Leaving tenancy contract early

yatinsardana

This is my 3rd year renting the same apartment and it's managed by the landlord. Contract expires on 8th august and I made a request to the landlord to allow me to leave on 14th June.

My understanding was that these things are negotiable and usually the tenant has to pay until a new tenant is found and also pay for the advertising of the apartment on the website.

Anyway, my landlord isn't very nice at all - my relationship with him has always been very superficial. He has gotten back to me through my agent saying that not only should I be paying until new tenant is found, I should also pay the landlord fee that he normally has to pay to the agent for the new tenant = 80% of months rent + VAT

I find that ridiculous and unfair as essentially by leaving on 14th June I'm trying to save £1060 rent (I pay 600/month rent on the 8th of every month). He has essentially asked me to pay almost one months rent as fee on his behalf to the agent - something that he would have to pay in august anyway!

I don't want to do that as I genuinely think it's unfair. It's not like I've only started living here and am 1 month into my contract and asking to leave. I've been living here for almost 3 years and am asking to leave 7 weeks before! He's just found a way to get out of paying the agent in august.

What are my options?
I have essentially gotten back to the landlord saying that I feel it's unfair and I'm willing to negotiate and reach a common ground where we share the cost of the landlord fee. I'm sure he'll reply saying no.
I feel like I would honestly much rather pay the remaining rent and stay out my contract than pay for him to the agent.

If he says no, I was thinking of asking for an early check out whereby I pay the rent until 7th august and leave and settle the deposit with him too. Do you think that's ok?

Lastly, with regards to deposit - I paid £900 3 years ago. It's a studio apartment that is pretty much exactly in the same condition as it was when I came in. But knowing him I fear he will take a huge deposit as expenses. Now how much authority do I have? What are the things I can do in my situation that would not leave me at his mercy.

I can see in the tenancy agreement that legally it's his responsibility to have put the deposit in a common scheme, I don't know if he did or not. Should I ask him or the argent if he did? If he didn't, he's clearly in the wrong, can I in that case ask to leave saying I don't feel secure my deposit is with him and not in a common scheme?

I would really appreciate your thoughts and ideas and experiences - thanks

pmlindyloo

First thing you need to do is check whether your deposit is protected.

Use this link to do so:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/tenancy_deposits/tenancy_deposit_protection_schemes/deposit_protection_and_tenancy_deposit_schemes

00ec25

you have no options

yatinsardana wrote: »

My understanding was that these things are negotiable and usually the tenant has to pay until a new tenant is found and also pay for the advertising of the apartment on the website.

you want to terminate a contract early, as you say this can only be done by negotiations. The terms may or may not be acceptable to you, depending on how good a negotiator you are but what is offered is what is offered, the alternative is to pay rent until contract end

as for the deposit then there are countless posts on here explaining that
- he is legally required to secure it in one of the schemes
- he is required to serve you with the proscribed info within 30 days of doing so
failure to do either or both entitles you to take legal action against him, initially at your cost, but ultimately at his cost if you win. If you want to sour relations then threaten him...

yatinsardana

Thanks to both of you.

So I checked on the link provided and my deposit is protected with DPS in custodial scheme.
But he failed to let me know.

I'll wait for him to get back to me regarding me paying the landlord fee

But with regards to him failing to inform me about my deposit ID, I'm not sure if I want to sour the relationship. At the same time, knowing him, he'll try and take out every single penny of the deposit. How can I make sure he doesn't do that?

I'll clean the apartment but inevitably he'll still charge me for professionally cleaning it. There are no missing items, there are no broken items either. I will have paid full rent so there will be no rent overdue.
According to the England shelter website, these are the things he could charge me for from my deposit. I would obviously ask for a receipt for the things he charges me for. Nothing else I can do to ensure he doesn't unnecessarily charge me more right?

pmlindyloo

yatinsardana wrote: »

Thanks to both of you.

