Contracts, deposits - any help would be fab :)

Gingerbread25

This will be a long post, but any advice would be greatly recieved!

I moved into a property last July. The property was part of a shared house, but with a seperate self contained attic flat. The rent is all inclusive.

A few weeks ago i recieved a phone call from my LL requesting to enter my flat with an 'assessor', i agreed to this and the next day was greeted with my 2 LL, a man in a suit and a couple coming into my flat. They entered and shut the main door on me and dissapeared for about 20 minutes. I was told that the assessor was related to 'insurance' by the 2nd LL, (husband/wife team) the night before.

Concerned, i looked on some EA sites to find the whole house was for sale and SOLD STC. scrolling down the info about the house there was also information regarding my profession, which was not discussed or even ASKED if i would be happy with this to go ahead. this is available for anyone to see on the internet. there is also informtion about how much i pay and the length of my contract, which they have doubled. other information about other people and their contracts is also online.

Now i am planning to move due to the lack of information and honesty of my LL and am also concerned that the buyers may also ask me to leave when contracts are signed. my other flatmates tell me the house has had open viewings, offers and constant people in. my LL didnt inform me of any of this when i signed the contract and no where in the contract mentions about the selling of the house and what would happen if new buyers took over.

On top of this the electrics in the house continue to trip. The smoke detectors are constantly beeping and have not been replaced by the LL, my washing machine, (which is shared between the whole house) was broken and not replaced for 7 days. the viewings that take place also require people to ring my buzzer and i have no idea who i am letting in as my LL do not tell me, just presume!

The house is run by private LL and after signing for a year i have recieved no deposit receipt/certificate and had no inventory which was signed by myself.i have contacted the LL to tell them i will be giving them a months notice. I have read other threads about leaving before a contract and am certain the LL are broke and i will not receive my deposit. with this in my mind and the deposit being legally 'my money', my final months rent will come from the deposit they should still have.

the LL still recieve regular post to the property, when they have another property they live in on the other side of town.

i am also concerned that if i do look for new tenant on behalf of my LL they may be asked to leave when the house is exchanged.

any advice? i am definitely leaving and am writing a letter to them now.

i refuse to pay anymore money. this is the first time i have ever been through private LL and refuse to do this again.

any advice to make this as pleasant as i can

tbs624

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

This will be a long post, but any advice would be greatly recieved!

I moved into a property last July. The property was part of a shared house, but with a seperate self contained attic flat. The rent is all inclusive.

A few weeks ago i recieved a phone call from my LL requesting to enter my flat with an 'assessor', i agreed to this and the next day was greeted with my 2 LL, a man in a suit and a couple coming into my flat. They entered and shut the main door on me and dissapeared for about 20 minutes. I was told that the assessor was related to 'insurance' by the 2nd LL, (husband/wife team) the night before.

Concerned, i looked on some EA sites to find the whole house was for sale and SOLD STC. scrolling down the info about the house there was also information regarding my profession, which was not discussed or even ASKED if i would be happy with this to go ahead. this is available for anyone to see on the internet. there is also informtion about how much i pay and the length of my contract, which they have doubled. other information about other people and their contracts is also online.

If there is personal information about you which has been posted online write and insist that the LA/EA removes it at once.

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

Now i am planning to move due to the lack of information and honesty of my LL and am also concerned that the buyers may also ask me to leave when contracts are signed.

You presumably have a Fixed Term contract until June this year and unless:
(a)this has a break clause that could be invoked or
(b) the LL agrees to an early surrender

than you are obliged to meet rent & other costs under the agreement until that FT expires.

Likewise LL cannot boot you out prior to expiry unless he obtains a court order due to a specific breach by you.

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

my other flatmates tell me the house has had open viewings, offers and constant people in. my LL didnt inform me of any of this when i signed the contract and no where in the contract mentions about the selling of the house and what would happen if new buyers took over.

The LLs only have to inform you once there is a new LL in place although clearly it would have been courteous of them to be honest with you all.

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

On top of this the electrics in the house continue to trip.

Have you notified the LL in writing and kept a copy?

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

The smoke detectors are constantly beeping and have not been replaced by the LL,

Do they have batteries which need replacing ( usually down to T but if rest of property is an HMO then it's down to the LL to check that the detectors are working ) Have you notified the LL in writing?

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

my washing machine, (which is shared between the whole house) was broken and not replaced for 7 days.

The LL is not always responsible for repair/replacement of white goods but where the LL is responsible then 7 days to sort the matter is a pretty reasonable response.

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

the viewings that take place also require people to ring my buzzer and i have no idea who i am letting in as my LL do not tell me, just presume!

You can write to the LL and suggest that you will permit viewings of your flat to take place say on a Tues eve between 6 and 8pm and a Sat afternoon between 2 and 4pm only - they should be asking you about viewings not telling you. You can also insist that they provide the name of those who will be viewing at your specified viewing times.

If you wanted to be difficult you can refuse access and their only option would be to seek a court order.

