Issue with a tenant ending their lease

jthd75

Hi there

I need some advice.
I have an estate agent who deals with leasing my property.
I have had a tenant in my flat for two years. They are due to give two months notice when they want to leave

They left last week and the estate agent knew nothing about it.
After a fight we have found out that the tenant gave notice by email two months ago That went into the estate agents junk mail

We are not happy as one we don't believe the tenant gave proper notice & two the estate agent is incompetent.
We think we are still due two months rent but need some advice

We are based in Scotland

Thanks

pmlindyloo

The first thing is to check the tenancy agreement and see what it actually says about serving notice. eg. does it set out the information required by the tenant to end the tenancy? Does it give an address to where the notice should be sent? Etc etc

From my reading there seems to be no case law as to whether an electronically sent notice is lawful or not. The information I have read focusses on the correct wording of the notice.

A couple of other things to consider.

Does the LA accept/use themselves, on a regular basis, electronic methods of communication?

There might also be the question of whether the tenant can prove that a notice to quit was sent. They do not have to prove that it has been received.

Of course, logically, someone sending an email should really ask for the receipt of the email to be confirmed.

Not much use to you, sorry, just a few things to consider. The only way you can contest it and seek your two months rent in lieu of notice, is to write to the tenants /take them to court. Whether you would win or not I cannot tell.

Perhaps you can come to some agreement with the letting agent as to how you move forward if you do not wish to follow this through with the tenants?

Or, perhaps the wording of the tenancy agreement and/or the answers to the above questions may make clear whose responsibility this is.

Will be interested in other peoples' opinions.

Certainly you need to make sure that the tenancy agreement issued to future tenants makes 'how to serve notice' very clear so this problem doesn't arise again.

Pixie5740

1) What kind of tenancy was is? Assured? Short Assured?

2) When did the tenancy start?

3) What was the length of the tenancy?

4) What does it say in the tenancy agreement regarding ending the tenancy?

5) Where does the 2 months notice come from?

jthd75

this was a year contract but after that year expired the tenant or myself had to give two months notice.
I am not sure the tenant is at fault but I thought there had to be proof that the letting agency received the mail so that they could start to relist it for rent.
I actually believe that the letting agency is liable as there should be a mechanism to check junk mail just incase emails go in there. I know I do and maybe should be chasing them for the lost rental income

Thought please

jamie11

jthd75 wrote: »

this was a year contract but after that year expired the tenant or myself had to give two months notice.
I am not sure the tenant is at fault but I thought there had to be proof that the letting agency received the mail so that they could start to relist it for rent.
I actually believe that the letting agency is liable as there should be a mechanism to check junk mail just incase emails go in there. I know I do and maybe should be chasing them for the lost rental income

Thought please

You're wrong about the notice the tenant must give in an SPT, it needs to be one tenancy period only, you have to give them two tenancy periods via a S21.

You don't say if the tenant owed you rent for the time he was there, if not then you're quite lucky, is there a deposit, is it protected within the 30 days of getting and has the PI been properly served.

You could refuse to accept the notice sent to your agent, if you want tp appear curmudgeonly, but it's not the tenant's fault your agent didn't spot it.

Accept the status quo, your tenant has left. Get the place marketed and relet asap.

Personally I would not attempt to claim against their deposit because they appear to have tried to do things properly.

eta Scottish laws are a bit different, mainly to do with the notice period, but not that different.

jthd75

Sorry Jamie you are wrong
There is a legal binding contract that she signed saying she had to give two months notice.
The issue is more to do with did she give notice correctly
Btw I have spoken to a lawyer who says I have a case either against the tenant or the people managing the property for me

I_have_spoken

TBH in this day and age, persuading the courts that an email is not 'written notice' sounds futile so pursuing the tenant for rent is probably pointless.

The Agent certainly sounds useless, probably best negotiating with them on reducing the fees on the next let.

BitterAndTwisted

The tenant gave notice in good faith. The letting agent is less than useless. I would draw a line under this an engage a decent agent for the next let. I wouldn't give the current agent another penny of my money.

jamie11

jthd75 wrote: »

Sorry Jamie you are wrong
There is a legal binding contract that she signed saying she had to give two months notice.

I don't think I am wrong, your contract cannot override statute, however I'm willing to wait and see if Artfullodger answers, I respect his knowledge of Scottish property law.