Advice for Renters and Looking Some Advice Too!

nozzadamozza

Hi everyone

Honestly, last new thread from me!! Sorry for long long story...

I wanted to offer advice and get some advice regarding renting.
Let me explain what has happened (I know this isnt strictly moneysaving but when someone threatens to keep your deposit, it becomes money based!!!!!)

Hubby and I moved up to Belfast last yeat- 15th Sept
We signed an agreement with the owner of the house who had been trying to sell her house, noticed no interest then got a friend to advertise it for rent. Along comes me and hubby. We meet the lady on the 7th Sept 08, we agree to move on the 15th (thus starting contract) for a year.

Her friend has filled in some of the contract (its more a general one, read through it, all reasonable) and dated part of it the 7th by mistake but the lease states its is the 15th. So I pay on time, get my receipts, no wild parties, all our own furniture, we have a little baby at end of May.

Roll on last Wed, landlady and boyfriend call down to say that when contract is up, they are putting house on market and would like us to leave. I in a way, am happy as i think the rent for here it too much and last winter was freezing here so dont want nozzadamozza jr freezing too!!

We agree that the weekend of the 18th is when we hand over keys/ deposit - all very amiable- boyfriend of landlady suggests he will come down during the bank holiday weekend and clear outside (there is a driveway that has some weeds growing, very , very small garden that needs to be cut, and some bushes that need to be trimmed)

At the weekend, it struck me-- i thought, if we manage to get out quicker than we had thought (i paid last rent on the 15th Aug- so thats means we are paid up to and including the 14th) would she be able to refund the difference on what i paid in the last month...........

So i sent a text- "hi (landladys name) just a quick question- if we were able to find somewhere earlier- would it be poss to get that refunded from rent payment i made last week"

She came back- "we could prob sort something but when are you thinking and how much"

I replied (and keep attention peoples cos this seems to have been an insult) "am looking at mo- would be whatever was over paid - ie if we got somewhere for the first- then we could calculate what was overpaid based on the contract dates"-

So are you thinking, what a cow is nozzadamozza to make such a terrible suggestion?


I later on get this reply - "checked the contract and the date is actually the 7th- earlier than we thought you can let me know what you decide- contract also suggested you would cut the grass, etc"

I tried to phone her, to find out what on earth had happened the lines of communication, phoned twice and then texted her. I said i wasnt being rude - she had asked us to leave and i was doing everything in good faith to get out for her. I didnt understand why she was mentioning the grass- does this affect my depsoit- please get back, most concerned

Rather than reply, she got her boyfriend to call me. Rude? You wouldnt believe it; he argued with me about everything. When we were meant to get out, appar the contract only works when it suited him- he told me i was to get out by the 7th, I said all my receipts of rent were the 15th

He then told me his girlfriend was very upset over the garden (it really is so small) and that the grass hadnt been cut from the start of may when he cut it (it had been cut - i remembered distinctly, I was overdue with baby and rem hubby cutting it- so that places it end of may). I told him I have been ill for six weeks, had nurse come around to check on me everyday (not a lie or exageration btw, had probs with c-section which completely knocked me for six) so hubby was more worried about me and baby than a piece of grass.


The upshot of the conversation is that i reminded him we were legally allowed to be in house until the 14th, but we would try to get out as soon as we could..but you know what, I feel bullied. We really want to get out and obv were being accommodating but they couldnt give a fig!

So first my advice is be weary of privately renting from these new landlords who have houses on the market to sell, dont sell, then put the house up for rentm then think the market is going up- so turf you out without paying any attention to your situation or the law- !!

At the moment we have agreed sort of, to hand the keys over on the weekend of the 12th, well no, he told me that was when we had to do it and i have said, he will get the key and we will be out by the end of our contract but he has been quite threatening in that he has said he wants the house and garden exactly as they left it and then, i will get OUR deposit back.......so I wanted to ask- I have a feeling that hes gonna try to do something to stop us getting the deposit....the house will be cleared, cleaned the garden trimmed..i feel he is gonna try anything because hes a nasty little man with some new found grudge against us!

