Landlord showing tenants around before notice period starts

teeni

StudentMoneySaver wrote: »

I'm set on getting out of here ASAP, if worst comes to worst I'll move out and leave it empty for the rest of the contract. Once I've reread what everyone has posted, I may have a better idea about what to do. But I have essay deadlines, which I may have to get extended due to the worry I've been experiencing.

As he's taking advantage of students I want to name and shame too. I don't really want any money from him, I don't think I'm entitled to any anyway.

dont just leave as you will still be responsible for the rent until the end of the contract. if you want to leave you will have to negotiate a surrender with the ladnlord to avoid that scenario

teeni

sorry replied to the threads as i reached them but before i got to the end.

absolutely agree with Clutton get expert advice keep trying to get your local shelter or a housing solicitor you should be eligible for legal aid.

good luck

StudentMoneySaver

Thank you clutton. Do you think it is worth going to a solicitor at this stage? I'm due to move out on the 29th when their notice expires, although I'm going before that date so I can send them their keys and their £100 'cleaning' fee through the post (if I have to see them they'd have to surgically remove the keys) and there is very little I can do before the 21st (exams). I'm not sure what they're planning for the next 2 weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried again tomorrow.

I'll try to contact the local CAB when I have a spare moment, probably on Friday. I think I do qualify for legal aid, I remember filling out the questionnaire online and it came up that I do qualify.

The lady they employ (technically they're a Letting Agent but they behave like the Landlord so that is how I refer to them) to show people around seems pretty clueless, I don't think she realised what she was actually doing when she brought the people today and how much trouble she could be in. She seemed to take the cretin who runs the LA's word as gospel, I don't think she knows the housing laws.

I wish I could go home tonight but hilariously I don't have a bed their until Friday afternoon (my old one was knackered so I bought a new one). And I'm too scared to leave the flat unattended. I wouldn't be surprised if they arrived at 9pm to show someone around, they did that before.

teeni - most of the stuff in the thread was from a couple of months ago. I did accidentally threaten to leave early, I got my wires crossed with my mum and she told them I'd be leaving. A comforting thing about that episode was that shortly after I paid the next rent I received a letter from their solicitor about the 'notice to quit' we'd (accidentally) issued. I'm happy they wasted their money on that letter (all the rent is up to date btw, the last one was paid at the end of April so I'm paid up until they want me to leave).

pyueck

StudentMoneySaver wrote: »

Thank you clutton. Do you think it is worth going to a solicitor at this stage? I'm due to move out on the 29th when their notice expires, although I'm going before that date so I can send them their keys and their £100 'cleaning' fee through the post (if I have to see them they'd have to surgically remove the keys) and there is very little I can do before the 21st (exams). I'm not sure what they're planning for the next 2 weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried again tomorrow.

I'll try to contact the local CAB when I have a spare moment, probably on Friday. I think I do qualify for legal aid, I remember filling out the questionnaire online and it came up that I do qualify.

The lady they employ (technically they're a Letting Agent but they behave like the Landlord so that is how I refer to them) to show people around seems pretty clueless, I don't think she realised what she was actually doing when she brought the people today and how much trouble she could be in. She seemed to take the cretin who runs the LA's word as gospel, I don't think she knows the housing laws.

I wish I could go home tonight but hilariously I don't have a bed their until Friday afternoon (my old one was knackered so I bought a new one). And I'm too scared to leave the flat unattended. I wouldn't be surprised if they arrived at 9pm to show someone around, they did that before.

teeni - most of the stuff in the thread was from a couple of months ago. I did accidentally threaten to leave early, I got my wires crossed with my mum and she told them I'd be leaving. A comforting thing about that episode was that shortly after I paid the next rent I received a letter from their solicitor about the 'notice to quit' we'd (accidentally) issued. I'm happy they wasted their money on that letter (all the rent is up to date btw, the last one was paid at the end of April so I'm paid up until they want me to leave).

I've only just seen the post. Poor you, I really feel sorry for you, you shouldn't have been treated like this. The contract is one of the worst I have seen. The good news is that the contract is im most parts unenforcable, just because they say its in the contract doesn't mean its enforcable. One such part is the part relating to the cleaning fee of £100. Think carefully pay it, a court would never uphold it and I doubt they would chase you for it as they know they would lose. Also as a previous poster the different break clause for the landlord and tenant is very dodgy. Try again to get through to Shelter, they are best placed to give you advice on how to leave and mitigate your losses.

Getting a solicitor through legal aid is also an option, although you have to decide whether you want to waste lots of time on this or just move on. If you have uni exams concentrate on these, you only get one chance, and you don't want to blow them because you are fighting a legal case.

clutton_2

if you can go to your mums on Friday - then go.. take your stuff, but dont post the keys - as far as the LL is concerned you are on holiday until 29th May.

Take DATED photographs of every room in detail when you leave, preferably have someone with you who can subsequently write a "Witness Statement" as to what happened that day and the condition of the flat (they would not have to go to court) just in case he kicked off later on...

Post the keys recorded delivery to arrive at the letting agents on the last day of the rental period - 29th May. You will be able to track this through the internet and will have proof that the keys have been accepted.

If you leave (ie send the keys back) on the last day of your agreement this is perfectly legal. Make sure your rent is up to date to that date.

DO NOT send them ANY cleaning money whatsoever... please just dont... this is an utterly illegal claim.

