TA ending bu no notice served – can we stay?

laurapeura

I posted on this forum earlier about trying to continue a TA. Put shortly, our LA has been rubbish from the start (we were given keys to move into a building site – literally) and tried to rip us off when we enquired about renewing our TA for the next 6 months.

Our TA ends at the end of this month and we have been trying to negotiate a deal with the LA as me and my partner are struggling with money at the moment. We are professionals and always pay our rent no matter what.

Last week I spoke with the LA on the phone and asked to be sent a written notice if they really can't make a deal with us. The LA thought they had given us a notice (s21) at the start of the tenancy but it emerged this is not the case – we haven't got one. After this they got a bit nasty and wouldn't agree to sending us a notice as "we have signed a contract stating the dates and it's a legally binding document". I was left confused about where we stand.

From reading this Forum gather they can't just bully us out if they have failed to issue us the s21 which is a 2 months notice? I'm just really worried now that they will try to pull something out on us to try to get us out – their attitude is already difficult to deal with. And really it's not our mistake if they failed to give us the notice, right? I wouldn't want to make things more complicated and resolve this situation politely.

We would like to move out just to get out of that LA but we could barely afford to go private. But only a week left we're not sure how we are able to arrange everything practically and financially.

Can we just stay for an another months without worries? this way we would be able to get the money together to move out. Or if we find a place this weekend, would it be useful to try and negotiate and extra week in our current flat if needed to be able to sort out the move?

Also, if they haven't given us a notice, do we have to give them a month's notice – is this something they could use against us?

Thank you so much for any advice anyone can give!

Premier_2

See post #13 from your previous thread

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1051283

tbs624

If they haven't served a valid S21 Notice requiring possession to tie in with the expiry
of the Fixed Term then that's tough. They now have to serve you this Notice on or before your next rent due date, giving you 2 months' notice. On expiry of the Fixed Term your Tenancy comes under a Periodic Agreement that will simply run from month to month (you have to give 1 months notice, the LL/LA two months.)

Do you have a direct contact name & address for the LL ? If not, you should ask for it in writing whilst still a tenant - the LAs office have to give it to you by law within 21 days of such a request.

Edited to add:
If you are in England or Wales, has the LA/LL scheme-registered your deposit and given you the prescribed info, within 14 days of receiving your deposit? (if deposit paid after April 6 2007)

If the deposit has not been registered, then no valid S21 Notice may be served until such time as it has been

laurapeura

Thanks tbs624.

We wanted to stay on periodical in the first place – I sent a letter to both LL and LA to enquire about this. the LA refused immediately (of course because they can't make money out of it) but at least we let the LL know... we only have his address.

I will send a letter requiring the notice in recorded delivery today – I forgot that it's not enough to ask for it over the phone...

tbs624

laurapeura wrote: »

.I will send a letter requiring the notice in recorded delivery today – I forgot that it's not enough to ask for it over the phone...

Think I may have worded my response in a way that can be misunderstood? the request in writing bit was for the LLs name and address

You *don't* have to ask the LA or the LL to give you notice - that's for them to sort out. You may want, as a matter of courtesy, to write to say politely that as you haven't been served with a S21 Notice then your understanding is that the contract will run on as a periodic until such time as they do serve the correct notice.

Just be absolutely sure that they cannot show that they *have * served a valid S21 already because they can then move straight on to court proceedings to get you out which never looks good to a future LL.

If you are a reliable tenant who pays up on time and looks after the property then the LL will probably have no objection anyway. It will probably be the LA who is losing out on one of their infamous "renewal admin fees" who is most cheesed off.

laurapeura

tbs624 wrote: »

Just be absolutely sure that they cannot show that they *have * served a valid S21 already because they can then move straight on to court proceedings to get you out which never looks good to a future LL.

If you are a reliable tenant who pays up on time and looks after the property then the LL will probably have no objection anyway. It will probably be the LA who is losing out on one of their infamous "renewal admin fees" who is most cheesed off.

This is the thing... I don't know how to make sure we haven't been issued one. I just noticed we haven't got a document like that anywhere and over the phone the LA realised and said out loud that 'oh it seems we haven't given you one'. But that's when they got funny with us and tried to just refer to our TA with dates on it.

And to us it seems the LL doesn't really care much about the flats, it's been a battle when we have mentioned anything that would need fixing (eg broken cupboard under the kitchen sink (doors broken off and slanted pretty badly) or a boiler that heats up radiators even if you just want hot water... ). The agency has always said the LL takes ages to agree on any costs and argues about them. Whether that's really true or not, I'm not sure...

tbs624

laurapeura wrote: »

This is the thing... I don't know how to make sure we haven't been issued one. I just noticed we haven't got a document like that anywhere and over the phone the LA realised and said out loud that 'oh it seems we haven't given you one'. But that's when they got funny with us and tried to just refer to our TA with dates on it. .....

If you write:

tbs624 wrote: »

....You may want, as a matter of courtesy, to write to say politely that as you haven't been served with a S21 Notice then your understanding is that the contract will run on as a periodic until such time as they do serve the correct notice.

then they have the opportunity to say "we did serve" or "here is one now".

Also: your deposit, if you paid one?

tbs624 wrote: »

Edited to add:
If you are in England or Wales, has the LA/LL scheme-registered your deposit and given you the prescribed info, within 14 days of receiving your deposit? (if deposit paid after April 6 2007)

If the deposit has not been registered, then no valid S21 Notice may be served until such time as it has been

Take photos of problem parts of the flat & keep your notes together on requests to repairs (which ideally should always be made in writing or confirmed by letter after an initial phone call) and phone bills which show calls made to the agent etc., just in case you have any further difficulties..

laurapeura

Thanks for the advice.

Earlier this month we inquired the LA about the missing s21 notice in writing, and this was before the phone call when they admitted not issuing one. We haven't received a notice from them and have decided to stay put. We have arranged the rent payment ready for next month.

We have paid a deposit and it's under a protected scheme so that's not a worry.

Regarding the repairs, there's a tricky situation: regarding our broken kitchen cupboard and odd plumbing for the washing machine, the workmen who came to have a look at the problems only said verbally about new parts needed etc. So the required repairs are not stated in writing anywhere. We kept on chasing up the repairs on the phone to no avail – so I'll dig out the phone bills as suggested.

The situation is ok at the moment as we know we can stay till they or us give notice. The LA do seem so disorganized and that's why they probably forgot to issue notice and try to cover it up.

Thanks again!