Tenancy agreement 17 year old

Flippo111

Hi,
I wonder if anyone can help?
My son had a virtual viewing for university accommodation in November 2020 when he was 17.  He was on the call with his mom and the sales person for roughly 20 minutes.  He liked the accommodation and so the sales colleague told him that we could leave a £100 deposit with a no quibble refund policy if he changed his mind.  Unbeknown to us, my son also signed an agreement for the full tenancy with full balance due at the start of his course.  He contacted the sales person immediately afterwards who said that he would change the paperwork nearer the time to pay in instalments.
Anyway, things have changed and he no longer wants the accommodation so has followed the instructions provided by the letting company by email.  This was to not provide the information required within 10 days so the booking would expire or to email within 14 days to cancel the booking. He did both of these things.
However, now the company is trying to say the booking cannot be cancelled and the £100 deposit will not be refunded.  I understand about the deposit (even though this was mis sold as a no hassle refund at the time) as their T's & C's say it's non refundable but am getting nowhere with the actual agreement.  My son was 17 at the time, was not fully informed that he was signing a contract and no one explained to him what the agreement entailed.  This was all done digitally too.
I am arguing the case that this has been mis sold and is void due to him not understanding or being explained the consequences of signing an agreement.  Can this be enforced at all does anyone know?
Thanks in advance

AdrianC

If he'd turned up at the start of term, and they said "We hadn't realised you were only 17 at the time of agreeing the tenancy, so the contract is void", how unimpressed would you be?

That one works both ways.

Flippo111

AdrianC said:

If he'd turned up at the start of term, and they said "We hadn't realised you were only 17 at the time of agreeing the tenancy, so the contract is void", how unimpressed would you be?

That one works both ways.

I agree but the point is that my son genuinely did not know he was signing a legally binding agreement.  This wasn't explained to him or his mom, in fact he was led to believe that the paperwork was for his deposit only. Failing to be made aware of the terms of contract at any age is at least morally wrong if not legally but at 17 is worse.  
This also doesn't take into account that he has received an email in the past 6 weeks telling him how to cancel, which he followed all of the instruction on, and yet this is being disregarded.
My issue is the way this has been mis sold and not explained at all.

GDB2222

Minors can make legally binding contracts. You can find more here:
http://www.lawandparents.co.uk/minors-entering-into-contracts.html

AdrianC

Flippo111 said:

AdrianC said:

If he'd turned up at the start of term, and they said "We hadn't realised you were only 17 at the time of agreeing the tenancy, so the contract is void", how unimpressed would you be?

That one works both ways.

I agree but

Great. So we'll park his age entirely, as irrelevant.

the point is that my son genuinely did not know he was signing a legally binding agreement.  This wasn't explained to him or his mom, in fact he was led to believe that the paperwork was for his deposit only.

What was he paying a deposit for, if not for a binding contract for a tenancy for the next academic year?

Did he really have zero paperwork for the tenancy?

This also doesn't take into account that he has received an email in the past 6 weeks telling him how to cancel, which he followed all of the instruction on, and yet this is being disregarded.

Ah, now there we may actually have something.

What - precisely - were the cancellation terms?

[Deleted User]

Flippo111 said:

Hi,
I wonder if anyone can help?
My son had a virtual viewing for university accommodation in November 2020 when he was 17.  He was on the call with his mom and the sales person for roughly 20 minutes.  He liked the accommodation and so the sales colleague told him that we could leave a £100 deposit with a no quibble refund policy if he changed his mind.  Unbeknown to us, my son also signed an agreement for the full tenancy with full balance due at the start of his course.  He contacted the sales person immediately afterwards who said that he would change the paperwork nearer the time to pay in instalments.
Anyway, things have changed and he no longer wants the accommodation so has followed the instructions provided by the letting company by email.  This was to not provide the information required within 10 days so the booking would expire or to email within 14 days to cancel the booking. He did both of these things.
However, now the company is trying to say the booking cannot be cancelled and the £100 deposit will not be refunded.  I understand about the deposit (even though this was mis sold as a no hassle refund at the time) as their T's & C's say it's non refundable but am getting nowhere with the actual agreement.  My son was 17 at the time, was not fully informed that he was signing a contract and no one explained to him what the agreement entailed.  This was all done digitally too.
I am arguing the case that this has been mis sold and is void due to him not understanding or being explained the consequences of signing an agreement.  Can this be enforced at all does anyone know?
Thanks in advance

A person of 16 or 17 has the status to enter into necessary contracts for education and accommodation but until their 18th birthday will not be legally competent to enter into all legal contracts. 

https://www.exeter.ac.uk/undergraduate/applying/termsandpolicies/under18/

Much like they can apply for student loans too. 

