Student Housing Late Rent

gooda002

Hello.

I currently live in student housing through a letting agency, and I have already paid for this months (September) rent in August as per the contract. The rest of the rent payment dates for student tenants are the dates when we get paid by student finance (which happens to be today) so we pay for three months rent upfront every time. They want all rent for the property to come out of one bank account, so all tenants have to transfer their rent into one persons account - which is fine, but obviously it takes a few hours at least for all the transactions to complete and then another transaction is needed to transfer the money into the agencys account.

I have already sent my rent to the tenant who will be paying the one payment, however they are still waiting for the other tenants money to appear in their account.

I received a text saying that a late rent payment will result in a late payment fee - however, as the current month has already been paid for, if the transactions don't go through today (say they go through tomorrow) will we still be charged a late fee as the rent they are waiting on is for october, november and december (so it's in advance)?

I'm just confused as to whether we can be charged a late payment fee for rent that will be paid in advance because the rent wont actually be late until October 1st?

Thanks :beer:

G_M

Are you all on the same 'joint and several' tenancy?

What is the exact wording in the contract in relation to rent, and payment?

How many tenants are involved?

Wht do you mean by 'student accomodation? Is your landlord a university?

(and out of interest, what is the arrangement for utilities?)

Lokolo

If your rent is due today, and you don't pay it today, then yes, it is late.

You should have amended the contract so that the payment dates were student loan dates + 1 week, to stop issues like this.

Do you have a joint contract or individual?

saajan_12

It matters when the rent is due to be paid according to the contract, not what period the rent applies to. So if your contract says you have to pay October (and November and December) rent by 20th Sept, then tomorrow it will be late by 1 day.

What does the contract say?

As for late payment fees, the fee is for 'The Tenants' as a group.. if one of you caused the delay you can agree among you that that person pays the fee (though the LL/agent can demand it from anyone, you then have pay eachother back as agreed)

gooda002

G_M wrote: »

Are you all on the same 'joint and several' tenancy?

What is the exact wording in the contract in relation to rent, and payment?

How many tenants are involved?

Wht do you mean by 'student accomodation? Is your landlord a university?

(and out of interest, what is the arrangement for utilities?)

We are all on a joint conract, yes.

The contract states that it must be a single rent payment, with the reference stating our street name and house number - if a reference is not added to the payment then proof of payment will be needed within 3 working days of the payment date. Penalties will apply to all late rent payments, with an interest rate of 9% above the Bank of England base rate from time to time prevailing on any rent or other money due under the agreement that is still unpaid. Interest applied from date the payment fell due on, calculated at the beginning of every fortnight until the payment is made or £50 flat rate every fortnight (whichever is greater). An additional late charge of £35 will be paid to landlord/agent if late in paying rent which is due on the last day of the month in advance or when specified for students. Charges will also apply for admin costs such as letters which if sent out, will be charged at £35 a letter (post, email or hand delivered).

There are 3 tenants (including myself).

By student accommodation, I mean that the house I am renting a room in was advertised as a student house, I don't rent through the uni but by a letting agency the university promotes.

We chose to have gas, electric and water included in rent.

gooda002

Lokolo wrote: »

If your rent is due today, and you don't pay it today, then yes, it is late.

You should have amended the contract so that the payment dates were student loan dates + 1 week, to stop issues like this.

Do you have a joint contract or individual?

I did query the contract when we went for sign and originally I was told that they understand that they don't all come in on time so not to worry about it as long as it's not, say, a month late but then receiving this message worried me. I also asked if I could pay the rent as 4/4/1 instead of 3/3/3 so I had more money left over from my last student maintenance payment for summer to help with living costs (as this contract ends next June) but they said no to that.

We are on a joint contract I believe.

aneary

I would email them explain the issue and then see what they say now that you have signed the contract, if they are okay then no issue.

If not it may be worth speaking to the university or student uni as the contract seems very unfair especially as the student loans company don't always pay ontime the first payment is often late.

Marvel1

Ok, are you sure the others have sent it to the other account? I assume online banking transfer is instant.

aneary wrote: »

I would email them explain the issue and then see what they say now that you have signed the contract, if they are okay then no issue.

If not it may be worth speaking to the university or student uni as the contract seems very unfair especially as the student loans company don't always pay ontime the first payment is often late.

In going to take a guess and say as it's not written down and contract signed, they will stick to their contract and go with late payment fees. The letting agent knew what they were doing with the dates and see it as extra (easy) £.

gettingtheresometime

Any transfer I've done between bank accounts has practically been instantaneous.

G_M

First off, I doubt they can enforce this 'single payment' clause. Provided they receive the correct rent on the correct dates, and can prove it, you're fine.

So you could all pay separately. But if one of you pays late you'd still have the same 'late payment' issue.

Who owns the account into which you all combine your payments? This is not really relevant to your query, but
a) if it's an account in the name of one of you, that's a lot of trust...... What if he goes off the rails under pressure, uses the cash for.... whatever, and then does a disappearing act? Just saying.....
b) if it's a joint account, that links you all financially. So if one of you has poor credit history it will affect you all eg applying for credit cards, loans, or even potentially a mortgage in 3 years time........

The late payment fee is complex. And possibly not in line with OFT guidelines of 'reasonable'. (though I note that OFT has died!).

Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977

If it were just the 9% over base rate (ie 9.25% at present) that would be fine. I'd tell you to pay whatever money you currently have as they can then only charge for the outstanding amount. Ignore the 'single payment clause. So if £200 was still unpaid, that's £18.50 pa or £0.05 per day, based on 9.25%.

But then there's the sneaky "or £50 flat rate every fortnight (whichever is greater)." I wonder if that's enforceable......?

Discussion on late payment fees here:
https://forums.landlordzone.co.uk/forum/residential-letting-questions/56353-amending-ast-periodic-agreement-re-late-rent-pay-fees/page2