I know that a landlord has to give 28 days notice, I know he has to inspect the house (it is all our furniture, so nothing can be broken- as i say it will be cleaned from top to bottom

This guy is a grown man, I have a small baby of 3 months and am not impressed by the way he spoke to me. I am def not impressed that the landlady felt it fine to make sniddy comments then run and hide and get he short nasty boyfriend to fight the fight- oh yes, these are middleclass, well to do, late thirties teachers...such adult behaviour!!

so anyone any advice...I phoned the CAB and they didnt know what I could do other than tell them i would take them to the small claims.........

Feel much better now..and relax....

Greentea

first, try not to get too stressed over this, you will gone soon out of th house. But be careful they have your deposit. My advice to you if you suspect they are going to be awkward is to take lots of DATED pictures of the house in the condition you have left it. Really you should have pictures from before to show condition before, but if you show you know what your rights are they will think twice about trying to be unfair towards you.

As long as the property is left as you got it, they can complain about how often you cut the grass, and if the boyfriend offered to cut the grass, thats up to him, you didnt ask him.

Lease dated 15th September 08 so the earliest you can move out 15th September 09.

To be honest I wonder how organised they are. They MUST give you a minimum of ONE months notice - so when exactly did she ask you to leave - last wednesday was the 19th AUGUST? If thats the case they are breaking the LAW here, they havent given you enough notice. PLUS they cant harrass you.

Keep yourself right, save all txts, know your rights, and you will soon find they will back down. Also I would keep communication limited to txt or email.

Good Luck

nozzadamozza

thanks Greentea- i should have taken pics- and am going to when the place is empty (the place was unfurnished, so there is little by way of breaking!)

I think its because of that innaccurate report that said recession is over, house price fall is a blip, prices to rise......they think now is the time to sell so this is the bee in their bonnet at the moment and we are stopping them get the house sold....arent we awful, what with paying rent for the place, leaving it in the condition it originally was and moving out as fast as we can!

But ssssssooooooo cant wait to get out of here with my £650 in my pocket (i have asked for cash because that is how we paid it last year and because i dont trust them to give us a cheque that goes boooooingggg!

niceday999

i would think the "Landlords" would have to allow for wear and tear, like scratches etc on the paint and the carpets to be a bit worn. They sound like they will try and keep the deposit somehow. I think its normal to inspect the property after thye receive the keys so you may have to arrange to meet up with them again if you want the deposit in cash.
Good Luck anyway.
Have you got somewhere to go ? £650 sounds a lot for rent anyway.Must have been a great house for that.

x12yhp

Do you have a handy dandy solicitor friend? We had trouble when we rented and a solicitor's letter across the bows settled everything.

Also, I pretty much forced that I got the deposit back the same time I handed over the keys. This does not seem at all unreasonable for an unfurnished place.

Worst comes to the worst, you are actually in the house. It is quite tough to get shot of you if you really wanted to make it that way! You don't sound like the sort of person who would do this, but you could probably occupy the place for some months before the LL could legally force you out!!

nozzadamozza

Thanks for the replies- hope to have somewhere sorted by monday- just with the estate agents at moment

We are meeting them on Sat 12th- apparantly to exchange deposit and keys- we are contracted to the 15th- they are desperate to move their stuff back in and will have a van with them filled to unpack so as to get the house ready over the weekend to be up on sale with the estate agents on the monday....i am guessing if i dont see my full deposit, they wont be able to put anything in the house...hubby and I are so going to have to bite those tongues...


And unfortunately, yes 650 is a lot niceday999 and its not that great a house

leftieM

The deposit issue is a nightmare!
Firstly - if a landlord wishes you to maintain the garden they must supply you with a lawnmower. If you weren't supplied with one they have no grounds on that score.

