Contract terms - they can't take another months rent can they?

Phantele

Short story long (all [sic]):

Rent increase – negotiated, signed new tenancy agreement with 1 month notice clause (from either party) in and now they’re making me pay an extra months rent/taking it from my deposit for no reason.

Important clauses in the contract:

LATE PAYMENT OF RENT
If any Rent shall without prior agreement be in arrears for 7 days after the same shall have become due (whether formally demanded or not) interest at 2% above the base rate of Barclays Bank plc shall be payable by the Tenant

FORFEITURE
If the Rent is at least 21 days overdue (whether formally demanded or not) or if there has been a substantial breach of any of the Tenant’s obligations in the Agreement the Landlord may forfeit the tenancy (i.e. bring it to an end) and recover possession of the Property. The other rights and remedies of the Landlord will remain in force etc….

TERMINATION
The Landlord may give not less than 1 months prior written notice at any time to end this Agreement provided that such notice must expire on the last day of a rental period and must not expire sooner than 1 months from the start of the tenancy.
The Tenant may give not less than 1 months prior written notice at any time to end this agreement provided that such notice must expire on the last day of a rental period and must not expire sooner than 1 months from the start of the tenancy.

NOTICES:
Under section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 the Tenant is hereby notified that tat notices (including notices in proceedings) must be served on the Landlord by the Tenant at the following address:
ADDRESS
If the Tenant serves a notice on the Landlord he must also send a copy to the Landlord’s agent at the following address:
SAME ADDRESS

FEE’S
Renewal fee £125
Late reminder Fee £30
Other, £30 for any other written correspondence (ie) Reference letter etc.

At month 5 of this 6 months I gave notice. My rent is due 28th of the month. 21st August I emailed all 3 members of the agency team with a copy of the letter I had posted. On 23rd August the company signed for the post (I had sent it recorded delivery).

Unfortunately on 28th August the rent payment was unsuccessful (no funds in my bank due to paying new flat fees and the bank didn’t inform me the Standing Order hadn’t gone through.)
4th September email from management agents informing me about missed rent and late payment fee:

Good Morning

In line with your notice your rent was due on 28/08/18 could I ask when you will be making payment?

Please also be aware there will be a £30 charge for late rental payment also with falls I line with your tenancy agreement

Thanks

I raised the issue with the bank and their complaints procedure was much longer than they stated so on 7th September I just paid that rent. Then 7th September I received this email:

Good Afternoon

Please accept this email as a decline for your notice your final payment is due on 28/09 in line with your 6 month contract
As you have also defaulted on august payment you are still entitled to pay

August rent £550 + £30 charge for late payment
September rent £550

In total upto now you are liable to pay £1130 still until your tenancy ends

My response:

Good afternoon.

My notice still stands. It was received and signed for by your company (23rd August) and I never received a response.

The rent was paid this morning prior to me receiving this email. The initial payment defaulted due to a mistake with the bank, which there is an ongoing discussion about.

The £30 is still due.

That will be the final payment.

Please confirm receipt of this email.

And their response:

Unfortunately your notice is still declined

signing for post does not accept a notice you need agreement and in this case you are still in contract and no agreement,

If you wish to vacate early your months rent will be taken out of your deposit as you will be breaking your tenancy agreement,

We still have total outstanding £30 late payment fee plus you will still owe £550 rent for September in line with your tenancy agreement which is a legal binging contract

If you wish to discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact my self on the telephone number below

I said I would reply when I had sought legal advice. CAB reckoned they can’t take the money from my deposit for that reason but didn’t seem very sure. They have 3 months rent as a deposit which is in a custodial scheme.

Any ideas on best ways to go from here?

I need to contact them again anyway to sort out keys etc. I’ve moved out now so just need to clean the flat to hand it back to them.
Thanks! :T

Comms69

It’s difficult to work out the relevant dates; BUT assuming you have served correct notice- that is the end of the matter. Notice does not need acceptance.

Phantele

Thank you!

I've definitely given them notice appropriately, but they didn't respond so I wasn't sure whether there was something in the acceptance bit.

I'll email them saying that and arranging a date for key handover.

Thanks again

Phantele

Just additionally - is there anything legally which says notice does not need to be accepted? Just so I can quote it in my correspondence.

Thanks

Comms69

Phantele wrote: »

Just additionally - is there anything legally which says notice does not need to be accepted? Just so I can quote it in my correspondence.

Thanks

Well aside from anything else you serve notice. Not a request.


