Landord - Agency fight, Tenant in the middle *UPDATED*

clutton_2

please do this in writing.... you MUST have a paper-trail if this goes wrong down the line and with a LL like this it is almost inevitable...

please write as i suggested and dont meet up with the LL..... it will only go inot confrontation and your friend does not want this... if it all kicks off it will leave a very bad atmosphere indeed.... and i suspect your friend wants to continue living there....

just be out when he is supposed to call.....
whether you like the fact that there is no shower is irrelevant - you dont live there !

pyueck

My thoughts are to do nothing and sign nothing. Whatever the legalities of who the contract is with, if you can prove you are paying your rent as per the tenancy agreement, no judge will hold you at fault. Keep paying the agent and don't worry, its the landlords problem. If the agent doesn't pay him, it will be a dispute between the agent and landlord, not you.

clutton_2

it is perfectly legitimate for the LL to ask the tenant to pay him directly rather than the agent... as long as OP is sure the person is the LL and they bring proof with them, there is NO reason why the tenant should refuse to change the payment processs

The legal contract is between Landlord and Tenant irrespective of who signs it on behalf of the Landlord

We all know you hate all landlords - but there is no need to be so spiteful pyueck.....

CHR15

I was wrong in #21.

She did sign a new tenancy agreement in Sep 09 when her then housemate moved out.
the agreement in 09 still makes no mention of any deposit scheme.

clutton_2

in that case her deposit should be registered with a Scheme

CHR15

Looking through the old agreement, most of it is the same. The clause about completely redecorating is in the old contract!!

Sadly it appears she had already signed an agreement to this effect, would the signature relieve her of any rights to challenge?

princeofpounds

Such clauses have been held to be unfair in the courts many times. Landlords are not entitled to betterment. (Assuming annual rent is not over 25k here though, as that is no longer an AST.)

pyueck

clutton wrote: »

it is perfectly legitimate for the LL to ask the tenant to pay him directly rather than the agent... as long as OP is sure the person is the LL and they bring proof with them, there is NO reason why the tenant should refuse to change the payment processs

The legal contract is between Landlord and Tenant irrespective of who signs it on behalf of the Landlord

We all know you hate all landlords - but there is no need to be so spiteful pyueck.....

I don't hate all landlords, I just try and stick up for the interests of tenants.

The trouble is by changing to paying the landlord directly, you are not fulfilling your obligation of the original contract. It sounds like the landlord is a bit dodgy, by the sound of those unenforcable contracutal clauses. Why leave yourself exposed to any litigation. You signed the contract, it says to pay the agent, therefore pay the agent.

The only possible way that I would change is if I had a letter signed by both the agent and landlord, and witnessed that said that they were both happy for the payment method to be changed and that no other terms of the agreement would be affected by this, and then get advice from Shelter.

Under no circumstances:

- Sign a new contract
- Change the payment method without the letter mentioned above
- Sign up to the terms previously mentioned with regard to decoration (even though they are legally meaningless)

The problem is really the landlords, don't bail him out of his problems by putting yourself in a legally dodgy position. I would probably ask for a £25 admin fee for changing the payment method, I bet most agents would ask for this if the shoes were on the other foot

pyueck

pyueck wrote: »

I don't hate all landlords, I just try and stick up for the interests of tenants.

The trouble is by changing to paying the landlord directly, you are not fulfilling your obligation of the original contract. It sounds like the landlord is a bit dodgy, by the sound of those unenforcable contracutal clauses. Why leave yourself exposed to any litigation. You signed the contract, it says to pay the agent, therefore pay the agent.

The only possible way that I would change is if I had a letter signed by both the agent and landlord, and witnessed that said that they were both happy for the payment method to be changed and that no other terms of the agreement would be affected by this, and then get advice from Shelter.

Under no circumstances:

- Sign a new contract
- Change the payment method without the letter mentioned above
- Sign up to the terms previously mentioned with regard to decoration (even though they are legally meaningless)

The problem is really the landlords, don't bail him out of his problems by putting yourself in a legally dodgy position. I would probably ask for a £25 admin fee for changing the payment method, I bet most agents would ask for this if the shoes were on the other foot

I know many landlords on this forum will hate me for saying this, but you could even say you will agree to the contractual change if the landlord pays you £300. The thing is changing the payment method will probably save the landlord at least £300 a year (reduced agency charges, actually getting paid etc) and therefore why not take your share of these profits.

CHR15

Okay,
We're writing a letter to the effect that the original agreement still remains valid, albeit with an amendment to the payment method.

The Tenant is still in a Statutory Periodic Tenancy and should remain so (no new 6 month term).

The Deposit has been previously supplied and remains valid.

The Deposit should be registered with a Tenancy Deposit Scheme within 28 days.

Property will be yielded in a clean state and condition at the end of the term (fair wear and tear expected).


the other bits and pieces could well lead to more hassle than it's worth at this stage.