Landlord chasing ex-tenants for arrears he says not owed

AdrianC

Who in their right mind shoves an envelope full of cash through a letterbox...?

silvercar

AdrianC wrote: »

Who in their right mind shoves an envelope full of cash through a letterbox...?

I don't think anyone did!

People just claim to have done.

In my mind, the whole story gets thrown into doubt when someone who has being paying rent in a traceable way, suddenly, at a time coincident with planning on moving out, decides to move to an untraceable method. On the balance of probability I would reckon they actually just stopped paying the rent.

ConfusedofYorkshire

It seems bizarre to post cash through a letterbox- who does that? If you're going to pay tent in cash you get a receipt. In fact, if you're going to pay any large sums I cash, get a receipt. I don't see why the court would be leave it. There is no real proof

Nobbie1967

I think the Landlord's side of this is that the tenant stopped paying rent on 1st July, when they also failed to pay on 1st August, the landlord issued a S21 to gain possesion. When set against the tenants version of events, it's pretty easy to see which is more likely and that is the basis on which the court will decide. Your friend sounds a bit thick, so I'd advise him not to lie in court as he will probably get caught out.

Annie1960

Housing_Benefit_Officer wrote: »

How can my friend prove his rent was paid? His mother has bank statements showing sums of £200 and £300 being withdrawn on various dates to a total of £2,800. Would this be sufficient to show a court his rent was paid? Should he get a signed affidavit from his Mother?

I don't see any way your 'friend' can prove his rent was paid, as it seems very unlikely that it was paid.

nids

This smells.

I'd give your 'friend' a headsup that lying to court is very very silly.

TBagpuss

I agree with PPs. If your friend is telling the trusth he behaved in an incredibly foolish way.

Even on his version of events, he did not give valid notice, so he owes rent up to 1st Nov when the Landlord's S21 Notice expired.
He claims he paid up until the end of August so at the very least he owes rent for September and October. There is no rational reason why someone would cancel a standing order and suddenly start sending wads of cash - if you thought you had given notice to leave at the end of August you'd continue to pay to the end of August or (at the earliest) to the end of July if you thought you were entitled to withhold the final month's rent instead of the deposit.

While there are cases iof rent being paid cash in hand these are generally where the landlord insists on it and will not give receipts - this landlord was being paid by standing order and has gone through the correct processes to end the tenancy and recover his rent, so it seem on the face of it unlikely that he would have made difficulties about providing a receipt had be been asked.

Added to which, his mum is hardly an objective or unbiased witness, so I very much doubt that the fact there are two of them will make much difference.

If your friend has any sense he will focus on working out how quickly he can afford to pay off the debt, and ensuring that he has evidence of his income and outgoings to back up any request he may want to make to pay off the debt in installments.

Given on his own telling, he is a liar, has failed to pay at least 2 months rent he owned and is willing to lie and to get his mother to lie to try to avoid paying what he owes, I would, in your position, be reconsidering whether this was someone I wanted to remain friends with

G_M

Best advise you can give your friend is to reach an out of court setlement with the landlord before the court date.

That means paying the rent he owes.

marliepanda

He has absolutely no chance in court.

It all seems very odd, and his mother cannot give notice for him, no more than I can randomly start going into letting agents and giving notice on random peoples tenancies.

AdrianC

I'm still chuckling at the idea of bank statements showing a withdrawal from a cash machine "proving" he paid the rent, tbh.

I took £50 out the other day. Obviously, that proves I lent it to the OP. Can I have it back please, OP? Thanks.