How long can a landlord hold overpaid rent?

eb646

I know that there’s a certain timeframe that a landlord must return the deposit so I’m wondering if there’s also a timeframe for overpaid rent.

My partner and I paid rent for our previous flat in 6 month instalments because we didn’t have a guarantor. We were served a notice to move out right after we paid the second rent instalment (this January 2021) to move out one month earlier due to the landlord wanting to renovate. As soon as we were served the notice, we requested the one month overpaid rent to be refunded. The estate agents kept saying they’re waiting to get it from the landlord and eventually changed their story to they will take the money to be refunded to us from another flat’s rent. This was back and forth until we moved out two weeks ago and still have not received it.

3 months before the new move out date, the estate agents we were with started showing us available flats at the time and have kept pushing us to move and saying that the landlord is happy for us to move out right then and there. We did end up moving 2 weeks earlier so there is now 1.5 months of excess rent that needs to be refunded.

I’ve spoken to the estate agents today and they said that they haven’t received the money back from the landlord and they will guarantee to pay it back by the end of September. They said that if the landlord doesn’t refund the excess rent to them, that they, again, will take the money from the rent paid by the new tenants which will be mid-September.

Is this even allowed? Is there a certain amount of time that a landlord can hold overpaid rent? And is there absolutely nothing that the estate agents can do to return our money back earlier?

We’ve basically been asking for the excess refund since January and still nothing.

SpiderLegs

This sounds like a right shambles. My guess is that if you want to see that money again you’ll have to take the landlord to court.

eb646

It’s been such a nightmare trying to get the money back. We have no idea who the landlord is as we’ve never spoken to them directly, only through the estate agents. Am I going to have to request the landlords details from the estate agent? We’ve requested the landlord details before and they’ve ignored us when we have. 

tacpot12

Your tenancy agreement probably says that you can serve notices on your landlord at the address of the letting agents, so you can sue them. Have a read of the information on this link: A tenant's right to know his landlords address - and how to enforce it - The Landlord Law Blog

You could suggest to your landlord (when you get his details) that you will not go to the police to have them prosecuted if they refund your money, even though the police are likely to ignore your request.

I suspect that if you serve the notice to your landlord at the letting agents address, the letting agents will very promptly confirm the landlord's actual address as they won't want all the court papers (or bailiffs) coming to them. 

TripleH

Did you pay a deposit as well? If so which scheme was it registered with?

What details about the landlord were on your rental contract?

Also, and this could be quite a serious point, when you mention about awaiting the money coming in from another flat, do you know if the landlord owes that one as well? I ask because it is a MASSIVE no no to use money from one party you represent to pay another unrelated party.

Slithery

tacpot12 said:

You could suggest to your landlord (when you get his details) that you will not go to the police to have them prosecuted if they refund your money, even though the police are likely to ignore your request.

It's only illegal for the landlord to withold their address. If the OP hasn't requested it using the correct legal channels then the LL has done nothing wrong.

eb646

tacpot12 said:

Your tenancy agreement probably says that you can serve notices on your landlord at the address of the letting agents, so you can sue them. Have a read of the information on this link:

You could suggest to your landlord (when you get his details) that you will not go to the police to have them prosecuted if they refund your money, even though the police are likely to ignore your request.

I suspect that if you serve the notice to your landlord at the letting agents address, the letting agents will very promptly confirm the landlord's actual address as they won't want all the court papers (or bailiffs) coming to them. 

Thank you for the link.

There is an address for the landlord on our tenancy agreement, but not an actual person’s name. It’s under a company name. Does this matter?

Also, is there really nothing that an estate agent can do to actively get the money back? They just say “we’re waiting for him to transfer” - is there nothing in place that help situations like these?

eb646

TripleH said:

Did you pay a deposit as well? If so which scheme was it registered with?

What details about the landlord were on your rental contract?

Also, and this could be quite a serious point, when you mention about awaiting the money coming in from another flat, do you know if the landlord owes that one as well? I ask because it is a MASSIVE no no to use money from one party you represent to pay another unrelated party.

Yes, it was registered with TDS and I’ve got the certificate as well for it. Although I had to check it myself instead of it being sent to me.

The contract says a company name for the landlord and an address in London, but a different borough from the property address.

I actually don’t know, but I have contact with one of the previous neighbours and will ask them about it. I believe that they paid on a monthly basis vs. our 6 month instalment basis so they might not have any money due to be returned to them except for the deposit.

And I do find it very strange that the estate agents need to source the money from another flat’s rent payment. There were three flats in the building and we were all served the notice in January to move out on the same date. But one week before I was moving out, the landlord suddenly changed his mind to rent all the properties again. I guess that’s where the money the estate agents are hoping to come from, but they’re telling us we need to wait until the new tenants pay their next months rent before we can get ours back. It just doesn’t make much sense. 

eb646

Slithery said:

tacpot12 said:

You could suggest to your landlord (when you get his details) that you will not go to the police to have them prosecuted if they refund your money, even though the police are likely to ignore your request.

It's only illegal for the landlord to withold their address. If the OP hasn't requested it using the correct legal channels then the LL has done nothing wrong.

We requested direct contact with the landlord and asked for an email or phone number but weren’t provided with either. We do have an address in the contract, but only a company name.

RAS

Check both the Land Registry £3, and Companies House for the list of directors.

Companies House - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Use the .gov.uk sites not the advertised rip offs that charge 10-20 times more.

Slithery

eb646 said:

Slithery said:

tacpot12 said:

You could suggest to your landlord (when you get his details) that you will not go to the police to have them prosecuted if they refund your money, even though the police are likely to ignore your request.

It's only illegal for the landlord to withold their address. If the OP hasn't requested it using the correct legal channels then the LL has done nothing wrong.

We requested direct contact with the landlord and asked for an email or phone number but weren’t provided with either. We do have an address in the contract, but only a company name.

Did you make this request in writing? If so then the agents legally have to provide you with the LL's actual address.