end of tenancy agreement help needed

eax7758

Hi All,

My tenancy agreement ended on the 15/08/2008 and me and my partner moved out on that date. The only contact details we had for the landlord was his email address. we emailed him on the 08/08/2008 to explain we'd be leaving but heard no response. Today i received an email from the landlord saying we havnt paid our rent for 2 months and if he doesnt receive it soon he will start court proceedings.

Can he do this and what are my options?

Thanks

DawnW

What did you do with the keys when you moved out? Surely you handed them to somebody?

eax7758

we still have them. we have been waiting for the landlord to get intouch

sooz

Oh dear.

Have you not tried to get in touch with him over the last month and a half?

silvercar

If your tenancy agreement was at an end there is no obligation to give notice. Though it would be courteous to do so, along with arranging to give the keys back and presumeably you would want to be present at the checkout.

If you do owe rent, he can take court action to collect it. If successful you will be liable for court charges. Is there a reason you haven't paid the rent.

chiefgoobster

sounds like your landlord has been living in a cave for the past 5 weeks or so.
How he did not have his finger on the pulse to deal with your request on the 8th remains to be seen.....but then perhaps he had something urgent in his life to sort out ? ....seems like he is the one to come up with a valid explanation as to why he failed to anything since your email.

eax7758

silvercar wrote: »

If your tenancy agreement was at an end there is no obligation to give notice. Though it would be courteous to do so, along with arranging to give the keys back and presumeably you would want to be present at the checkout.

If you do owe rent, he can take court action to collect it. If successful you will be liable for court charges. Is there a reason you haven't paid the rent.

we havnt paid the rent because we dont live there. i think the reason he is saying 2 months is because we didnt pay anything on the 15/08 because we paid a month in advance at the beginning. we did try and make contact but like i said all we had was his email address and i did email him

Thanks

chiefgoobster

thinks someone may confirm but is it law (?) that the landlord has to supply his name and address to a tenant.
....did you ever have the boiler checked and if so the plumber would have given you a safety certificate, and in the top right-hand corner is a space for the landlords details.

silvercar

Is the rent to 15/8/08 paid? ie did you make a payment around 15/7/08 to cover the last month's rent that you were there?

If so, then I think you are in the clear.

Seems it was a bit lax on both your parts not to sew up the final details at the end of the tenancy. Was there a deposit? HAve you been told of any damages on checkout.

chiefgoobster is right, landlord has to supply UK address wher notices etc can be served BUT there is no obligation on tenant to serve notice to leave at end of tenancy.

Not handing back the keys could be a problem. If hte landlord hadn't made contact the correct procedure would be to post by signed for mail.

eax7758

yes the final rent payment was made on the 15/07/2008. thanks for clearing this up for me. when we first moved in i actually spoke to the landlord and he did say he would make contact with us in Julyto see if we wanted to stay and that he would keep in regular contact to check everything was ok and he did neither. i think il just get his address and send the keys to him and then see what he says.

Thanks Again :j

tbs624

Landlord & tenant Act 1987 S48

Notification by landlord of address for service of notices.
(1) A landlord of premises to which this Part applies shall by notice furnish the tenant with an address in England and Wales at which notices (including notices in proceedings) may be served on him by the tenant.

(2) Where a landlord of any such premises fails to comply with subsection (1), any rent or service charge otherwise due from the tenant to the landlord shall (subject to subsection (3)) be treated for all purposes as not being due from the tenant to the landlord at any time before the landlord does comply with that subsection.


(3) Any such rent or service charge shall not be so treated in relation to any time when, by virtue of an order of any court, there is in force an appointment of a receiver or manager whose functions include the receiving of rent or (as the case may be) service charges from the tenant.

(My highlighting) This does not mean that rent due under the tenancy does not have to be paid - merely that a LL can not lawfully collect/demand it until he has given you an address (the S48 requirement is usually highlighted within the T Agreement itself, although some LLs serve a separate S48 Notice). If the LL tried to pursue you to court he would have to answer queries on this issue.

If you only had an email address for the LL as a method of contact then he cannot complain if that is what you used.

The fact that he has emailed his demand for "rent unpaid" at least shows that the email address is current.

You could however, have specifically asked for a "read receipt" or a reply, or even emailed again to query check out procedures with the LL. Have you kept a copy of your email?

Was there no mobile phone number given to you?

Was there anything in the contract about leaving the keys in the property itself at the end of your tenancy?

Does the LL also have a tenancy deposit from you, and if this was paid to him after 6 April 2007 ( and you are in Eng/Wales) did he scheme-register it and give you the prescribed information?