Tenancy rent arrears? - Please help

tav3rn

Hi everyone,

Me and my girlfriend are in a bit of a situation with our old estate agents, below is our situation.

We had been renting with them for 6 months before our tenancy was up at the beginning of December, we initially thought that we were going to stay there and renew but a few days after the tenancy was up we had a few problems and we decided that we couldn't and would go and stay at a friends for a while whilst we sorted ourselves out.

We had not signed a new tenancy agreement by this point, we were supposed to go and sign one but we were both working and didnt get a chance, I tried to contact the estate agents to say that we did not want to renew the tenancy anymore.

The person that deals with the tenancies was not there and I was told they would get back to me, Now 2 weeks after the tenancy was up and no responsewe got all of our stuff moved out I wrote a letter to the estate agents saying that we were moving out and I spoke to the council about getting the council tax stopped. Then the christmas break came and nobody got hold of me and I tried to call them all throughout but nobody was at their offices.

I briefly spoke to somebody at their offices on the 12 th Jan which is over a month after we have moved out! They are now saying today (20th Jan) that we owe then £1040 because "we had not received any notice from you, you are liable to pay the rent for your notice period." which they are saying is the 12th Jan.

Does this sound a bit funny to anybody else? Due to the fact that our tenancy was up anyway should we still have to pay rent and even though I tried continuously to get in touch with them and heard nothing back. I do not want to pay £1040 when we were not even living at the flat and our tenancy was up.

Please Help.

Thanks.

BitterAndTwisted

No, it doesn't sound funny to me. If you are going to end your tenancy you need to do it in writing. Phone calls, text messages and the like are not formal notice. Only a letter is.

If your fixed-term ended at the beginning of December you should have moved out then if you didn't want to continue being responsible for paying the rent.

What are the PRECISE from and to dates on your original tenancy agreement?

RAS

On what date exactly did the original tenancy cease?
On what date did you actually more out?
On what date did you give the LL formal written notice that you were leaving (if you stayed even one day beyond the last date of the original tenancy, you must give notice).
On what date did you return the keys

tav3rn

The tenancy started 5th June and ended on the 5th or 6th of December (can't remember off the top of my head).

I sent the letter to the estate agents 2 weeks after the tenancy ended (They say they have not received it ).

There was a part during the tenancy ended that we did want to renew but just before we had to decide not to but this is when we were unable to contact the estate agents until after New Year.

The estate agents have been really bad ever since we first got the flat ie. difficult to get hold of, taking their time over everything.

I really don't know what to do as I can not pay this £1040 at the moment and I don't feel I should when I tried to get hold of them for so long.

Thanks for replies.

BitterAndTwisted

In which case they could be completely justified in asking you to pay the rent until the 4th or 5th of March if they haven't received your notice in writing by now

A tenancy which started on the 5th of the month cannot end on the 5th or 6th. It would be the 4th.

RAS

You need to answer the specific question we asked.

tav3rn

Sorry I don't have the actual dates to hand currently they are somewhere where we are staying in a box somewhere I shall have to dig them out but I am pretty sure it started on the 5th of June.

Also I sent the keys back to them with my letter 2 weeks after, this is what they are saying they have not received still.

The date we actually moved out and the above waas sent would have been the weekend 17th or the 18th December.

If this is the case and they are forcing us to pay can I just go and stay there until March as I will be paying the rent.

Also I do not have the money to pay it and I don't think I will for at least 2 months as I have a few other outgoings until then and I have only just started my new job so I have not been paid yet.

Thanks again, I think I have answered all the questions I can off the top of my head.

BitterAndTwisted

If they claim that they have not received your notice and the keys and you can't prove that you sent them you will have to give them written notice before the 4th of February to stop being responsible for the rent until the 4th of March. While you continue to be responsible for the rent and have not formally given your notice you are fully entitled to live in the property. It seems that you may not have paid your rent at the beginning of December. Is that correct?

tav3rn

Ok I will re write and send the letter again, I did not pay the rent at the beginning of December because our tenancy was up and I thought that we were paid up until here?

Thank you

tav3rn

Oh also I just spoke to our neighbor there and apparently they locked the deadbolt so even if we wanted to go in there we could not.

BitterAndTwisted

Well yes. presumably you were paid up until the 4th of December. You then went onto a periodic tenancy which requires you to give one full rental-period's notice. So, if you wanted to stop being responsible for the rent from the 5th of February you should have given them formal written notice (and be able to prove it) before the 5th of January. You haven't so you need to give notice now in order to stop being responsible for the rent until the 4th of March. That is the legal position.

It still may be possible to negotiate with the landlord or their agent if they are amenable. Offer them unrestricted access for viewings with potential new tenants in exchange for less rent owing or something like that. Put your thinking cap on and see if you can persuade them to do a deal with you.

Being locked out puts a different complection on things but you're not really in a strong position when you owe rent and haven't been in contact with them about why you haven't. You should have done that at the beginning of December.