So I checked on the link provided and my deposit is protected with DPS in custodial scheme.
But he failed to let me know.

I'll wait for him to get back to me regarding me paying the landlord fee

But with regards to him failing to inform me about my deposit ID, I'm not sure if I want to sour the relationship. At the same time, knowing him, he'll try and take out every single penny of the deposit. How can I make sure he doesn't do that?

I'll clean the apartment but inevitably he'll still charge me for professionally cleaning it. There are no missing items, there are no broken items either. I will have paid full rent so there will be no rent overdue.
According to the England shelter website, these are the things he could charge me for from my deposit. I would obviously ask for a receipt for the things he charges me for. Nothing else I can do to ensure he doesn't unnecessarily charge me more right?

Since your deposit is registered then you need to use their dispute process if you disagree with the deductions.

Did you sign an inventory at the beginning of the tenancy? Without this the landlord will stand little chance of making any deductions.

Best to try and get your leaving early sorted out with the landlord and try to come to some kind of agreement. Don't forget to get everything in writing so it doesn't come back 'to bite you'.

The fact that he failed to issue you with the prescribed information for the deposit might be useful later but only if the LL agrees on a early surrender. At the moment he is in the right as you are contracted legally until the end of your tenancy and any surrender has to be mutually agreed. Once you have this in writing then maybe you can negotiate about the deposit deductions using the fact you weren't issued the prescribed information as leverage.

But the protection scheme's dispute scheme is the way forward if you need it - that's what it was set up for.

yatinsardana

So I got the reply from the landlord and he says there's nothing he can do and he's not in a position to help me. It's between me and the agent. He's essentially saying that he wants me to pay his landlord fee.

I did sign an inventory.

I really don't know what the best course of action is - I've come to accept that I will have to pay landlord fee if I want to move out.

My dilemma is that I know him and he will make unnecessary deductions that I can't afford to pay for. I only start earning later this year and I'm currently on student loan. I can't have him bullying me essentially.

How can I make sure that I get my deposit back because I can confirm to you honestly nothing has broken, nothing is missing - I haven't even noticed any wear and tear but if there is he should charge me for that and no rent is missing.

I read that the deposit can be used to pay for unpaid rent.

Am I allowed to stop paying rent one and a half months before (ie not pay last months and pay half of the month before) my last date and get him to use the deposit as the rent?

If not, am I able to take the deposit out myself from DPS? That way at least it's in my hand the money and he will have to negotiate with me as to what deductions he is making?

At present he has all the power and he is making sure I know it.

My friends have such great landlords because they're in the same position and they've been looked after so well. Me? Well he hasn't helped me once for anything - I've been nice to him taking days off because he used to give me short notice so many times when the gas guy or plumber had to come.

Argh! I'm so mad.
Please help

thesaint

yatinsardana wrote: »

At present he has all the power and he is making sure I know it.

And so he should.
You want to renege on your contract.

If he wanted you to leave early against your will, would you accept it, or would you be on here asking for advice?

Gonzo1987

yatinsardana wrote: »

So I got the reply from the landlord and he says there's nothing he can do and he's not in a position to help me. It's between me and the agent. He's essentially saying that he wants me to pay his landlord fee.

I did sign an inventory.

I really don't know what the best course of action is - I've come to accept that I will have to pay landlord fee if I want to move out.

My dilemma is that I know him and he will make unnecessary deductions that I can't afford to pay for. I only start earning later this year and I'm currently on student loan. I can't have him bullying me essentially.

How can I make sure that I get my deposit back because I can confirm to you honestly nothing has broken, nothing is missing - I haven't even noticed any wear and tear but if there is he should charge me for that and no rent is missing.

I read that the deposit can be used to pay for unpaid rent.

Am I allowed to stop paying rent one and a half months before (ie not pay last months and pay half of the month before) my last date and get him to use the deposit as the rent?

