LA expecting very large cash payment

Hebblethwaite

Hello,

I'm a long-time lurker, rare poster, but about to move into a rented property on my own (not sharing as I have in the past) for the first time so I might be needing to post more frequently in future!

I have only ever rented from private landlords in the past and had hoped to do the same this time, but unfortunately couldn't find suitable properties. As a result, I am due to rent through a lettings agency for the first time. They are a very small local company (just three people as far as I can tell) but so far have seemed above board. A little slow/inefficient at times, but helpful and up-front about charges/fees (afaik anyway!)

They let me know a month ago (when I first applied) that I would have to pay about £900 to move into the property (on top of the £400 holding fee I paid by cheque on application). The total payment includes a month's rent in advance, a month's rent as deposit, an admin fee and a fee for an inventory check. That all seemed okay, although the admin fees and inventory check fees stung a little...

Anyway, I'm due to start my tenancy tomorrow and have an appointment to collect the keys tomorrow morning. This afternoon, I received a letter asking me to bring the balance of the payment (so about £900) to their office in cash (no previous correspondence had stated that a cash payment would be required). I spoke with them on the phone and they have agreed to let me pay most of the money by bank transfer, but they still want almost £200 in cash tomorrow.

Obviously, the LA get some points for being somewhat flexible about how I pay, but the request for cash just seems a bit dodgy. My previous cheque to them cleared without any trouble and they have seen copies of my bank statements which show that I have sufficient savings to support myself for several months. I also have a guarantor who has been credit checked (because although I am going to be well-paid and have a guaranteed job, I don't start work until the end of July). My rent in future will be paid by standing order so it isn't like they are so stone-age they don't know such options exist. I've only ever paid landlords by cheque/electronically in the past. Paying such a huge sum in cash in this day and age seems bizarre.

What do other people think? Am I worrying about nothing, or is their request for cash a bit odd?

pararct

Think your worry about nothing. The £200 probably represents what their (LA) part of the fees are.
Just make sure you agree the inventory, get a copy of it and receipt(s) for what monies you hand over.
It will do no harm asking which scheme they intend to lodge your deposit in and make a note of that.

pmlindyloo

When I rented a house last year we had to provide all the money in cash. This was being dealt with by a very large estate agent.

The tenancy agreement and monies involved are quite often sorted out the day before the tenancy begins or on the day itself.

I believe the reason is to do with cheques taking a number of days to clear and I suppose the slight chance that someone would stop the cheque!

This would mean that the landlord, in theory, could have agreed to a tenancy without the money being in his possession (from a LL's point of view not a good idea!)

paddyrg

Make sure you get a receipt for the cash! I'm sure it's all actually quite innocent - perhaps they have to pay one of their suppliers in cash and it's more convenient to get you to bring it, or whatever...

It's unlikely anyone is going to run off with £200 for the sake of £200, put it like that!

Hebblethwaite

Thanks paract.

I can certainly accept that I may be being overly sensitive. It's just that friends and family members who have rented through LAs have had really poor experiences, including never seeing their deposits again (despite the properties being left in good condition). I've never lost so much as a penny of my deposit and have always had a good relationship with previous landlords, so I'm a little intimidated by renting through an LA. Your reassurance is helpful.

They have already given me details of the deposit scheme (since the holding deposit is already in there) and I shall certainly be asking for receipts for everything tomorrow! The inventory is going to be checked very carefully and extensive photos taken of everything I can possibly photograph!

Thanks again

Hebblethwaite

Thanks everyone! You all post so quickly

I guess I've just got my knickers in a twist over nothing. Bit wound up about the move tomorrow!

arbrighton

We too were asked to provide either cash or banker's draft for first month's rent + deposit, but were told well in advance. No way were we going to be walking around with nearly 2k cash (especially as we were sorting out the removal van then driving to rental house 160 miles away) so I got a bankers draft at cost of £25 to us. When we got there, they deigned to tell us we could have sent it by internet banking as we had the details for setting up the standing order for monthly rent.
Not quite the same, but just to agree it's not uncommon to ask for something that is guaranteed not to bounce

G_M

pararct wrote: »

Think your worry about nothing. The £200 probably represents what their (LA) part of the fees are.
Just make sure you agree the inventory, get a copy of it and receipt(s) for what monies you hand over.
It will do no harm asking which scheme they intend to lodge your deposit in and make a note of that.

