Please Help. Can my Landlord do this?

moromir

I think there is a little more to this than you are letting on.

You clearly moved out before the Landlord agreed to an early release.

Are you sure things didn't happen along the lines of the Landlord thinking you didn't want to be responsible for holding onto keys anymore or thinking he was doing you a favour so you didn't have to go out of your way to return them to him at a later date?

Seems a bit petty to me that you moved out because it suited you despite being bound to a 12 month tenancy and are now trying to finanacially penalise your landlord who has been understanding enough to agree to an early release... and I see no reason why a three year old child cannot share a bedroom with its parents or why a small bed could not be put in the living room on a temporary basis until such time as its parents are no longer legally bound to pay rent on a particular property.

JooJar

moromir wrote: »

I think there is a little more to this than you are letting on.

You clearly moved out before the Landlord agreed to an early release.

Are you sure things didn't happen along the lines of the Landlord thinking you didn't want to be responsible for holding onto keys anymore or thinking he was doing you a favour so you didn't have to go out of your way to return them to him at a later date?

Seems a bit petty to me that you moved out because it suited you despite being bound to a 12 month tenancy and are now trying to finanacially penalise your landlord who has been understanding enough to agree to an early release... and I see no reason why a three year old child cannot share a bedroom with its parents or why a small bed could not be put in the living room on a temporary basis until such time as its parents are no longer legally bound to pay rent on a particular property.

I've explained the situation in full. There is nothing missing from what I said. I just hate the fact that I could easily lose £4500.

The landlord would not allow a 3 year old to live in the house. He was living there for 2 months without the landlord knowing. The caretaker started questioning me and asked why I had a child living in a 1 bedroom property. He then started asking for my landlords number.

It was lucky I was in the process of moving anyway. I told him I was moving in 2 days and he said he didn't need the landlords details because I was moving out.

If I had paid monthly rent what would he have done if I left. He'd have to find someone else and fund his property. In my eyes he can do that now.

The way I see it was I had no option to move out. I had to or I'd risk eviction and definatly lose the money.

If I can find some grounds to getting this money back, I will. I'm not an idiot that's willing to let money pass under the bridge.

BitterAndTwisted

The best thing you can do now is to concentrate on finding a replacement tenant. I have a feeling that you might have a fight on your hands to retrieve your rent money once a suitable tenant is found however.

moromir

JooJar wrote: »

If I had paid monthly rent what would he have done if I left.

He could have persued you through the courts for the unpaid rent until such time as a new tenant was found, if you had held onto the keys in that situation he could have easily proved that you hadn't surrendered the tenancy and you could have found yourself paying the whole lot anyway.

G_M

JooJar wrote: »

I've explained the situation in full. No - you are now adding stuff below! There is nothing missing from what I said. I just hate the fact that I could easily lose £4500.

The landlord would not allow a 3 year old to live in the house. There is nothing the LL could have done about this. he could not have evicted you. You had a 12 month contract and were up to date with your rent.He was living there for 2 months without the landlord knowing. The caretaker started questioning me and asked why I had a child living in a 1 bedroom property. None of his business. He then started asking for my landlords number. None of his business.

It was lucky I was in the process of moving anyway. I told him I was moving in 2 days and he said he didn't need the landlords details because I was moving out.

If I had paid monthly rent what would he have done if I left. Chase you via the courts for non-payment of rent. He'd have to find someone else and fund his property. In my eyes he can do that now. Yes.

The way I see it was I had no option to move out. I had to or I'd risk eviction and definatly lose the money.????? see above.

If I can find some grounds to getting this money back, I will. I'm not an idiot that's willing to let money pass under the bridge.

You could perhaps argue that by you moving out and the LL taking the keys off you (and thereby denying you further access) the LL has 'agreed' to early termination of the contract. However, unless he goes along with this and refunds you, you would have to take him to a Small Claims Court. The judge might/might not agree with this view. If the LL said "the tenant gave me the keys - I didn't 'take' them" the judge might say this was a unilateral act by yourself rather than a mutual agreement to early contract termination.

So it all hangs on
a) precisely what actually happened (ie with the key thing etc)
b) what the LL says happened

As with all situations like this, communication and agreement is the best way forward. Offer to pay LL's marketing /advertising costs. Agree to pay rent till new tenant moves in. Come to some agreement.

I'm an internet marketer. I'll find tenants for the property and act as the agent. It seems like the only thing to do to get a tenant quicker. I'll just forward them to the landlord.

Not sure offering to 'act as the agent' (ie make money) is diplomatic. Certainly you can pass prospective tenants on to the LL, once he's agreed to the above, but whether these tenants are 'acceptable' is something only the LL can decide.

JooJar

I spoke on the phone with him ad he is posting out an agreement for me to sign. He says once a tenant is found he will refund any rent owed to me. He is refunding the depost right away.

So things look positive.

The apartments are in a really nice part of the city, very attractive and new, so I just hope they attract a lot of potential tenants.

Ignore the anger above. I was a little heated. Looking at it I think the landlord is being reasonable.