Email as sufficient notice to leave tenancy?

Fett132

It is a very grey area and could go either way

I tell you guys what. Im totally sick of life at the moment. I know that the replies I get from this next post are going to be totally what I dont want to hear but Im going to ask anyway because Im basically up a creek without a paddle.

The situation is that last month on 29th our agent recieved our letter saying we wanted to move out this 28th, she said it wasnt sufficient notice as it was 1 day late.

So on the 15th of this month we sent the recorded delivery letter, which we found out yesterday hadnt been delivered so I sent another one special delivery.

The special delivery has said that it couldnt be delivered and a note was left as there was no safe place for the item (it was only a letter!), apparently this special delivery has electronic proof of delivery. Which I didnt want.

So if it arrives Monday it will be too late again. Im going to drive down and post another one through the letter box. I really dont want this to have to go through court, but if it does I think im screwed. The Post Office have totally screwed us.

DRP

No, email is not sufficient and the letter will not arrive on time

Fett132 wrote: »

I tell you guys what. Im totally sick of life at the moment. I know that the replies I get from this next post are going to be totally what I dont want to hear but Im going to ask anyway because Im basically up a creek without a paddle.

The situation is that last month on 29th our agent recieved our letter saying we wanted to move out this 28th, she said it wasnt sufficient notice as it was 1 day late.

So on the 15th of this month we sent the recorded delivery letter, which we found out yesterday hadnt been delivered so I sent another one special delivery.

The special delivery has said that it couldnt be delivered and a note was left as there was no safe place for the item (it was only a letter!), apparently this special delivery has electronic proof of delivery. Which I didnt want.

So if it arrives Monday it will be too late again. Im going to drive down and post another one through the letter box. I really dont want this to have to go through court, but if it does I think im screwed. The Post Office have totally screwed us.

why wasn't the notice you gave last month sufficient notice for this month?

BitterAndTwisted

No, email is not sufficient and the letter will not arrive on time

You've had a month to serve the appropriate notice in writing in order to end the tenancy at the end of August. Now you've missed that deadline by monkeying around with emails and an aborted Recorded Delivery letter when you could have popped it round to the agent's office by hand and got a receipt for it or send it by first-class post.

At this rate you're still going to be paying the rent until October.

Fett132

It is a very grey area and could go either way

We havent been monkeying around, we have served a notice earlier and this is our third attempt at sending one. Im not paying the rent for October. We havent sent any emails since the last one, just the letter which was brilliantly lost and the last one which couldnt be delivered. I still have two proofs of posting and we are delivering one by hand today so Im just going to present them as my case.

Also, they dont have an office. Its just a house and to be honest I dont want to see them. They are just out to get every penny they can and they are unbearable to deal with.

Fett132

It is a very grey area and could go either way

DRP wrote: »

why wasn't the notice you gave last month sufficient notice for this month?

The last one isnt sufficient notice because shes an idiot and wont accept that we have given one month, or a month and a half as it would have been. It says that we would be moving out today, which we are not.

G_M

Fett132 wrote: »

The last one isnt sufficient notice because shes an idiot and wont accept that we have given one month, or a month and a half as it would have been. It says that we would be moving out today, which we are not.

It doesn't matter what she 'accepts'.

You serve notice properly, it is served, whether 'accepted or not'.

If your previous notice was late then either
1) it could apply for the folllowing month or
2) if the wording /dates on it make it ambiguous, you had a full month to re-serve...

Fett132

It is a very grey area and could go either way

G_M wrote: »

It doesn't matter what she 'accepts'.

You serve notice properly, it is served, whether 'accepted or not'.

If your previous notice was late then either
1) it could apply for the folllowing month or
2) if the wording /dates on it make it ambiguous, you had a full month to re-serve...

Thats actually what I was hoping G_M. The last notice was in fact late by one day, thats why we took the hit and paid the extra months rent. The circumstances of this one has just made it barely on time. One not delivered, one unable to be delivered. When we got there to serve the notice in person the lights were on and people were inside by they wouldnt answer, so we just posted the letters.

The dates on the last one said that we would move out 28/07/2012. We never actually received any official recognition of this, she just called and said it was too late and then we had a huge argument about how much notice we had to give (she still believes its 2 months during the periodic tenancy). So there was no letter stating that she didnt accept it and Im guessing if it goes to court it could go either way.

Im just going to assume we have lost all of our deposit due to this, otherwise im going to stress myself out too much. Its a horrible situation you know? Its not as if I havent been trying to do it properly, this is one of a ridiculous amount of problems im trying to sort out at the moment and Ive tried my best to thoroughly insure the notice is served. I mean, this is actually the fourth one we would have served in total, had the others actually arrived.

Fingers crossed the DPS decide we wont have to pay the months rent out of our deposit. Maybe Shelter could help as they will have all of our calls and situation on file about the whole "we have to give two months notice" rubbish. Who knows....

ruggedtoast

Which letter do you actually have proof was delivered and what date did it arrive on?

I know this doesn't help you much now but you need to send with proof of posting, not via signed for delivery.

They are playing you like an old fiddle with your emails and your special deliveries that they will never sign for.

Under statute the LL has to provide you with an address in the UK with which to contact them. It is their problem if they aren't there to collect their mail or make it impossible for the postman to deliver the letter, unless you make yourself aware that it wasnt delivered by sending as a tracked delivery.

Fett132

It is a very grey area and could go either way

Every one of them has a tracking number but only the one from last month was delivered which said we would move out this month. I have proof of posting for all of the letters. I didn't mean for the last one to be signed for, the post office didnt mention it at all, I just asked for next day delivery. Anyway, we hand delivered it today too like I said but they were refusing to answer as there was definitely someone home, nothing much else I can do other than let the authorities decide.

I'll let you guys know how it turns out and which way all of this swings.

[Deleted User]

We see repeated requests for information on how to give notice.., and posts about notice failures. Always the OP is told to post first class (not recorded, or anything signed for) from two different post offices, obtaining a free certificate of posting, at least two days before the notice period is due to start.

OP u were actually told exactly the correct way to get the notice delivered in post 15 on 2nd July.., but u ignored it and sent the notice recorded delivery once only. You kept sending the notice by signed for methods after that too! Claiming ignorance is not a protection legally.

It would have been in your best interests to give this LA.., who u say is out to get any money they can from you, as little room to manouvre as possible. All you had to do was post two first class letters (obtaining a certificate of posting for each) a week to two days before the notice period started.

And I actually hate to say this.., but if your tenancy started on the 28th.., I believe u should move out on 27th.., not the 28th otherwise u might find the LA saying you are one day into the next period of tenancy. Again.., its a good thing to do to avoid leaving yourself wide open to that kind of difficulty.

You can make the process easier for yourself, honest. I understand you are frustrated, but perhaps next time u will remember and make it a bit easier for yourself.