I'm Renting, can the Agent do this:

StuieUK34

I've just starting renting a house through a letting agent (PeterAlan)
The agent manages the house.

If i signed on the 5th of the month, then i assume that the next monthly payment would be the 5th in the following month ?

However, the letting agent is saying i must pay by the 1st, so it hits there account a few days later, then they pay the owner/landlord so he gets it on the 5th or 6th of the month ???????

I'm stuck as my agreement is with the letting agent, so i would assume i pay them 1 month after signing, not 25 days after signing ?

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Also, there is a 'burglars get a slap on the wrist' alarm on the exterior and control panel on the inside.
However, the letting agent do not have the code, and claim the owner/landlord does not have the code...
Fair enough... My thoughts were this:
Ask the letting agent to ask the Owner if he/she's prepared to go half on the cost of obtaining the code, so when i move out in the future, the code is retained and usable by the next tenant, etc etc

If landlord says no to this, then my thoughts are to pay for the alarm code myself, but not reveal to the letting agents the code, as its not documented in the agreement nor on the inventory..... ???

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poppysarah

Look up the type of alarm and see if there's an override code available free for engineers. Find the manual. Use the alarm.
Whether you keep it secret or not is up to you. It'd be interesting to see if the alarm is ever set off by LL visitors.

What does it say in the paperwork?

G_M

The date you signed is irrelevant. What matters is
a) the date your tenancy started (you got the keys and access - also should be on your tenancy agreement) and
b) what the tenancy agreement says about payment

Usually (NOT always - you need to check) you will be required to pay
a) monthly in advance starting with
b) the 1st day of the tenancy

That means your payment must REACH the designated recipient (whoever you are instructed to pay, which may be the landlord or his agent) by the date specified.

Sounds like you should get your money to the agent by the 5th.

However, if the tenancy agreement states that you must pay monthly on the 1st of the month, then you should get your rent to the agent (or whoever is designated to receive it) by the 1st. Of course, you'll then need to keep careful track of what period each payment covers, since the payment date(1st to end of month) no longer coincides with the rental period (5th to 4th).

g0recki

If your contract says pay on the 1st of every month, pay on the 1st of every month.

However your first month's payment should only have covered the 5th to 31st, so not a full month. Therefore it should have been 13% (4/31) less than the full month's rent. If you paid a full month's rent in your first month, ask for the money back.

Similarly, check the end date of your contract. Is it the end of the month, or the 4th of the following month?

There's no reason for you to pay for a day more than you live there for.

The_Palmist

quite nicely summed up by g0recki above, no need to confuse yourself more.

G_M

g0recki wrote: »

If your contract says pay on the 1st of every month, pay on the 1st of every month.

However your first month's payment should only have covered the 5th to 31st, so not a full month. Therefore it should have been 13% (4/31) less than the full month's rent. If you paid a full month's rent in your first month, ask for the money back.

Similarly, check the end date of your contract. Is it the end of the month, or the 4th of the following month?

There's no reason for you to pay for a day more than you live there for.

It is quite common for rent to be paid on 1st month (irrspective of the date tenancy starts, and it is NOT necessary, or expected) to pro rata the payment. Many tenants would still pay a ful months rent - you then have to adjust the LAST months rent to take account of any non-alliance netween the tenancy period and the rent period.

Not the usual way to calculate part-month payment!
Rent x 12 (months) divided by 365 = daily rent. The way gOrecki describes you'd get a different daily rent depending on the month.


OP - see what your tenancy contract says.

jjlandlord

G_M wrote: »

Not the usual way to calculate part-month payment!
Rent x 12 (months) divided by 365 = daily rent.

But then you're apportioning based on the yearly rent so you should start from the beginning of the yearly period...

G_M wrote: »

The way gOrecki describes you'd get a different daily rent depending on the month.

Yes, but a rent per calendar month expects the tenant to pay the same rent whatever the number of days in the month. Isn't that equivalent to a different daily rent, then?

may_fair

StuieUK34 wrote: »

The agent manages the house.

If i signed on the 5th of the month, then i assume that the next monthly payment would be the 5th in the following month ?

However, the letting agent is saying i must pay by the 1st, so it hits there account a few days later, then they pay the owner/landlord so he gets it on the 5th or 6th of the month ???????

I'm stuck as my agreement is with the letting agent, so i would assume i pay them 1 month after signing, not 25 days after signing ?

Your tenancy contract is between you and the LL, not the agent.

Please tell us:

Date the fixed term commenced (dd/mm/yy) as per the contract; e.g. it might say '12 months commencing 15th March 2011'

What the contract says about when rent is payable, e.g. 'payable in advance on the 1st of the month' or something similar.