Flippo111

AdrianC said:

Flippo111 said:

AdrianC said:

If he'd turned up at the start of term, and they said "We hadn't realised you were only 17 at the time of agreeing the tenancy, so the contract is void", how unimpressed would you be?

That one works both ways.

I agree but

Great. So we'll park his age entirely, as irrelevant.

the point is that my son genuinely did not know he was signing a legally binding agreement.  This wasn't explained to him or his mom, in fact he was led to believe that the paperwork was for his deposit only.

What was he paying a deposit for, if not for a binding contract for a tenancy for the next academic year?

Did he really have zero paperwork for the tenancy?

This also doesn't take into account that he has received an email in the past 6 weeks telling him how to cancel, which he followed all of the instruction on, and yet this is being disregarded.

Ah, now there we may actually have something.

What - precisely - were the cancellation terms?

My issue is that he genuinely has been led to believe that whatever he has digitally signed was not a binding contract and was for the deposit only.  He has signed on the request of the sales person who has not adequately explained or ensured that he understood what he was signing.  The person has misled throughout with the claims verbally of a no hassle deposit and the ability to cancel for any reason.
The cancellation terms in the email sent on the 27th April said to email with 14 days to cancel the booking which he did.  It also said he needed to provide the relevant ID within 10 days or the booking would expire which he left expecting the booking to expire.

lonibra

OP, don't faff around too much. File a formal complaint, make it clear that you will take it to their respective complaints body (usually TPOS) and then go from there. The TPOS are very fair and will give due consideration to the manner in which the whole sale was made and the transaction handled. 

Flippo111

Lover_of_Lycra said:

Flippo111 said:

Hi,
I wonder if anyone can help?
My son had a virtual viewing for university accommodation in November 2020 when he was 17.  He was on the call with his mom and the sales person for roughly 20 minutes.  He liked the accommodation and so the sales colleague told him that we could leave a £100 deposit with a no quibble refund policy if he changed his mind.  Unbeknown to us, my son also signed an agreement for the full tenancy with full balance due at the start of his course.  He contacted the sales person immediately afterwards who said that he would change the paperwork nearer the time to pay in instalments.
Anyway, things have changed and he no longer wants the accommodation so has followed the instructions provided by the letting company by email.  This was to not provide the information required within 10 days so the booking would expire or to email within 14 days to cancel the booking. He did both of these things.
However, now the company is trying to say the booking cannot be cancelled and the £100 deposit will not be refunded.  I understand about the deposit (even though this was mis sold as a no hassle refund at the time) as their T's & C's say it's non refundable but am getting nowhere with the actual agreement.  My son was 17 at the time, was not fully informed that he was signing a contract and no one explained to him what the agreement entailed.  This was all done digitally too.
I am arguing the case that this has been mis sold and is void due to him not understanding or being explained the consequences of signing an agreement.  Can this be enforced at all does anyone know?
Thanks in advance

A person of 16 or 17 has the status to enter into necessary contracts for education and accommodation but until their 18th birthday will not be legally competent to enter into all legal contracts. 

Much like they can apply for student loans too. 

Thanks for that information
I think the most important part of the situation is that he has not been informed about what he was being asked to do, especially with how easy it is to hit a button to create a digital signature!
Hopefully we will sort it out.

Flippo111

lonibra said:

OP, don't faff around too much. File a formal complaint, make it clear that you will take it to their respective complaints body (usually TPOS) and then go from there. The TPOS are very fair and will give due consideration to the manner in which the whole sale was made and the transaction handled. 

Thanks for this.  I have emailed them again but will use this if necessary.

theartfullodger

Herewith on tenancies for minors, from the experts, Mssrs Shelter
https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/legal/housing_options/young_people_and_care_leavers_housing_rights/tenancies_for_children_and_young_people