Landlord not returning rent-in-advance payment

rreeve

When I first moved into my flat my landlord INSISTED there was no deposit but instead I had to pay one months rent in lieu of notice and then another months-rent in advance.
I have been in the flat for almost a year after the initial tenancy expired after 6months and then went onto a rolling month-by-month tenancy.
At the end of January, I gave 1 months notice that I will be moving out on the 1st March.
My landlord then claimed I had rent arrears and that I hadn't paid any rent since November which was untrue. I provided my bank statements to prove I had made the payments. My rent is £560 per month and since I've moved in, I have always paid monthly. My landlord is now telling me for the very first time that my rent should have been paid every 4 weeks, not monthly.
My tenancy supports this as it says £560 PER MONTH.

Anyway, it's become obvious that my landlord is attempting to avoid paying me back my rent-in-advance payment. I am due to move into my new property within the next couple of days but I won't be able to afford the deposit if my current landlord doesn't pay back my rent-in-advance.

When I first moved in, he said the money would be returned to me at the end of my tenancy. Now he is clearly not sticking to that.

I've communicated to him that it will be impossible for me to move out if he doesn't return that money.

As he is saying my rent was due every 4 weeks, he is looking at this as his opportunity to avoid paying back any rent-in-advance. However, even if his claim was correct, which it isn't, he shouldn't be allowed to deduct money from the rent-in-advance because it wasn't a deposit. He Insisted there was no deposit so he didn't have to put the money into an approved bank account.

What advice can you give me?

cooltt

rreeve wrote: »

When I first moved into my flat my landlord INSISTED there was no deposit but instead I had to pay one months rent in lieu of notice and then another months-rent in advance.
I have been in the flat for almost a year after the initial tenancy expired after 6months and then went onto a rolling month-by-month tenancy.
At the end of January, I gave 1 months notice that I will be moving out on the 1st March.
My landlord then claimed I had rent arrears and that I hadn't paid any rent since November which was untrue. I provided my bank statements to prove I had made the payments. My rent is £560 per month and since I've moved in, I have always paid monthly. My landlord is now telling me for the very first time that my rent should have been paid every 4 weeks, not monthly.
My tenancy supports this as it says £560 PER MONTH.

Anyway, it's become obvious that my landlord is attempting to avoid paying me back my rent-in-advance payment. I am due to move into my new property within the next couple of days but I won't be able to afford the deposit if my current landlord doesn't pay back my rent-in-advance.

When I first moved in, he said the money would be returned to me at the end of my tenancy. Now he is clearly not sticking to that.

I've communicated to him that it will be impossible for me to move out if he doesn't return that money.

As he is saying my rent was due every 4 weeks, he is looking at this as his opportunity to avoid paying back any rent-in-advance. However, even if his claim was correct, which it isn't, he shouldn't be allowed to deduct money from the rent-in-advance because it wasn't a deposit. He Insisted there was no deposit so he didn't have to put the money into an approved bank account.

What advice can you give me?

Ok so i'm sure you'll get many replies for this, people simply repeating what others have said and others making the whole situation sound far more complicated than it is.
So I'm going to keep this as short and simple as possible.

Your landlord will have a very difficult time convincing a county court judge that "per month" means (or meant) "every 4 weeks". Even if that was the case then he should have notified you long before now.

The second issue where you really have him by the b*lls is, it is a legal requirement to protect your deposit in a government recognised Deposit Protection Scheme. He has not done that so if you wish to take him to county court on both matters he will absolutely be the loser.

This is where you have to show him you mean business. Fill out a "letter before action", send him a copy and give him a time frame to respond or you will submit it to the county court. Failing to protect a deposit carries a fine of 3 times the amount of the original deposit and that's just for starters.

andrewjb3

"One months' rent in lieu of notice' is (legally) really a deposit, however he describes it. So (assuming you're on an AST) it should have been protected in a scheme. If not, you can sue (and will win) the deposit + 1-3x back. You could point that out to the landlord, and it might suddenly reappear in your account..

Pixie5740

My advice hasn't changed since the last time you posted about this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5604436

ThePants999

A word of caution. Since you have given him notice, your tenancy WILL END at the end of the notice period. If you don't move out at that point, you'll become liable for double rent for the period you remain resident. Your landlord absolutely owes you this money, but you'll need to use the legal system to get it back - don't try to effectively take it back by staying in the property.

G_M

My advice hasn't changed since the last time you posted about this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5604436

rreeve

ThePants999 wrote: »

A word of caution. Since you have given him notice, your tenancy WILL END at the end of the notice period. If you don't move out at that point, you'll become liable for double rent for the period you remain resident. Your landlord absolutely owes you this money, but you'll need to use the legal system to get it back - don't try to effectively take it back by staying in the property.

I have no choice now because my new tenancy won't start without this rent-in-advance returned. I am willing to take the risk because this landlord has forced my hand and made it impossible for me to move out. I will effectively be sleeping on the streets if I leave without this money returned to me.

Marvel1

Pixie5740 wrote: »

My advice hasn't changed since the last time you posted about this:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5604436

I thought it sounded very similar.

Guest101

cooltt wrote: »

Ok so i'm sure you'll get many replies for this, people simply repeating what others have said and others making the whole situation sound far more complicated than it is.
So I'm going to keep this as short and simple as possible.

Your landlord will have a very difficult time convincing a county court judge that "per month" means (or meant) "every 4 weeks". Even if that was the case then he should have notified you long before now.

The second issue where you really have him by the b*lls is, it is a legal requirement to protect your deposit in a government recognised Deposit Protection Scheme. He has not done that so if you wish to take him to county court on both matters he will absolutely be the loser.

This is where you have to show him you mean business. Fill out a "letter before action", send him a copy and give him a time frame to respond or you will submit it to the county court. Failing to protect a deposit carries a fine of 3 times the amount of the original deposit and that's just for starters.

And then you get replies like this that simply don't explain the full situation...


Assuming this is a deposit, and assuming the notice from the tenant was valid - the op would still need to find approx. £600 to take the landlord to court for the failure to protect, where the award is 1-3x the deposit (there is no 'fine')

Guest101

andrewjb3 wrote: »

"One months' rent in lieu of notice' is (legally) really a deposit, however he describes it. So (assuming you're on an AST) it should have been protected in a scheme. If not, you can sue (and will win) the deposit + 1-3x back. You could point that out to the landlord, and it might suddenly reappear in your account..

Not necessarily. First and last months rent is a common and enforceable clause.