Urgent Help needed

peterbancroft

On thursday last week, I lost my job. I have now immediatley left my accommodation which is on an assured shorthold tenancy. I was renting a room.

I was one month and about one week behind on rent.

So I left the flat on thursday, to esnure that the landlord had enough time to find a new tenant. I also sent him an email advising him of leaving the flat on thursday.

However, in the contract it clearly states that i am liable for one months notice.

Also, the other problem I have is that the landlord says the carpet, sofa, and mattress needs replacing and the room needs some extra paintwork.

I simply cannot afford any of this at the moment. The landlord has since called me up and told me that if he does not hear from me by monday, in terms of arrangemtns to pay he will instruct his solicitors for immediate court proceedings.

I do not want a CCJ!

What is the best course of action I should take?

HGLTsuperstar

peterbancroft wrote: »

So I left the flat on thursday, to esnure that the landlord had enough time to find a new tenant. I also sent him an email advising him of leaving the flat on thursday.

OK lost me already - how does that give him time to find a new tenant.

However, in the contract it clearly states that i am liable for one months notice.
Yes you are I'm afraid. Also how long into the AST are you?

Debt_Free_Chick

peterbancroft wrote: »

On thursday last week, I lost my job.

Without any pay? In lieu of notice? Any severance/redundancy?

I have now immediatley left my accommodation which is on an assured shorthold tenancy. I was renting a room.

I was one month and about one week behind on rent.

So I left the flat on thursday, to esnure that the landlord had enough time to find a new tenant. I also sent him an email advising him of leaving the flat on thursday.

However, in the contract it clearly states that i am liable for one months notice.

So it would appear that you owe the LL one month's rent

Also, the other problem I have is that the landlord says the carpet, sofa, and mattress needs replacing and the room needs some extra paintwork.

Did you have an agreed inventory when you took on the room? What does that say?

I simply cannot afford any of this at the moment. The landlord has since called me up and told me that if he does not hear from me by monday, in terms of arrangemtns to pay he will instruct his solicitors for immediate court proceedings.

I do not want a CCJ!

What is the best course of action I should take?

Talk to the LL. Be prepared to come to an agreement to pay what you owe - which is at least one month's rent, from what you've posted. Whether or not you owe for any "damage" depends on whether you had an inventory, describing the condition of the carpet, sofa etc when you moved in.

Did you pay a deposit when you moved in?

peterbancroft

Yes I paid a six weeks deposit. Yes my employment has been terminated without pay and notice.

There is a list of inventory, unfortuantley due to accident some of it was psolied, including the carpet, sofa, and mattress. The walls had posters which damaged some of the paintwork.

I really cant afford a CCJ against my name, but I also cant afford the 1 months rent and the damage he is quoting me about £350-£400, which he still needs to fully assess!

I was paying 743.47 a month, of which £29.99 included a service charge.

Please help.

Bungarm2001

You might actually owe considerably more than that.

Do you have an AST agreement/contract with the LL in your name only?

If you do, when did you sign this? You may be liable for all the rent to the end of your tenancy agreement.

Lavendyr

Have you/can you get a job as soon as possible?

lynzpower

I am staggered that you have left the property. Do you still have the keys? If you were olet go from your job ,surely you could have got housing benefit to pay your rent in the meanwhile while you found a job.

Interesting that your LL has given you a figure of what sort of money he is keeping for damage, whilst at the same time saying he hasnt seen it yet. Sounds pretty dodgy to me.

peterbancroft

The landlord has had a look, but needs final quotes from the suppliers.

As for the job, I'm on the case.

The only reason I left, and to move in with a friend, was to give the landlord maximum time to find a new tenant.

Further, it was an AST with a minimum stay of 6 months. Those 6 months passed at the end of July.

Therefore after this it was simply a months notice if I wanted to leave.

He's given me till monday to contact him, or he will instruct solicitors!

What shall I say to him on Monday?

Chris2685

Depends if he is a reasonable fellow or not. All you can really do is plead to his better nature to accept the payments as and when you can afford to pay it, and hope that he agrees. Doesn't seem to be much else you can really do. You can't avoid paying, you will just have to hope he doesn't want the hassle of going through the courts.

briona

So let me get this straight… you ALREADY owed the LL approximately 5 weeks’ rent, and, on your own admission, you’ve caused some damage to the flat (paintwork, carpet, sofa and mattress) and then you left giving no notice whatsoever. And yet you somehow think you were doing the LL a favour?! :rolleyes:

If your contract states you needed to give him 1 month’s notice to leave, then regardless of WHEN you actually vacate the property, you owe him another month’s rent.

You say he’s got 6 weeks’ money from you in the form of a deposit – well that will cover your arrears, and make a contribution towards the damage, but that still leaves you owing AT LEAST another month’s money. And with no source of income, how exactly do you propose to make good with the LL?

Leaving aside your rent arrears, for the LL not to be out of pocket, he would need to have gotten a replacement tenant in the day after you left. However, thanks to the damage you've caused this isn't an option. So now the LL has to pay for the damage himself AND suffer loss of earnings until such time as he can get a new tenant. And you're whinging about a CCJ?!

To be honest I don't think there's anything you can say on Monday that will prevent the LL from starting legal proceedings against you. On the plus side, perhaps a CCJ will force you to consider your actions in the future...

Lavendyr

peterbancroft wrote: »

What shall I say to him on Monday?

I'd start with a profuse and grovelling apology. You have left him in a bad situation. There's no point in saying "You shouldn't have left" since it's done now, but for future, don't just leave without notice - it gains you absolutely nothing and in fact puts you in a far worse position than had you stayed!

You need to agree a payment plan with him that is acceptable to him and to you. He cannot leave you unable to afford to live, but you need to demonstrate that you are willing to make payments of as much as you can possibly afford. The thing is, if he does take it to court, the court can only order you to pay what you can afford, even if it's just £1 a month. Of course, you would then have a CCJ against your name, but that may also not work out very well for him if you can prove to the court that you can only afford £1 a month (as he can then only legally chase you for that amount and no more). So really, a payment plan agreed before court is the best option all around.

I presume you have moved back home or something similar now, and are not paying rent. You NEED to get a job. It doesn't matter if it's stacking shelves or sweeping streets. You also need to explain to the landlord that you are taking all possible steps towards being able to pay him and that he is one of your top priorities. Perhaps write down what your financial situation is currently and what you are doing to improve it, and show it to him so that he can clearly see the situation you are in and what you are doing about it. He needs to see that you are genuinely doing your best to pay him back. It may encourage some leniency.

Also, can you borrow any money (even if just £50 to show willing) from friends or family to give the landlord something that shows you are doing your best? Can you sell anything that you own for a few quid? It sounds a little desperate, but if you have something - anything - to give the landlord tomorrow, it could help to appease him.

(As an aside, you don't state the reasons why you lost your job, but have you looked into JSA? Depending on the circumstances, though, you may not be eligible. Talk to the Job Centre and the council, and see what advice and support they can offer you.)

Hope that helps.