Interest on rent arrears?

Jazzanna

Hi

I recently moved out of a property (houseshare) and I owe the landlady one month's rent. I paid half of it last week and the other half will be paid at the end of December.

She is now charging me 8% interest for the outstanding amount even though there was nothing mentioned in my tenancy agreement about charging interest on unpaid monies. Is someone able to do this?

Despite my communication with her telling her that the full amount will be paid by the end of December she has taken it to court and has charged me an extra £60 court fee. I have not received a receipt for this court fee and really need some advice as to what would happen if I refused to pay the interest and court fee without a receipt.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks

pepe2008

Jazzanna wrote: »

Hi

I recently moved out of a property (houseshare) and I owe the landlady one month's rent. I paid half of it last week and the other half will be paid at the end of December.

She is now charging me 8% interest for the outstanding amount even though there was nothing mentioned in my tenancy agreement about charging interest on unpaid monies. Is someone able to do this?

Despite my communication with her telling her that the full amount will be paid by the end of December she has taken it to court and has charged me an extra £60 court fee. I have not received a receipt for this court fee and really need some advice as to what would happen if I refused to pay the interest and court fee without a receipt.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks

Have you had the Court paperwork through yet....or is she just trying to scam you?.....she sounds a piece of work!
She can apply to the Court for Statutory Interest (8%, I think) but, unless its in the Tenancy Agreement she cant charge you for it now.

Jazzanna

Thanks very much for your reply. I was sent through a form but where it gave the address to return the form to, it was my landlady's address and not a solicitor or the court.

I had a couple of concerns regarding the form when I received it. Firstly the area in which the court issued the form was a completely different county to the house I lived in (existing address for landlady), and secondly there was stamp on the form but rather than ink, it just looked like a copy.

I just don't want to get into trouble by not paying the fee if it is genuine.

So if the interest was not in my contract, does that mean that she can't make me pay it despite throwing this section 69 act at me?

Thanks!

pepe2008

You only pay a Court Fee if the Court Order it!

( and if the paperwork looks dodgy, go to your local County Court and ask them to take a look)

bargainbetty

Personally, I would just pay the agreed rent owed, and remove any added fees for interest or court unless there is a specific clause in your rent contract allowing her to charge it. If you receive a notice from the court, not via her, then you must pay that, but probably to the court - not to her.

Unless she has successfully applied for a court order with costs awarded against you, she has to pay her own fees. She probably hasn't filed anything, but you could call the court listed on the form and ask them.

Good luck

Ames

Is it from Northampton? they have a bulk claims centre there, you can sue someone online and it all gets processed there. In the papers there should be an option to have it transferred to your local court. TBH I think if it went to court they'd be really angry with her for wasting their time, since you're prepared to pay and she's only got to wait a few weeks. It can't even be that much, half a month for a room in a shared house, round here that'd be about £150 quid tops.

Sounds like you're better off away from her!

tbs624

Ames wrote: »

. Sounds like you're better off away from her!

If you check the OP's other threads you'll see that she was hoping her rent arrears would be included in her application for BR. Perhaps there is more to this issue than the OP has let on, and the LL would possibly agree with your sentiments....

The LL should act properly when recovering arrears but tenants are legally obliged to pay their rent on time and should not expect their LL to act like some sort of alternative "bank of mum and dad"

Ames

How long is there until you go br? If she (or any creditor) continues to chase you for money then she's breaking the law. It sounds like she's just trying to push to get whatever she can before you go br, but even if you get a court order, if you go br before it's paid off then it still goes into the br.

DarkConvict

Any outstanding debts you have before BR would be included, if you have an account that carries over like a utility bill for gas/electric this would be closed and a new account opened, where the old account goes into the BR.

p.s. rereading the posts, i see no mention of bankruptcy.

Ames

It's in an earlier thread started by the OP.

Jazzanna

Thanks for all of your replies - even the rude ones!

I was enquiring about going bankrupt earlier but have still not made a decision if it is the only option availableas ideally I want to pay my debt off.

In the meantime, I want to pay off the rent arrears because I understand that I lived there so should pay up! My initial enquiry was just asking if arrears could be included in bankruptcy because the LLwas being so unreasonable about adding on interest and court charges even though I offered full payment by the end of the year!

For an easier life, I would rather pay these arrears and get rid of her, even if it means making myself broke. I just want to know if she's going about things legitimately before I contact her.

Perhaps before posting comments, people should note that people are on this forum looking for genuine help - not to be judged by people who do not know individual's circumstances!

Thanks for all the helpful comments though!