Renting nightmare

tbs624

Sun4 wrote: »

I signed the guarantor form in the letting agent's office and that was the last I saw of it. My son will have the tenancy agreement - I'm seeing him on Tuesday so will read it thoroughly then. The father of one of the other lads has also been sent the same letter. .

Does the other lad's father have a copy of the G agreement that he signed?

G_M

As others have said, you must gather/check facts as much as possible.

1) Dates on the tenancy agreement (start/end) and date moved out/keys returned. THESE DATES AR CRIICAL. One day late changes evrything.

2) Deposit registration. Registered? Which scheme?

3) Not having the guarantor agreement is a problem as
a) you cannot review it and
b) they could 'add' a witness signature to it and you would not be able o produce your own copy to show no witness. So do NOT raise this issue with them. The time to raise the witness signature issue is in court, if it gets that far, by when it will be to late for them to add a witness.
4) the fact that the tenants, without permission, got someone to fiddle with the boiler is a problem too. The LL could claim this caused damage for which they are responsible. The defence is
a) LL failed to respond to requests to repair (though there is a detailed process of what to do in these circumstances which the boys did not follow) or
b) keep quiet about the unofficial 'fiddling'!
5) communicate with the other tenants and other guarantors - make sure you coordinate your responses and all take the same line.
6) Write calmly/politely to the LL and cc he agnt and debt company once you have established/checked all the facts, and if appripriate, offer a compromise "Without Prejudice" (ie without admitting liability)

BitterAndTwisted

tbs624 wrote: »

Why should it be a matter of surprise anyway? LL can of course pursue any/all of the Ts when there is J&SL. OP would be more p***ed off if s/he was the only guarantor being chased.

Yes, you are correct, as you invariably are. If I was owed money, money that I had a legitimate claim to, I would be pursuing all possible parties.

If the OP has contact with the other ex Ts/guarantors it would be best if they can present a united front IMO, rather than each of them firing off entirely separate, differently worded letters


When I said "don't communicate with anyone" I was referring to the debt-collection agency, the landlord and the letting-agent, not the other guarantor/s. Apologies that I wasn't more clear about this.

My bolding - its not advice, it is suggestions and opinions. Check out the forum rules

You are absolutely correct and I rescind any mention of "advice" as I am not qualified to give any, even if it didn't break the site's T&Cs. Any comments I have made in this thread or any other are purely my opinions and nothing else.

I fully accept your admnonishment and am suitably chastened.

Sun4

I am in contact with the other guarantor and will ask if he has a copy of the agreement. Interestingly, the DCA wrote to him first (about a week before I received a letter) - he was also completely shocked, having had no letters up until the demand. I will liaise with him and we will both send a letter singing from the same hymn sheet. Once again, I cannot thank you all enough. I might actually sleep tonight.

tbs624

Have a look at the OFT guidance for DCAs - page 11 especially here

If you have problems with how the DCA operates you may want to take it up with the local Trading Standards OfficerSome of them are deliberately misleading - they play on the fact that some people aren't aware of the difference in powers between DCA and bailiffs.

Sun4

Gosh, yes I will check this out. I have been living in a state of fear since I got the letter - it is so threatening - and I did have visions of baliffs knocking on my door. Thank you.

Sun4

Hello everyone who helped me with this. Just thought you might like an update. I wrote to the DCA and Letting Agency as suggested asking for a breakdown of all costs for repairs, rent arrears etc. I sent the letters recorded delivery. Both letters were signed for last Tuesday but so far no response. What do you suggest I do now? We now know (courtesy of a different letting agency) that the flat was re-let immediately after my son and friends moved out - I have the letting details of flat and the date of letting. Do I write again now or should I just wait? Should I ask for the deposit to be returned (£1,500 in total) which is held in a deposit protection scheme. As ever, thanks in advance for your wise advice.

RAS

So the deposit is registered?

OK

Start by getting the lead tenant to request the deposit back.

Then when the LL demands deduction, you can start a dispute.

Sun4

Hi again,

Meant to ask if anyone knows legally how long the LA and DCA have to reply to my first letter - and should I wait for this period of time before writing again. Thanks.

BitterAndTwisted

Your son and/or the lead-tenant should get onto the deposit-protection scheme's website and claim all of their deposit back WITHOUT DELAY. Then, if the landlord or their agent are intent on proposing any deductions they can be disputed via the scheme's arbitration process and they will be required to furnish proof that the tenants and/or their guarantors owe whatever it is that they are trying to claim.

For the time being I would not communicate further with the landlord or their agent. The ball is now in their court and you should wait for however long it takes for them to respond. I suspect that until they have made their position clear, you will not hear from the debt-collection company again.