Landlord wants rent to come out of one account

alexanderb

I'm in a group of students who have signed for a house to rent over the next year. After signing the contract we discussed payment and finances and we were informed that the landlord wanted rent to come out of one account, rather than split individually between us. Naturally this isn't a desirable option for us.

I was wondering if he had a legal leg to stand on to demand this? Are we still within our rights to say we'd like to pay individually?

pimento

My son is about to sign a contract for a four bedroomed student house and not only will the landlord take 4 x different accounts, he will also let them pay in three chunks when their loans come in.

I don't know where you are but where my son is, there are loads of student houses still available (we viewed eight on Saturday) so I would tell the landlord you'll be quite happy to find someone who will take your money.

PasturesNew

Undoable really. You can't get a joint account together as that links you financially to people who might be undesirable to your credit rating .... and the only alternative is for one of you to take the financial risk that the others will all pay in full and on time.

Undoable.

Walk if you have to...

HappyMJ

Pay by whatever method you want. I would pay by standing order directly into the landlords account from each of your own accounts.

Wobblydeb

It sounds as if the landlord doesn't have the licence to run an HMO (House in Multiple Occupancy). I would be worried in case he hasn't complied with other requirements - particularly health and safety, such as fire escapes/alarms and gas cert. Has your university accommodation office validated this property?

I would recommend that you simply say a single payment isn't possible, and take it from there. Don't be afraid to involve the accommodation office, as they will help you sort out the legal and safety aspects.

alexanderb

Wobblydeb wrote: »

It sounds as if the landlord doesn't have the licence to run an HMO (House in Multiple Occupancy). I would be worried in case he hasn't complied with other requirements - particularly health and safety, such as fire escapes/alarms and gas cert. Has your university accommodation office validated this property?

I would recommend that you simply say a single payment isn't possible, and take it from there. Don't be afraid to involve the accommodation office, as they will help you sort out the legal and safety aspects.

I don't think it's the case that he's demanding it, the agency told us it's the format he'd prefer, but then seemed to represent it as the only option. The agency has been pretty poor on the communication front, so once we have direct contact with the landlord this is something I'd like to discuss as I really don't trust anything the agency has said.

tbs624

Welcome as a newbie poster OP

Wobblydeb wrote: »

It sounds as if the landlord doesn't have the licence to run an HMO (House in Multiple Occupancy). I would be worried in case he hasn't complied with other requirements - particularly health and safety, such as fire escapes/alarms and gas cert. Has your university accommodation office validated this property?

I would recommend that you simply say a single payment isn't possible, and take it from there. Don't be afraid to involve the accommodation office, as they will help you sort out the legal and safety aspects.

This poster is jumping to very hasty conclusions here.

If it's a tenancy with J&SL, then the Ts are "as one" as far as paying the rent ( or anything else to do with the tenancy) is concerned .

LLs don't generally want to sit & trawl thru their bank statements and work out who invidually has/has not paid.

Single payment also means that Ts individually are immediately aware who amongst their number is not coughing up on time, thereby potentially landing them all with a liability for clearing the unpaid rent.

LLs who have several properties often request a single payment from each property: you can have a rent due date of say, the 18th and if Ts are all using individual bank a/cs you may get 2 T's payment come through on the 17th, one on the 18th and one a day late. If there is no clear banking "narrative" alongside the payments [edit: a] clear and easy payment record can soon become muddled

That said, even if a single account payment is stipulated in the tenancy agreement itself once you are signed up & moved in there would not be a great deal that the LL could actually do about you breaching it.

Wouldn't endear you to the LL though , from the very start, so negotiating on th e issue from now is probably your best option OP - as you say, try the LL direct.

princeofpounds

I don't see too much problem with routing all payments through one of the lead tenants. Although there is a counterparty risk there, they are almost certainly jointly liable anyway. So even if they send in money separately if one of the parties doesn't pay up they could all be liable.

The point I am making is to a certain degree they are cross-liable already anyway, so don't think that organising a single payment is an entirely new domain of risk.

tbs624

pimento wrote: »

My son is about to sign a contract for a four bedroomed student house and not only will the landlord take 4 x different accounts, he will also let them pay in three chunks when their loans come in.

I don't know where you are but where my son is, there are loads of student houses still available (we viewed eight on Saturday) so I would tell the landlord you'll be quite happy to find someone who will take your money.

Different student LLs will of course choose to operate in different ways. The LL is not being philanthropical btw in agreeing to payment in 3 student loan-related chunks - he just knows he's more likely to get full payment if he has first call on the loan money before the students have had chance to wee it away on cheap alcohol and takeaways.

Couple of things to bear in mind with that one though - depending on the wording of the tenancy agreement, it may alter notice periods.
If there are any repairs issues that grumble on unresolved and the Ts need to follow the course of action in Shelter's Guide to Getting Repairs Done they may get past the final instalment and have no further rent payment to withhold.

martinsurrey

Wobblydeb wrote: »

It sounds as if the landlord doesn't have the licence to run an HMO (House in Multiple Occupancy). I would be worried in case he hasn't complied with other requirements - particularly health and safety, such as fire escapes/alarms and gas cert. Has your university accommodation office validated this property?

I would recommend that you simply say a single payment isn't possible, and take it from there. Don't be afraid to involve the accommodation office, as they will help you sort out the legal and safety aspects.

HMO certificate is only required if its 3 stories or more, or has 5 or more people (who form more than 1 "household"), so a standard 2 story student house with 4 people in it is not covered.

tbs624

princeofpounds wrote: »

. So even if they send in money separately if one of the parties doesn't pay up they could all be liable.
.

You're right, they would be - I don't however think anyone has suggested otherwise?

The main difference is that if payments are split to individuals then the Ts won't know immeidately who has failed to cough up in full/on time until the LL is "in their faces". If you are all due to pay as one its pretty obvious by the due date and there is nothing like a bit of good old peer/fellow T pressure to help speed matters up if one T is lagging behind in meeting his/her responsibilities