Letting Agent forced me to give notice and pay beyond my AST fixed term

Pixie5740

Read the Tenancies in England & Wales sticky at the top of the page. You should be able to submit a single claim if the landlord/letting agency fail to respond.

Jskaar

Dear Jskaar,



I can confirm that I have taken into account your request for rent refund as you have previously requested, however, after reviewing your tenancy agreement with our litigators (<Name>) we conclude the following.



The Tenancy agreement was signed between yourself and <agency> and the tenancy agreement is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement approved by the Residential Landlords Association


Although I appreciate the information that you have sought and provided to us, our litigators point out that at best it could be down to interpretation. However, the likes of Citizens Advice Bureau and Shelter only offer guidance on what is practical law.



You have mentioned and provided a link with a quote from the OFT but our records show, and it is clear from the PDF that you supplied, that this Case Study is out of date.


We will could to Unfair Terms which is also obtainable online and you may wish to investigate yourself under the Consumer Protection Act (De-regulation Act October 1st 2017).



Although I have read the guidance from Shelter, to understand what is down to interpretation may I please refer to the Citizens Advice Bureau on ending Fixed Term Tenancies which can be found below where it states:



“Fixed term tenancy

You have to pay your rent until the end of your fixed term. You can only end your tenancy if your agreement says you can or by getting your landlord to agree to end your tenancy.

If your agreement says you can end your tenancy this means you have a ‘break clause’.

Your tenancy agreement will tell you when the break clause can apply. For example your break clause might say you can end your tenancy 6 months after it starts if you give 1 month's notice.

Some break clauses might have other conditions that you have to meet. For example your break clause might say you can’t have rent arrears.”

Quoted from Citizens advice:






May I also refer to guidance from the Landlord Zone which states :



“Tenant’s Notice – Fixed Term Tenancy

At the end of the fixed term the tenancy ends and under statutory rules there is no stipulation that the tenant must give notice. The tenant can leave without giving notice, providing they leave before or on the last day of the tenancy. However, if the contract stipulates a formal notice period then the tenants should comply with this.”

Again a link is included below :







Not withstanding interpretation, we can only act upon what is law and not interpretation. In the case of Residential Lettings, an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement can only be written, as per the prescribed information of your Tenancy Agreement, under Part 1 of the Housing Act 1988. Please may I refer to the Government Website for this Act of Parliament (Law) which clearly states :

“If your tenants want to leave
Tenancies
The tenancy agreement should say how much notice your tenants need to give before they can leave the property.

Tenants are responsible for paying rent for their entire fixed-term tenancy. They can move out early without paying rent for the full tenancy if:

· there is a break clause in their tenancy agreement

· you agree to ending the tenancy early

They can also leave if their tenancy is up after giving their notice (whether it is fixed-term or not).”

A link to this is again below :

May I draw your attention to the last paragraph, they can also leave if their tenancy is up (which is your understanding) but it is stated “after giving their notice (whether it is fixed-term or not).”

As your Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement is clear “the periods of this tenancy will depend on the periods for which you pay rent. You must give at least 4 weeks or a month if you pay rent monthly notice to end it. This notice must end on the last day of a Tenancy Period”. To be clear the notice cannot be provided to end the tenancy early.

Based on the information we have provided along with the provision of Case Law (Housing Act 1988) we cannot offer you a refund on the rent as per your request.



Yours sincerely



<Employee Name>

Comms69

Jskaar wrote: »

Dear Jskaar,



I can confirm that I have taken into account your request for rent refund as you have previously requested, however, after reviewing your tenancy agreement with our litigators (<Name>) we conclude the following.- not a chance that this was a solicitor.



The Tenancy agreement was signed between yourself and <agency> and the tenancy agreement is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement approved by the Residential Landlords Association - irrelevant.


Although I appreciate the information that you have sought and provided to us, our litigators point out that at best it could be down to interpretation. However, the likes of Citizens Advice Bureau and Shelter only offer guidance on what is practical law. - I wonder how they'll respond to a court claim...



You have mentioned and provided a link with a quote from the OFT but our records show, and it is clear from the PDF that you supplied, that this Case Study is out of date. - whilst that's possible; I doubt it's relevant


We will could to Unfair Terms which is also obtainable online and you may wish to investigate yourself under the Consumer Protection Act (De-regulation Act October 1st 2017). - not sure what theyre referring to



Although I have read the guidance from Shelter, to understand what is down to interpretation may I please refer to the Citizens Advice Bureau on ending Fixed Term Tenancies which can be found below where it states:



“Fixed term tenancy

You have to pay your rent until the end of your fixed term. You can only end your tenancy if your agreement says you can or by getting your landlord to agree to end your tenancy.

If your agreement says you can end your tenancy this means you have a ‘break clause’.