If not, am I able to take the deposit out myself from DPS? That way at least it's in my hand the money and he will have to negotiate with me as to what deductions he is making?

At present he has all the power and he is making sure I know it.

My friends have such great landlords because they're in the same position and they've been looked after so well. Me? Well he hasn't helped me once for anything - I've been nice to him taking days off because he used to give me short notice so many times when the gas guy or plumber had to come.

Argh! I'm so mad.
Please help

If you had a check in and signed an inventory, if nothing is damaged or broken he CAN'T keep any deposit. You both have to come to an agreement for the deposit to be released by the holding company.


Do you need him to provide you with a good reference in future? Because he probably won't if you stop paying the rent.

yatinsardana

thesaint wrote: »

And so he should.
You want to renege on your contract.

If he wanted you to leave early against your will, would you accept it, or would you be on here asking for advice?

I'm sorry but I don't agree with him having so much power that he can do whatever he wants to really.

I'm asking to leave 7 weeks before - I appreciate it's principle but I don't agree with the fact that he can do whatever he wants now. He may as well be asking me to pay the deposit for the future tenant too.

Things happen - circumstances change and I'm letting him know well in advance. He should either principally agree with me leaving early and in that case we should reach a consensus where both are happy (eg me paying any extra costs that he may have to pay that he won't have to pay in August if I leave according to my contract or that I keep paying rent until new tenant arrives) or he should disagree with me leaving early and tell me.

Trying to get me to pay his costs that he would have to pay in August anyway does not seem fair to me.

If tables were turned, I would be upset yes but I would essentially ask him for time to find a new place for myself. I won't be asking him to pay a deposit on my behalf for the new place.

yatinsardana

Gonzo1987 wrote: »

If you had a check in and signed an inventory, if nothing is damaged or broken he CAN'T keep any deposit. You both have to come to an agreement for the deposit to be released by the holding company.


Do you need him to provide you with a good reference in future? Because he probably won't if you stop paying the rent.

Thanks, no I won't be needing a reference from him.

I'm still negotiating with him and the argent but if they don't agree, I think I'll be asking him to take the last 900 for my rent off the deposit. If he needs to take anything from the deposit in terms of damage or cleaning the apartment, he could provide me with the receipt and I'll pay for it.

nidO

yatinsardana wrote: »

If tables have turned, I would be upset yes but I would essentially ask him for time to find a new place for myself. I won't be asking him to pay a deposit on my behalf for the new place.

You're in a minority then, it's fairly common if a landlord has to ask a tenant to leave prior to the end of their contact for various reasons that a negotiated agreement will end up involving the landlord having to pay new letting agents and referencing fees, moving costs, etc.

yatinsardana wrote: »

I'm sorry but I don't agree with him having so much power that he can do whatever he wants to really.

He's not doing "whatever he wants to", his options are either to hold you to the agreement you signed, or have some form of incentive to let you break the agreement.

It's unfortunate for you that you have a landlord who isn't particularly interested in helping you out, but sadly that's just life, and he's under no obligation to.

yatinsardana wrote: »

I'm still negotiating with him and the argent but if they don't agree, I think I'll be asking him to take the last 900 for my rent off the deposit. If he needs to take anything from the deposit in terms of damage or cleaning the apartment, he could provide me with the receipt and I'll pay for it.

I'm not sure why you think you're entitled to do this. The deposit is there as a deposit for repairs etc not for you to unilaterally decide to be used in lieu of rent.

If a tenant of mine unilaterally told me they cba paying me the rent they owe at the end of a tenancy and to "just take it off the deposit" (which creates a lot of hassle for the landlord, as the deposit is protected he can't just unilaterally keep it for this) my response would be the deposit being returned in full to the tenant barring any damage deductions etc followed swiftly by a small claims court summons for the unpaid rent, as the landlord has absolutely no guarantee that you won't just turn round and dispute the reduction to cover rent with the protection scheme, and then not pay for any actual damages.