Letting agent refusing to let me have a landlord signed copy

cannalucente

Hi All,
hope you can help me here.
I have signed a contract for a property where I will move mid-September. I have paid agent's fees, 6 weeks deposit an 1 month advance rent.
Today I asked the letting agent to let me have the copy of the contract countersigned by the landlord. The agent said they cannot as the contract will only become binding on the day I move in the property.
I have asked what happens if the landlord pulls out the day before and I have been told the landlord will refund what I have paid so far and nothing more.
If instead I pull out, I am going to lose my deposit.
Is this common practice? If the landlord pulls out I will be homeless. Are they really not bound by the contract while I am? Or better, why can they pull out anytime without consequences while, if I do, I am going to lose my money?

Thanks for your help.

Max

Guest101

cannalucente wrote: »

Hi All,
hope you can help me here.
I have signed a contract for a property where I will move mid-September. I have paid agent's fees, 6 weeks deposit an 1 month advance rent.
Today I asked the letting agent to let me have the copy of the contract countersigned by the landlord. The agent said they cannot as the contract will only become binding on the day I move in the property. - Incorrect - the contract is binding once you sign it. The TENANCY will begin on the day you receive keys / take possession.
I have asked what happens if the landlord pulls out the day before and I have been told the landlord will refund what I have paid so far and nothing more. - Well that may be the voluntary payment, but it would be a breach of contract and you could sue for additional costs
If instead I pull out, I am going to lose my deposit. - Incorrect, unless that was stated in T&Cs; however the LL could sue you for his or her additional costs)
Is this common practice? If the landlord pulls out I will be homeless. Are they really not bound by the contract while I am? Or better, why can they pull out anytime without consequences while, if I do, I am going to lose my money? - as above that is not correct

Thanks for your help.

Max

You don't need a signed copy as the contract is prepared by the LL (or their agent on their behalf) and as such is deemed accepted - unless you make changes to the contract.


Often the LA will sign on behalf of the LL, but it's not necessary in the legal sense. They cant claim they didn't agree to the terms they themselves presented.

saajan_12

You can pre sign a contract to be binding in the future, but this would need to be mentioned on the contract otherwise it would be binding as soon as it is fully executed and signed by default. Did it mention anything?

A contract has to be binding on both parties at the same time though, otherwise both parties aren't giving up something.

Case 1) If it is only binding on the tenancy start date, then any rent / security deposit etc is part of that contract and should also be refunded. Holding deposits woudl depend on the circumstances and agreement when that was paid.

Case 2) If it is binding now, then you must pay all the rent for the fixed term at least (as specified in the contract) and the LL must provide accommodation or compensate your damages to rent elsewhere, extra moving / hotel costs etc as appropriate, depending on how much notice you had etc.

Note a tenancy only starts when you move in (so some of the landlord responsibilities only kick in then, it isn't considered criminal eviction iif they never give you access for example) but that doesn't mean a contract isn't binding before that, enforceable by civil law (i.e. you get money damages). Perhaps that is what the agent is thinking?

G_M

Guest101 wrote: »

You don't need a signed copy as the contract is prepared by the LL (or their agent on their behalf) and as such is deemed accepted - unless you make changes to the contract.


Often the LA will sign on behalf of the LL, but it's not necessary in the legal sense. They cant claim they didn't agree to the terms they themselves presented.

Are you sure guest? Don't suppose you have a reference by any chance (contract/common law, precedent)?

You may well be right, but as a LL I always sign as well as the tenant (and yes, of course that can create a binding contract in advance of the tenancy start date).

In OP's position, I'd want the agent's signature on the contract too. Agent seems to want his cake and eat it (but no tea!).

Guest101

G_M wrote: »

Are you sure guest? Don't suppose you have a reference by any chance (contract/common law, precedent)?

You may well be right, but as a LL I always sign as well as the tenant (and yes, of course that can create a binding contract in advance of the tenancy start date).

In OP's position, I'd want the agent's signature on the contract too. Agent seems to want his cake and eat it (but no tea!).

I'll try find it


In essence I believe it came down to the "offer and acceptance" aspect of contract law. I agree it's sensible for all parties to sign. The fact the contract was offered under the terms presented by the LL, even if via the agent, would make it difficult to argue the LL hadn't agreed to the terms.

saajan_12

Guest101 wrote: »

I'll try find it

In essence I believe it came down to the "offer and acceptance" aspect of contract law. I agree it's sensible for all parties to sign. The fact the contract was offered under the terms presented by the LL, even if via the agent, would make it difficult to argue the LL hadn't agreed to the terms.