Just to be clear, do NOT sign the inventory until you have had a good opportunity to look round the property and compare its condition and contents with what the inventory says.

If they match, THEN agree (and sign) the inventory, but not before.

When you move out, any dispute over your deposit will be resolved by reference to the inventory, so if it describes the paintwork as 'immaculate' or 'new', and in fact it is old, worn or scratched, you could be blamed for the damage.

Take your time over 'agreeing'.

moromir

I've always had to pay cash or cleared funds (ie bankers draft) when renting a property.

I understand a cheque can be cancelled up to six months after its been cashed.

I.e. if you were the tenant from hell you could potentially cancel the cheque the day after you collect the keys but as the tenancy has started you'd have at least two months if not longer rent free before they could get any S21 through the courts to get rid of you.

Hebblethwaite

Went into the office today to collect my keys, pay the fees and sort out the paperwork. Then went to the house planning to spend a day cleaning before moving in tomorrow. This post is more of a rant than anything else, but I do have a couple of questions which I've put in bold for anyone who doesn't want to dig through my neurotic ramblings

1) They didn't have the inventory ready for me. Apparently it's been done and I should get it on Monday or Tuesday. I'm not entirely happy about that since the property was empty when my application was approved three weeks ago, so there's no real reason for it not be available. I've paid £100 for that inventory (as has the LL) but I haven't been given it before taking over the tenancy. As a result, I've spent over three hours this afternoon making my own inventory and photographing everything. I know that I can be a bit anal and that might not be an appealing quality in a tenant. Am I going to pee them off by sending them a copy of my detailed inventory right away? There's not a lot of broken/damaged stuff, but lots of wear and dirt. The downstairs carpets have clearly been cleaned, but it doesn't look like any other cleaning has been done. I don't expect my LA to do anything about most of the things I've described (because I can sort most of them out myself with a bit of elbow grease), but I'd like to have the state of the property on record, so that they can't charge me for professional cleaning when I move out.

2) The general lack of cleanliness means that I won't actually be able to move into the property tomorrow as planned. It's going to take two or three days of solid cleaning (at least!) before I'll want to move my stuff in. I've also had to take down all of the curtains as they were dirty and absolutely coated in cat hair (one set looked like they'd been used to line a cat basket). I've only ever moved into reasonably clean properties in the past where a quick sweep and a general wipe around has been enough. Have I just been lucky in the past, or should I suggest to the LA that a small reduction in next month's rent wouldn't be amiss...? That's probably a silly question though, as there's no way I could ever bring myself to be that cheeky, especially as...

3) I've been given a Section 21 right at the start of my tenancy. It's informing me that I have a 6 month (rather than 2 month, thank goodness) fixed tenancy. I've read about them here over the last few days, but I'm not sure I'm entirely clear about what it means. Does it mean that I can be evicted without any other notice when the 6 months is up? If I then have a rolling agreement, do they have to give me notice if they intend to evict me? I think I'm a good tenant. I don't misuse other people's property or cause a nuisance. I'm planning on cleaning the property head to toe before I move in and again before I leave. I (will) have a good income and a responsible job. My last landlord sent me flowers because I left the house in such a good condition. Despite that, am I risking eviction if I nitpick things on the inventory/report faults with the property that arise later? I'm not afraid to stand up for my rights, but as long as the tenancy is otherwise okay, I really don't want to have to move again in 6 months.

That's probably more than enough for now! Overall, I'm actually really happy with the house and excited to be moving in (as soon as I can get it in a decent state). I just want to know that everything has been done right at the start of my tenancy so that I can relax and enjoy my home.

Hebblethwaite

moromir wrote: »

I've always had to pay cash or cleared funds (ie bankers draft) when renting a property.

I understand a cheque can be cancelled up to six months after its been cashed.

I.e. if you were the tenant from hell you could potentially cancel the cheque the day after you collect the keys but as the tenancy has started you'd have at least two months if not longer rent free before they could get any S21 through the courts to get rid of you.

That's a good point, thanks.