Landlord let new tennant move in but I am still paying the rent!

FTB123_2

Does anyone know if he is legally obliged to give any rent back, because I get a feeling he will just say no again like he did on the phone

N79

Good grief what a mess and what a pratt of a LL.

From what you have said he may be legally liable to give you the last months rent back (he is certainly morally obliged to). Only a court could determine this point. This point will hinge on when the "new T" moved in and whether the statemetn that their tenancy does not start until the 1 Mar is true along with the terms of the agreement you made with your LL when you moved out early (not the original tenancy agreement).

He is certainly liable to return your rent from the date you returned the keys (as this would be the date of tenancy surrender) however since this occured during the final rental period then amount of rent owed to you is 0.

Clearly the LL did not deny you access so no illegal eviction has taken place. You would have been within your rights to change the locks and deny the "new T" access but you did not enforce your right of occupation to the end.

Your dispute appears to be that the LL allowed someone access to the property during your tenancy and to store their stuff there (possibly / probably live there but you can not prove this). While this is a breach of the tenancy it is one that it is very difficult to take action on as, unless harrassment has occured it is considered a trivial breach (no damages to Ts) for which a court has little power to do anything.

I would write to the LL explaining that you want your last months rent back pointing out that they moved a new T in and you could threaten court action to see if this makes your obviously stupid LL cough up the months rent for a quiet life.

MissMoneypenny

FTB123 wrote: »

We went to pick up our post at the end of January and found it in the street(!) and the place was being redecorated with plastic all over the floor and paint tins everywhere, so we couldn't occupy it if we wanted to.

This is when you need to claim back to.

Have you got house contents insurance with the added Legal Cover? If you have, check and see if suing landlords is excuded from your policy. If it isn't, phone your insurers and ask for a Legal Cover claim form so that you can appoint a specialised solicitor/barrister to act for you once they have approved your claim.

RabbitMad

tell the LL unless he returns depoist and rent for period he's been in the property you will move back in and change the locks.

If he then changes the locks its illegal eviction and you could sue for lots

pingu2209

I would be tempted to enter the house at 5ish and wait for the new tenant and tell him that it is your place till the end Feb as you have paid up till then. Let the new tenant take it up with the LL.

FTB123_2

We don't have any contents insurance, and the landlord ownes a huge amount of properties (I would imagine hundreds) so getting the courts involved doesn't seem like a battle we would win (or the fees involved would affect us a lot more than they would affect him). The place was in the contract as unfurnished, and suddenly a load of furniture was dumped everywhere, if that makes a difference!

FTB123_2

Also, we don't have the keys anymore (we handed them back), because the landlord kept calling/emailing asking for them and made it sound like if we returned them ASAP we would get our deposit back, it felt implied that if we made a problem then getting our deposit might become one likewise

BitterAndTwisted

Sit tight and wait for the return of your deposit in full. Once the cheque has been banked and the funds cleared write to the landlord asking them to consider refunding your rent from the time the builders and decorators entered the property. You might be wasting your time but in the grand scheme of things getting the deposit back as it's such a large one is the most important one imo.

Being held to pay the full rent for the entire term of your agreement is unfortunate in the extreme but not unknown.

getmore4less

Why did you pay the rent in advance?

Fire_Fox

The minute the landlord entered the property to redecorate is the minute he took possession of the property and accepted your tenancy is terminated, and all rent from then should be returned to you. Send a recorded delivery letter.