Your tenancy agreement will tell you when the break clause can apply. For example your break clause might say you can end your tenancy 6 months after it starts if you give 1 month's notice.

Some break clauses might have other conditions that you have to meet. For example your break clause might say you can’t have rent arrears.” - not sure how that's relevant? That is only to end it early.

Quoted from Citizens advice:






May I also refer to guidance from the Landlord Zone which states :



“Tenant’s Notice – Fixed Term Tenancy

At the end of the fixed term the tenancy ends and under statutory rules there is no stipulation that the tenant must give notice. The tenant can leave without giving notice, providing they leave before or on the last day of the tenancy. However, if the contract stipulates a formal notice period then the tenants should comply with this.” - 'should', not must

Again a link is included below :







Not withstanding interpretation, we can only act upon what is law and not interpretation. - literally law is the interpretation of an act of parliament. They're writing absolute rubbish In the case of Residential Lettings, an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement can only be written, as per the prescribed information of your Tenancy Agreement, under Part 1 of the Housing Act 1988. Please may I refer to the Government Website for this Act of Parliament (Law) which clearly states :

“If your tenants want to leave
Tenancies
The tenancy agreement should say how much notice your tenants need to give before they can leave the property.

Tenants are responsible for paying rent for their entire fixed-term tenancy. They can move out early without paying rent for the full tenancy if:

· there is a break clause in their tenancy agreement

· you agree to ending the tenancy early

They can also leave if their tenancy is up after giving their notice (whether it is fixed-term or not).” - .gov information is wrong, almost always

A link to this is again below :

May I draw your attention to the last paragraph, they can also leave if their tenancy is up (which is your understanding) but it is stated “after giving their notice (whether it is fixed-term or not).”

As your Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement is clear “the periods of this tenancy will depend on the periods for which you pay rent. You must give at least 4 weeks or a month if you pay rent monthly notice to end it. This notice must end on the last day of a Tenancy Period”. To be clear the notice cannot be provided to end the tenancy early. - irrelevant

Based on the information we have provided along with the provision of Case Law (Housing Act 1988) we cannot offer you a refund on the rent as per your request.



Yours sincerely



<Employee Name>

I would reply with:


"I refer you to the reply given in pressdram vs arkell."


Then I would write a letter before action.

DoaM

I believe the respondents in that case were the other way around but I echo the sentiment.

Jskaar

I replied with the following:

I'm not sure what most this is trying to say, especially " Case Law (Housing Act 1988)" - legislation is not case law.

It appears you are refusing to refund the amount wrongly charged; I will now follow up with a complaint to your redress scheme and will soon begin small claims.

This is rather confusing as it was previously stated that your solicitor and office manager agreed with following the contract.

Please do not call me and only communicate via succinctly written emails.

I'll continue updating this thread with updates :P

G_M

The contract law is simple: the contract has a start date and an end date. When the end date arrives the contract ends.

Statute law (which over-rides contract law) permits a tenant to remain in occupation beyond that date, whereupon a Statutory Periodic Tenancy arises. But if as here the tenant leaves, that is irrelevant.

Break Clauses within the contract (see their quote from Shelter above) can allow for either side to end a tenancy before the contract end date, if the proper notice is served - but that does not apply here. The contract was not being ended early so no notice was required to implement a Break Clause.

What may apply here is if there is a clause in the contract requiring notice if the tenant intends to leave at the end of the fixed term. I'm not clear if that exists or not in this case. This would not over-ride the fundamental term of the contract (ie that it ends on xx date), so the tenancy would still end on the contract end date (provided the tenant leaves).


However the landlord could claim damages (not rent) for the failure by the tenant to give notice as agreed in the contract. Any claim by the LL would be for breach of contract rather than ongoing rent under the tenancy.


For example, if the landlord could show that the tenant's failure to give notice as specified in the contract directly resulted in the property remaining empty for longer than if notice had been given, then the LL could claim damages - compensation for his lost rent.

But the onus would be on the landlord to prove he suffered a loss as direct result of the tenant's breach of contract (not giving notice), and also to quantify that loss (eg prove he missed out on another tenant so lost 1 or 2 or whatever week's rent).


Since the landlord is refusing to return the over-paid rent, as well as the deposit, the tenant should

* claim the deposit back from the relevant scheme
* send a Letter Before Action demanding the rent refund and
* raise a complain with the ombudsman


All 3 will need careful, succinct and relevant wording.

Jskaar

UPDATE.

The landlord continued with their sleezy ways but after many months complaining to the ombudsman forced them to refund the amount. Thanks for the advice given in this thread.

I actually forgot about this but I came across one of their vans in the street after they crashed it into a pole, and proceeded to post pictures and laugh at them on review sites (they were not amused).

Many thanks and **** landlord parasites

Herbalus

Can't believe it's taken 6 months for you to get through this, well done.