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Question about wording of tenancy agreement

breaking_free
breaking_free Posts: 780 Forumite
Tenth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
edited 21 November 2014 pm30 2:16PM in House buying, renting & selling
Hi all.

In the fixed term tenancy agreement I signed is a very peculiarly worded clause which I can't make head or tail of. I *think* it means that if the rent is 14 days late the landlord can immediately take possession of his property.

Question 1: Does the clause below make sense to you? I have typed it out exactly as it is written in the contract.
Question 2: Can a landlord legally take possession after 14 days of rent arrears?

"If the rent or any instalment or part of it shall be in arrears for at least 14 days after it has become due (whether legally demanded or not), or if there shall be a breach by the tenant of the obligations, agreements or conditions on his part contained in this agreement, the landlord may re-enter the premises and immediately the tenancy shall absolutely determine without prejudice to the other rights and remedies of the landlord."

Thanks in advance for any advice.
"The problem with Internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864
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Comments

  • mrginge
    mrginge Posts: 4,843 Forumite
    edited 21 November 2014 pm30 2:33PM
    That's a quality piece of work.
    Put me down in the totally-unenforceable-garbage group.

    To add... Your problem comes if the LL believes it to be valid and tries to act on it.
  • What Mrginge said.
    If your landlord tries to pull anything like that off he will be breaking the law.
  • breaking_free
    breaking_free Posts: 780 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 21 November 2014 pm30 2:40PM
    Thanks very much.

    I've read it several times and can only put it down to a very bad cut and paste job that the landlord attempted to edit in some fashion before inserting it into the tenancy agreement.

    So, can anyone have a guess as to what it actually means? Just for my own curiosity...

    I'm assuming that a nonsense clause like this doesn't actually invalidate the rest of the contract does it? Presumably the rest of the contract stands, and just this clause would be deemed unenforceable (if anybody can actually figure out what it is supposed to be enforcing!).
    "The problem with Internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864
  • bris
    bris Posts: 10,548 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    The scary part is he probably believes he could legally do that, he will learn the hard way one day.


    Well what he thinks it means is that if your over 14 days late he can walk into your home and through you out there and then, which is the scary part.
  • As the others have said, completely unenforceable. To get you out the landlord will need a court order and the earliest he would be able to begin proceedings would be 14 days after you fell 2 months into arrears (after giving you a section 8 notice).

    The question really is whether or not you bring this up now or just sign it and move in.

    If you query it the landlord may well start to question if you are planning to get into arrears and withdraw from the proposed tenancy.
  • mrginge wrote: »
    That's a quality piece of work.
    Put me down in the totally-unenforceable-garbage group.

    To add... Your problem comes if the LL believes it to be valid and tries to act on it.

    Not so.
    This is a standard clause, called a "proviso for re-entry".

    It is valid and enforceable, but only in very specific circumstances (as you say, hopefully the landlord is aware of that...)
    In general, an AST tenant can just ignore it.
  • JJlandlord, it doesn't even make sense as it's so poorly worded. How can it be enforceable when it's unintelligible?
    "The problem with Internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864
  • Pixie5740
    Pixie5740 Posts: 14,515 Forumite
    10,000 Posts Eighth Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    It sounds a bit like my last tenancy agreement. It had a similar clause in it. I have no idea if it was enforceable under any circumstances (this was a Short Assured Tenancy in Scotland that was actually an Assured Tenancy) but it was a bit of a moot point since I never paid my rent late. Like most things in that particular tenancy agreement the best use of the document was probably as toilet paper.
  • JJlandlord, it doesn't even make sense as it's so poorly worded. How can it be enforceable when it's unintelligible?

    You may not be familiar with "legalese" but that does not mean that it is poorly worded. IMHO it is quite clearly worded.

    In fact, as said, the wording is fairly standard, and was certainly not drafted by the landlord.
  • Hi jjlandlord. I've read your advice on other threads and agree with your strapline - harsh but fair.

    As I don't understand what it means would you please explain it to me. I'm genuinely baffled by this clause.

    For example, "... the tenancy shall absolutely determine without prejudice to the other rights and remedies of the landlord."

    The tenancy shall absolutely determine what?
    "The problem with Internet quotes is that you can't always depend on their accuracy" - Abraham Lincoln, 1864
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