tell my LL to keep Deposit as last rent payment?

tia_meena

clutton wrote: »

i f you are in periodic - then a tenant only has to give one months notice by law - irrespective of what it says in the AST

Would the one month notice be the case with the agreement I have "AGREEMENT FOR AN ASSURED SHORTHOLD TENANCY"?

moneysavinmonkey

what clutton says is correct is for an ASSURED SHORTHOLD TENANCY

What is not clear to me is if you are in the 'periodic' stage or not.

tia_meena

Not sure what you mean by Periodic stage. I signed a new agreement in Jan 2008. So I have passed the min 6month break clause period.

Alleycat

Sounds like you have a one year fixed term tenancy. You are still in the fixed term up until the tenancy expires in January 2009. You do however have a break clause written into the agreement.

With regards to notice periods, if you were no longer a fixed term tenant (i.e. the current tenancy had expired and the tenancy were running on a month by month basis) you would only be required to give one month's notice. However, as you are still in the fixed term you must give two months notice as prescribed in your tenancy agreement.

In relation to the rent issues. You would be expected to pay your rent in full until your notice expired. Whilst you could request that your landlord accept your deposit as the last month's rent he/she does not have to do this and may refuse. This is because the deposit is held against damage to the tenancy and not unpaid rent.

If you left owing the last month's rent but without the deposit, the landlord could still come after you for unpaid rent. You could countersue for the deposit but this is a messy process that could easily be avoided.

I would suggest that you give the required two months notice in writing and pay the rent in full. When you have moved out and if the landlord tries to withhold your deposit you can then threaten to take him to court for non protection of the deposit and a court would automatically award you 3 x the amount paid. This should be sufficient to make him cough up as if he refuses he could end up seriously out of pocket!

bandraoi

Forget the law and contracts and inventories and certificates and notice periods for a minute.
Forget all about it.
That only comes into it when there's a disagreement.
You don't have a disagreement yet.

So ring your landlord. Tell him you're thinking of moving in with your boyfriend. Ask him how much notice he wants, he may only want a months notice. Ask him would he prefer to keep the deposit as the last months rent.

You've been there long enough, and paid your rent on time and he's renewed the tenancy often enough to indicate that you have a good and accomodating relationship.

Just talk about it.

Notlob

Forget the periodic issue. From what you have posted, you are on a fixed term, as such, the terms of the agreement will dictate the arrangements as far as tenant's notice requirements.

TDS, debateable! Posters differ (Shock Horror) as to how this piece of legislation is interpreted. My view is that there is no need to protect deposits where deposits were received prior to 6th April 2007. Just my view mind!

Lack of an inventory should help your case in the event of a dispute. Were photos taken at commencement?

Your options are to abide by the terms of the agreement. Therefore, you should not use your deposit towards last month's rent, and take the LL to court in the event that you feel your deposit is wrongly withheld.

Notlob

Notlob

bandraoi wrote: »

So ring your landlord. Tell him you're thinking of moving in with your boyfriend. Ask him how much notice he wants, he may only want a months notice. Ask him would he prefer to keep the deposit as the last months rent.

Sounds good to me!

Notlob

tia_meena

You've been there long enough, and paid your rent on time and he's renewed the tenancy often enough to indicate that you have a good and accomodating relationship.

He is not a nice guy. Every time I call him/ leave message informing him about a repair needed - which was only 4 times in 4years!- he doesn;t ring back. Ever!!! I end up trying to call him - he just ignores my calls. Calling with a different number made him answer his phone for then to put the phone down when I heard it was me. He only did the repairs after leaving a message that plumber/ electrician has to come in on this date and threatening to stop paying rent if not. He then is quick in sending someone over. :mad:

tia_meena

I would suggest that you give the required two months notice in writing and pay the rent in full. When you have moved out and if the landlord tries to withhold your deposit you can then threaten to take him to court for non protection of the deposit and a court would automatically award you 3 x the amount paid.

there are posting on this forum where tenants lost this case. Even though I renewed the tenancy in Jan 08, the deposit was paid in Jan 05. My agreement states that LL needs to protect the deposit, but not sure if this will stand in court as the judge can decide that the monies were received before April 07. This is were a tenant on this forum lost the case

daisykinn1

I've lived in 6/7 rentals now and I've had a problem every single time with my deposit. I've taken 2 landlords to court (and won) so if using the deposit is an option I would take it. Fighting for money that is rightfully yours is tiring and very stressful.

There's no harm in asking..