Holdover- play by their rules or..... ?

mess0804

UPDATE on the old subject, the agency gave me notice (a nice letter saying the landlord doesn't want to let the flat to me anymore)

It was a possibility that they were going to kick me out... but I thought that being a business they would think as a business, not as a personal vendetta ...
Hope to find a better landlord/agency ... I stood for my beliefs... and that will cost me the hassle of moving


............



me again... can't get along with my agency

My contract ended in august and they forgot to send me any paperwork. Now last month I had an entire argument with them as they wanted to increase the rent from august (backdated by 3 months and they wanted me to pay the difference). After a few letters they finally said that as a good will gesture they will accept the increased rent from this month (only 2 weeks backdated)

Now they wrote to me to ask me to sign a holdover for another 6 months or else they will charge me £35 admin fee for every single time that they have to ask me again...

I tried to explain in every letter that I am now on a monthly rolling contract (as they haven't given any papers when the first year finished) ... but it's like talking to a wall ...

What else can i do if they start charging me the admin fee? what options do I have: sign for 6 months or ... leave?


that's the letter I got:


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poppysarah

Leave.

I'd ring shelter for advice maybe but it's an unfair charge imo.

Do you have copies of the letters you sent?

DVardysShadow

They can charge you this administration fee as many times as they like, they cannot force you to pay.

IIRC, you are now periodic.

Dear <Letting Agent>

Thank you for your letter of <date>. As my tenancy is now on periodic terms, I would advise you that I have no intention of signing a holdover. Being property professionals, you should already know that the Landlord's position is maintained under the original tenancy agreement.

This matter is now closed and any further correspondence from you will be ignored. Your threat to impose spurious charges of £35 is noted. You are instructed that further correspondence is not required and charges outwith the tenancy agreement will be rejected.

Yours sincerely

wodgerdodger

DVardysShadow wrote: »

They can charge you this administration fee as many times as they like, they cannot force you to pay.

IIRC, you are now periodic.

Dear <Letting Agent>

Thank you for your letter of <date>. As my tenancy is now on periodic terms, I would advise you that I have no intention of signing a holdover. Being property professionals, you should already know that the Landlord's position is maintained under the original tenancy agreement.

This matter is now closed and any further correspondence from you will be ignored. Your threat to impose spurious charges of £35 is noted. You are instructed that further correspondence is not required and charges outwith the tenancy agreement will be rejected.

Yours sincerely

Having looked for Cliftons on the ARLA register they do not appear so although their website says they atttend courses in letting management looks like they havent yet been on the one regarding periodic tenancies or the correct procedures to request a rent increase i.e minimum 1 months notice.:rotfl:

DVardysShadow

wodgerdodger wrote: »

Having looked for Cliftons on the ARLA register they do not appear so although their website says they atttend courses in letting management looks like they havent yet been on the one regarding periodic tenancies or the correct procedures to request a rent increase i.e minimum 1 months notice.:rotfl:

Tongue firmly superglued inside cheek.

princeofpounds

They cannot charge you these spurious charges, and they cannot up your rent unless with a proper notice (section 13 IIRC?), a new contract or your mutual agreement. Rent increases cannot be backdated.

They can bill you and threaten you all they like, but you are not liable for any of it.

In these situations I would normally recommend a couple of remedies:

1) Send a warning-shot letter as per DVardys suggestion above. You might also want to mention that you find their repeated billing for spurious charges harrassing and if they continue you will complain to trading standards, any professional association they might be a member of, and also seek legal advice.

2) Contact your landlord direct and explain to them that not only are the LA incompetent in their understanding of tenancy law, but that their behaviour is seriously making you consider leaving the tenancy for good. Because often LAs will mis-advise ignorant LL for their own purposes and you don't want the wrong messages getting through to them.

In particular, you want to explain about statutory periodic tenancies and also about section 13 notices; because the LA might tell the LL you are refusing to pay the higher rent, when in actual fact they were several months late in even informing you and they haven't *legally* requested to raise the rent all yet.

poppysarah

Add:

Any further letters demanding fees for sending letters I do not legally need to be sent, will be treated as harrassment and dealt with appropriately.

OR:

Any further letters demanding fees for sending letters I do not legally need to be sent, will be subject to an admin fee of £40 per letter. Your sending further demands will be considered acceptance of these terms.

mess0804

I copied / modified the letter and I will send it today. Thanks guys...

And the last idea is great, I should charge them £50 per letter that I have to write back to them...

I guess they cannot take more money then the agreed rent from my account, because they didn't charged me the backdated rent, they just tried to bully me to give them the money ...

I get annoyed everytime they ask for things like that, mainly because I find them illogical with my mind but don't know for sure if I am right or not. Thank you all for dirrecting me every time.

sequence

Don't worry about it, just laugh in their faces.

That's the way these companies work, it's natural to think that a company should know better about something they deal with every day, rather than the indivual. This is the seed of doubt they rely on to bully money out of people.

Don't accept it any more nonsense from them.

mess0804

UPDATE on the old subject, the agency gave me notice (a nice letter saying the landlord doesn't want to let the flat to me anymore)

It was a possibility that they were going to kick me out... but I thought that being a business they would think as a business, not as a personal vendetta ...
Hope to find a better landlord/agency ... I stood for my beliefs... and that will cost me the hassle of moving


............

Doozergirl

Want to show us the notice you've been given? I'm sure someone can advise on whether it's properly legal. You could have some fun with it, at least.