(Student Housing) Considering stopping paying my rent due to issues. Consequences?

Anonymous44

Hi,


I am currently renting a Student House with 4 friends. We have separate contracts and guarantors so I am under the apprehension that any decision I make will not effect them.


Basically ever since I moved, I've had issues with the house. For instance: My room has been mouldy/damp. My curtains had severe mould/damp. The house in general was not cleaned since the previous tenants. And the upstairs communal room had been converted into a bedroom half way through our tenancy agreement which surely is also a breach of contract?


I'm basically torn between two choices and would like some advice.


Choice One - I complete my tenancy agreement and then submit a letter to my landlord highlighting the issues and request some money back. (Such as the first 2 months rent back while all the issues were being solved). However, my concern with this method would be that he can simply say no and then I would have to take him to a small claims court which is stressful/costly/risky.


Choice Two - I don't pay my final 3/4 months rent as I will be leaving the house early to return back home (200 miles away) anyway. I could then submit the letter saying these are the reasons why and if you wish to take me to court I will defend it with this. The concern I have with this method is that if my landlord took me to court I may well lose and be in a worse position? - However, I have a guarantor (my Dad) so would they chase him for it/take him to court instead? - If this was the case it would be fine because he's a retired pensioner who has no assets or money so it would be declared unobtainable anyway?


Any advice on this would be amazing.


Thanks.

anselld

Have you ever opened the windows/curtains?
Have you reported the issues? In writing?
Have you invited the Council to inspect for any potential breaches of HMO management regulations?
Have you asked your dad if he is happy to be taken to Court?

There are a lot more sensible steps before even considering not paying rent!

p00hsticks

Anonymous44 wrote: »

However, I have a guarantor (my Dad) so would they chase him for it/take him to court instead? - If this was the case it would be fine because he's a retired pensioner who has no assets or money so it would be declared unobtainable anyway?

So you'd be perfectly happy for your father to be dragged through a court process (which you yourself describe as "stressful/costly/risky") ? Is he also OK with this possibility ?
It's not something I'd want to put my parent through....

Anonymous44 wrote: »

Choice One - I complete my tenancy agreement and then submit a letter to my landlord highlighting the issues and request some money back.

Why are you waiting until the end of the tenancy ?
If you have issues, you should be reporting them in writing to the landlord as soon as they occur and giving them a chance to rectify them...

Keeping quiet about them and then withholding rent is not the way to go....

moneyistooshorttomention

I'd never live it down if I had ever put a parent of mine through the court process of them being "grabbed for" because of being a guarantor of mine. They would be livid - and understandably so.

He's only been a guarantor for you because it's a necessary formality to go through to get the tenancy - NOT because he actually expected to have to be involved in YOUR tenancy iyswim.

ViolaLass

Do you want money back or do you want the problems fixed?

[Deleted User]

I am afraid before taking you to court, your father would be approached for the unpaid rent, regardless of your reasons for not paying it.

However, the reasons given, while very unpleasant, are not enough to warrant not paying rent. You can clean with bleach, you can get a dehumidifier, you can open windows. As others have asked, did you complain at the time in writing to the LL about the problems you have mentioned? Have you complained to Environmental Health. You could do this and hope if you make a nuisance enough of yourself, the LL agrees to allow you to leave early but don't hold your breath for this. Environmental health can quite often take weeks or months to act, unfortunately.

Did you rent through the university? If they have a rent office, they might be able to help negotiate or get the repair done. But I'm afraid a LL will often blame the tenants for damp.

While you may have seperate 'contracts' and guarantors please check the wording as see if the words 'severely liable' are present. This would mean that not only your father, but the other tenants and their guarantors could be approached for the unpaid rent.

Don't assume that because your dad is a pensioner, he won't be taken to court. He will be. Whether he can pay will be dealt with after a judgment has been made. It must have been decided at the time he signed to be a guarantor that he had the resources to be a guarantor. Please don't do this to him.

wannabe_sybil

I'm glad I'm not your father.

I would be incandescent if bailiffs turned up at my door due to my child's poor management of these issues.

HouseBuyer77

If this was the case it would be fine because he's a retired pensioner who has no assets or money so it would be declared unobtainable anyway?

He must have something otherwise they wouldn't have let him be a guarantor. You say he has a pension? That's income they could take money from monthly until the debt is paid.