I'm not convinced.. a contract could be given as a sample contract for a prospective tenant to read so that any clarifications / changes can be ironed out while reference checks are progressing.
- If the checks or other negotiations throw up an issue, the LL might choose to rent to someone else before fully agreeing with the first person (and return deposit).
- Or they may change the rent payment terms to be paid upfront for example.
- or..

Bit of a loose analogy but..
The same way that a shop advertises a price on the shelf, the customer comes to the checkout to buy, doesn't mean the shop is bound to that price even though the shop presented it. The offer and acceptance happen at the till.

The contract is part of the advertised conditions, only binding once signed.

Guest101

saajan_12 wrote: »

I'm not convinced.. a contract could be given as a sample contract for a prospective tenant to read so that any clarifications / changes can be ironed out while reference checks are progressing. - At that point neither money would have been taken, nor details entered (name, address etc.)
- If the checks or other negotiations throw up an issue, the LL might choose to rent to someone else before fully agreeing with the first person (and return deposit). - That's unfortunate. Don't take payment until you have completed checks
- Or they may change the rent payment terms to be paid upfront for example. - Again, don't take payment until you have this confirmed
- or..

Bit of a loose analogy but..
The same way that a shop advertises a price on the shelf, the customer comes to the checkout to buy, doesn't mean the shop is bound to that price even though the shop presented it. The offer and acceptance happen at the till. - Indeed. But the shop cant say it's 10p more AFTER you've paid.

The contract is part of the advertised conditions, only binding once signed.

OR once payment has been made.

cannalucente

Hi All and thanks for all the replies.
Let me add a couple of bits.
The contract I have signed is "Assured shorthold tenancy agreement".
in section 1.1 it reads:

"Insert here, (only after this agreement has been signed by, or on behalf
of, both parties) the binding DATE of this contract"

At the moment this is blank as the letting agent is still processing the contract.
At the bottom there is a section "Signature of the parties" which reads:

"7. SIGNATURES of the PARTIES (ISSUE 5)
IMPORTANT Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013
The Tenant agrees to waive any right the Tenant has to cancel this Agreement within the 14 working days cooling off period
commencing from the date of this Agreement and allowed under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.
BY SIGNING THIS AGREEMENT ALL PARTIES HAVE AGREED TO ADHERE TO THEIR OBLIGATIONS AS MENTIONED IN THIS AGREEMENT AND THE SPECIAL CLAUSES INDIVIDUALLY NEGOTIATED BETWEEN THE PARTIES AS SET OUT PAGE 12"

This section is currently signed by me alone.

Finally, at the bottom there is a section "Prescribed information for Assured Shorthold Tenancies" which reads

"CONFIRMATION
The landlord certifies and confirms that:
· the information provided is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge and belief and
· I/we have given the tenant the opportunity to sign this document by way of confirmation that the information is accurate to the best of the tenant's knowledge and belief.
The tenant confirms that:
· I/we have been given the opportunity to read the information provided and
· I/we sign this document to confirm that the information is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge and belief."

This last section is signed both by myself and the landlord.

I do not have the landlord signature in "Signature of the parties".

@saajan_12: this does not look to me as a sample contract, I have received it via docusign and I have been asked to sign it (and to pay deposit etc.).

What I do not understand is why the LL can pull out without having to refund me any damages, whereas I would lose my deposit. I have explicitly asked this question to the letting agent "What happens if the day of the move and I am there with my stuff and the LL tells me that they have changed their mind?" and they said "This is quite uncommon but could happen. They would refund what you have paid and that's it".

This sounds quite scary to me. Can I not really claim damages should this be happening? How can only one of the two parties be bound to the contract and the other is not?

Please let me know if there is something that I should specifically check in the contract.

Thanks again to everyone for helping me.

Max

cannalucente

Guest101 wrote: »

OR once payment has been made.

I have received confirmation of the successful completion of the background checks for me and my wife. And only at that point I have paid (the invoice received from the letting agent containing all the details, i.e. Deposit held, first month rent, referencing fee and tenancy administration fee).

I am really struggling to see how could a LL pull out after all this and me being powerless to do anything to protect me.

Thanks.

Max

Guest101

cannalucente wrote: »

I have received confirmation of the successful completion of the background checks for me and my wife. And only at that point I have paid (the invoice received from the letting agent containing all the details, i.e. Deposit held, first month rent, referencing fee and tenancy administration fee).

I am really struggling to see how could a LL pull out after all this and me being powerless to do anything to protect me.

Thanks.

Max

As I said, it's not that simple. Just because a piece of paper says that, doesn't make it true

cannalucente

Guest101 wrote: »

As I said, it's not that simple. Just because a piece of paper says that, doesn't make it true

Thanks Guest101. I see what you mean.
If you were in my shoes, what would you do should anything like this happen? Or what could I do to protect me from such eventuality (except of extending my current tenancy).

Thanks.

Max