afraid landlord will take me to court

meggles88

I did not realise i had resigned into a fixed term tenancy agreement after a rent increase before xmas. The paperwork they sent me was for new tenants and thought it wasnt all relevant as i had been living there for 2 years...

After finding a new house i sent the letting agency over 1 months notice for the old property. The letting agency accepted the notice and it was only on the last day of being in my old place that they contacted me to say the landlord was unhappy as i was still in a fixed term tenancy and they want me to pay for however long the premises was empty. I feel the letting agency should have highlighted this beforehand. My question is should the letting agency be held accountable for the rent after accepting my notice and also should the landlord accept a payment plan as i cannot afford rent on 2 places!!

I dont want to end up with a CCJ as i want to start saving for a morgage

should i offer a payment plan?

Ive looked into whether they adhered to deposit scheme and they have so i cant go down that route.

Ive learnt the hard way to read paperwork!

pyueck

Did you get written acceptance from the agency of the end date? Does it say in you contract that they are the agency? If so insist that the agent agreed to a surrender of the tenancy on behalf of the landlord who based on the contract they act as agent for and that the end of the tenancy will stand.

Did you actually sign this new contract? If you did what were you thinking! Why would you sign a new 12 month contract before reading it!

agrinnall

The LA works for the LL not you so don't expect them to be in any way helpful to you - if they are it's a bonus.

Negotiation is your way forward. Cut out the agent and deal directly with the LL. You may well have to pay rent until new tenants are in place, and the LL's costs for re-letting. Expensive lesson not to sign without knowing what it is you're signing.

pyueck

agrinnall wrote: »

The LA works for the LL not you so don't expect them to be in any way helpful to you - if they are it's a bonus.

Negotiation is your way forward. Cut out the agent and deal directly with the LL. You may well have to pay rent until new tenants are in place, and the LL's costs for re-letting. Expensive lesson not to sign without knowing what it is you're signing.

If contractually the tenant is asked to deal with the agency and they agreed the surrender of the tenancy, then no negotiation is required. Just move out as agreed, if the landlord isn't happy he can take it up with the agency.

martinsurrey

All of my tenancy agreements in the past had the landlords address with some wording along the lines of "by law the landlord must provide an address in England and Wales at which notices may be sent or served on the landlord"

If the OPs contract has that and they DIDNT serve a notice in writing to that address, they haven’t got much of a leg to stand on.

G_M

meggles88 wrote: »

I did not realise i had resigned into a fixed term tenancy agreement after a rent increase before xmas. The paperwork they sent me was for new tenants and thought it wasnt all relevant as i had been living there for 2 years...
So what exactly did you sign? When? Have you a copy? Tell us what it says.

After finding a new house i sent the letting agency over 1 months notice for the old property. The letting agency accepted the notice
'Accepted' how? Did they write to you? Saying what? Phone? Please explain exactly/

and it was only on the last day of being in my old place that they contacted me to say the landlord was unhappy
Just because he is unhappy does not mean you can be taken to court

as i was still in a fixed term tenancy and they want me to pay for however long the premises was empty. I feel the letting agency should have highlighted this beforehand.
Yes. But see Qs above

My question is should the letting agency be held accountable for the rent after accepting my notice and also should the landlord accept a payment plan as i cannot afford rent on 2 places!!
* Who manages the property? LL or agent?
* who do you pay rent to? LL or agent
* what address is on the tenancy agreement "for serving notices?
* where did you serve your notice?

I dont want to end up with a CCJ as i want to start saving for a morgage
you only get a CCJ if a court orders you to pay something AND you still don't pay
should i offer a payment plan?
Not yet - answer the Qs!

Ive looked into whether they adhered to deposit scheme and they have so i cant go down that route.
Are you sure? When you signed this mysterious new contract, did they send you another set of 'Prescribed Information'?
Ive learnt the hard way to read paperwork!

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meggles88

Thank you for all your replies!

1 i re-signed a full tenancy agreement which had a fixed term 6 month term. I overread it unfortunately as a few of the clauses reference deposit and payment dates were for new tenants (silly me)

2. I sent an email and letter to the letting agency as well as the landlord (it transpired the landlord was changing hands as the building had been sold). The letting agent informed me they were no longer the managing agency but couldnt tell me who was! They stated in an email that they would "sort it out for me and to return the keys to them". I believe they are still managing the propertys in the building as they are advertising my property?!

