Landlord will not accept our Notice to Vacate

Fett132

Hi,

I have a situation with a stubborn Letting Agent. A few of you may have already seen some of my previous posts and I appreciate your opinions.

Heres the basic rundown of it:

We are on a Statutory Periodic Tenancy.

Letting Agent tells us we have to give two months notice. The contract also states:

"If the tenant remains in the property beyond the end of the initial fixed term no new fixed term Tenancy will necessarily come into being. If the Landlord agrees, the tenant can have a continuing implied tenancy on the terms and conditions granted here within and those granted at the discretion of the Landlord"

I have read this out to an agent from Shelter and they have advised that regardless of what the contract states, if we are in a Statutory Periodic Tenancy then we must only give one months notice. The contract cannot change this law.

After sending our Notice to Vacate to the Letting Agent stating that we will move out in one month, they have replied to let us know our last day will be in two months (as stated in their contract), ignoring the section of my notice quoting the Housing Act 1988 Section 5 (3) (E)

(3)The periodic tenancy referred to in subsection (2) above is one—
(a)taking effect in possession immediately on the coming to an end of the fixed term tenancy;
(b)deemed to have been granted by the person who was the landlord under the fixed term tenancy immediately before it came to an end to the person who was then the tenant under that tenancy;
(c)under which the premises which are let are the same dwelling-house as was let under the fixed term tenancy;
(d)under which the periods of the tenancy are the same as those for which rent was last payable under the fixed term tenancy; and
(e)under which, subject to the following provisions of this Part of this Act, the other terms are the same as those of the fixed term tenancy immediately before it came to an end, except that any term which makes provision for determination by the landlord or the tenant shall not have effect while the tenancy remains an assured tenancy

The obvious problem I have now is that they will not accept our notice to vacate, hence they will not take an inventory before the date we leave the property and will continue to hold our deposit (as obviously we will not pay the second months rent). They say if we gave them notice today (3rd July), we would move out at the end of September

I have "spoken" (note: been literally shouted at) on the phone with them to inform them that their contract cannot change the law, but they just keep repeating themselves "As stated in the contract you signed" and nothing is getting through to them.

I want to take legal action, not just for this but for other various reasons such as:

• Harassment to pay for small items (such as an iron burn in the carpet) before the end of the tenancy
• Consistent requests for our DPS Repayment ID despite us telling them it is confidential
• Not providing DPS information after registering it with them (no leaflet or further information from LA, we only received it from DPS themselves which is not sufficient)
• Not providing a UK address for the Landlord (we actually have NO contact details for him, just a name)

We are at the end of our tether. I have told her I am going to get people involved in this because there is no negotiating with her.

The main point of this post is what I should do when we move out. What do we do when they dont take an inventory?

Will they be able to claim that we still have the keys and so must continue to pay rent as there was no hand over as they will not recognise our notice to vacate?

BitterAndTwisted

Ensure that you hand over the keys ON OR BEFORE the last day of the tenancy and have a witness there when you do so.

RAS

You already have two threads on this matter

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4041367

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4043657

Have you read the responses?

G_M

As RAS says,you have already had the legal position made clear to you.

It is obvious the LL/agent is going to cause difficulties over your deposit, so take great care to have photos/witnesses of the condition of the property when you leave and witnesses when you hand back the keyes.

then use the courts to get your deposit back.

Have you checked yourself yet with the deposit scheme?

I fail to understand

a) why you are asking the same questions again and

b) why you are starting a new thread to do so rather than using your exising one(s)

BitterAndTwisted

Fett132 wrote: »

I have read this out to an agent from Shelter and they have advised that regardless of what the contract states, if we are in a Statutory Periodic Tenancy then we must only give one months notice. The contract cannot change this law.

They can say anything they like but that won't change anything. You are very likely to get into a dispute when you attempt to get your deposit returned, so you should state IN WRITING very clearly your understanding of the position now, regardless of any clauses in your contract. And keep a copy of your letter so you can produce it as evidence to the deposit-protection scheme's arbitrators.

