"You're Out On Your Ear - Legal Action Letter's In The Post"

QuantumSuccess

I rent a one-bedroom flat in London through a large rental agency. I've lived here for 2 and a half years and never met the owners of the flat.

I pay £900 a month for a flat where the current market rent for the flat is really at most £800. I'm on a standard AST lease, each lease lasting 12 months and I've renewed twice so far.

I recently switched banks and my Standing Orders were meant to have brought over automatically but have not been.

As a result my rent is currently around 18 days late. The people at the rental agency have always been exceedingly unpleasant in general. Today they have texted me and emailed me to say that my rent is a month late (in reality, as I said, it is 18 days late) and that a "Legal Action Letter is in the post" and that I'm out on my ear. They are also saying that instead of owing £900 - one month's rent - I owe £1062 due to "a penalty for late rent."

Obviously I will pay the rent ASAP. But I am really tired of their rudeness and I refuse to pay £1062. I would also like to know what the law says. Am I honestly facing being "out on my ear" due to the rent being 18 days late. I have been living here for 2.5 years and never missed a rent payment. Clearly my landlord would not have agreed to renew my tenancy twice now if I wasn't a good tenant. Also, the flats in this area tend to stand empty for quite a while and I'm already paying over the odds. The !!!!!! at the letting agency said that even when my rent is received tomorrow he will then "have to come to the difficult decision" of "whether to evict you or not." He said that if I don't pay the £162 "penalty" he will take a dim view and I will probably be evicted.

Legally, would I literally be out on my ear if I refuse to pay the penalty? I thought evicting somebody was a long, slow process. What landlords in their right mind would want rid of a solvent long-term tenant and risk having their flat standing empty or never getting such high rent again? My landlords are buy-to-let owners by the way.

I'm tempted to call the letting agents' bluff and say "go on then. take me to court...."

BornAtTheRightTime

Someone more knowledgeable than I will be along shortly with all the ins and outs but you need to be 2 rental payments in arrears to be served with any eviction notice and if you bring your rent arrears to less than that before the vourt appearance, the landlord cannot evict. The agent is incorrect at best.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Strictly speaking, you can be served a S8 if ANY rent is owing and/or if rent is persistently late. But eviction is at the courts discretion under those circs, and courts tend to be reluctant to evict.

tbs624

You say that you have renewed for a further Fixed Term so the old charmer(a) cannot get you out via a S21 until expiry and (b) for him to succeed with a Ground 8, Section 8 Notice there needs to be two months rent unpaid both at the time of application and the time of a subsequent court hearing.

You should nevertheless get that rent payment paid across pronto because of the discretionary grounds relating to late payment of rent. As for a 162 quid late payment fee for 18 days, even if this LA has this extortionate fee set down as a tenancy agreement clause, no court would permit such a penalty to be levied against you.

Has been said many times but you don't need any particular knowledge, expertise, training or qualification to set up in business as an LA. Sadly , it shows.

You are legally entitled to know the name and address if your LL - you can either pay 4 quid to the Land Registry or write to the LA requesting the info within 21 days ( crim offence committed by LA if he fails to provide it)

QuantumSuccess

tbs624 wrote: »

You say that you have renewed for a further Fixed Term so the old charmer(a) cannot get you out via a S21 until expiry and (b) for him to succeed with a Ground 8, Section 8 Notice there needs to be two months rent unpaid both at the time of application and the time of a subsequent court hearing.

You should nevertheless get that rent payment paid across pronto because of the discretionary grounds relating to late payment of rent. As for a 162 quid late payment fee for 18 days, even if this LA has this extortionate fee set down as a tenancy agreement clause, no court would permit such a penalty to be levied against you.

Has been said many times but you don't need any particular knowledge, expertise, training or qualification to set up in business as an LA. Sadly , it shows.

You are legally entitled to know the name and address if your LL - you can either pay 4 quid to the Land Registry or write to the LA requesting the info within 21 days ( crim offence committed by LA if he fails to provide it)

Thank you. The landlord's name and address is on my lease. I've just never met or spoken to him.

So I guess even by paying the rent pronto this letting agent might still take me to court. I don't see how it could possibly be in the landlord's interest to risk losing me as a tenant though....

Wee_Willy_Harris

QuantumSuccess wrote: »

Thank you. The landlord's name and address is on my lease. I've just never met or spoken to him.

So I guess even by paying the rent pronto this letting agent might still take me to court. I don't see how it could possibly be in the landlord's interest to risk losing me as a tenant though....

Perhaps now might be a good time to drop him a nice, polite line explaining this and the LA's actions?

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/business/letting-agents-to-out%11!!!!!!!-estate-agents-201011253289/

QuantumSuccess

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

won't let me put link

That article is hilarious. Brilliant!

I managed to get hold of the letting agent to query the "penalty." He said "your choice - pay up or get out and we'll rent to somebody who will pay up." He also claims that in February 2009 my rent was 3 days late and that my rent was 3 days late back in September 2008 as well. He says on those grounds I can be evicted "just like that" due to a pattern of late-paying.

satchmeister

QuantumSuccess wrote: »

Thank you. The landlord's name and address is on my lease. I've just never met or spoken to him.

So I guess even by paying the rent pronto this letting agent might still take me to court. I don't see how it could possibly be in the landlord's interest to risk losing me as a tenant though....

I am not a LL, but if I received a letter from the tenant apologising and explaining the change of bank and the mix-up I would forget it if you have paid the rent asap when you realised the problem.

PasturesNew

If you give us their number, we can all phone every hour on the hour for the month of December and growl "W*NKER" down the phone at them before hanging up .... if that helps.

chappers

thats not a pattern of late payment and I'm sure no court would see it as that.
Under section 8 the only mandatory grounds for eviction is when rent is 8 weeks late i.e when the second missed rent payment becomes due, and then if you bring the arrears under 8 weeks then the mandatory grounds won't be valid. There are discretionary grounds for regular lateness, but your situation doesn't really appear to constitute this.
Have a look at the shelter website this will give you some ammunition as a response to this joke of a letting agent.
Just remember your contract is with the LL not the agent and it would ultimately be his decision as to whether any proceedings were taken against you.

Hump

Definitely talk to your landlord - sounds like your LA is trying to engineer another fat commission from the landlord for when he finds your replacement, plus the fees from the poor sod - sorry - prospective tenant who will take over from you