I could then submit the letter saying these are the reasons why and if you wish to take me to court I will defend it with this. The concern I have with this method is that if my landlord took me to court I may well lose and be in a worse position?

You will almost certainly loose as you definitely didn't pay the rent and that's definitely a breach of the tenancy agreement.

As above what action have you taken already? If you want money back off your LL ultimately you will have to take him to court for the court to decide whether or not he breached the agreement and/or he owes you money/compensation.

If instead you withhold the money you legally owe him, then the court will definitely find you breached the agreement. Perhaps they'll decide he also breached the agreement and hence you don't owe him that rent any more but that's a risky, remote, possibility.

Look at it this way if you pay him rent then he has no come back on you whatsoever, all the power lies with you, if you don't pay him rent he does and it gets a lot more complicated.

csgohan4

Anonymous44 wrote: »

Hi,

My room has been mouldy/damp. My curtains had severe mould/damp. - What have done about it? Opened windows? Don't dry your clothes in your room?

The house in general was not cleaned since the previous tenants. -errm just because your a student doesn't mean you don't clean up. Whether it was clean prior to the prev tenants goes only matters on checking out not while your living in it.

And the upstairs communal room had been converted into a bedroom half way through our tenancy agreement which surely is also a breach of contract? - What does it say in your contract? Have you read it?


I'm basically torn between two choices and would like some advice.


Choice One - I complete my tenancy agreement and then submit a letter to my landlord highlighting the issues and request some money back. (Such as the first 2 months rent back while all the issues were being solved). However, my concern with this method would be that he can simply say no and then I would have to take him to a small claims court which is stressful/costly/risky. - take him to court for what? He will more likely be able to claim costs from you for growing magic mushrooms and keeping the place a mess


Choice Two - I don't pay my final 3/4 months rent as I will be leaving the house early to return back home (200 miles away) anyway. I could then submit the letter saying these are the reasons why and if you wish to take me to court I will defend it with this. The concern I have with this method is that if my landlord took me to court I may well lose and be in a worse position? - However, I have a guarantor (my Dad) so would they chase him for it/take him to court instead? - If this was the case it would be fine because he's a retired pensioner who has no assets or money so it would be declared unobtainable anyway?
- So your dad put his name forward as a guarantor as a goodwill for being your father and you turn around and screw him over lol.

You do know he has a pension and Bailiffs could sell the stuff he has at home.

Worse for you, you could have a CCJ on your credit file for unpaid rent and this could affect you getting credit for at least 6 years


Any advice on this would be amazing.


Thanks.

What a great Anonymous child you turned out to be, back stabbing your father and not taking on your responsbilities

pmlindyloo

Gosh, some harsh responses.

It is very important that, at this stage, you do not consider withholding your rent.

There is a procedure that you need to follow as regards getting a landlord to carry out repairs which you should follow.

See here:

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/repairs_and_bad_conditions/repairs_in_private_lets/landlord_refusing_to_do_repairs

for details.

Damp and mould problems are problematic as many of these arise from tenants not airing their rooms properly and leaving wet clothes to dry in their room and on radiators. If you are absolutely positive that you have done everything you can to prevent this problem then you can follow Shelter's procedure outlined above to report this. Post 6 has some good suggestions.

As regards turning the common room into a bedroom this may be a breach of contract. You could ring Shelter for some advice about this.

You need to do this 'by the book', otherwise your dad will become liable for any unpaid rent.

In the end it may be possible to get some compensation as regards both these issues BUT getting things moving can take months by which time you will have left.

It is very important that you keep evidence that you contacted the letting agent/landlord about the damp problem with pictures of your room. This will then be your evidence when it comes to your leaving so that the LL does not try to deduct money from your deposit.

Your university should be able to assist you with these problems as well.

mumps

Go to your student welfare office if you can't get anything done by the landlord/agent. My daughter had terrible problems with dampness in her student house, eventually the electrics shorted out and fire service attended and told them the house was unsafe and they needed to move out. The following morning they went to agent who refused to do anything, I phoned agent who refused to do anything. I phoned the student welfare office and within two hours the owner was at the house with builders and all problems were corrected. The university will be a massive source of customers to these people and they have quite alot of influence. If the landlord hadn't done anything that day they were going to put everyone in the house into spare room in the uni halls and support them in taking legal action.

Good luck but don't drop your dad in it.