Large landlord debts, landlord not paying bills

macey90

I live in a 10 bedroom student house, and we pay the landlord for utilities. It has emerged that he does not pay his bills (his company is huge, 200+ students living under him). I have discovered he has a £10,300 electricity bill debt on the property I live in.

EON two months ago turned up to cut us off with a court warrant, they did not - the landlord told us that 'it was a mistake by EON, they forgot to bill us and had accepted liability', I have repeatedly asked for proof and have received nothing. The bill has still not been paid and the landlords current answer is 'there is a dispute with EON, that it is a private matter and I must pay my rent on time as per the tenancy agreement'. EON will tell me nothing due to data protection, but I was able to find out the bill amount by using there pay my bill online system with the account number and postcode of our house.

Moving in to this house has been a huge regret of mine, I have sought help through the university legal help - only for them to drop us due to a 'conflict of interest', presumably the landlord is fairly powerful in the area due to the number of properties he owns.

I believe that instead of paying off the debt he will declare the company bankrupt, his info on companies house shows that he has opened and disolved numerous businesses of similar names in the area in the last 2 years (at least 16).

Can I withhold my final rent payment (due shortly) or move out of this property in any way without fear of serious repercussions? I am quite incensed with the way we have been treated this year but do not want lawyers coming after my mother (my guarantor). The situation is more complicated by the ambivalence of the other 8 tenants (one lad has moved out already and is taking his chances), who as long as the power doesn't go off do not care if he pays the bill or not.

Is a landlord failing to pay electricity (as is in our agreement) reason enough for me to leave legally? I do not believe he is suddenly going to clear a 10 grand debt with only 4 months of our contract left.

Many thanks for any advice in advance.

blckbrd

Why do you think you might withold rent? are EON pursuing you?

coinxoperated

If it's not your debt, why are you worrying about it?

Pay your rent on time. If the electric gets cut off or what have you, then you have to raise it as a different issue THEN. If he's that big of a landlord he may easily have 10k sat in the bank. The truth is, It's not your debt, it's not going to come back on you and he's just mucking himself.

Look for alternative accomodation in the mean time.

Do you have a contract for a specific period of time? If so, you could write him a letter asking to move due to the stress of the electric supplier trying to cut you off etc. otherwise, wait out until the end of the agreement and then move.

If your mother is guarantor, he can claim whatever missed rent / damages from her. There's no need to put her through that, just take a step back and see it for what it is.

X

macey90

Well the landlords company have said not to worry about it effectively, the electricity will not be turned off - they have happily lied to us repeatedly. This is my final rent payment £1600, once it's paid they are not going to care at all - I was thinking along the lines of "I and 9 others have been paying you for electricity since september, you have not paid for any at all, therefore until you show that you have paid the bill and removed the risk of us being cut off, I will not be paying my rent".

blckbrd

Eon didn't cut you off though, did they?

If they were convinced of their 'rightness' they would have. A valid/current dispute would prevent disconnection.

00ec25

macey90 wrote: »

Well the landlords company have said not to worry about it effectively, the electricity will not be turned off - they have happily lied to us repeatedly. This is my final rent payment £1600, once it's paid they are not going to care at all - I was thinking along the lines of "I and 9 others have been paying you for electricity since september, you have not paid for any at all, therefore until you show that you have paid the bill and removed the risk of us being cut off, I will not be paying my rent".

whether he has been paying his bills or not is none of your business just the same as how he spends the rest of the rent you pay him is also none of your concern

you have no grounds for witholding rent, especially over hypothetical possibilities. Instead you appear to simply be looking for any opportunity to scarper without making the final payment

furthermore what you have posted so far also suggests that you could be found in breach of data protection yourself and could be done under that

pay your rent and mind your own business

blckbrd

The OP is under no obligation to protect the Landlord's data.

coinxoperated

Yeah OP - you don't need to do this. Regardless of if was used your money to pay the bill or not, the bills not in your name. You need to stop poking your nose in stuff that doesn't involve you.

The electric is ON. It's not being turned OFF. You pay your rent in line with your contract. It's up to the LANDLORD as to where that money goes,

How do you know that he doesn't have an agreement with EON? Maybe all his properties are with EON, and he pays a yearly figure for all of the properties in his business? Maybe they did mess up the agreement and now it's sorted!

Leave the poor guy alone. If he does owe the money, or is in years of arrears of anything, you shouldn't care.

Pay your rent on time and keep your nose OUT,

coinxoperated

blckbrd wrote: »

The OP is under no obligation to protect the Landlord's data.

Agreed - but going to lengths to find financial information relating to someone else isn't acceptable.

macey90

Okay I see, thanks for the advice.

I guess that makes sense, it just seemed very real at the time when engineers turn up with a locksmith and a warrant. They left the power connected when they realised that the residents were not named on the bill, but stated they would imminently be back to shut it off. Empty threats I guess...

'Trying to scarper' is a bit much, ideally I would just like to live in the house I pay considerable cash for without the stress of people turning up to cut off the power. My fear was and is that I pay my £1600 rent and then a week later have electricity cut off and me seeking compensation from a disolved company and having nowhere to live.

Kynthia

I know it can't be comfortable but you are paying for a property to live in and use of utilities. You are getting these so you have no cause to withhold payment. If you withhold rent your guarantor will be pursued. The bill with Eon is not in your name and therefore absolutely nothing to do with you.

If you do get cut off then you have a valid dispute. We could then give you suggestions over what you could do, such as reporting him to Environmental Health or asking for compensation for the disruption.