He will have to take you to court if he wants this money - but he wont... trust me.. he wont.

Landlords CANNOT claim money for cleaning in advance of a check-in and check-out inventory of condition of the premises.

Let us know how you are and what you decide..

bw

StudentMoneySaver

Interesting. As they did not do a check in inventory, I imagine any check out inventory they try would not be valid and any claim about the condition would fail. Are you confident about not paying the £100? Most people I've spoken to have told me not to pay it but I posted on LandLordZone and one of the lawyer types there told me I have to pay as I signed the contract.

Who would you suggest I get to be a witness for the photographs (are there any organisations that are willing to help)? I can't think of anyone independent off hand.

I'd like to just walk away from all this, I want them out of my life as soon as possible and I want to move on and enjoy my summer. I can't believe people like that exist.

Rent is paid in advanced on the first day of the rental period and I'm up to date until the end of the notice period so I have nothing to worry about in that respect.

I'm worried about my exam tomorrow, I'll have to just see how I can do. I spoke to my Uni and they told me I can still progress if I fail as it isn't a compulsory unit. I don't want to fail though.

N79

StudentMoneySaver wrote: »

Interesting. As they did not do a check in inventory, I imagine any check out inventory they try would not be valid and any claim about the condition would fail. Are you confident about not paying the £100? Most people I've spoken to have told me not to pay it but I posted on LandLordZone and one of the lawyer types there told me I have to pay as I signed the contract.

Sorry, I'm going to dissent slightly from the prevailing view that the GBP 100 is not payable under any circumstances. It is in the contract which you signed so by the simple rules of contract it is payable. However, under LL and T law you only have to return the property to the same state of cleanliness it was at the beginning. You can, of course, offer betterment to your LL but it is not legally required. It is still in the contract, however.

In order to strike this term you will be relying on the unfair contract terms protection. There is no doubt in my mind that it is an unfair term, there is no doubt in the OFTs mind that it is an unfair term but unfortunately only the opinion of the judge in court matters. (For example, Martin Lewis and the OFT were certain the bank charge amounts were an unfair term but the courts ultimately disagreed.) That said, it would take a somewhat extreme judge, once in possession of this whole dreadful tale, to actually uphold this clause. I'm just sounding a slight note of caution. That said, you should not pay the !!!!!!! the GBP100 - make him sue you for it. The chances of him winning are not, in my opinion, very high.

Who would you suggest I get to be a witness for the photographs (are there any organisations that are willing to help)? I can't think of anyone independent off hand.

Is there a welfare officer / tenancy officer at your student union you could ask?

I'd like to just walk away from all this, I want them out of my life as soon as possible and I want to move on and enjoy my summer. I can't believe people like that exist.

Rent is paid in advanced on the first day of the rental period and I'm up to date until the end of the notice period so I have nothing to worry about in that respect.

I'm worried about my exam tomorrow, I'll have to just see how I can do. I spoke to my Uni and they told me I can still progress if I fail as it isn't a compulsory unit. I don't want to fail though.

Focus on the exam. The !!!! can wait.

enabledebra

Hello studentmoneysaver,

I'm sorry that I didn't see your posts earlier. You really don't need a solicitor! I'm an SU adviser at a student union and can tell you that there are remedies you can try to mitigate or remove these problems. I'm not clear which university you study with but you should contact your student union advice centre asap.

If your SU has an advice centre you can be sure of free expert legal advice from professional advisers (we are usually from professional advice backgrounds who have moved into an SU). They will be able to assist you fully. DO NOT give up, one of the biggest frustrations we have is clients with a stong case throwing in the towel due to conflicting pressures- we take the strain for you, usually we just need a signature and maybe a court apperance (you don't usually need to speak at all unless you choose to).

if you let me know your uni I will give you contact details for your advice centre.

clutton_2

my suggestion that she needs a solicitor was based on her staying at the flat in the long term......

As a LL i have had run-ins with Legal Executives, with Housing Advisors, and Housing Assistants and have found that my knowledge of housing law and practice has general been as good, if not better, than theirs... If a tenant went to a solicitor i might, just might, take it a bit more seriously than if they used an Exec or Advisor

These landlords are clever.....

This is no disrespect at all to the previous poster.... and its great that you can find an advisor at OP's uni... but if she is entitled to free legal aid i would recommend that she get the best advice......

A N79 says - let the LL sue you for the £100 - he will not win without both check-in and check-out inventories signed by both of you - but he wont take you to court.... Not all posters on LLZ are lawyers and in any case lawyers will have different opinions......

Re a witness - a good friend will do.....

jayencee

just came across this thread and it has made me so angry. Why do these landlords continue to get away with things like this, and for that matter, are letting agents so desparate for business that they "allow" the landlord to ride rough shod over any tenant law?

And another thing, doesn't the university have some sort of duty of pastoral care for students that are studying at their premises who can't get places in the halls or through their recommended landlords Surely they should have someone on hand to advise students on what to look out for in a tenancy agreement,and to point them in the right direction when things to wrong.

I realise that students have to take some responsibility for not reading through an agreement properly before signing but this is probably their first time away from home, and once you get the offer from uni but not the accommodation, everything becomes such a rush. They have more than enough worries on their plate trying to get to uni in the first place, sorting out the funding (if they are not lucky enough to have rich parents) and then maintaining their place whilst there, studying, exams etc.

Sorry for the rant!