cooling off periond

foxybabe

Does anybody know if the 14 day cooling off period applies when renting a house? My son has put a deposit on a house on Monday after viewing with friends (they are all students). He felt a little rushed when making the decision but went with the majority. He now thinks it is too far out an is going to cost more in travel than he wanted to pay. Basically he wants to pull out. Will they get their deposit back?

cheers in advance mandy

foxybabe

anyone?!?!?

F_T_Buyer

What does it say in the contract he signed?

foxybabe

he hasn't signed a contract yet, he has just paid £250 holding deposit

F_T_Buyer

Ah, so he has no obligation to go through with the tenancy, but i'm not sure about the legal requirements of getting the £250 back.

I guess this is up for debate regarding the holding deposit, as the EA would argue the deposit is where the tenant agrees to rent a place, and you would argue it's so the landlord doesn't let it to someone else.

It really depends how important the £250 is. If you're happy to lose it, just make up an excuse why you can't take the property (too far, not public transport) then formally ask for your deposit back (in writing). If the £250 is critical to the decision, you need to ask the CAB or hopefully someone else on here will know.

Hope that helps.

foxybabe

thanks for that, he is ring the cab tomorrow to find out about the deposit. He has already made the decision to pull out but is hoping to get the deposit back.

dunstonh

Without a contract or anything signed, he shouldnt have handed over a penny. Even a deposit should have something signed to outline the terms.

Normally on these things, it means losing the deposit but it would depend on the terms agreed. If nothing was signed then your son could ask for the money back and if refused, could go through the small claims court (and probably lose, costing him more).

I think you need to check with your son again as to whether something was signed or not. You dont just hand over £250 like that without getting something. The terms are there to protect both sides. i.e. commitment to payment, lose of deposit if you withdraw but also commitment to give you the property without giving it to someone else.

star1_2

Totally Concur with Dunstonh - he should'nt have handed over any money without an agreement or receipt which stated the nature of the deposit (ie. Refundable or non-refundable).

As DH says, it's normal practice for a deposit to be "non-refundable", otherwide it would be rather non-sensical to be able to just put money "down on somthing you're intrested in, then later pull out, a deposit indicates legal intention to complete an agreement to purchase goods or services .... (sorry - not what you wanted to here ... I know) ....

Given the circumstances, unless a receipt for the money states it is a "refundable deposit" .... if your son was to get his deposit back, I would consider himself to be very lucky !

BTW - 14 day "cooling off period" applies to distance selling purchases and financial credit agreements - they do not apply in these circumstances.

foxybabe

thanks for that i did wonder whether the cooling off period was different in these circumstances. Its his own fault, he should have said something if he felt rushed and refused to pay anything. But we have all been young once. This will probably be a very expensive lesson learned.