Notice to quit an the end of fixed term ast

stubazz

can someone please give me some advice here is what has happened and im not to sure if i should send the following letter

Dear xxxxxxx

in accordance with your response recieved satutday 18th september regards my notice dated 13th september with the intention to vaccate the property on the 07th october you stated clause 20.1

Give at least one months notice in writing of his intention to vacate at the end of the fixed term, such notice to be given prior the rent due date. it is accepted that nothing in this agreement shall give the tennent any right to continue this tennancy after the expiry of this agreement, however where the tennancy is a continuation or a statutory periodic tennancy the tennent will be required to give one full months notice of his intention to vacate. such notice to expire at the end of a rent period. failure to provide such notice will leave the tennent liable for rent and other outgoings up to the end of the following rent period.

you have stated in accordance with your tennancy agreement i will be liable for rent up to 7th november 2010.

i am quite upset and hurt by the letter i recieved from yourself as i consider that i have been a good tennent for yourselves and the landlord and the notice i gave was from common decency.

i have reveiwed this clause several times and i have also recieved advice about this clause,

Since the fixed term for the agreement was for a six month period commencing on and including 08th april 2010-07th october 2010 i am in the stance that i am not required to serve notice during the fixed term as it is assumed that i did not choose to renew i will leave at the end of the tenancy.

Also here is the advice i have also recieved from two seperate sources

Many Landlords believe that the Tenant has to give notice if he wishes to leave the property at the end of the tenancy Agreement. This may not be correct. The Tenant has contracted for a fixed period, their obligation is to pay the rent and to reside in the property for that period of time but at the end of the contractual period, their obligations terminate and they can leave the property. They have no requirement to give notice to Landlord or Agent. This means that effectively the Tenant can walk into an Agent's office on the last day of the tenancy hand the keys over and leave the property without incurring any further liability for rental payments.

Agents and Landlords sometimes try to enforce notice periods on the Tenant by including a clause in the Agreement which specifies that if the Tenant wishes to leave at the end of the contractual term he must give one month's notice of his intention to do so. Is such a clause enforceable? It is very doubtful if any Judge would award a Landlord rent because the tenant failed to give notice. Such a clause would probably be deemed to be unfair and therefore void. The Tenant has contracted for a fixed period, it therefore seems illogical that he gives notice stating he will comply with the terms of the contract by leaving the property.


Also with regards the deposit you state a cheque will be sent within twenty eight working days as long as there are no discrepincies.

The new regulations state that this must be done within 10 days of the tenancy ending. including what is in the agreement clause A1.1

When the landlord and tennent agree how the deposit should be returned, in full or in part, it must be paid back within 10 working days. failure to return the deposit within the specified period will be grounds for the tennent to refer the matter directly to the independent case examiner or ICE.

my current next step in this process is to refer clause 20.1 to the OFT for unfair clauses and i will also seek independent legal advice for both of the cases stated above

Please help?????????

clutton_2

you did not need to give notice if you moved out at the end of the fixed period - 7th ~Octob er is the end of the fixed period.

is your deposit in a Tenancy deposit scheme ? if so - let them decide on any deductions your LL wishes to make...

Take copioius photos of the property before you move out

stubazz

should i send this letter back or am i being to aggresive

satchmeister

The contract finishes on 7th October. The LL needs to arrange for an independent inventory check on the 7th at say 10:00am and you give the keys back at 12:00. You should have a certificate indicating where your deposit is being held. Dont be upset and hurt, this is a pure business transaction. The notes in red point to you having a fixed term contract which you are honouring.

tbs624

Welcome to MSE. The info in this post is presuming the property is in Eng/Wales.

You are right, Stubazz, that you do not have to give notice to be able to leave at the end of a Fixed Term: it's polite to do so though, if only because it gives you the opportunity to arrange a pre-check out inspection to go over any areas of potential dispute and give you time to rectify things, where necessary.

Your letter is a bit on the wordy side. You don't have to prove to them why you don't need to give notice to be able to leave at the FT expiry.

Thank them for their letter but state that you are within your legal rights to leave at the FT expiry, ( give the tenancy dates as you outlined above) and that your obligations under the tenancy will cease on that date, when you vacate the property and return the keys.

Leave out phrases about personal feelings and just keep to the facts

You are not quite right in your understanding of the deposit issue - LL should notify T of any proposed deductions (in writing) within 10 days of the end of the tenancy, and if LL & T agree the amounts then the deposit should be returned ( in full or part as appropriate) within a further 10 days from that agreement.

If the T disputes the deductions, then that disputed amount stays with the scheme until the matter is sorted. LL or the T can choose to use either the arbitration scheme or the small claims court to resolve matters

If you don't know about the tenancy deposit schemes check at my deposits, TDS and DPS

Was there a signed inventory at the start of this tenancy? Take dated photos of everything when you leave, down the lav, on top of cupboards, meter readings etc.

Google "mydeposits" and "Landlords guide to fair wear and tear" and "ARLA" and "dilapidations" - you have to leave the property as it was at the start of your tenancy, except for fair wear and tear.

Some LLs and some LAs have a poor grip of LL & T law , but then no qualifications, training or regulation is necessary for either role so its perhaps not that surprising. Many of them think that if they write any old clause into their tenancy agreement that it will always stand up: it won't.

G_M

Dear Sirs,

Thank you for your letter dated xxx.

I am writing to confirm that I will be vacating the property on 7th October. As you are aware this is the end of my Fixed Term contract. You will also be aware that no notice is required by a tenant where a Fixed Term contract is ending, and so this letter is sent simply as a courtesy to yourselves.

It is also to enable us to arrange for a check out inventory to be undertaken on the 7th October. I suggest 10.30 AM for this, and will expect you then unless I hear from you to the contrary.

I should like to thank you for your assistance over the last 6 months and look forward to seeing you on the 7th October.

Yours sincerely,

---

I think this is a less emotional response, which at the same time makes clear that you will not be paying rent to 7th November.
As suggested above, check that your deposit is registered. The scheme with which it is registered will have processes for return it to you. Check which one, and find their website from here to review the process.

Annisele

What G_M said; I can't improve on it

Your feelings are not relevant to your legal rights, and it's not your job to educate your LL/LA on the law (though I do understand how tempting that can be!).

Cissi

I sedond Annisele: G_M's letter is perfect. Much more effective to not show all your cards, and you actually come accross as more knowledgeable like this rather than quoting chapter and verse of every legal point.

I also second the suggestions to check the deposit protection and take a lot of photos before you move out. Absolutely do both of these things.

joanna_johnson

hi
I once worked for a LA who insisted the T gave a full month's notice, even on a fixed term. The T's mum was a solicitor in housing and firmly put my boss in his place! If a contract is fixed term, it has a start date and and end date. Therefore the T is only contracted for this period of time and no notice is required.

tbs624

joanna_johnson wrote: »

hi
I once worked for a LA who insisted the T gave a full month's notice, even on a fixed term.

Unfortunately, such a lack of knowledge of tenancy law seems to be a regular occurrence. No surprise when LAs lack formal qualifications or training on such matters.

I would suggest that both LLs and Ts always seek their own clarification of anything that is uttered by an LA.

Anyone, yep anyone, can set up as an LA handling thousands of ££s worth of rent, tenancy deposits and property.

stubazz

Thanks for the advice i will post the outcome of this, thanks again