Contract question (nightmare letting agent/landlord)

iviv

I've been having a few problems with my landlord regarding the electric metres in my flat, which still haven't been resolved. But recently a big question has come up regarding my contract. For my first year here, I paid 6 months up front at a time. At the time of resigning I requested a couple of changes to be made regarding the installation of double glazing which had been promised since moving in originally. They sent me a standard contract to look at and said they would send me the proper contract to sign.

I was still trying to look for alternatives but they are were pressuring me to sign it, so I did without reading it properly, just checking the total rent sum and the window clause I mentioned were there.

I paid the 6 months up front, but have continued to have problems which led me to consulting the contract and discovering that it was the same standard contract they sent me earlier, stating that payments were to be made monthly.

Where do I stand? I have told them that I intend to pay monthly per the signed contract, they are saying that what was discussed regarding the 6 months payments at a time takes prescience. I assume they are wrong because I have a signed contract to the contrary, but I want to check with you guys before I really begin to fight this.

Thanks!

theartfullodger

I presume you mean "contract".

a) You do not have to renew or resign at all. If you remain 1 second beyond the end of the initial tenancy term a "periodic" tenancy occurs, running on (usually) month-by-month forever. The time period depends on what the current contract says about how often rent is paid & £5 says that is monthly...
- but if you don't agree to resign you might get evicted: It will probably take some 4 months.. ish..

b) If you want to resign then you can insist or not to whatever clauses you wish: Trouble is so can landlord & it takes two to agree..

What problem with the meters?? That is normally the responsibility of the tenant to sort out with electric/gas company.

iviv

theartfullodger wrote: »

I presume you mean "contract".

I do indeed. The joy of typing a long post out on a phone!

Sorry, I should clarify on my post. I resigned in October for a second 12 month contract, and they just stayed asking for the second payment of 6 months rent up front again, and I have just challenged them that the contract we signed says the monthly payment terms, but for the first 6 months I did pay it all up front.

While I do have the means to pay it, it is more the matter of principal. They have caused me so many problems recently, this is a minor form of payback you could say.

Regarding the metres, for the first year of my stay the electric bills were included in the rent. It was also agreed that the rent would be lowered to account for this, and the metres would likely not be installed right away.
At the end of October (my contact stayed the 31st of October) on a Saturday, we were told the electricity would be off for 30 mins while they installed the metres. Instead it took them 9 hours, and quite a few people lost food in their fridges. The landlord refused any compensation. At that time I tried to start an account with Eon, but couldn't get access to my electric metre. After much complaining I was told it is in a cupboard that only the letting agent has access to, so I would need to meet them between 9-5 Mon to Fri to get a reading, except I work 8-6 and they refused to take readings for me.
Even then, Eon said the number on the meter was wrong and asked for the account details of the overall landlord metre several months ago. No reply from the meeting agent. Finally had someone from Edf check the metres last week and confirmed that the metre number wasn't registered. Also, he pointed out that there was bare copper visible and reachable at the bottom of all the metres and that it wouldn't have been well trained people who installed them.

theartfullodger

iviv wrote: »

I do indeed. The joy of typing a long post out on a phone!

Surely 'phone??

iviv

theartfullodger wrote: »

Surely 'phone??

Posted from my exceedingly expensive and not at all money saving mobile telephone.

iviv

Updated it into a legible first post now, pedants still welcome

G_M

So:

* you signed a new contract for 12 months in Oct
* you paid 6 months in advance, till ..?? April?
* the contract states rent payable monthly in advance?

So come April, you simply start paying monthly.

What's the problem?

This post might also help:

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)

iviv

G_M wrote: »

So:

* you signed a new contract for 12 months in Oct
* you paid 6 months in advance, till ..?? April?
* the contract states rent payable monthly in advance?

So come April, you simply start paying monthly.

What's the problem?

This post might also help:

Ending/Renewing an AST (what happens when the Fixed Term ends?)(What is a Periodic Tenancy?)(How can a LL remove a tenant?)(How can a tenant end a tenancy?)

I had agreed to pay 6 months through to April, then another 6 months through to the end of October. However, the signed contract says monthly.
The letting agent is saying that I simply signed a standard contract and that it should be as per what was agreed verbally and by email. I'm holding out that the contract is what is binding, they were the ones who wrote it, got the landlord and pressured me into signing it quickly, so it's their fault for not checking the contract properly.

G_M

iviv wrote: »

I had agreed to pay 6 months through to April, then another 6 months through to the end of October. However, the signed contract says monthly.
The letting agent is saying that I simply signed a standard contract and that it should be as per what was agreed verbally and by email. I'm holding out that the contract is what is binding, they were the ones who wrote it, got the landlord and pressured me into signing it quickly, so it's their fault for not checking the contract properly.

* you signed a new contract for 12 months in Oct
* you paid 6 months in advance, till ..?? April?
* the contract states rent payable monthly in advance?

So come April, you simply start paying monthly.

What's the problem?

chris_m

iviv wrote: »

The letting agent is saying that I simply signed a standard contract and that it should be as per what was agreed verbally and by email. I'm holding out that the contract is what is binding, they were the ones who wrote it, got the landlord and pressured me into signing it quickly, so it's their fault for not checking the contract properly.

Whilst I am not a legal expert, I would think that a signed, written contract will trump whatever may, or may not, have been said verbally.

iviv

Awesome, thanks for the confirmation. I assumed that the contract would trump all, but wanted confirmation because sometimes what seems obvious and what the law is are two different things.

On a related note regarding my electric supply. It was agreed that from October everyone in the building would begin paying for their electricity, so I shopped around, found the best deal and started to set things up. It's been a long battle with the letting agent to even get enough information to set the account up, and I believe I'm pretty close. Except I just spoke with one of the other residents here and they've not received any bills for their electricity, and they didn't contact any suppliers or anything. Therefore, there's the chance that I could be out of pocket due to being proactive and reacting to their information by signing up with Eon, when I would have been better off had I not done anything and let the landlord continue to pay for the electricity.

Therefore, would there be any recourse to claim the money I'm paying back? If they had told the truth when they said I would have to pay for the electricity then I would be fine, as that's what I've been trying to do. But to be told I have to pay and can arrange with a supplier to get it sorted, then find out that those who didn't do anything simply aren't getting charged anything leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth!