Landlord Help required

tranmereforever

Hello all,

a friend of mine is a landlord and has just had tenants for the last year, he used a letting agent to get them

Since they have moved out he has got there deposits from the letting agency but has since found out that they owe money on bills/rent ( not sure how he could have missed a rent payment to be honest) and council tax as well

The tenants have been advised by the letting agent that the landlord taking the deposits off them is a comfirmation that the tenants had paid everything up to date and it was the landlords responsibility to check this

is this true or can he sue them still to reclaim the money?

kitchen_buff

As I am a Tranmere fan and an ex ball boy there I am delighted to reply to this. The agents need to share the blame for this, how can they not have the rent without the agents not knowing.(was the agent smith and sons)
Make an appointment with a senior partner for the letting agency and take all correspondence with you, write down your demands and what you are prepared to except as a settlement, as this was partly their fault. You should not have taken back the deposits. It is obvious that the tennants knew this would happen as they have probably done it before.

tranmereforever

sorry it wasent actually for me but for a friend of mine, im actually having problems of my own with renting and my landlord ( theres a post about it on here)

Rent aside does that mean that all bills etc that they havent paid are now the responsibility of the landlord?

mark

and top of the league, long may it continue!, unfortunatly due to being a london exile I dont get to many games now but I really hope we do it this year

kitchen_buff

When I was typing the reply I could not remember if it said you or a friend.
I think this will probably be the case. Unfortunately a lesson learned, sorry.

P.S My grandad was head scout for rovers in the seventies and early eighties. I met Shanks there a few times, this was when Jonny king was manager first time round. Ball boyed behind Ray clemences goal when they played liverpool in league cup

RabbitMad

Surely the Bills are the tenants problem unless they were in your friends name. When my tenants moved out I took meter readings and phone the utility companies and told them that I was responbsible from x date and these were the meter readings.

As for the rent, what type of contract did he have with the EA? Were they supposed to collect the rent for the LL, deduct their fee and then pass it on or some other arrangement?

Debt_Free_Chick

tranmereforever wrote: »

Rent aside does that mean that all bills etc that they havent paid are now the responsibility of the landlord?

As Rabbitmad said - presumably the bills were in the tenants' names so it's nothing to do with him. But he should get meter readings and contact the Council re the CT, confirming the date the tenants moved out.

Did he not get a forwarding address for them? There will always be unpaid bills - you can't order an electric bill in advance, for delivery on the day you move out for example.

He should request the unpaid rent in writing from them (assuming he has contact details). Send a reminder with a statement that he intends to pursue through the County Court if they don't pay and then, if still unpaid, register a claim using Money Claim online

Whether the letting agents have any responsibility here depends on the contract the LL has with them. Are they paid simply to find a tenant? Or to manage the tenancy agreement on behalf of the LL?

Does he (LL) still have the deposits then?

tranmereforever

yes he does have the deposits still, I think the tenants are claiming it back and arguing that the letting agents have given them a letter of the agreement which states that the landlord has requested the deposits back on the basis that all bills and rent are up to date on the property

I will try and find some more details from him tonight, to be honest it does sound like hes been quite careless on his part

Debt_Free_Chick

tranmereforever wrote: »

yes he does have the deposits still, I think the tenants are claiming it back and arguing that the letting agents have given them a letter of the agreement which states that the landlord has requested the deposits back on the basis that all bills and rent are up to date on the property

I will try and find some more details from him tonight, to be honest it does sound like hes been quite careless on his part

Get him to read his own tenancy agreement. usually, a deposit it held as security against any damage done to the property. No damage - then the deposit must be returned in full as he has no right to retain it.

If the ex-tenants agree, he could deduct unpaid rent from the deposit. But they must agree - each tenant listed on the agreement must agree - in writing.

He should send on the unpaid bills too

tranmereforever

if his agreement (i will ask to see it) states though that all bills/rent are up to date if the deposit is taken back does that mean he cannot claim it back afterwards?

RabbitMad

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Get him to read his own tenancy agreement. usually, a deposit it held as security against any damage done to the property. No damage - then the deposit must be returned in full as he has no right to retain it.

If the ex-tenants agree, he could deduct unpaid rent from the deposit. But they must agree - each tenant listed on the agreement must agree - in writing.

The tenants only recourse though is to take him to the small claims court and if there is rent outstanding the LL could make a counter claim for this. I don't think the Judge would look favourably on a tenant sueing for the return of the deposit if the rent hadn't been paid.

Is he sure that all the rent wasn't paid? Can he prove it wasn't paid by the tenant? What if the tenant paid it to the LA but they didn't pass it on to the LL?

CIS

As long as council ahs been notified that the tenaats had the property and the period they held the tenancy for them there will be no issues over the Council Tax with regards to the landlord owing anything.