Landlord - Untouchable.

GrumpyDil

OP. Paying by standing order is completely in the control of your son. Even if the landlord hadn't wanted the money he couldn't have stopped it being sent to him.

Your son needs to write to the landlord at the address on his tenancy agreement for the serving of notices to ask the landlord to return the money.

As this was really your son's fault I would keep the initial letter very simple and state that you have realised you have overpaid 2100 of rent and ask the landlord to please return the money by cheque or bank transfer and give him the account name , sort code and account number to return the money. 

If the landlord fails to respond then you are in letter before action and small claims territory. 

Turmeric

tourist4ever said:

I scrolled through quickly, still don't understand why your son is vulnerable but maybe I missed something.

Your son must be in nice financial position (and also dense, sorry) for not noticing £300 disappearing from his account...

Most likely it is a standing order as others have said.

Write to LL one more time (also why not call, do you have his mobile or something)

If nothing I guess you could go through small claims

Lesson hopefully learned to open post more regularly and keep an eye on your bank account

Good luck

Hi I used the wrong word I was given two choices and I chose the wrong V ............ I am not good at spelling so when the spell check came up I chose the wrong one by mistake and everyone has been talking about it ever since. I have just asked my Son if he paid by Standing Order or DD he checked and he paid by SO. There is NO way to contact the LL he is safely out of our reach, he has no name nor address. The only person who can speak to him is the Maintenance Man. He is our only contact. But someone on here said the LL's name and details may be on a letter before he moved into the little flat. I will ask Son to have a look to see if he can find a letter with the contracts they signed. Son won't go through smalls claims he will just leave it. My Son is very chilled so before he had on-line banking if he went to the cash point if money was in he spent it if not he didn't. Lessons learnt. Thank you for the Good Luck he's going to need it.  

MaryNB

As TBagpuss has already pointed out. Your son needs to download the title deeds of the property from HMLR (£3 fee) and get the landlord's address.

Turmeric said:

tourist4ever said:

I scrolled through quickly, still don't understand why your son is vulnerable but maybe I missed something.

Your son must be in nice financial position (and also dense, sorry) for not noticing £300 disappearing from his account...

Most likely it is a standing order as others have said.

Write to LL one more time (also why not call, do you have his mobile or something)

If nothing I guess you could go through small claims

Lesson hopefully learned to open post more regularly and keep an eye on your bank account

Good luck

Hi I used the wrong word I was given two choices and I chose the wrong V ............ I am not good at spelling so when the spell check came up I chose the wrong one by mistake and everyone has been talking about it ever since. I have just asked my Son if he paid by Standing Order or DD he checked and he paid by SO. There is NO way to contact the LL he is safely out of our reach, he has no name nor address. The only person who can speak to him is the Maintenance Man. He is our only contact. But someone on here said the LL's name and details may be on a letter before he moved into the little flat. I will ask Son to have a look to see if he can find a letter with the contracts they signed. Son won't go through smalls claims he will just leave it. My Son is very chilled so before he had on-line banking if he went to the cash point if money was in he spent it if not he didn't. Lessons learnt. Thank you for the Good Luck he's going to need it.  

Noooooooo! That is awful money management!! 

Turmeric

Slithery said:

Turmeric said:

My Son has just checked and he paid his rent by Standing Order.

Then why didn't he cancel it when he moved out?

A standing order is an instruction from your son to pay the LL a fixed amount of money every month until it is cancelled. The landlord had no say in the matter of receiving the money, they couldn't have stopped the payments no matter what they did as they have no authority to do so.

My Son just gave his month's notice and left on good terms he didn't think about the Standing Order. He did not think to cancel it and was unaware that he was still paying it, he only knew when he got his on-line banking last year. He doesn't open his mail and doesn't go into the bank he just used to use the cash point.
   

diego_94

Your son shouldn’t be renting a flat if he can’t manage his financial affairs properly. Internet banking has been around for ages and is a staple part of life now, there is no need to go to the bank anymore. 

I could tell you in 30 seconds what direct debits I have, and can cancel one with the press of a button.

