok to do it just in the evenings as shes at work he said no i want them to come when i want

she refused this as not being reasonable and he starts hassling her saying its his house he can do what he likes when he likes

 

he also starts bringing up the payments to virgin stating it sounds too much and why is it 40 pounds a month even though he agreed to this

 

he says hes going to take it out of the deposit as its too much-

 

she has never had a confirmation that the deposit was sent to a protection scheme nor even a proper contract as ive just found out

 

just an email stating how much rent is deposit and how much notice to give

 

so on two points has he got any comback for her not "paying full rent" even though he agreed to the broadband contract

 

and second does the fact is not in a protection scheme supercede all that

 

thanks for any help

[raydetinu]

yes the deposit would need to be protected.

has she got the virgin agreement with the LL in writing?

[gabbyevs]

she might have it in an email but not a contract as such

 

i told tell her not to do it at the time the landlord was reasonbale and didnt have any problems with him

 

what should i advise her to do go to the small claims courts on the basis it wasnt protected?

[raydetinu]

need to be clear here about the contract first; ( AST? )

Is there just one contract which the two tenants signed or did each one have there own separate contract? could be a problem if only one contract!

what was the contract end date? or had it gone periodic? if periodic then notice needs to be minimum one month to end on day before rent due date.

Best just to get deposit back in full, and not have to go to court, but certainly use the fact deposit should have been protected as a lever to do that.

 

 

She also may have a problem with the virgin contract, if it is her name she will be liable for it until the end of the contract period as she signed the contract! unless the LL agrees to take it over the payments? direct with virgin, getting complicated now.

[gabbyevs]

there was a seprate contract for each tenenat-i say contract like in my above post it was just an email stating rent amount and deposit taken

 

i did warn her about the virgin contract but at the time rthe landlord wasnt hassling her

 

i dont know how she goes about proving he said it was ok for the contract thers a couple of emails would that be enough

[camptownraces]

"a new cotract was set up with virgin which the LL agreed t back in november 14, and everything was fine she deducted it from her monthly rent and he didnt have any problems with it"

 

This sounds as if sister may only have been in the accommodation since November 2014. Please confirm her move in date.

 

There is no written tenancy agreement - just a couple of texts. A court will therefore assume an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, with a term of six months. So, depending on her move in date, she may be in a contract until May 2015.

 

A bigger issue seems to be the landlord never having protected sister's deposit in a government approved scheme, and serving her the prescribed information. Landlord could be made to pay the tenant up to 3 times the amount of the deposit - but only a court could impose such a penalty. If sister mentioned this to LL, he may quickly change his mind about the Virgin payments and also about witholding her deposit.

 

What evidence (bank statements?) is there of the payments sister made to this LL?

[gabbyevs]

sorry she moved in march last year-another tenant moved out in nov 14 thats when she took over the virgin contract

[camptownraces]

Have I got this right: sister gave notice (at least one month, ending on last day of tenancy period?) intending to move out in March.

 

She is in a contract with Virgin - typically for 12 or 18 months from November 2014. There will be written evidence of that - Virgin are professionals. Even if she moves out this month, there will be another 8 or 14 months when Virgin will be collecting £40 from her.

 

What evidence is there that rent has been paid and a deposit has been paid? She'll need to show some proof of the tenancy existing to a court. She would demonstrate to the judge that she is not in arrears with the rent (relying on the emails/texts from LL from Nov 14 for this).

 

To make a believable claim for three times the deposit, she'd have to convince the LL that her evidence stacks up. She'll also have to show that there is no reason for LL to withold anything from her deposit, eg for rent arrears or damage.

[gabbyevs]

she didnt know in november she was going to start having problems and took over the contract in good faith

 

this is what im saying he agreed in emails that she could subtract the virgin payments from her rent and is now saying they sound high and doesnt want to give deposit back based on the virgin payments

[gabbyevs]

she is also trandsferring virgin to her new address i might add so she accepts the rest of the contract she will have to pay