our tenant wants to move out before the end of their fixed term tenanncy agreemnent!!

kezvb

Our tennant has sent us a letter saying that they will be leaving next month depsite the fact they signed a fixed term assured shorthold tennacy agreement that ends june 2010. Can the do this? surely they are liable to pay till the end of the term, or till another tenannt is found?

Jowo_2

Yes, they are liable to pay until the end of the fixed term or until you find a replacement tenant, the latter being sensible to mitigate your losses, plus any additional expenses associated with the breach of their contract, such as re-advertising fees.

Did you perform full tenant screening on your tenant, so have information including their NI number, date of birth, employer, car registration number and so on to track them down to take court action against them for your losses if they show no inclination to pay it when you let them know about their liability?

If not, wait a month or so and then pay a tenant tracing company to find them to present them with a bill for the rent for the void period you experience.

silvercar

Yes, they are liable to pay until another tenant is found or the end of the tenancy.

Gorgeous_George

Remember, the Landlord is legally obliged to take reasonable steps to minimise the tenant's losses.

GG

Jowo_2

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

Remember, the Landlord is legally obliged to take reasonable steps to minimise the tenant's losses.

GG

I've often seen this proposed but have also seen this occasionally disputed so it might be worth checking this on Landlordzone where some of the members are housing solicitors to get the chapter and verse on this.

It makes commercial sense to do this, in case the arrears are never recovered so a void merely compounds it, plus its better not to leave a property empty for security/insurance purposes.

If a contract says a person must pay x amount for the duration of x period, it would be interesting to understand why a landlord is obligated to get another tenant in.

BitterAndTwisted

I suspect that once the tenant is acquainted with the responsibilities of having signed a legally binding contract they won't be going anywhere

lynzpower

UNless the reason they want to leave is because theyve lost thier job??

IveSeenTheLight

lynzpower wrote: »

UNless the reason they want to leave is because theyve lost thier job??

Unfortunate as this may be, they still signed the contract and I very much doubt there was an unemployment clause.

pinkshoes

Just write to the tenant (recorded delivery) saying that their contract is legally binding, and they are responsible for the rent of £X per month until <date>.

However, as they wish to break their legally binding contract, you will be willing to accept this on the basis that they pay all costs for finding a new tenant (credit searches, drawing up contracts etc...), and are responsible for the rent until the new tenant moves in.

princeofpounds

Yes you must mitigate. This is down to the way courts judge damages - you can't just let damages happen in order to claim more. So you would still win, but the judge might not award you much/anything if you don't help yourself.

The best thing to do is remind them of their obligations, but work with them to fund the arrival of another tenant so that they can escape their obligations amicably. Much easier than chasing people for rent arrears.

J_B

We are in a similar situation here.

Our tenants signed a 12 month contract extension in Feb 09, but then in Aug 09 they gave us 10 days notice saying that as there wasn't notice clause in the contract.
The contract is a standard RICS AST written by our local agent, with no break clause.

They are refusing to accept any liability as "I hold a degree in the Institute of Purchasing and supply and I can assure you that I know my rights. The law of the land allows me to terminate any contact at one minutes notice"

We have a new tenant moving in on Friday, so we have taken 'reasonable steps' to mitigate our/their losses.

They are obviously not going to 'play ball' so I'm wondering as to the best way to chase them for the balance.

The agent has written to them concluding "If you do not agree then the only course of action is to apply to the deposit adjudicators for them to make the decision as to who is entitled to what "

The agent currently holds the £750 bond, but this is not going to cover all of my fees which are:-
£500 unpaid rent
£460 re-letting fee
£25 unpaid gardening bill

That leaves me £235 out of pocket.
What's my best course of action?