paying for rent through the bank

extentofmysin

i pay for rent through the bank- besides this, should all contracts regarding rental of any property be signed also by a solicitor as well as both the flat owner and tennents, just to be safe? i would have thought even if no solicitor is involved, bank payment should b more than enough for evidence if any problems ever arose regarding payment? thanks for any info

thesaint

A solicitor is not necessary. Your bank statements will be sufficient

clutton_2

if you have concerns get an independent witness to witness the signing of the tenancy agreement. banks statements are adequate in law as receipt of rent.

extentofmysin

thanks everyone :rotfl: its just that ive heard from more than one that a solicitor should always be used just in case of future problems, even if the bank method should be of no problem.
i think the banks the way to go- thanks for the info

extentofmysin

if no bank account was used, and no solicitor, would that mean that any typed out contract created, with the landlords own terms, and merely signed by both parties would essentially be pretty pointless, and essentially useless? (ie the landlord could easily keep any reservation money and thered b little u could do about it, esp if they signed in capital letters instead of a "proper" signature, for example? cheers for any more info!

olly300

extentofmysin wrote:

if no bank account was used, and no solicitor, would that mean that any typed out contract created, with the landlords own terms, and merely signed by both parties would essentially be pretty pointless, and essentially useless? (ie the landlord could easily keep any reservation money and thered b little u could do about it, esp if they signed in capital letters instead of a "proper" signature, for example? cheers for any more info!

No. This is incorrect. Tenants have a lot of rights if the landlord doesn't live in the property and this is established in law.

By law in England and Wales the rental contract does not need to be written down but it's best to have everything in writing in case problems occur later. In addition if your landlord puts terms in your written contract or says stuff to you verbally as part of your contract which is considered "unfair" then these terms would be hard for the landlord to enforce.

I suggest you go to shelters website and read up on your rights: http://england.shelter.org.uk/home/index.cfm