The obvious problem I have now is that they will not accept our notice to vacate, hence they will not take an inventory before the date we leave the property and will continue to hold our deposit (as obviously we will not pay the second months rent). They say if we gave them notice today (3rd July), we would move out at the end of September.

In which case, you and your fellow co-tenants should take dated photographs of EVERYTHING on the last day, including meter-readings.

I have "spoken" (note: been literally shouted at) on the phone with them to inform them that their contract cannot change the law, but they just keep repeating themselves "As stated in the contract you signed" and nothing is getting through to them.

STOP speaking to them and start writing!

I want to take legal action, not just for this but for other various reasons such as:

• Harassment to pay for small items (such as an iron burn in the carpet) before the end of the tenancy. What harassment?

• Consistent requests for our DPS Repayment ID despite us telling them it is confidential. It is confidential and I would make mention of this in your letter to the landlord/agent, so the arbitrators can get the measure of these shysters.
• Not providing DPS information after registering it with them (no leaflet or further information from LA, we only received it from DPS themselves which is not sufficient). No a basis for legal action.
• Not providing a UK address for the Landlord (we actually have NO contact details for him, just a name). This isn't one either.

We are at the end of our tether. I have told her I am going to get people involved in this because there is no negotiating with her.

The main point of this post is what I should do when we move out. What do we do when they dont take an inventory?

Will they be able to claim that we still have the keys and so must continue to pay rent as there was no hand over as they will not recognise our notice to vacate?

Make arrangements to return the keys on or before the last day of your tenancy and have someone witness it.

Fett132

RAS wrote: »

You already have two threads on this matter

Have you read the responses?

Hi! Yes I have read the responses, but I didnt want to ask a new question in the same thread (I thought that was sort of frowned upon?)

Fett132

G_M wrote: »

As RAS says,you have already had the legal position made clear to you.

It is obvious the LL/agent is going to cause difficulties over your deposit, so take great care to have photos/witnesses of the condition of the property when you leave and witnesses when you hand back the keyes.

then use the courts to get your deposit back.

Have you checked yourself yet with the deposit scheme?

I fail to understand

a) why you are asking the same questions again and

b) why you are starting a new thread to do so rather than using your exising one(s)

Sorry! I didnt think it warranted being in the same thread.

The first was asking for advice on harassment

The second was whether email was sufficient notice to leave.

I will keep it all in the same thread next time

BitterAndTwisted

That's idiotic: your situation is all of a piece. I think it's very unfair to start a new thread for every single question that pops into your head and expect other posters to either remember what you've asked before or to search your posting history to have the whole picture in front of them.

Fett132

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

That's idiotic: your situation is all of a piece. I think it's very unfair to start a new thread for every single question that pops into your head and expect other posters to either remember what you've asked before or to search your posting history to have the whole picture in front of them.

I dont expect them to, thats why I tried to lay the situation out here.

If someone was looking for advice on this subject, they wouldnt think that a thread titled "Landlord Harassment" would have any details on whether an email is legitimate notice or not.

I was actually trying to think of other people here. Im not trying to take up space for the sake of it.

G_M

I CAN ADD NOTHING ON YOUR RIGHTS ABOUT NOTICE THAT i DID NOT SAY IN POST 10 ( WHICH i EVENTUALLY FOUND AFTER FAFFING AROUND!) OF YOUR EALIER THREAD

Here.

(and yes, I'm shouting)

oneburge

G_M wrote: »

I CAN ADD NOTHING ON YOUR RIGHTS ABOUT NOTICE THAT i DID NOT SAY IN POST 10 ( WHICH i EVENTUALLY FOUND AFTER FAFFING AROUND!) OF YOUR EALIER THREAD

Here.

(and yes, I'm shouting)

Oh for god sake, they apologised - don't be so petulant.

Fett132, in a rather alarming way - I think you now know to keep it in one thread