Landlord forced me out of flat but wants full rent!?

nikkikitch

Hi

My rental agency told me that my flat had been sold so i had to find somewhere else to live.

I thought id found somewhere and was set to leave end of April. Unfortunately that fell through, but my landlord told me i had to leave as the new owners wanted to move in!. I told him i didnt have anywhere to go but would try my best to be out ASAP! I thought at the time, that seemed a bit soon, usually these things take a long time. Anyway i didnt hear off him for a few weeks thankfully and also managed to secure a new property so emailed 2 days ago to say i know it wasnt ideal, but i would be moving at the end of June.

In the meantime, ive been trying to get that date brought forward knowing that my landlord would probably tell me i had to go before then! Anyway, ive managed to bring the moving date forward to next week aslong as all the references etc are ok and in.

A different person from the agency called me to ask me where this months rent is (id obviously not paid it as i thought i would be moving out and not allowed to stay!!) so i explained that i was trying hard to be out next week and since i had been told i had to leave, thati thought they wouldnt be expecting this months rent! She was incredibly rude, told me that the flat hadnt been sold and i was lieing, that her colleague hadnt told me to leave, that if i didnt have it in writing then its not true! I ended up in a full blown argument with this girl because of how aggressive and rude she was. She wouldnt let me speak and explain and when i did told me she didnt care, she just wanted to get the rent off me for this month!!

I then rang and spoke with her manager who told me that in fact the flat HASNT been sold, but will be prepared for sale soon!! So ive been forced out of my home, done everything i can to move as quickly as possible yet now they;re telling me that that isnt the case and want me to pay rent!!???

The agency are refusing to give me a reference for my new place unless i give them a full months rent for this month, which i simply cannot afford to do as i have to pay a months rent and deposit for my new place.

What can i do!?

Thanks

Nikki

sandraroffey

arent they supposed to give you notice in writing??? and i think its 2 months they are supposed to give you??

HisDoris

How long is left on your tenancy agreement? Is that due to end soon? If its not then you shouldnt have to move anywhere until it is up! And if they MAKE you move and you still have time left in the agreement then im pretty sure you can get money from them! ... Im not saying for definate but I'm sure I have read somewhere on here before that that is the case!

Alter_ego

nikkikitch wrote: »

told me that the flat hadnt been sold and i was lieing, that her colleague hadnt told me to leave, that if i didnt have it in writing then its not true!

Sorry but she's right there, notice to quit has to be given in writing.

may_fair

Is this an AST in England/Wales?
What date did the fixed term commence?
What is the length of term?
Do you have anything in writing regarding the agent asking you to leave?
Have you signed a contract for the new place yet?

vax2002

Learn from this "Told" next time they "tell" you anything ask for it in writing and state it will be completely ignored unless made so.

nikkikitch

Hi

Im not actually on a contract, it ended last October and so ive been on a 'rolling' contract ever since.

Unfortunately i didnt get it in writing that the flat had been sold, didnt think they'd lie about it to be honest!

So what are my options? I cant afford to pay both, but if she doesnt give me the reference i wont be able to move into my new place. If she carries on refusing im inclined to say ill just stay there then and they can go to court to get me out!! Its ludicrous that they would force someone out of there home then demand payment for a full month!

x

PasturesNew

I can see where the OP's coming from here... if you don't know that there are tricks and traps in an AST/tenancy then if you're asked to move out it'd be perfectly reasonable to assume that asap is best all round - and you'd only pay rent up to the day you left.

But that's not how it happens - and so the OP is now about to find out about rights. Now, it's easy to say they should have known this stuff in advance, but you don't know what you don't know until it bites your bum.

PasturesNew

nikkikitch wrote: »

Hi

Im not actually on a contract, it ended last October and so ive been on a 'rolling' contract ever since.

Unfortunately i didnt get it in writing that the flat had been sold, didnt think they'd lie about it to be honest!

So what are my options? I cant afford to pay both, but if she doesnt give me the reference i wont be able to move into my new place. If she carries on refusing im inclined to say ill just stay there then and they can go to court to get me out!! Its ludicrous that they would force someone out of there home then demand payment for a full month!

x

OK. Sensibly then, you have one option ... you have to let the new place go and pay the rent on the old place.

You've not been given legal notice to leave at all, so you're completely within your rights to keep living there.

Putting, who said what/who lied etc aside.... it's a bit of a mess but at least you've not already paid for place 2 with place 1's money.

nikkikitch

Ive paid the admin fee etc for my new place though and i love it! Id ultimately have to leave my current place anyway given its being 'prepared to sell', so it makes sense to go now rather than waiting to be pushed (again).

Im inclined to just stay until the end of the month, then move into my new place and not give them anything after all of this, its horendous!

Ive had to take so much time off work to hunt for a new place plus the stress of thinking i would be evicted because it had been sold has been ridiculous, they dont deserve a penny!

x

may_fair

THE FOLLOWING ASSUMES THIS IS AN AST IN ENGLAND/WALES

nikkikitch wrote: »

Im not actually on a contract, it ended last October and so ive been on a 'rolling' contract ever since.

When the fixed term expired, a statutory periodic tenancy automatically arose; the terms of the expired contract carry through into the periodic tenancy, except any provisions relating to notice.

So what are my options? I cant afford to pay both, but if she doesnt give me the reference i wont be able to move into my new place. If she carries on refusing im inclined to say ill just stay there then and they can go to court to get me out!!

Assuming you have not committed to the new place as it's subject to references, then continue as normal with the existing tenancy until either you wish to serve notice to quit, or the LL serves notice on you (the standard 'no fault' notice by LL is at least two months', also expiring at the end of a tenancy period).

N.B. If LL serves notice on you, you still need to serve NTQ to end the tenancy; if you don't, the tenancy will continue until the LL obtains and enforces a possession order.

Also note that the only legal method by which the LL can evict you is via obtaining a court order, and if LL/agent tries to force you out by other means, this will be illegal harassment/eviction; if this happens, report immediately to the Tenancy Relations Officer at the local council.