Paying 12 months rent up-front

N79

To spell out what socrates has implied.

1. This is a terrible idea. 6 months in advance should be more than sufficient in any circumstance.

Piggles12345 wrote: »

Hi,


I was wondering how the lettings agency will pay her landlord if she pays 12 months up-front- will they pay the landlord monthly? Or pass on the whole lump sum up-front?

They will give the LL the whole lot in one go - they are the LL's agent

Either way, if the landlord goes bankrupt and his/her property is repossessed, is my friend's pre-paid rent protected legally at all? Does the manner in which the letting agents have paid the landlord (either monthly or up-front) make a difference in this- if they are paying the landlord monthly, surely the money is in THEIR bank account rather than the landlords, so could be handed back to my friend).

The money will not be protected at all and would be as good as lost if the LL goes bankrupt

Piggles12345

Thank you N79. This is what I suspected!!

theartfullodger

For what it's worth for one house I rent out (to students) they pay 4months at a time, Agent holds the loot and pays me each month. Nice little sideline, but there we go, and I accepted their terms & conditions.

Mind you I do wonder what will happen should my agent go breasts up.. presumably I'll have to kiss goodbye to the money to the end of the then-in-effect 4months..

Ho hum, ya gotta take risks...

Cheers & Best wishes to all my readers!

Lodger

Piggles12345

My friend is willing to be flexible with the rent and can pay 3 or 4 monthly if the landlord wishes.

I know that there are no absolute guarantees with any business, but it is a large and very successful letting agents that she is looking to rent with, so I don't think she is too worried about the letting agents going bankrupt!

m_13

I don't really understand how she is different from any other student other than she wishes to rent a whole property (flat?) rather than part of a student property.

Where in the country is she? What subject is she doing her PhD in?

There must be other options! When my sister was doing her Masters in a health related subject she lived in a lovely shared flat in the nurses' home. She isn't a nurse. She had her own furnished room and shared a kitchen and lounge.

nervousmother

Whenever a tenant hands over even 3 months rent at our agency it is only handed over to the landlord monthly. We have arguments with landlords who say it is their money but we do this in the tenants interest. Bankruptcy repossession and also major problems at the property (fire flood ect) would leave the tenant needing somewhere to live and in those circumstances the contract between landlord and tenant becomes void.
Check with the LA to see what their policy is, making sure you tell them your fears.

Robert_Sterling_3

What if the letting agent goes bankrupt?

puddy

i thought landlords in london at least were warned not to accept people paying that far in advance in case they were growing cannibis!!!

kunekune

Her money will be protected so long as it is in a trust account, as then it will not 'really' be the landlord's. They may already have a system for doing this.

Geenie

If your friend pays £3 to the Land Registry, she can find out who owns the property, their lenders name if any, and if there are any charges on it.

I would think 6 months advanced is more then reasonable. Aside from the fact, why give money to someone else to earn interest on even if it is pitiful, when she can be earning it herself.