Renting - agent insisting on six months in advance, but contract says monthly payment

joneds

Hi,

I was hoping someone could offer me some advice on the situation my wife and I have just found ourselves facing.

We relocated from London to the West Midlands last November. Decent flats in the area we moved to are few and far between, so when we found one that we liked we were determined to move there. As we were relocating, we were both anticipating being between jobs when we put a holding deposit down on the flat, which we of course had to tell the agents before they ran reference checks. When they heard this, they insisted that, along with naming a guarantor, we also had to pay six months rent up front (the length of the contract). We reluctantly agreed to this, as we were pretty desperate by that point.

Now it has come time to renew the contract for a further six months, which we signed a couple of weekends ago (after paying an 'admin fee' of £150!). This new contract mentions nothing about paying six months in advance, only that rent must be paid monthly in advance on the 27th of each month. We didn't question this at the time of signing, assuming the contract had been written this way to take into account the fact that we were both now in full-time employment (and not actually out of work for very long at all, incidentally).

The agent got in touch with me today asking to arrange a time to pay the full contract amount up front once more, which I obviously don't want to do, nor feel I should have to. So I was wondering what my legal position is seeing as the contract doesn't come into effect until 27th May? Should I just get back in touch with the agent now and state I will be paying rent as set out in the contract (i.e. monthly)? I'm pretty sure that if I do tell them this, they'll ask me to pay a referencing fee again (on top of the previous £150) of around £60.

Any advice very gratefully received.

Thanks

maninthestreet

Tell the agent to take a hike - the contract states monthly in advance.

xx_lucy_xx

If you pay monthly without a passed ref with a guarantour im pretty sure it will invalidate landlords insurance, Did you get passed refs for your guarantour, as i dont see why you need one if you paid 6 months upfront for a 6 month contract?

joneds

maninthestreet/xx_lucy_xx,

Thanks very much for you replies.

The guarantor was referenced (allegedly), as were we before we signed the original agreement. I did ask at the time why this was necessary if we were paying six months in advance, but was told something to the effect that "the landlady is very picky about who she lets live in her property as she uses the rent to pay her mortgage". As I said, we were pretty desperate, so I didn't pursue this further at the time for fear of losing out on the flat.

Incidentally, I have my doubts that any references were ever taken up. I have a good relationship with our last landlord in London and asked him recently if he'd been contacted about us at all, which he hadn't.

Thanks

fleitner

Well, tell them that you intend to honour the contract and you expect the same in return (in this case: monthly in advance)
Any landlord's insurance issue is not your problem.

They could come back with a notice to leave after the term, but if the landlady wants to pay a mortgage with the rent I think she would appreciate having a tenant instead of having a potential void.

joneds

Thanks fleitner.

I was wondering about the term of the contract - as the new one we signed a couple of weeks ago doesn't start until the end of May, could that somehow be voided before it has commenced if I refuse to pay in advance even thought it has been signed by both parties?

Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

Don't speak to the agent WRITE telling them that you fully intend to honour the terms of the contract which you signed recently. That is, that you intend to pay the rent monthly on or by the 27th of every month. No sane landlord would want to get rid of tenants who have proven themselves to be reliable and risk a void at the end of your current AST.

xx_lucy_xx

I would request to see a copy of all the references as you paid for them they are rightfully yours.

IronWolf

I'd tell them to do one. The contracts signed, worst they can do is give notice to evict you at the end of the fixed term on the contract. If they start making a fuss and disrupting you during your stay then threaten to sue for harassment.

fleitner

joneds wrote: »

I was wondering about the term of the contract - as the new one we signed a couple of weeks ago doesn't start until the end of May, could that somehow be voided before it has commenced if I refuse to pay in advance even thought it has been signed by both parties?s

You have signed contracts for the time from now until end of May and from end of May to 6 months later.
They can either honour these contracts or breach them - with all the consequences.

And as BitterAndTwisted said, communicate in writing and demand all answers in writing, especially answers that are advantageous for you. That way you have a prove of the communication if your relation with the LA goes belly up.

G_M

Now it has come time to renew the contract for a further six months, which we signed a couple of weekends ago

Just to be clear -has the landlord (or his agent) signed the contract as well?

If you hold a copy of the contract, signed by the LL/agent, then the terms of that contract should be followed (ie pay monthly in advance or whatever).

However, if you have signed, in preparation for the LL signing, and the LL is now wishing to alter the terms of the contract before he signs, then you will have to negotiate.