How easy to get deposit back instead of rent

missymugwump

Hi
I am asking on behalf of someone else bear with me

Tenant receives section 21 during AST
LL says he has to sell the house & fast
Tenant agrees to leave and find another rental
Tenant has no deposit or rent up front for new rental as this is real short notice after a period of redundancy (no rent arrears during tenancy,no HB)
Asked LL can I not pay last 2 months rent (period of section 21) and use this money to get out as requested into a new rental (deposit,1st months rent,etc..)
LL says NO !

Tenant has decided they have no choice as they cannot move without this money
LL says he would be unable to recover the deposit as unpaid rent despite the tenant putting in writing that they will make no claim on the deposit and he should use it as unpaid rent
Not an ideal situation but is he right that the deposit could not be paid to LL ?

They are running out of time & options

G_M

No.
If the tenant leaves owing rent the LL will be able to claim this off the deposit.
When does /did the fixed term run out? Is the tenant agreeing to leave early as a favour to the LL?

Geenie

Check the rules of an AST on places like Shelter. If no rent arrears, then the tenant has the upper hand and can't be evicted at such short notice as indicated.

missymugwump

Fixed term does not run out for 5 months they are trying to be fair to the LL

They don't want to stay now its upset them too much the LL wants his cake & eat it :-(
Thanks for the advice

BitterAndTwisted

A Section 21 cannot be served to end an AST except at the end of the term as agreed. It cannot override the law. Your friends do not have to move out of the property and cannot be coerced or encouraged to do so if they are not in agreement. Therefore they do have the upper hand. If they wanted to be really difficult they could choose to remain in the property but to withhold the rent. In that case the landlord could issue them with a notice to quit but can only do so once the tenants are eight weeks in arrears. If they don't leave then the landlord will have to go to court to get a possession order. This could take another month. Once the landlord has a possession order if your friends do not leave then, the landlord will have to instruct bailiffs. This could take more time. By the time all this has transpired your friends should have saved enough to cover a new deposit and a month or twos rent in advance. But all this will certainly compromise your friend's ability to get a reference which they might need from their new landlord.

Your friend should concentrate on the fact that they do have the upper hand here. If they agree to end the AST by mutual agreement I think the landlord should be compensating your friend with cash. The equivalent of two months rent and a deposit would be fair in my opinion.

It would be perfectly easy for the landlord to dispute the lodged deposit by the amount of two months rent. It's perfectly simple. The landlord is either mistaken or being completely untruthful.

It is my firm belief given the information supplied that the landlord is desperate to receive the rental income to pay mortgage arrears and is staving off repossession like his life depended on it. In which case they will be facing eviction quite soon any way. Lenders when repossessing do not acknowledge tenancy agreements

missymugwump

Thanks for that I have passed the info on :T

N79

It is not clear from your post but out of interest how big is the deposit compared to the rent?

missymugwump

They have offered a chq which when added to the deposit equals the two months rent that would be outstanding
so LL would recover full rent
LL has returned chq and said no pay in full I will return deposit after you leave

I have told them to stick to there guns and send the chq again with the keys special delivery once they have left

Deposit was protected and info given to them within a month of moving in

MrsTinks

Just tell the LL that without the deposit we can't move - So we'll return to keys and property to you in 5 months - have a nice day.
His financial problems are NOT theirs (ok if the house is repossessed it's an issue but that doesn't happen over night )

BitterAndTwisted

Landlord is desperate for cash-flow most probably to fund selling expenses before repossession takes place.

They should stick to their guns but must accept there is a risk that LL might behave unpredictably if he doesn't get what he wants when he wants it. If they haven't changed the barrels on the locks of all external doors I would recommend they do that immediately to protect themselves and their possessions just in case.

missymugwump

Already did that the day the section 21 came just in case
Daughter says she heard someone trying a key in the appt the door yesterday as it's an upstairs appartment and you either have to have a key for the main door or be buzzed in (there are only 4 other appartments and the other 3 residents were all at work yesterday day so no one could have let whoever it was in) she thinks it was the letting agents as she saw one of there cars outside