Secondly, if they mess you about with the deposit, which sounds likely to be honest, do not hesitate to chase them through legal channels. I'm sure they will be liable for your costs of it comes to that. We had an issue with an unreturned deposit some years back. There was no reason given, the landlord just didn't pay it. One solicitor's letter later, we had our deposit in hand.

Good luck and don't sweat it. Unfortunately we renters are pretty vulnerable. however, establish your rights. Check this website out
http://www.housingadviceni.org/

purt

Firstly, the landlord (however difficult they're now being) offered to consider refunding you for the rent if you moved out earlier. This was essentially a goodwill gesture on their part.

As regards the dates on the contract; you ought to have two copies of the contract - one retained by the landlord, the other by the tenant. If it says on the contract that the tenancy started on 7th then, legally, that's when it started (regardless of what date you may have been paying the rent on for the last year).

Regarding the deposit; the landlord is entitled to retain the deposit in whole or part if the property is not returned to them in the condition it was first let (save for wear and tear usually - check your contract for this). If it states in the contract that the tenant is responsible for cutting the grass then that's who's responsible. If you didn't do that then the landlord may be entitled to retain all or part of your deposit to bring it up to the standard it was when it was first let.

Finally, regarding the end of the lease and asking you to leave; I'd check the legal opinion on this if it's an issue for you. If it's a fixed term tenancy (i.e. one year) you may not have any rights as regards notice from the landlord. As others have said, take photos of the property as it was left and consult the housing rights people if necessary.

purt

nozzadamozza wrote: »

I think its because of that innaccurate report that said recession is over, house price fall is a blip, prices to rise......they think now is the time to sell so this is the bee in their bonnet at the moment and we are stopping them get the house sold....arent we awful, what with paying rent for the place, leaving it in the condition it originally was and moving out as fast as we can!

I'd hardly say you're stopping them from selling. I don't see that they'd have to wait until you'd moved out before putting a For Sale sign up. Except, of course, if the place isn't in a presentable state at the moment to place it on the market.

nozzadamozza

culchied wrote: »

Firstly, the landlord (however difficult they're now being) offered to consider refunding you for the rent if you moved out earlier. This was essentially a goodwill gesture on their part.


As regards the dates on the contract; you ought to have two copies of the contract - one retained by the landlord, the other by the tenant. If it says on the contract that the tenancy started on 7th then, legally, that's when it started (regardless of what date you may have been paying the rent on for the last year).

Regarding the deposit; the landlord is entitled to retain the deposit in whole or part if the property is not returned to them in the condition it was first let (save for wear and tear usually - check your contract for this). If it states in the contract that the tenant is responsible for cutting the grass then that's who's responsible. If you didn't do that then the landlord may be entitled to retain all or part of your deposit to bring it up to the standard it was when it was first let.

Finally, regarding the end of the lease and asking you to leave; I'd check the legal opinion on this if it's an issue for you. If it's a fixed term tenancy (i.e. one year) you may not have any rights as regards notice from the landlord. As others have said, take photos of the property as it was left and consult the housing rights people if necessary.

They didnt offer to let me out early- i asked would it be possible and then they got annoyed over something that we arent sure what it was- it was me who asked would it be possible and then the tone on their side changed!

Yip am photographing everything, nothing has been broken (the furniture was ours) and will cut that !!!!!!! petch of grass this weekend lol ....thanks for advice

nozzadamozza

but dont you know the recession is over and the house will be snapped up lol-plus they said it wouldnt be fair on me and the baby to have people coming and going (this was when they were being nice )

The house would be fine-i dont object to leaving far from it- i object to their behaviour, how they treated us like poo, even though i tried to get out faster for them and how they are dangling my deposit over me....

culchied wrote: »

I'd hardly say you're stopping them from selling. I don't see that they'd have to wait until you'd moved out before putting a For Sale sign up. Except, of course, if the place isn't in a presentable state at the moment to place it on the market.