£thsnds rent owed and no protected deposit

Comms69

Sibz wrote: »

Originally Posted by G_M View Post
There is culpability all round!

1) Rent.
* You (jointly) owe the rent to your landlord.
* paying it to a 3rd party who was not entitled to it was your (joint) mistake Surely for this statement you would need to see (or at least clarify) the official tennancy agreement document. If that said to pay the Agent, and the LL has just said during a conversation to pay her and not made it official I'd say the mistake was hers as payment has been made in the official manner (at least by 1 of the 4).
No, the 'official tenancy agreement document' can be superseeded by the LL's instructions. At that point, the original doc is irrelevant on any points that conflict with the amendment. Assuming that any change was carried out formally and in writing. Otherwise could be a case to prove if the 4th tennant was actually informed properly. I think this needs the OP to clarify how they were notified by LL
* you can reclaim it from the agent, via the courts if neccessary or the LL can - it's her agent - No, they ceased to be LL's agent and became an unrelated 3rd party at the point LL instructed tenants to pay and deal directly with her. The LL has no claim against the agent, as LL did not make the payments to agent nor instruct the agent to collect and pass on rent. Only the tenant who paid the agent erroneously can reclaim the money from them. Again - was this done officially? The initial legal agreement was for payment to go to Agent - was this officially changed?
* your LL can claim it from you (jointly/separately), via the courts if neccessary For the courts to decide, I seriously doubt a tennant would be forced to pay twice because they got caught up in a dispute between an unprofessional LL and an unprofessional Agent. - on what basis do you think there's a dispute between LL and agent? Not wanting their service doesn't imply a dispute. The tenant wouldn't be paying the LL twice, the fact that they paid an unrelated 3rd party some money is irrelevant. - Again you are assuming that changes were made formally and a new agreement introduced in writing and signed for etc... The OP has given no indication that this is the case
Originally posted by Sibz
”

You are mistaken. The reasons are many; but the simplest one is this:


A LL telling any single person who is the tenant is legally the same as telling all the tenants. A verbal instruction is official.

silvercar

If you had a tenancy that was initially for 12 months and then continued on a periodic basis, the original deposit protection may still be in force. You should check this with the provider of the tenancy protection in the first place.

G_M

maxhale333 wrote: »

.......We started the tenancy by going through an independent estate agent for referencing and payment of the deposit/first months rent. Once we moved in I met the landlord and they told us to pay them direct as a private landlord for our 12 month contract - they weren't happy with the estate agent's service.

A couple of months later one my housemates mistakenly paid the estate agent the rent,...

It is perfectly clear from the above:

• The contract is between the tenants and the landlord
• The LL instructed the tenants how/where to pay rent
• One tenant mistakenly paid a 3rd party
• The mistake is the tenant's
• The LL has no ongoing contract with the agent and cannot claim the rent from the agent
• Only the tenant can re-claim the wrongly directed rent from the 'agent' (in ' ' because that person is in fact no longer the LL's agent at all)

Sibz

G_M wrote: »

It is perfectly clear from the above:

• The contract is between the tenants and the landlord
• The LL instructed the tenants how/where to pay rent
• One tenant mistakenly paid a 3rd party
• The mistake is the tenant's
• The LL has no ongoing contract with the agent and cannot claim the rent from the agent
• Only the tenant can re-claim the wrongly directed rent from the 'agent' (in ' ' because that person is in fact no longer the LL's agent at all)

Re: verbal contract - are the rules on this the same in England/Wales as in Scotland?

How much was the rent missing each month that it was allowed to run up to it being a debt of £8000??? Regardless of anything - how do you not miss this? If your doing your tax it has to become noticeable surely...

Comms69

Sibz wrote: »

Re: verbal contract - are the rules on this the same in England/Wales as in Scotland?

How much was the rent missing each month that it was allowed to run up to it being a debt of £8000??? Regardless of anything - how do you not miss this? If your doing your tax it has to become noticeable surely...

Well if it's £8k over 2 years, by 1/4 people, that makes the annual rent £16,000; or roughly £1330 a month.


It doesn't matter if the landlord knew about it or not. The LL is not obliged to either chase the money, nor remind the tenants.


This isn't a verbal contract, it's a verbal instruction. There is no need for a written agreement to change bank details.

macman

Neither party exactly comes out of this smelling of roses, but I would be asking for them to drop the rent claim in return for you not suing for 3 times the deposit (which you will win), and not reporting 4 years of non-supply of a GS certificate. The latter is a serious offence and can result in an unlimited fine and/or a custodial sentence. Failing to supply it 4 times over cannot be excused as an oversight. It's just blatant flouting of the law.