Overpayment of rent - claiming back?

f1_Fan

Hi there,
I'm in a bit of a pickle with my previous landlord and needing some advice. The story:

I paid a full month's rent within December and moved out on the 21st of December. I gave the landlord 3/4 weeks notice and he said this should be fine. I said to him it's going to be around the 21st of December and I tried to make things easier for both parties and said I'll pay the full month and we'll work out afterwards what he owes me.

So, I moved out on the 21st and asked for the deposit, which he didn't pay me until the new year. It was only the deposit and not the outstanding rent which is near £300. I messaged him about this with no response, so I called him in-which he replied angrily and said I shouldn't have moved out over Christmas, which has no relevance.. and told me he would pay me the remaining rent at the end of the month which is him just trying to keep me quiet I believe.

I want to send a letter, but I don't know his address (live-out landlord). So I'm not sure how to do this?

The contract was initially from February to August and nothing signed after this - if this complicates matters?

When I was originally living there, the house was not above board and no fire-doors/etc. (5 persons living in the house) so I could scare/threaten him with this. It doesn't have an HMO license, neither..?

many thanks for any help/guidance !!

Brilley

..depending on your type of contract I would assume you would need to give a minimum 1 months notice?...ie you may need to pay 1 months rent regardless of the fact you chose to move out early?

need_an_answer

in order to get some clear advice you'll need to be specific with dates.

When did your contract start?
What date did you give notice?

From the limited information I Assume you had a 6 month AST which
then rolled. under those terms you would need to give one months notice of your intention to leave.

you suggest you gave 3/4 weeks therefore you need to be specific over the timeline

f1_Fan

thanks for the replies;

I originally messaged him on 5/11/19 stating I'm considering to move out and asked if 3 weeks' notice was fine which he said was fine. I then called him on the 29/11/19 and messaged stating I would move out on the 21/12/19.

I moved into the house on the 17/2/19 with a 6 month contract so after this it was rolling.

many thanks,
Damian

theartfullodger

As you gave notice (rather than landlord using section 21 notice) you are, perhaps bizarrely, not entitled to a refund - see from the experts in these matters, Mssrs Shelter
https://england.shelter.org.uk/legal/rents/introduction_to_rents/payment_of_rent

Rent to be paid in advance

It is a common law rule that rent to be paid in advance cannot be apportioned on a time basis, regardless of how the tenancy was ended, unless there is clear wording in the tenancy agreement that states otherwise.[4] As such where, for example, a monthly tenancy with rent to be paid in advance on the 1st of the month ends before the end of a period of the tenancy, the tenant will:

• not be entitled to a proportionate refund of rent paid in advance, and
• owe the full month's rent that fell payable on 1st.

Sorry but try begging for the refund - unless there is something in the tenancy agreement: Is there please?

I appreciate this sounds "wrong" but the law is not always "justice".

need_an_answer

You need to ignore the contact in early November. Simply advising that you are considering moving does not mean you gave notice.
From what you suggest you didn't give notice appropriately until the 29th November which would appear to be less than 4 weeks notice.

Technically you should have vacated the property on 16th decenber if the rent payment and start/end dates aligned but you didn't move until 21st as your choice.

The LL may refund the difference in rent but he is not obliged to as it would appear that you gave neither 4 weeks notice or one month in line with your tenancy agreement.

What date did you make your last rent payment?

f1_Fan

@need an answer - understood, even though he said it was fine for me to give 3 weeks notice?
the last rent payment was at the start of the month - 1/12/19 for the full month.

need_an_answer

He said or he gave you something in writing regarding 3 weeks?

How did you pay your first months rent? and on what date?


If your contract ran from 17th feb the dates don't tally.or was it a case that you signed the tenancy on the 1st feb and paid rent but chose not to move in until 17th?

I'm unsure if paying on the 1st was some in arrears and some in advance,perhaps you could elaborate.

f1_Fan

he stated via sms...

I paid the outstanding month's rent in Feb on the 17th from when I moved in - being 12 days. Then paid on the 1st of each month from March.

steampowered

You can certainly claim back rent overpayments.

The problem you have is that, because it sounds like everything was done so informally, you will have difficulty proving exactly when your tenancy actually came to an end.

To understand whether there was an overpayment, we need to clearly understand:

1) On which date of the month your tenancy ran from?
2) Did you give your landlord formal written notice (SMS, email or otherwise) stating the exact day when you would be moving out?
3) Did you give the landlord the amount of notice required under your contract?

G_M

Your notice was insufficient. It's still unclear the exact terms of your contract (what were the tenancy period dates? Exact dates please), but certainly you did not give a full tenancy period notice as required in a periodic (rolling) tenancy.

However, if you have clear written evidence that your landlord accepted an 'Early Surrender' on X date, and would forfeit any rent due after that date, then a refund can be claimed.

See
* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?