missed rent payments urgent help please

princeofpounds

Legally unfortunately the situation is that no matter if they failed to collect the money, you are still liable to pay.

So you need to get in touch with them and start negotiating. Phone is ok but follow up in writing to leave a paper trail. Offer mediation - if you have done so and the university rejects it looks bad for them if you raise it in court.

You might also wish to contact the advice services at your NUS - they can often give you a free half hour with a housing lawyer or maybe even longer on the phone. They can also lobby the university on your behalf.

If it does not produce any results, you may wish to consider a loan. I don't normally advise debt, but if you have a means to pay it back over time and it prevents you becoming homeless with a tarnished credit record it might be worth it. Unfortunately this will be harder to get these days - maybe a fmaily member will underwrite it for you.

It might take a bit of work, and be an uncomfortable process, but if you face up to it I am sure you will reach some kind of resolution.

timberflake

What a typical student response!!

They didn't take the rent, you spent the money and now expect them to reduce the amount you owe as its their fault!!

Surely if they didn't take the rent payment, it should still be sitting in you bank and you should therefore be able to pay it no problem.

In fact, you should be thanking them as you have earnt interest of the money they didnt take!

Or, more likely, you've had a right good p1ss up with the money and have no way of paying your rent??

Quite scary that student are considered to be the bright sparks of this country but can't even pay their own rent!

Fire_Fox

simblack wrote: »

Hi all,

Any help is much appreciated.

Since september I have been living in a rented student flat. The university should take the payments out of my account every month. However since january they have not been. It is an error completely on their behalf.

The university are now continually hassling me asking for one huge lump sum for the missed payments. Do I have any right to ask for the repayment to be spread out over a longer period or even reduced as it is their fault and they did not keep up to their end of the agreement? I did not realize the payments had not been made and losing all this money at once will leave me in a financial mess!

Thanks for your help!

Apologies in advance as I am going to be harsh as I think you need a wake up call. This is NOT "an error completely on their behalf". You are contractually obligated to pay the rent each month and the university is bound to a contract to provide you with suitable accommodation. Paying by DD or SO is a convenience for both parties.

I cannot imagine how poor your money management skills are that you did not notice you are five months in arrears! If you are in a financial mess it is because you are overspending and not checking your current account statements regularly. A private landlord might have already served you with notice to quit, you are fortunate that 'social landlords' are more reasonable.

rl290

To answer the question:

1. You have received a service as promised (the room) and need to pay the agreed price. There should not be any deduction.

2. Since a mistake was made with the billing, the Uni should be flexible in offering you regular payments. I would suggest (and have done this myself) that you send an email to your Student Union Exec's Welfare Officer (yes, you do have one and their job is exactly to help with things like this) and they should be able to help you draft a letter or arrange a meeting with the housing people with them being present. (You are, whether you know it or not, paying to be a member of your Student Union, and their job is to represent you - so make use of it. I am currently using the services of my union to fight an academic decision, and it has made things so much easier. They have attended meetings and sent lots of emails on my behalf)

3. Learn from this to budget in the future and check your bank statements to check whether bills have been settled. You are not without fault here.

To those of you who have replied rudely:

The OP was naive to think that there was any chance of a reduction, but the question was phrased in a fairly innocent way. It said neither that he/she expected nor that he/she wanted a reduction - it simply asked whether this was a right that he/she had or not. Some of your replies have selectively picked away at the text to make it sound like the OP is demanding this right, when this is obviously not the case. Wouldn't it have been much nicer of your to say, "sorry, but that's not the way it works" rather than insult the OP?

An innocent question answered with abuse. Nice.

Clutton, while I usually think your posts are very useful, in this instance you advice is wrong. You say "OP needs to get a bank loan to pay off Uni and then get on with their life". This is the wrong advice. The OP should contact the uni and find out if there are willing to spread payments, and have a word with the union as I have described. They may say no, in which case your advice stands, but they may be more forgiving (I would be very surprised if they put their foot down on this) and make life easier for the OP.

I find that many of the posts on this forum, in general, only state the letter of the law (e.g. "you have xyz rights") rather than suggesting that people ask the provider of a good/service to go above and beyond what is expected by law. Many companies/organisations will do this if asked.

R

Fire_Fox

Lil_Dee wrote: »

And we wonder why people don't come back to this place

I take it none of the posters above me have ever been young and reckless, or made a mistake in their lives !! :think:

It is not the mistake that we are responding to, it is the erroneous belief that this is someone else's fault. Of course we have all made mistakes, and we have all had to face the consequences: it is only through reflective practice that we learn not to make the same mistake twice. The consequences with a private landlord could result in a County Court Judgement and a black mark on their credit file for six years.

clutton_2

if i was a landlord of a student at this time in the academic year.. especially a finals student.. i would be insisting on lump sum repayment in one go......

with "rights" come responsibilities.....

gnimia

clutton wrote: »

if i was a landlord of a student at this time in the academic year.. especially a finals student.. i would be insisting on lump sum repayment in one go......

with "rights" come responsibilities.....

Broadly agree - but most unis wont let you graduate until you have paid all outstanding debts, fees etc, and returned all library books. If the Uni is his landlord I expect this would apply to rent too.

RecoveringAlcoholic

Or, more likely, you've had a right good p1ss up with the money and have no way of paying your rent??

Students would never do this.

.

omen666

bet the hangover from them parties is nothing compared to how your head is hurting now

00ec25

gnimia wrote: »

Broadly agree - but most unis wont let you graduate until you have paid all outstanding debts, fees etc, and returned all library books. If the Uni is his landlord I expect this would apply to rent too.

in respect of debts relating to accommodation, it has not yet been subject to a test case to clear up this point. Denial of graduation for a non tuition related service (ie accommodation) is considered impossible to enforce by many finance departments at this time because there is no direct link between the debt and the graduation.

Denial of graduation is considered OK where the debt relates to the contract regarding provision of teaching related services, so tuition fee and lost books etc: yes, but, accommodation: no, the latter has nothing to do with the contractual relationship between teaching a student and awarding their graduation, if they have paid their tuition they are entitled to graduate even if they have not paid their accommodation

This is why, for example, we take all final year student accommodation debts straight to court yet allow them to graduate. However, I know of other HEI that are more squemish

as far as the OP is concerned the advice to use their union as intermediaries is what they should be doing; whilst acknowledging that they have no money management skills and should therefore also talk to the financial aid people at the union and get a lesson on life skills including how to budget, take responsibility, and manage a bank account.