Large landlord debts, landlord not paying bills

00ec25

anotheruser wrote: »

Question: Does it state in your contract that the LL will be responsible for paying the electricity?

If so, I would question where (part of) your rent is going if he isn't paying the bill.

If that were the case then the OP would have a perfect position when and if they suffered any financial or other loss as a result of being disconnected from the electricity. That means when they tale a claim to court for compensation.

until then the OP has absolutely no right to expect the LL to answer such a question as it is utterly irrelevant to that case - the contract would prove LL is responsible for the bill. End of story. OP has no other interest in the LL's financial affairs. If OP is disconnected then his case becomes one of a claim for compensation against the LL on the basis of breach of contract not becuase the LL spent the LL's own money on "something" else

The OP is contractually bound to pay the rent, how the LL spends that money does not alter the OP's (or his mother as guarantor's) legal position or obligation to pay

anotheruser wrote: »

Another question to consider is what other bills aren't being paid?

does not alter the fact the LL is not required to answer nor does it establish if the OP has any contractual interest in such a question.

People should focus on the OP's issue:
can he refuse to pay the final rent on the basis something may or may not happen re electricity? answer NO

his 8 remaining housemates are the sensible ones "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." as they are not obsessing over hypotheticals

In fact if the OP wants to worry over something less hypothetical then he had better prey that the lad who has moved out has a guarantor who will pay the rent otherwise the OP needs to check if the contract is for joint and several liability otherwise the LL will pursue the OP for the "lad's" unpaid rent

thesaint

EON would fit a pre-payment meter, not cut off the supply.

The tenants could easily deal with that if it were to happen.
I would be tempted to pay 1/2 of the due payment on time, and then the other half later.

martinsurrey

macey90 wrote: »

I am not sure if it is in a deposit protection scheme, I have heard nothing of it, but I haven't asked the lead tenant, perhaps they dealt with it.

and here we go again!

The land lord has to provide ALL people party to the tenancy with the scheme details and the prescribed information. So that includes each tenant and each guarantor (and if you dont know about it, he hasnt)..

If he hasn’t, he can't evict you with a s21 notice until the deposit is returned in full and you could apply to the courts for compensation of up to 3 times the deposit.

Read here

http://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/tenancy_deposits/tds-Documentation.shtml

DaftyDuck

martinsurrey wrote: »

and here we go again!

The land lord has to provide ALL people party to the tenancy with the scheme details and the prescribed information. So that includes each tenant and each guarantor (and if you dont know about it, he hasnt)..

If he hasn’t, he can evict you with a s21 notice until the deposit is returned in full and you could apply to the courts for compensation of up to 3 times the deposit.

Read here

http://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/tenancy_deposits/tds-Documentation.shtml

Martin,

Is that correct, or a typo... (bolded a bit of your quote...) ????

martinsurrey

DaftyDuck wrote: »

Martin,

Is that correct, or a typo... (bolded a bit of your quote...) ????

good and important spot, edited my post to correct

off to get another coffee to get me going!

cheers

thesaint

martinsurrey wrote: »

and here we go again!

The land lord has to provide ALL people party to the tenancy with the scheme details and the prescribed information. So that includes each tenant and each guarantor (and if you dont know about it, he hasnt)..

If he hasn’t, he can't evict you with a s21 notice until the deposit is returned in full and you could apply to the courts for compensation of up to 3 times the deposit.

Read here

http://www.rla.org.uk/landlord/tenancy_deposits/tds-Documentation.shtml

Are you sure it means each individual?
In a joint tenancy agreement, there is one tenant.

martinsurrey

thesaint wrote: »

Are you sure it means each individual?
In a joint tenancy agreement, there is one tenant.

The deposit protection information has to go to everyone who paid or contributed to the deposit, regardless of the form of the tenancy agreement.

"
Alongside the prescribed information you must also give the tenant/s (and any third party/interested party who has paid/contributed towards the deposit) a copy of the relevant scheme tenants leaflet. For DPS this is their terms and conditions.

"

macey90

'The Landlord agrees to procure at the landlord's own cost a supply of electricity, gas, water and wireless broadband service to the property to threshold amounts shown in Table 1'

I guess in my original post I had interpreted my landlord not paying for electricity as failing to 'procure' at his 'own cost'.


I fail to see how looking into this situation is 'obsessing over hypotheticals'. I have sought advice following the electricity company turning up at the house, and telling me that they would be returning to cut the power. 00ec25 your point of view is perfectly clear, I understand that you are telling me to not worry unless the power is actually cut off. As far as people focussing on my issue, raising the issue of the other tenant leaving is completely irrelevant. We are aware that the remaining residents are liable.

Fire_Fox

Chances are EON would change you to a prepayment meter, you would then have to feed the meter and charge the landlord accordingly since your rent includes utilities. Until that happens it is useless fretting, you can't break a legally binding contract based on a 'what if' and generally a joint tenancy does not end until you all vacate anyway, so leaving doesn't stop you or your guarantor being liable.

Damage deposit: the tenants should check with the three schemes to see which it is lodged with. If none write to the landlord asking for it to be returned in full or for confirmation of where it is lodged. Template letters on Shelter website.

If you pay money out for rent or deposit and the landlord did not return it/ provide you with the service you may need to take out a small claims action in the county court. The company going bankrupt doesn't necessarily mean there is no hope since clearly there are assets in the form of property. Might be worth downloading the title from land registry (£3?) to see if the registered owner is an individual or company.

Assuming the property is on a Buy to Let mortgage or has consent to lease even if the landlord got repossessed following bankruptcy, the tenancy would continue with the lender taking over ALL the rights and responsibilities of the landlord. That means the contract would be honoured and your damage deposit returned.

bouicca21

Have you checked with the LA that this house is properly licensed as an HMO?