Pregnant and notice to quit served

far2812

As usual I'm asking you your advice.

1. Best friend and her partner rented a house for 4 years (2 kids) and is pregnant due in July.
2. Originally rented house privately with landlord - he later passed it to an agency (who protected the deposit after 10 months)
3. He has served notice to quit.

4. Is there such a thing as a loan deposit?
5. Do they have a case against the landlord for not protecting the rent?
6. There was no initial inventory - so am I right in assuming they will HAVE to get all the deposit back ? They are, and always have been, up to date with rent.

Although he has given 2 months - they need to move quicker now as they are trying to avoid moving around the time the baby is due.

Many thanks as always

RAS

far2812 wrote: »

?
5. Do they have a case against the landlord for not protecting the rent?

Assuming your friend is in England or Wales?

Do you mean

Do they have a case against the LL for not protecting the deposit?

Yes and more importantly the S21 is invalid. LL needs to return the deposit in full and then re-ssue the S21. Friend may want to delay telling the LL this until after the birth.

Also could start a claim for penalty up to 3 times the deposit.

grifferz

far2812 wrote: »

2. Originally rented house privately with landlord - he later passed it to an agency (who protected the deposit after 10 months)

So if this is an assured shorthold tenancy then that deposit has been protected too late and I believe an S21 is invalid?

Someone more knowledgeable will be along to confirm shortly but I believe this means:

Therefore your friends don't need to leave and when the landlord asks why they haven't left yet they can say the S21 was invalid, wait for LL to return deposit and issue another S21 with another two months of notice. They have to keep paying the agreed rent though.

This will enrage the LL leading to no reference, though.

Edit: As tim123456789 points out below, this is not the case because the tenancy started before these rules came in to force: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=61450973&postcount=6

far2812 wrote: »

5. Do they have a case against the landlord for not protecting the rent?

Yes, but if landlord is sensible he will just return it all.

far2812 wrote: »

6. There was no initial inventory - so am I right in assuming they will HAVE to get all the deposit back ?

Sort of. It means LL will find it near impossible to prove that the state of the property differs from how it was when it was first rented out to them. So can't prove basis for any deductions.

I suppose theoretically if some damage happened that was clear negligence on the part of your friends then there could still be deductions upheld despite no inventory.

far2812 wrote: »

Although he has given 2 months - they need to move quicker now as they are trying to avoid moving around the time the baby is due.

Being given 2 months of notice doesn't stop them finding a new place and using their one month of notice. Assuming AST/SPT.

Werdnal

Right, several issues here:

Is the property in England/Wales? If so, there is no such thing as "notice to quit". The notice issued runs for 2 months, and you friend does not have to leave when it expires. On the expiry date, if the LL wants to continue the eviction, he has to apply to court to formally and legally end the tenancy. This can take anything from a few weeks to a couple of months!

If the original deposit was not protected within 30 days of tenant paying it to the LL, then the current notice issued is invalid. In order to issue a valid notice, the LL must have proof that the deposit was protected within the 30 day timescale, and if he does not, then the full deposit must be returned, and a new valid notice issued again.

Just to clarify, some more info would help:

When did tenancy start - exact date?
When did fixed term end - exact date? Have there been any renewals or extensions to the original fixed term tenancy agreement?
When was deposit paid - exact date?
When was tenant advised it was protected - exact date?
Did tenant receive the full prescribed information from the deposit protection scheme? When?
What does the notice received actually say?
What date does it give for expiry - exact wording of that line/sentence please?
When was it received by the tenant - exact date?

Sorry to sound pendantic, but in order to serve a valid notice the dates and details have to spot on, as this may also invalidate it and court will throw it out, meaning LL has to start all over again with another 2 months notice.


Returning to your friend, if she wants to leave before the notice expires, she must give her own notice to end the tenancy, so the dates above are imperative as she must give her own valid and correctly dated and served notice to leave.

The council may help her, but unless she sits tight until the LL evicts her through the courts, they will not regard her as "homeless" so she may be well down on the list. There are council schemes to provide bonds/deposits - tell her to contact the council and ask advice on her position. She should start making enquiries now, as even if the LL has messed up the notice, he will get it right int he end, so best to start sorting her situation now and making some plans for her future.

far2812

WOW some fantastic advice - she lives in England - i'll get all the paperwork from her today and re-post tonight as I am not sure on dates etc etc - thank you all SO much!

tim123456789

I don't think that the advice you have been given about the deposit not being protected "in time" invalidating the S21 is correct.

This is advice is based upon the new rules which came into effect from 2012. But they were not retrospective to tenancies in progress at that time, provided that the deposit was actually protected by some change over date.

If the tenancy commenced in 2009 and the deposit was protected in 2010 (as appears to be the case from the OP's description) then the fact that this was not done within the (then) 15 day period will not invalidate the S21 under the new rules.

HTH

tim

martinsurrey

tim123456789 wrote: »

I don't think that the advice you have been given about the deposit not being protected "in time" invalidating the S21 is correct.

This is advice is based upon the new rules which came into effect from 2012. But they were not retrospective to tenancies in progress at that time, provided that the deposit was actually protected by some change over date.

If the tenancy commenced in 2009 and the deposit was protected in 2010 (as appears to be the case from the OP's description) then the fact that this was not done within the (then) 15 day period will not invalidate the S21 under the new rules.

HTH

tim

As always - the devil is in the detail, and Tim is spot on.

thesaint

Werdnal wrote: »

Returning to your friend, if she wants to leave before the notice expires, she must give her own notice to end the tenancy, so the dates above are imperative as she must give her own valid and correctly dated and served notice to leave.

Or anytime after.

Yorkie1

Tim has made the point I was going to make, only he has done so far more clearly than I would have done!