Risky Tenancy?

Mwesty

Hi

We're moving into a rented house on Tuesday. I went through Gumtree to speed the process up and to save on any admin fees etc. We signed the contract yesterday and paid our deposit of £700. The first months rent is due on the day we move in. I asked when we were viewing the house whether or not he had a Consent to Let and he kind of skipped the question and just said, don't worry about that. When we were signing the contract, he said he wouldn't bother with the deposit scemes etc also. Should I be worried about this - and if later on in the 12 month contract, we wanted out, is it possible without being penalised?

Cannon_Fodder

Dodgy dodgy dodgy

Cannon_Fodder

Wait for a month, then let him know he has broken the law by not lodging the deposit with a scheme.

You can remind him of your right to claim 3x the deposit just as a penalty.

Then re-mention the consent to let. And query whether his house insurer has been notified.

You might get kicked out sharpish, and lose your deposit, but hey, you chose Gumtree for convenience/speed, rather than being bothered about protecting your rights/money...

new_home_owner_3

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

Wait for a month, then let him know he has broken the law by not lodging the deposit with a scheme.

You can remind him of your right to claim 3x the deposit just as a penalty.

Then re-mention the consent to let. And query whether his house insurer has been notified.

You might get kicked out sharpish, and lose your deposit, but hey, you chose Gumtree for convenience/speed, rather than being bothered about protecting your rights/money...

whether they use gumtree or anyone else they should have made sure the landlord was doing it correctly.

You pOst telling them what to do, and then tell them by what you tell them to do, that they may get kicked out and lose their deposit, you are a arxehole.

Worst case scenario he get repossessed and you get kicked out, but this is very rare, as most mortgage providers will leave tenants in the property short term as long as you pay them.

Dont worry about the deposit just dont pay the last months rent when you want to move out, the landlord could find himself in more trouble than yourself, and in reality he hasnt covered himself and a profesional tenant would run rings round him.

ThrowingStonesAtYou

Cannon_Fodder wrote: »

Dodgy dodgy dodgy

I think you have underestimated the dodginess of this landlord. he is dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy dodgy.

G_M

yes gumtree is the last place to look. Does the property actually belong to him? He's got £700 - I just hope you get to move in on Tuesday. Hope you've got a receipt and address for him? For what it might be worth....
There was a thread here recently of a landlord who took the tenants to drive past a flat and then get a contract signed and deposit/rent collected! Scam or what!

FraudBuster

Please keep this thread updated.

silvercar

The landlord is telling you he is going to beak the law regarding deposits, why are you still interested?

Catblue

If I were you, I'd nip round to the house tomorrow, knock on the door and see who is in. And if nobody is in, then speak to the neighbours about who owns the property.

You can also check the ownership and lender of the property online on the land registry site. Costs £4, I think.

Did your landlord ask for references from employers/previous landlords? Did he do a credit check on your finances? If he didn't do these things, then he is at best a lovely trusting bloke and at worst a scammer.

I would be somewhat worried that you signed the tenancy agreement, handed over the £700 deposit but have to wait five days before actually taking up the tenancy.

One of the difficulties of thinking that you can "speed the process up and save on any admin fees" is that you put yourself at risk of someone who is out to take advantage of your situation. Even if things turn out to be above board with this tenancy, you need to learn from this experience for the future.

shark_DB

I have to ask, but why bother to ask if he has consent to let if you dont turn the place down when he does not confirm so?

Mwesty

I'll keep this thread updated and let everyone know how it's going along.

I'm usually very wary about things like this and know I'm opened to be scammed at the minute. We're under a bit of pressure at the moment and need to move out of the house we're in now within 2 weeks. Our contract is coming towards its end and our current landlord is moving back into this property. The last time we went through an estate agent it took several weeks to finally move, and with Christmas coming and our little baby, we just needed a move fast.

I have the landlords bank details and suppose to be paying the 1st months rent into it on Tuesday when we get the keys. I knew I should have got his address but it completely slipped my mind. He said he lived there for 5 years, with the wife and baby and has only just moved out due to his wife wanting to move closer to her mother - 5 miles away.