Agency Threatening Me - Section 8

dranzer01

Hi,

Long story short -

i was in a SHORT TERM CONTRACT for 3 months from NOVEMBER 16 - FEBRUARY 17

(Those months have been paid for, thats all done) -

I was made redundant from my then company - so i informed the agency 'my circumstances have changed, can i do a rolling monthly thing, as that would be easier for me, rather signing a new contract for another 3 months/6 months/12 months etc -

Agency said yeah ok we can do that (THEY DIDNT RE-SEND ME A NEW CONTRACT ON THIS BASIS) - so its effectively, word of mouth/via trust/good will -

from around early march till recently, they realised that they hadnt collected around 2/3 months worth of rent from me, so they sent me a text first saying 'weve realised you havent paid 3 months worth of rent.... when would i be able to clear this' -

of course back then i was panicking and i said i can probably up my payment to you guys a month here and there to clear it -


Only now have i realised that effectively from the end of february, i have not been IN CONTRACT with this agency, so therefore they cannot request or demand money from me 'im effectively a squatter?'

They are now saying legal this legal that, small claims court this, CCJ that....


now can someone with experience in this tell me if i have a leg to stand on? which cases/torts/clauses i can quote to these guys?

(To confirm, they did not send me a new contract to sign when my old contract expired in february 2017)

My friend also told me that monthly contracts DO NOT EXIST?

If all this is the case, then the agency is just going by good will/trust that i pay the rent every month....?


Any help would be much appreciated!!

Pixie5740

The letting agent aren't required to send new paperwork when a tenancy becomes periodic. Your tenancy continues on either a statutory or contractual basis on the same terms as your original fixed term contract.

If your original contract says you've to pay £X on the Yth of every month then that's what you should pay and when you should pay it. Not as and when. If you are in arrears then you can be taken to small claims court and if you don't pay a CCJ can be awarded against you.

I would not take further advice from your friend on this because (s)he is wrong. Periodic Tenancies do exist. As a tenant you cannot be a squatter and you do have to pay the rent or face being taken to court.

Read G_M's guide to Ending/renewing an AST which covers what happens at the end of a fixed term, what is a periodic tenancy and how can a tenancy be ended.

anselld

At the and of the fixed term the contract legally moves to a periodic tenancy on the same terms. (I thought that is what you wanted).

So yes, you already have a written legal contract and it is your responsibility to pay rent due under the contract.

What have you done with the rent money? Suggest you pay it over now otherwise you will face eviction plus the extra court costs involved.

AnotherJoe

The agency is correct and you /your friend are completely wrong and all the stuff you've imagined about not being informed, no new contract, therefore don't have an obligation to pay rent is just that, imagination.

You should have started paying rent monthly when the three month period came to an end and you still owe it backdated to that period.

00ec25

sympathetic to your redundancy and the problems you must have faced since then but, as others have already said, the bulk of your post is rubbish

1. you do have a written contract, it has carried on as originally written, except without a fixed term, because it is now a statutory periodic tenancy

2. you remain a tenant, not a squatter. You are obligated under contract to pay the rent as states in the contract.

3. the agency can "get legal" using section 8 because that is precisely the position you are in - you owe rent and a S8 notice is the correct legal process to start to deal with that

4. stop listening to your friend as they know nothing and their "advice" is going to make your situation considerably worse

AdrianC

You were short of money - yet apparently didn't notice your rent wasn't being taken, and just spent it?

00ec25

AdrianC wrote: »

You were short of money - yet apparently didn't notice your rent wasn't being taken, and just spent it?

that is unfair. Have you ever been made redundant? Not everyone gets huge pay offs. As Op stated, he was panicking, hardly surprising that the rent got spent if, like the majority of the UK populace he does not have adequate savings as a fall back.

I am not condoning his head in the sand attitude, but neither do I think your post is appropriate to the circumstances.

Ozzuk

00ec25 wrote: »

that is unfair. Have you ever been made redundant? Not everyone gets huge pay offs. As Op stated, he was panicking, hardly surprising that the rent got spent if, like the majority of the UK populace he does not have adequate savings as a fall back.

I am not condoning his head in the sand attitude, but neither do I think your post is appropriate to the circumstances.

It's not really unfair, every bit of advice I've seen on landlord/agency disputes says don't stop paying rent as it puts you in a really weak position and its much easier to evict. It's highly unlikely the OP didn't know they hadn't paid rent (but not impossible).

00ec25

Ozzuk wrote: »

It's not really unfair, every bit of advice I've seen on landlord/agency disputes says don't stop paying rent as it puts you in a really weak position and its much easier to evict. It's highly unlikely the OP didn't know they hadn't paid rent (but not impossible).

you miss the point. What you say is of course valid, but if you are redundant, have no pay-off, have negligible savings, and yet still have to eat, you will find that most people do not prioritise the rent

go talk to any Citizens Advice person about the cases they deal with

Guest101

00ec25 wrote: »

you miss the point. What you say is of course valid, but if you are redundant, have no pay-off, have negligible savings, and yet still have to eat, you will find that most people do not prioritise the rent

go talk to any Citizens Advice person about the cases they deal with

You would however apply for benefits, seek new employment and frankly prioritise rent over everything else bar food.

bob_bank_spanker

Guest101 wrote: »

You would however apply for benefits, seek new employment and frankly prioritise rent over everything else bar food.

That is in the perfect world of the internet.


In the real world, every client I have who has gotten into difficulty has prioritised school fees over rent/mortgage. It's not correct, but it is what it is.