3. The letting agents manage the property, i believe the rent goes to the letting agency also. The address given in the tenacy for serving notice is also the lettingagency. I served notice via email and letter to the letting agency and the person i believed was the landlord. The letting agent did not respond for 3 weeks!

4. Yes they did resend prescribed information

The email from letting agent after asking why i had no contact was as follows:

"The reason for this is because your flat has now been transferred to the new owners, we do not manage this one anymore.

i am sorry if you have not heard from anyone (i still havent heard 3 months later) but someone should have informed you of this.

I still have you on record as leaving on 15.01.15. Please return thr krys to the main lobby and i will arrange for your deposit to be returned"

the same letting agent is still chasing the owned rent so seems to still be managing it to me!!!!!

G_M

answer the Qs!

What is the adress "for serving notices"!!??

Where do you send the ret? You must know!

does the agent manage, or not?

meggles88 wrote: »

Thank you for all your replies!

1 i re-signed a full tenancy agreement which had a fixed term 6 month term. I overread it unfortunately as a few of the clauses reference deposit and payment dates were for new tenants (silly me)

2. I sent an email and letter to the letting agency as well as the landlord (it transpired the landlord was changing hands as the building had been sold). The letting agent informed me they were no longer the managing agency but couldnt tell me who was! They stated in an email that they would "sort it out for me and to return the keys to them". I believe they are still managing the propertys in the building as they are advertising my property?!

3. The letting agents manage the property, i believe the rent goes to the letting agency also. The address given in the tenacy for serving notice is also the lettingagency. I served notice via email and letter to the letting agency and the person i believed was the landlord. The letting agent did not respond for 3 weeks!

4. Yes they did resend prescribed information

The email from letting agent after asking why i had no contact was as follows:

"The reason for this is because your flat has now been transferred to the new owners, we do not manage this one anymore.

i am sorry if you have not heard from anyone (i still havent heard 3 months later) but someone should have informed you of this.

I still have you on record as leaving on 15.01.15. Please return thr krys to the main lobby and i will arrange for your deposit to be returned"

the same letting agent is still chasing the owned rent so seems to still be managing it to me!!!!!

meggles88

G_M wrote: »

answer the Qs!

What is the adress "for serving notices"!!?? the address for serving notice is the letting agent which is where i sent it and emailed them

Where do you send the ret? You must know! the rent is sent to an bank account which i believe belongs to the letting agents

does the agent manage, or not?

if my by manage sort out the paperwork send out billd etc then yes the letting agent manages tge property

if i am able to get out of this as the letting agency accepted the surrender of my tenancy... what sort of things should i say in a direct letter to the landlord.
?

I have a feeling the new owners maybe overseas.....

pyueck

meggles88 wrote: »

if my by manage sort out the paperwork send out billd etc then yes the letting agent manages tge property

if i am able to get out of this as the letting agency accepted the surrender of my tenancy... what sort of things should i say in a direct letter to the landlord.
?

I have a feeling the new owners maybe overseas.....

You are not answering the questions so it is hard to help you.

If the new owners are overseas how about ignore them? Has anybody actually threatened to sue you. If you have an email from the agency which confirms the end of the tenancy (doesn't matter if it changed unless you were informed) I very much doubt a judge will award the landlord damages. If the landlord is not even in the uk do you really think they are going to take you to court, they have just bought a property and it is empty. Why would they sue a tenant that has left the property who was a tenant of the previous landlord. Agencies hate going to court, especially for damages as in this case as they are messy. My advice keep quiet and stop returning emails unless you actually get a court summons. Others may disagree with this but it's what I think.

jayson043

You can agrue the point that the full tenancy agreement contained incorrect information for new tenants and is therefore is not a valid agreement. Due to the incorrect details you made a mistake, signing it. Explain that to them in writing, that you are not bound by the agreement, and that you consider it to be the end of the matter. Off course they may take a different view, leave it to them. You won't get a CCJ if you engage in any legal process and accept any judgement. Don't take the wrong action due to fear of a legal process.