Am I being ripped off?

londongirl

I'll basically try to make this as short and clear cut as possible.
Rented a flat with a friend for last 2 and a half years and have just moved into rented flat with boyfriend.
Gave friend 3 months notice i was moving out so she could find someone else to move in and she did. Gave landlord 2 months notice verbally and one and a half months written which was also sent to estate agents - not the managing agents as landlord does that but the estate agents it is let through.

All fine except as my tenancy with my boyfriend started on 30th December and i had given notice to stay at old flat until 30th Jan unless my flatmate found someone who could move in before that and take over my rent.

Basically i checked out of flat on 13th with estate agent and she checked in at the same time. As it had been over christmas and there were a lot of people in the loop to get all the arrangements done i somehow was the one never getting the information about what was going on. It was all going round in circles with me, my flatmate , the new person, the estate agent and the landlady. The landlady and estate agent said it was fine for me to move out mid month and i would get my rent back if the ohter person moved in then.

Fine i though. Except on the day of the check out - the new girl tells me that i am to pay half of the fee for drawing up the new contract - £62.50.
I said err no - no one has told me that and i'm the one thats leaving so why do i need to pay for drawing up a new contract that is nothing to do with me but is between my ex-flatmate and the new girl. She said the esteate agent said i would pay.

Estate agent comes i query it but she says it was the fairest way as i get my rent back. Fine but i said would i have to pay at the end of the month if i left - no, but then i wouldn't have got my 2 weeks rent back as the other girl would not have been able to move in.

I accepted it because i wanted to get back what money i could though i wasn't happy with the situation and not least because no one had told me. Seems like everyone else knew but the estate agent said she didn't have my number so couldn't let me know.
Its not even like i can refuse to pay it because they are taking it off the rent owed to me as i have already paid it upfront to the landlady for the whole month. So its not like i have a choice. I also don't want to fall out with my ex flatmate as she is a friend but i think that as the new contract is between her and the new girl surely they should have to split the cost of the contract not me as i'm the one thats left.
I have obviously had to pay to sign a contract in my new flat with my boyfriend so feel seriously annoyed and that i have been ripped off.

AM i right in thinking that if i had left at the end of the month they would have had to draw upa newcontract with for them anyway and then surely it would have had to be split between the two of them who are actually living there?

I need to know if i'm right before i start making a fuss or if it makes sense to anyone out there. I also need to find out what i'm actually paying for because half of £135 is a lot of money for a contract so i think i might have got caught paying for half of the new girls referencing and credit check fees which i think must be totally illeagal!!
I am still waiting for my deposit back and the rest of my rent so don't want to cause a fuss until i get that back.

Any advice welcome please.

Thanks

thesaint

londongirl,

You start by saying you will make it as short and clear cut as possible.

your post is extremely difficult to understand.

Can you compress it a bit?

real1314

ok, answer the following (I might not be able to reply but it will help others to advise you - I'm going away for the weekend)...

1. what tenancy agreement do you have....(i.e has it been renewed each time it expired or if not, is it now a "periodic" tenancy)

2. what date is rent due each month (assuming it's monthly)

3. what date did you give notice on and of what leaving date

4. what date did the new tenant move in.

Rick62

Yes, I've got to say, I'm afraid, if your communication with your flatmate, agent etc were as confused and hard to follow as your email then I think you are lucky to get away with just losing out £62.

From my rather confused understanding, I think £135 for the new contract is not an unreasonable (or at least not an unusual) amount, although I don't see why you are being asked to pay half, rather than the new person pay it all. Maybe because effectively you are breaking your contract and this new contract is taking away your liability someone thought that was fair. Also probably, the replacement contract is for the remaining part period tenancy. So maybe there is some justification and logic. If that is the only issue I would not make a big deal, at least your not paying extra rent.

londongirl

Thanks for your replies. Sorry yesterdays message was so garbled - i have been stressed by it all, not just this fee i had to pay but also trying to sort out bills with my ex flatmate and the new person in the flat so i was getting a bit worked up.

To answer the questions:

1) It is a periodic tenancy - we recieved a letter of confirmation of this stating we only had to give one months notice once we agreed this with the landlord after the fixed period tenancy ended in October 06.

2) The rent is due on 30th each month. I therefore paid on 30th December for the period right up to 30th January.

3) I gave notice verbally to my landlady in November and then in written form to the landlady and the estate agent on 14th December. The letter said that as agreed with the landlady i was giving notice to leave by 30th January unless my flatmate had found a new tenant to move in before that time. Both the landlady and the estate agreed that was fine when i gave the letters to them.
The letter also stated if someone did move in then i would expect my remainder of my rent to be paid back to me. Again they both said fine and no mention of a fee.

4) I did the inventory and check out on 13th January alongside the new tenant doing the check in on 13th January and moved in later that afternoon.

The estate agent said she was treating it that both me and my flatmate had moved out on 13th so was checking us both out and then that my flatmate and the new tenant were moving back in on 14th. She said that was the easiest way.

In my mind the fee for the new contract should then have been shared between the two people who were taking up the new contract - which is a 12 month contract now not a periodic one. It is a totally seperate contract to what i had with my flatmate and if i had moved out on 30th January then they would have surely had to pay the fee then so why am I being made to share the cost with the new tenant rather than either the new tenant paying it all or my ex flatmate and the new tenant sharing it?

I hope i have explained things better this time. And £62.50 might not seem like a lot to quibble about but it is a lot to me as you can see from my debt in my signature.

Thanks for listening and i look forward to getting people's views on it.

Voyager2002

Really, this could have been a very messy situation and the end of a friendship. Your friend left behind in the flat might have been responsible for the entire rent, or might have been forced to share with someone totally unsuitable. I think that you should be grateful that this problem was avoided, your friend now has an acceptable flat mate, and that as a bonus you are even getting back some of your rent for January. It does seem only fair that you share the cost of the new girl moving in, since she is arriving mid-month, at a time that is very convenient for you. And if you get upset about such a small amount of money, at a time when everyone involved has to spend quite a lot, you are in danger of upsetting your friends.

Please try to find something more important to worry about.

londongirl

Actually i gave my friend 3 and a half months notice that i wanted to move out and said i would like her to find someone as soon as possible. She only started looking at Christmas after i said i couldn't wait anymore and had to hand my notice in on the current flat.

We had lived togehter for 2 and a half years and i gave her plenty of notice. Told her i was thinking of moving out in august and confirmed with her at the beginning of October.

I had also agreed to pay the bills until end of January obviosuly if she hadn't found anyone.

Somehow i dont' think thats unfair to her. She also had the opportunity to move out with me and find somewhere else altogether.

I wish i hadn't asked advice now everyone has made me feel like i'm in the wrong.

I gave 3 and a half months notice to flat mate and over 2 months verbal notice to landlady. Both of them have no problem with the situation.

thesaint

You have only had one person say that you are in the wrong, and I don't think that Voyager2002 really said that.

I simply said that I didn't understand. I hope you get it sorted out.