Agent refusing to give full bond back !

J3OEF

Hi,

Ill try give as much info as i can and hopefully someone is able to tell me where i stand or give me some help as to how i go about the situation.

I moved into a rented property on July 8th 2008 on a 6 month tenancy. I Paid my deposit of £625 and my first months rent aswell as admin fees etc. The money for rent was setup on standing order so it always came out.

The tenancy was due to end on the 8th January 2009. Although just before xmas we got a letter stating we can stay on for a further 6 months and that we would need to sign the agreement etc and send it back with the money for admin fees.

We did not send this back straight away and sort of proved correct not to as just after Xmas we got a guy come round from the letting agents handing me and my partner seperate letters stating that the landlord requires us to move out and is basically giving us 2 months notice.

Now, my partner rang countrywide and asked about giving 1 months notice due to our money situation and having to find a big lump sum for another deposit and months rent. They said yes that is fine just write a letter stating this and send it to us. So we did this.

As our tenancy ended on the 8th January, there was obviously no agreement in place as it had finished but we paid a further months rent as i understand it becomes periodic and works on a month to month basis just like the notice will, so us giving a months notice after our tenancy has expired is fine right?

Well anyway we moved out on the 6/7th February and cleaned the whole house and left it in the condition that we got it in bar marks on the lounge carpet. We knew we would have to cover the cost of cleaning this once the agent done the checkout and had no issues with this.

We the other day got a letter from the agents stating that they will be deducting £40 from our deposit plus admin fee of £11.50 which is fine. But this is where the problems start, they are also saying that we owe approx £320 in outstanding rent. Given this we will only be getting £220ish back from our £625 deposit.

Now my question is, how can we owe £320 in outstanding rent when our agreement finished and we paid up untill we moved out? Ill tell you the agents take on it, they are saying that because we left before the 2 months notice they served us, we are liable to pay this outstanding rent? and it works out at approx £320 because a new tenant was in the property are the 27th February.

Correct me if i am wrong, but i am right in what i am saying in terms of a periodic agreement and that you only need to give a months notice? We have followed these rules and done this but guess what ??

The agent claims not to of recieved our notice and says that we are still liable. I said thats a load of rubbish as they rang us asking when we wanted to do the checkout date etc so they knew what was going on.

They have asked me to send a copy of the notice we give along with a letter stating that we do not agree with the deductions and stuff? Now surely if i send a copy in they cannot tell me it is wrong? if so then they have the first one.

If i send notice in and i am correct about periodic agreements etc then they should give us all our money back bar the cleaning costs?

Is anyone able to help me out, im not sure on many of the correct things or how to go about it now? What should my next step be

Thanks for taking the time to read

Doozergirl

Can you just confirm the date on which you gave notice? You haven't told us.

J3OEF

we gave notice on the 5th January

tbs624

J3OEF wrote: »

we gave notice on the 5th January

There's a discrepancy here because that isn't how it appeared from your OP?

J3OEF wrote: »

........As our tenancy ended on the 8th January, there was obviously no agreement in place as it had finished but we paid a further months rent as i understand it becomes periodic and works on a month to month basis just like the notice will, so us giving a months notice after our tenancy has expired is fine right?

(my emboldening/underlining).... which sounds as though you gave notice at some point after the original Fixed Term tenancy agreement expired, ie after 8th Jan ?

J3OEF

tbs624 wrote: »

There's a discrepancy here because that isn't how it appeared from your OP?

(my emboldening/underlining).... which sounds as though you gave notice at some point after the original Fixed Term tenancy agreement expired, ie after 8th Jan ?

Well, we got a letter from them dated the 30th December, we gave notice on the 5th, well the letter was dated that. We then posted it off. There was no agreement in place after the 8th January, so even if we didnt give our notice till after that which we did then surley been as we would of been on a periodic agreement, giving notice on the 9th even if we did would of been fine?

clutton_2

once you go one day into the periodic state, you must give one clear calendar months notice ending on the rent day