Much like you might at work; would you expect your manager to say 'No, you're staying here'.


Or conversely your Landlord serves notice on you, do you think they would accept you declining it?

AndyTails

Comms69 has already given you the correct answer to your question, but as an aside: they are clearly either incompetent or deliberately include unenforceable clauses to scare you.

• They cannot end the tenancy for 21 day late rent. There must be at least two months of rental arrears for that. (Assuming monthly rent anyway. See http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/schedule/2)
• The landlord cannot give you one month's notice, they are required to give you two months' notice. See https://www.gov.uk/private-renting-tenancy-agreements/your-landlord-wants-to-end-your-tenancy

So it's not really surprising that they think they can "reject" your notice, when actually they can't.

---

The only possibility that they might be right about rejecting your notice is if you signed a 6-month fixed term, and the Termination clause is for a following Contractual Periodic Tenancy. As there doesn't seem to be any wording that says the Termination only applies to a CPT, i.e. after the 6 month fix, I don't think they would be successful in arguing that in court.

takman

Phantele wrote: »

Unfortunately on 28th August the rent payment was unsuccessful (no funds in my bank due to paying new flat fees and the bank didn’t inform me the Standing Order hadn’t gone through.)

Phantele wrote: »

Good afternoon.

My notice still stands. It was received and signed for by your company (23rd August) and I never received a response.

The rent was paid this morning prior to me receiving this email. The initial payment defaulted due to a mistake with the bank, which there is an ongoing discussion about.

The £30 is still due.

That will be the final payment.

Please confirm receipt of this email.

Not really relevant to your initial question but how could you not having enough money in your account possibly be the banks fault?

You need to keep an eye on your finances and the bank don't have to inform you when you don't have enough money for a standing order. You need to make sure all payments are made.

Pixie5740

Phantele wrote: »

Rent increase – negotiated, signed new tenancy agreement with 1 month notice clause (from either party) in and now they’re making me pay an extra months rent/taking it from my deposit for no reason.



TERMINATION
The Landlord may give not less than 1 months prior written notice at any time to end this Agreement provided that such notice must expire on the last day of a rental period and must not expire sooner than 1 months from the start of the tenancy.
The Tenant may give not less than 1 months prior written notice at any time to end this agreement provided that such notice must expire on the last day of a rental period and must not expire sooner than 1 months from the start of the tenancy.

Right, so your notice has to align with tenancy periods.

Phantele wrote: »

NOTICES:
Under section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 the Tenant is hereby notified that tat notices (including notices in proceedings) must be served on the Landlord by the Tenant at the following address:
ADDRESS
If the Tenant serves a notice on the Landlord he must also send a copy to the Landlord’s agent at the following address:
SAME ADDRESS

You served notice to address for serving of notices. You posted your notice 21st August and it was served 23rd August.

Phantele wrote: »

At month 5 of this 6 months I gave notice. My rent is due 28th of the month. 21st August I emailed all 3 members of the agency team with a copy of the letter I had posted. On 23rd August the company signed for the post (I had sent it recorded delivery). [

As above your notice was served 23rd August. The date your rent is due is irrelevant it's the date your tenancy started on that is important so what date did your tenancy start on...exact date please!

Phantele wrote: »

Unfortunately on 28th August the rent payment was unsuccessful (no funds in my bank due to paying new flat fees and the bank didn’t inform me the Standing Order hadn’t gone through.)

You pay rent via standing order i.e. you control the payment so the letting agent is not able to take anything.

sheramber

Please accept this email as a decline for your notice your final payment is due on 28/09 in line with your 6 month contract

They seem to saying that the September payment is your 6 month payment, not the August one.

G_M

As others have said, notice does not have to be accepted, but must be served correctly.

The late rent payment is irrelevant to the notice. Pay the rent owed. Ignore the 'refusal to accept notice' - it is meaningless. You've served notice correctly so the tenancy will end provided you vacate in line with the notice.

If the LL makes deductions from the deposit, raise a dispute with the deposit scheme.

Phantele

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

This tenancy started on the 28th April 2018 and states £money per calendar month payable in advance on the 28th day of every moth during the term of the tenancy (so 28th August payment should cover me to 28th Sept??)

It sounds like I thought in that everything is a bit messy, they're not terribly efficient and so are throwing phrases to hope I just pay up. I have paid the rent owed and will raise a dispute with the deposit scheme if it comes to that.

Yeah obviously I should have had money in my account- thanks for that.

Thanks again