Help/Advice Needed - Tenant wanting break agreement!

dancingfairy

Ah - fair enough I've just read your last comment. You shouldn't loose any money re the deposit as it is kept in a deposit scheme and they will adjudicate on that one. I can understand being worried about not getting the remainder of the rent though and I guess I can understand now why you feel it is reasonable to keep the deposit.
Getting a judgement I think would be fairly quick and realtively cheap (ish) -I think it's 50 pounds to start a claim but that's not going to help if it doesn't get your money back and you then have to incur extra costs. Hmm tricky.
How much does the tenant know about your financial situation? They may know that things are tight and therefore be prepared to push things re court?
df

jjlandlord

stevekoz wrote: »

The Tenancy began 1st February 2011 for a 12 month term.

So 7 months left after 30th June. That's a liability of £3325.

Perhaps you could mention that to them in order to put your offer of £1425 into perspective... It suddenly looks more attractive, doesn't it?

stevekoz

dancingfairy wrote: »

Personally I'd find your offer inflamatory. I'd be really annoyed at having to loose my deposit and your attitude of having them having to pay 15% if their utilities are in arrears as well would really get my back up.
As it stands they seem quite happy to come to a compromise with you and agree to loose some of the deposit.
Not sure what the problem is - as you know unless between you you can come to some sort of agreement then they are liable for all the rent as contractually agreed - no idea why you are getting upset about it as you have the upper hand. They appear to want to negotiate .
How long a term did they sign for and how long have they got left? How easy or otherwise do you feel it will be for you to find a new tenant?
Have they caused any other problems or are you worried about them causing other problems - ie with damaging the house or something?
df

Err. no offence but 15% is the standard debt collection agency fee which we would be liable for if we isntructed a company to go after the costs for us - this was an average % we took from several quotations, so its simply fact, if they leave with unpaid bills this is what you pay, its not money we get. it goes to the debt collectors agency and stops any such bad notes being put on our credit records? Don't see how that is inflamatory.

I think you may misunderstand. If we don't get a tenant by 30th june they give us a deposit back following us already relinquishing it to them - that is what im not happy about.

may_fair

stevekoz wrote: »

I could threaten legal action but unfortuntely financially im in a limited position, i could not afford to go to court and pay fees without a guarantee i wouldn't be out of pocked afterwards, ...

The Tenancy began 1st February 2011 for a 12 month term.

The rent for the period 1st July 2011 - 31st January 2012 is £3,325 (7 x £475).

This is well below the threshold for the small claims track. You don't need a solicitor to pursue a claim in the small claims track - it's designed for use by litigants-in-person and court fees are low. You've also got a very easy case to prove; the tenancy agreement is practically all the evidence you need.

But, as I said before, if you take possession of the property, relet or do other acts inconsistent with the tenancy continuing in the interim, then this will comprise a surrender by operation of law and the T will be able to defend on that basis.

dancingfairy

That works out as just under 3 months rent if I'm right. Is it reasonable to assume you can relet the property within 3months? if so you're quids in, if not your quids out
Also like you said you've got to wieigh up the costs of taking him to court and the loss of rent which would be what? 8 months.
df

stevekoz

dancingfairy wrote: »

Ah - fair enough I've just read your last comment. You shouldn't loose any money re the deposit as it is kept in a deposit scheme and they will adjudicate on that one. I can understand being worried about not getting the remainder of the rent though and I guess I can understand now why you feel it is reasonable to keep the deposit.
Getting a judgement I think would be fairly quick and realtively cheap (ish) -I think it's 50 pounds to start a claim but that's not going to help if it doesn't get your money back and you then have to incur extra costs. Hmm tricky.
How much does the tenant know about your financial situation? They may know that things are tight and therefore be prepared to push things re court?
df

cheers

yeah they may do. i've told them we have another baby on way and things are tight. perhaps daft but at the time it was just idle chat, hindsight is a great thing.

may_fair

stevekoz wrote: »

So you would propose the following as my understanding goes -

2 x months rent = 950
Agency Fee for relet - £432

they keep their deposit minus any damage/cleaning etc as per norm?.

Yes, but I'd add on the cost of a solicitor to draft a Deed of Surrender, and do not sign the Deed until the T hands over the cash in cleared funds. It's important to end the tenancy formally.

At that point, the tenancy would end on the agreed date, and you can then deal with the deposit as per usual.

may_fair

stevekoz wrote: »

Err. no offence but 15% is the standard debt collection agency fee which we would be liable for if we isntructed a company to go after the costs for us

Do not engage the services of a debt collector. If you're going to pursue the debt, DIY in the county court.

mlz1413

Renting your home due to having a larger family than house does not mean you are any less of a LL and although you may not have entered into the business with plans you do still have the responsiblities. Its good to hear that your sorting out your debt problems too.

Re the T's and assuming you are in England/Wales, you have agreed that the T's can leave early so worrying about if the redunancy is real or not is wasted energy.

You now have an obligation to re-let the property as quickly as you can to suitable new T's.

The current T's have an obligation to pay for the property until suitable new T's are found, there probably won't be any utilities inbetween as currently it is warm and light so heating / lighting / water shouldn't be needed. Check with your local Council if the property will be exempt for c/tax if it is empty.

The deposit held is a deposit for use against damage and unpaid rent, so if any if left over it is due back to them. Ensure you track the cost of the re-letting so you can prove the deductions.

There are no guarantees of making money through renting so if you end up out of pocket that is part of being a LL.

dancingfairy

Surely the utility bills are in the tenants names so the utility company will charge them and go after them? I can't see why you'd need to pay anyone to collect the debts - it will have no effect on your credit file or anything. All it would be would a hassle making sure the utility company chased the tenants up until the date you retook possession.
I also would not want to give it back to them and then claim it back - that does sound like there could be problems.
If you don't think they will pay the rent anyway is it worth surrendering the tenancy to cut your losses and then you've only potentially lost say 3 months worth of rent (2 months you'd charge them plus the cost of reletting) as oposed to continuing the tenancy which could leave you stuck for the whole term -obviously it's going to depend on how likely you are to relet the property though.
df