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

The house is run by private LL and after signing for a year i have recieved no deposit receipt/certificate and had no inventory which was signed by myself.

So check with each of the three schemes ( can be done online) DPS, TDS and mydeposits, then write to the LL insisting that your deposit is scheme registered pronto, as required by law. Registration can be done online by the LL in a matter of minutes.

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

i have contacted the LL to tell them i will be giving them a months notice. I have read other threads about leaving before a contract and am certain the LL are broke and i will not receive my deposit. with this in my mind and the deposit being legally 'my money', my final months rent will come from the deposit they should still have.

As above, your LLs do not have to accept your early notice

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

the LL still recieve regular post to the property, when they have another property they live in on the other side of town.

Note that if you have not been given an address at which Notices relating to the tenancy can be served then the LL cannot lawfully collect rent - this doesn't however mean that you can just not pay . If no address for the LL has been given you should put aside any rent due.

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

i am also concerned that if i do look for new tenant on behalf of my LL they may be asked to leave when the house is exchanged.

Again your LL does not have to accept your early surrender and if they do then any replacement T has to meet their criteria.

It may be that they *will* release you early, particularly if viewings are likely to be a problem but do you have somewhere else to go to and other sources of references for any future LL?

Edited to add - welcome as a newbie poster btw

Gingerbread25

Thank you for your response, this is all very useful and I will be doing all this asap.

I do not want to cause any stress for the LL but feel like their lack of honesty continues to be stressful for me. The LL informs the house is not sold, but it is for sale and still says SOLD STC on their website. She has not sat me down to discuss how this will effect me and have a feeling she will not discuss this with me either.

I have also recently found out that the other T in the house all pay their rent by cash and often pay their rent late. This is, in my opinion unexceptable.

There have also been other T who 'should' have moved in to the property but then have dropped out due to money difficulties. To me it feels like '1 rule for them and one rule for me'.

tbs624

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

Thank you for your response, this is all very useful and I will be doing all this asap.

I do not want to cause any stress for the LL but feel like their lack of honesty continues to be stressful for me. The LL informs the house is not sold, but it is for sale and still says SOLD STC on their website. She has not sat me down to discuss how this will effect me and have a feeling she will not discuss this with me either.

If the property is sold STC this means subject to contract - until the contracts have actually been exchanged the current LLs will not be able to say that the sale is definitely proceeding.

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

I have also recently found out that the other T in the house all pay their rent by cash and often pay their rent late. This is, in my opinion unexceptable.

There have also been other T who 'should' have moved in to the property but then have dropped out due to money difficulties. To me it feels like '1 rule for them and one rule for me'.

If you are in a self contained flat then what goes on with the Ts in a separate part of the property is nothing to do with you and it would probably help your stress levels if you focused on your own tenancy.

Does your tenancy agreement contain an address for your current LL , at which notices may be served?

Have you checked with all 3 of the tenancy deposit schemes?

G_M

Just to add to tbs's excellent advice/queries above:

Can you clarify the arrangement at the property? You speak of 'other tenants' - do you all have separate tenancy agreements/contracts, or have you all signed the same one ('joint and several')?

How big is the property? How many tenants? Do you each have seperate areas or seperate flats or is it a house which you all share? How many storeys is the property?

This may be a HMO (House of Multiple Occupation). And you all may, or may not, be jointly responsible for each other's rent if all on one tenancy agreement.

What date did your tenancy agreement start, and how long is the fixed term?

Providing this information will help us to help you.

Finally, if the property IS sold on, your tenancy will continue as before - same dates, same rent, same security, just a new LL to pay rent to (though you must be formally advised of this in writing before starting to pay anyone new!)

BigAunty

Gingerbread25 wrote: »

... The smoke detectors are constantly beeping and have not been replaced by the LL

If they are battery operated, I believe it is the responsibility of the tenant to replace the batteries - the detectors beep when the batteries are low.

For the sake of a pound, I'd recommend you take this lifesaving action. I think Landlords are recommended to make this clear in writing to the tenant as good practice in case the tenants aren't aware that it is their duty to do.

if they are wired in and faulty, it will be the landlord's responsibility.

tbs624

G_M wrote: »

What date did your tenancy agreement start, and how long is the fixed term?

OP says that s/he moved in last July and then later s/he says that s/he signed for a year

I assumed that the OP occupied the self contained flat to which s/he referred but as s/he also says its "part of a shared property" and later refers to his/her "flatmates" clarification would, as G_M says, be useful

tbs624

BigAunty wrote: »

If they are battery operated, I believe it is the responsibility of the tenant to replace the batteries - the detectors beep when the batteries are low.

..as already mentioned up above

BigAunty wrote: »

if they are wired in and faulty, it will be the landlord's responsibility.

..note that mains wired alarms also have batteries which will cause a bleep to sound if they are due to be replaced.

The main thing is that if a T has a problem with smoke alarms and it is not down to spent batteries then they need to let the LL know in writing.