Last month's rent/Bond

JCR

Hi - just wondered if anybody had some advice. We have a tenant who has given a months notice to leave the property she has been in for two years. She has informed us that wants us to keep the bond and then not pay the last month's rent. This is fine if there are no problems with the property after being checked but if there are then we will be out of pocket.

Would most of you, just say o.k. don't bother with this month and we'll accept the bond as rent or would you insist she pays the rent - which she is legally supposed to do.

Any friendly advice would be appreciated.:j

St3ve

Having been a tenant for 2 years i would probably say thats fine, il have to do a quick inspection, or something along those lines, has the rent been paid on time every month for the 2 years? If so, i wouldnt have thought you would have much to worry about, she is probably only wanting to keep the last months rent so that she can give it to the next agency/landlord for her next deposit/1st months rent upfront.

silvercar

If this was a recent tenancy the deposit would be held in the tenancy deposit scheme and be refunded from there.

I think the rent really should be paid and the deposit refunded after the final inspection.

misscomickat

She is probably worried that she either won't get it back, or will have to chase you for ages to get it back. I'm moving out of my flat soon and have those fears.

Can't you pop round and have a look at the state of the place?

cherry_blossom_6

We have rented two places. The first one we had huge problems getting our deposit back. They took I think 6 weeks to check the place and then said it was dusty!! We ended up threatening to take them to court to get most of our money back.

So on the next one we were only there 8 months and had LOADS of problems. When we left I sent a letter saying to keep the deposit as the last months rent and a HUGE list of all the things which needed doing (electric shower needing fixing, most of the radiators leaking, ripped lino in the kitchen etc). I did expect them to complain, but they were fine. There was no way I wanted the same stress I had had with the first place.

Lavendyr

I'd say depends on the tenant. If you've generally had a good experience with this tenant - they've kept the house clean & tidy, paid rent on time etc - then I'd say you could do as they suggest. If, on the other hand, they've been difficult, I'd say refuse it.

Personally, even as a tenant myself, I'd say you should refuse, as it gives you a stronger negotiating position should there be any damage. I wouldn't consider asking our landlords to do this as I feel they should have the opportunity to check the place out when we leave before giving the deposit back - that's the point of a deposit, after all!

JCR

Thanks for your thoughts and advice. We have been good landlords, sorting out any problems, putting an aerial up for her when we were not obliged to. Changing what was an almost brand new fridge as it had suddenly broken and sorting out any other problem she may have had quickly.

She has been a bit erratic with paying the rent. The payment date has changed around a bit to accommodate her circumstances and sometimes she will pay half and then pay the other half later on. We have been understanding through all this. She also had a dog in the property occasionally (a big dog), the property is a flat and dogs are clearly contravening our lease and her AST, so we could have been in trouble.

We will be going around to check the place out and if it is in a reasonable state we will probably go with keeping the deposit as the last month's rent. Saying that she could drop something in the middle of the carpet between then and moving out and we wouldn't be in a position to deduct any money to clean it up. I would rather she paid the months rent and then we gave her her deposit back which is the way it is supposed to be. We would not deduct any money from her deposit unless the carpet smelled due to the dog she had there, having a dog myself I know they do smell. She is going to be renting from the Council from here on in, so not sure that they require a deposit in the same way.

JCR

Just an update - if anyone's interested or can further advise.

We went to the property on the weekend and the carpet is filthy, it will need professional cleaning or perhaps even replacing. I therefore don't feel that we can just accept having the bond as the last month's rent. Also she gets housing benefit which contributes to the rent, which should be paid on as rent and not kept as she wants to do so that she can replace the carpets in her new council property.

Are there any landlords out there who have experienced this - I'm sure there are.

Thanks

scrummy_mummy_2

OMG...absolutely DO NOT agree that she can keep the last months' rent back instead of having her deposit refunded!
There are lots of legal nad practical reasons why this (from your perspective) leaves you exposed....if you want more details I would be happy to provide them but DO NOT DO IT unless you want to expose yourself to potential problems....The deposit is held by you (I pressume) to offset any damage/repairs that may be necessary at the cessation of her tenancy...it is not a 'bamked' amount of rent....
DO NOT DO IT!!!!!

JCR

Thanks Scrummy Mummy - we have told her she needs to pay us the last month's rent but what can we do if she just does not. She does not even seem to be prepared to meet us half way and pay us half the rent (the money that the benefit agency pays towards her rent). If you have any legal and practical reasons that we can also fire at her, apart from the fact that she is contravening her contract with us.

Many thanks

scrummy_mummy_2

It is a complicated situation regarding benefits (to a degree)
For my benefit and others, the answers to the following questions might be useful so I can answer more appropriately.
Who is the benefit for rent paid to? You directly by the council or to her and she then pays you?
Where is she inteneding on moving to when she leaves you...is she going into more rented accommodation funded by benefits or council housing or private?
Is she likely to have caused much damage, what do you reckon?

If she is being paid benefit directly to her by the Council, this is good for you because they can't claim things back from you if she is up to anything dodgy/fraudulent.
If she is going into more rented housing, she may be struggling to get the deposit together etc....do you know her circumstances? It's always better to try to understand people's motivators (why she is doing what she is doing) then you can work together and avoid threats/conflict which is invariably a negative situation. Try to talk to her and ask her why she thinks she NEEDS to use the last months rent before getting heavy with her...forget about the legal stuff for the minute, renting property is about managing people first and foremost.

Getting invloved in legal stuff is a nightmare where getting money back is concerened and will take ages if she actually pays at all....my recommendation is to try to talk to her and ask lots of why questions and see if you can work with her rather than getting hung up on the legalities of it all...life isn't always black and white and often shades of grey are the best we can work with.

If she is struggling with money you may choose to agree with her to do a 'first pass' inventory check with her a couple ofweeks before she moves out, then you can see if there are any damages/restorations/repairs that need doing BEFORE she goes...point what you think needs doing out to her and ask her how she would like to handle the repairs....
At the end of the day, if she won't pay you 'rent' and witholds it telling you to use the deposit as rent...you may have to take her to the small claims court to recover any money you have to spend on damages, but try to talk to her first and understand her motivators if possible.