Landlord problem

theoldtrout

Please, please read you tenancy contrct, it's all in there, what she can and can't do. As far as the deposit is concerned, she cannot hold that, it must be held (by law) by company appointed by the government. there are strict rules and regulations as to how and when a deposit is returned or repaid to you.
Go on the web and check it all out.

Learn the rules of the game....everythings a game.....if you don't know the rules you'll always loose!! Martin knows the rules!

sooz

theoldtrout wrote: »

Please, please read you tenancy contrct, it's all in there, what she can and can't do. As far as the deposit is concerned, she cannot hold that, it must be held (by law) by company appointed by the government. there are strict rules and regulations as to how and when a deposit is returned or repaid to you.
Go on the web and check it all out.

Learn the rules of the game....everythings a game.....if you don't know the rules you'll always loose!! Martin knows the rules!

new deposit laws only came into force on 6th April this year. As the OP has been at his current place for nearly a year, his deposit will not be held in a scheme. His next one will, however

olly300

flem007_uk wrote: »

Thanks for your advice. I have contested the charges with the land lord and also expect to move out at the end of next month. This brings me to my next question...
Our rent is approximately £900 a month and the rent for our last month in the property will be due on the 1st of next month. If the landlord is showing no signs of changing their mind about the £800 costs and say they will take it out of our deposit, would I be within my rights to withhold the last months rent, in lieu of this amount? What are the potential implications of this? If it came to court presumably it would be a case of them having to take action against me? Might this call their bluff and make them behave themselves?

It is a breach of contract to withhold your last month's rent however if you feel the landlord is going to be difficult about giving your deposit back i.e. inventing charges/suddenly doing repairs that seem to equal your deposit amount, I would not pay it.

If asked by the LL - don't volunteer the information - I would state I had difficulty paying the last month's rent on time and then not actually pay it. There are plenty of reasonable excuses for example being paid late and not having an overdraft facility. (This has actually happened to me but I paid the LL concerned as soon as I had the money and they were honest with my deposit i.e. they wanted it used as the last month's rent.)

You have to be two month's late paying rent before the landlord can take court action to start eviction proceedings.

If the landlord starts hassling you about paying the rent i.e. leaving lots of phone messages, turning up at the property continually unannouced, not informing you of people coming to look at the property with notice as per your contract, handy man coming round more frequently - you simply tell them in writing (hand deliver AND recorded delivery) you will pay the rent when you get the money and that if they continue to hassle you by their actions, you will report them to the police. Then if it continues go to the local police and report them. You need to be given a crime reference number. Once you get the number inform the landlord you have reported them in writing. (Landlords' tend to leave you alone if you threaten to or do report them to the police for harassment. This doesn't mean they will give you back your deposit as they start to argue that you have been difficult, which is why you need to put things in writing. )

However if you are going to need a reference from the landlord if you are either in dispute with them over the deposit, or have withheld the last months' rent you will not be able to get that reference.

In addition you need to ensure when you move out you don't leave a forwarding address for the landlord as they could take court proceedings against you if they know where you have gone, and also ensure none of your letters get posted there. This means you should start redirecting all your letters to a friends' or relations house now as some companies take over 4 weeks to sort this out. (Doing a redirection twice is less hassle then not getting letters because your landlord has illegally decided to destroy them.)

While there are good landlords out there unfortunately some landlords think the deposit is their money to do with what they want rather then it's intented purpose.

flem007_uk

Thanks you all your advice.

I was thinking about informing the landlord I was going with-hold the rent until the deposit was sorted. I thought this might stand me in better stead if it did ever come to court. Or even better to with-hold specifically the amount I disagreed with and pay the rest.

Or do you think it would be better to keep quiet about not paying the rent?

personally i don't see how not giving a forwarding address would help- surely my landlord would be able to find my new address on 192.com, the electoral roll or even the phone book!

lynzpower

most people go ex-directory, i certainly would!