need some advice

brianjones

my mum moved into a house that she rented in september. because she is widowed and disabled, she lives off of her savings and does not recieve any income from outside sources. because of this the letting agent insisted that she pay 6 months up front of a 10 month lease, and the remaining 4 months to be paid month-to-month. so she paid £1000 for deposit and £5000 for 6 months.

however, now the letting agent is calling her accusing her of not paying the rent monthly. on the contract it says "a whole rent payment of £695 per calendar month is payable monthly in standing order to the agent by the 22nd of each calendar month". my mum was led to believe that she was paying 6 months in advance and she wouldnt have to pay monthly because she has already paid for the period. the letting agent wants her to pay monthly on top of the £5000 + £1000 she has already paid.

they are now threatening to take her to court and remove her from the premises. i feel that my mum is being taken for a ride here. any advice or comments?

moromir

How did she pay this money? If it was a cheque, has it been cashed?
If by BACS or cash does she have a reciept from the LA or any documentation supporting the payment of £6000 covered rent for the whole 6 month period and the deposit?

Since £5000 divides by six into £833.33 (recurring) where have they got £695 from?

samroo

firstly i think you need to look at your mum's tenancy agreement and check her receipts for what has been paid upfront and what it was for. I say this because the figures you quote don't add up to either six months rent or the usual one money, six weeks, or two months deposit. Also make sure she has received information about where are deposit is being held.

samroo

also, it's normal to sign a standing order form when moving in for rental payments. If this had been done it would have given the "payment from" date for future rent payments. I hope she has not come across a dodgy agent

brianjones

sorry for the confusion, i was rounding up in my post because i was in a rush. the rent is £695 and she transferred £4243.50 into their bank account for 6 months. as £695 x 6 makes £4170, i have no idea what the difference went towards. she received no receipt for this transaction but she still has the bank transfer paperwork. she also transferred a seperate amount of £1042.50 to them for the deposit. in the lease, it states that £1042.50 is the deposit and the rest of the lease should be paid monthly.

mum spoke to them on the phone a little while ago and they said the person who leased made a mistake renting for 6 months fee in advance and that they really want the whole rent in advance. as she had to give them her bank balance information when she rented the place, they said that because she has more than enough money to pay for the whole lease she has to pay the whole amount now or they will go to court to remove her.

this has all taken place in telephone conversations and they have not written anything down. i am suspicious because it seems to me like they dont have a leg to stand on, and they are just trying to scare her and extort money. thanks for any help anyone can give.

BitterAndTwisted

Get your mother to write to the letting agents, sending a copy to the landlord and send it by Recorded Delivery asking them to justify why they are asking for more money now when according to her calculations she has paid for the six months rent in advance as they requested. Any normal person would infer that she should start paying more rent once the six months is up. I have a feeling there's more to this than first appears.

ETA: If your mother has an Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement for the whole ten months they cannot legally commence eviction proceedings until she is two months behind will the rent but they may choose to give your mother notice (a Section 21) to quit at the end of the ten months.

roger196

First establish the paper trail of the payments. If not obvious get your bank to confirm in writing to whom the monies were paid.
Second if the letting agent made a mistake it is their hard luck
Third insist that all future communication is made by letter
Has the deposit been protected, has she been given a gas certificate
Ask agents in writing to confirm that landlord has permission to let from his lender.
Do you have address of landlord
The whole thing smells, but you do need to do your homework first.

princeofpounds

OK, your friends here are Shelter and CAB. They are both able to give advice. If your relative is vulnerable, the council should also have support services but I don't know how they work.

Next, don't worry. The only way that she can be evicted is via a court order. If any attempts are made to do so otherwise (breaking locks or cutting utilities or harrassment) then call the police, make records. Illegal eviction is a criminal offence with jail sentences attached.

Communicate only with the agency and landlord in writing. Nothing else will work as evidence in court. Instruct them, in writing, to only contact you in writing saying that you are willing to look at any issues but require proper written records of all proceedings. If they phone or call by, repeat this instruction and then put the phone down or shut the door. If they harrass you, refer to the point above.

Keep paying the rent (when it is due, if you have paid in advance and believe that you are in credit, you don't need to pay) and occupying the property as normal.

Get hold of all paperwork related to the tenancy. This will involve any bank statements or other receipts that show money being paid over. Get the tenancy agreement and any supplementary paperwork together.

The next step will be discovering if they actually come up with any written complaint, and then finding out all the details about the tenancy to see if you are in the right position, and if there is any legal leverage you have over the landlord if they have failed to do things like gas checks and deposit protection.

Some of this has been hinted at above but you need the right basis to work off, I'll try to address the what next issue later, although I think other posters will get there first.

Doozergirl

Perhaps the landlord was expecting that the rent would always be six months in advance? And therefore expecting money to be paid in on top each month.

I have to say it's not usual - back when we were renting we paid six months ahead to show we had money and then monthly in advance when those six months were up. We did that twice - two houses. There was no issue with that and I'd have never moved into a property that demanded six months rent in advance on a monthly basis - not many would - that's nearly eight month's rent acting as a security deposit but not that amount protected either!

I imagine the wording of the contract would support your mother's side of the story as if they wanted the six months as a deposit, then it should have been listed as a deposit and not rent. And therefore protected in an appropriate scheme (if they could find a tenant silly enough to agree in the first place!)

As she has paid six months rent, they cannot remove her until the end of her contract or she genuinely falls behind with the rent. Personally I would ignore them and then start to pay rent as planned in March or whenever it is.

brianjones

Thank you very much everyone for all your help. Im going with her tomorrow to the citizens advice bureua with all the paperwork. it leaves a bad taste in your mouth with all this happening at christmas. thanks again!

princeofpounds

Perhaps the landlord was expecting that the rent would always be six months in advance? And therefore expecting money to be paid in on top each month.

This is possible, but the landlord would be shooting himself in the foot arranging things this way. He would legally have to protect all £6000 (deposit plus six months 'permanent' advance rent, which courts consider another deposit) in a deposit scheme, and if he didn't then he would be liable for a penalty of 3x the unprotected sum of £5000, or one and a half years of rent! Late compliance being no defence in the eyes of most judges (though not all). Still, nothing surprises me with amateur landlords.

What exactly the mother should be doing will be outlined in her contract, but even if it does turn out that she agreed to a 6 months deposit (and by the little that has been said, it sounds like the contract is so badly drafted that is not the case) then making the landlord aware of this situation might be another way to get him to back down.