MaryNB

Turmeric said:

tourist4ever said:

I scrolled through quickly, still don't understand why your son is vulnerable but maybe I missed something.

Your son must be in nice financial position (and also dense, sorry) for not noticing £300 disappearing from his account...

Most likely it is a standing order as others have said.

Write to LL one more time (also why not call, do you have his mobile or something)

If nothing I guess you could go through small claims

Lesson hopefully learned to open post more regularly and keep an eye on your bank account

Good luck

Hi I used the wrong word I was given two choices and I chose the wrong V ............ I am not good at spelling so when the spell check came up I chose the wrong one by mistake and everyone has been talking about it ever since. I have just asked my Son if he paid by Standing Order or DD he checked and he paid by SO. There is NO way to contact the LL he is safely out of our reach, he has no name nor address. The only person who can speak to him is the Maintenance Man. He is our only contact. But someone on here said the LL's name and details may be on a letter before he moved into the little flat. I will ask Son to have a look to see if he can find a letter with the contracts they signed. Son won't go through smalls claims he will just leave it. My Son is very chilled so before he had on-line banking if he went to the cash point if money was in he spent it if not he didn't. Lessons learnt. Thank you for the Good Luck he's going to need it.  

I missed this bit...

What?!!! If the landlord doesn't willingly give back the money that's £2,100 he's throwing away!!! Minus the HMLR fee of £3 to get the address + small claims court fee of £115.

I'm sorry, I was genuinely trying to be polite while giving much needed advice in previous posts but after reading that... you son needs to seriously cop on.

He's carelessly given someone £2,100 over 7 months because he didn't do basic account management but is now too lazy to go via small claims court. He's throwing away £1,987!! That's nearly my take home pay for a whole month. 

Turmeric

MaryNB said:

Turmeric said:

My Son has just checked and he paid his rent by Standing Order.

Unfortunately then it was entirely his responsibility to cancel it. The landlord should have said returned the money when your son mentioned it but the landlord wasn't in control of the payments and couldn't cancel them. Because a standing order is entirely within your son's control there's not really anything he can do through his bank to get it back - he authorised the payments.

I realise he made a mistake but not checking his account regularly is one thing, not cancelling the standing order is another level. He needs to take his finances seriously.

He needs to get the landlord's details and start a small claims process. Don't wait for the landlord to return it, that hasn't worked so far.

He will try and find the LL details then contact the LL again but this time it will be direct to the LL. For up until now it has not been direct to the LL but via the Man who did the repairs in the flats.

Sunsaru

Your kid is 19, fresh out of home.
This is the first of many of his life lessons.
Just make sure he don't make the same mistake twice okay??

[Deleted User]

Turmeric said:

MaryNB said:

Turmeric said:

My Son has just checked and he paid his rent by Standing Order.

Unfortunately then it was entirely his responsibility to cancel it. The landlord should have said returned the money when your son mentioned it but the landlord wasn't in control of the payments and couldn't cancel them. Because a standing order is entirely within your son's control there's not really anything he can do through his bank to get it back - he authorised the payments.

I realise he made a mistake but not checking his account regularly is one thing, not cancelling the standing order is another level. He needs to take his finances seriously.

He needs to get the landlord's details and start a small claims process. Don't wait for the landlord to return it, that hasn't worked so far.

He will try and find the LL details then contact the LL again but this time it will be direct to the LL. For up until now it has not been direct to the LL but via the Man who did the repairs in the flats.

Who has he been paying the standing order to, the landlord or the man who did the repairs? If it’s the landlord himself then the name of the landlord and the address for serving notices should be in his tenancy agreement…if he still has a copy. 

If he hasn’t already make sure he cancels his standing order ASAP! 

Turmeric

Sunsaru said:

Your kid is 19, fresh out of home.
This is the first of many of his life lessons.
Just make sure he don't make the same mistake twice okay??

Hi, yes he has learnt his lesson, no one can know everything, especially if you are young. I am sure he won't make the same mistake again.