"Landlord" is trying to get money from me

faringdon

Hi

Please help as someone , purporting to be my ex-landlord, is trying to claim money from me...

I took out a 6 month accommodation contract for a flat from August 13th 2021 to Feb 13th 2022. It was through an estate agent, but on the Assured Shorthold tenancy, the actual landlord’s name was shown as being “Grange House One Ltd” (I do not give the actual  name here).

However, I lost my job in December 2021, and couldn’t afford the rent any more. As such, I left the accommodation on 8th December 2021, having fully payed up the rent to that date. I left the flat clean and ready to re-let. The landlord claimed (and got) the full £630 deposit.

Then, in January 2022, someone claiming to represent the landlord contacted me by email, and requested I pay the  remaining two months rent, for the period from December 13th 2021, to Feb 13th 2022, even though I was not living there then, and had completely vacated during that period.

Their email address was xxxxxxxxx@acme.com (not their real name).  This email address isn’t related to my landlord’s address. It is another company, which does appear on companies house as being related to my landlord company. The person’s name is the name of one of the directors of my landlord company.

They threatened me with legal action if I don’t pay by 31st January 2022. I wrote back to them to say that I tried to pay the money into their provided account details, but my bank website just said, “we cannot verify this account name, it might be that of a fraudster”. So I did not make the payment. Why can they not give me a business name which is recogniseable to my Bank?

“Grange House one Ltd”, and the account number/sort code, came up as  being “Not verifyable”  to my bank.

Do you think this is some dodgy person trying to get the money off me? Why is my bank  not able to verify the account name?

elsien

If you owe the money because you did not give the correct notice, do you not still have contact details for the ex-landlord to query the  request that has been made? Write to them, if you know the address.

You are right to be cautious, but banks can’t always confirm the correct name. I was trying to pay a workman and I ticked the box for business account because I thought it was, but I was actually paying into his personal account so it didn’t verify. Although it was actually a genuine account paying the money to the correct person.

propertyrental

First issue is, do you owe the money?

faringdon said:

I took out a 6 month accommodation contract for a flat from August 13th 2021 to Feb 13th 2022. .....

...... I left the accommodation on 8th December 2021, having fully payed up the rent to that date. I left the flat clean and ready to re-let. The landlord claimed (and got) the full £630 deposit.

Claimed on what basis? For damage to the property? Missing items from inventory? Cleaning needed? or rent owed?

I'm going to guess rent owed, in which case, how much was your monthly rent? Did the deposit (£630) cover the rent from 8th Dec 2021 to 13 Feb 2022 which is what you owed? Again- my guess is it didn't.

In which case yes, you owe money to make up the difference.

Next question is who do you owe? Well, the landlord, Grange House One Ltd. While you were living there, how did you pay? Monthly standing order? Bank transfer? or (god forbid) cash in a suitcase?). If you still have the bank details, pay to that account and write to Grange House One Ltd, at the address that was on your tenancy agreement 'for serving notices on the landlord' to tell them what you've done.

Or did you use to pay the letting agent? If so, pay them (along with a letter to explain).

If you don't have and can't look back and find the bank details (or paid cash!), then next option is to pay by cheque, or as per the email. 

another company, which does appear on companies house as being related to my landlord company. The person’s name is the name of one of the directors of my landlord company.

That does seem a close enough relationship for the Director to sue you on the basis of representing your old landlord.

my bank website just said, “we cannot verify this account name, it might be that of a fraudster”.

That frequently happens. The bank matching process is very unreliable. When entering the recipient's name, any mis-spelling, or minor change of name (eg "G H One Ltd" instead of "Grange House One Ltd" or "Grange House One" without the 'Ltd' can result in your bank giving that warning. To be successfully matched, the company's bank account name must match what you enter, and this is not always a direct match with the company's registered name at Companies House.

Contact the Director by phone or letter and ask for verification.

Scam? Is the amount being claimed the correct amount of rent owed (See above)? If so it's hard to see how a scammer would know so I suspect it's genuine.

But don't quote me on that!

anselld

Not all Banks even participate in Confirmation of Payee, eg Metro Bank.   A genuine business account with Metro Bank can never be matched. 

 You can put the sort code and account into an online checker to verify it exists and which bank it is with.  That may then explain the non-match from Confirmation of Payee.

TBagpuss

AS others have said, unless you agreed with the landlord (and have it documented) that you could surrender the lease early, you do owe the outstanding rent until the end of the tenancy. The fact you moved out doesn't change that 

You may wish to contact the landlord via the address shown in your tenancy agreement for servicing notices, to ask for a breakdown of exactly what they are claiming, (obviously if they have already retained your deposit due to unpaid rent then they should take that into account in calculating hat else you owe) You can also ask them to confirm whether the organization which has contacted you is acting on their behalf.

Alternatively, if you accept that the figures are correct then make payment to the account you were paying your rent to, then write to the landlord to say that you have done so and ask them to confirm that the debt is now fully satisfied,. 

Bank verification isn't perfect - if the details are not exactly the same then it will show as not verified, so for instance if you entered 'Smith & Co' and the bank had 'Smith and Co', of it you put 'Smith Ltd' and they had it as 'Smith Limited ', it will fail. However, in this case, it's probably more important that you have something formal from the landlord to confirm that this organisation is actually acting on their behalf and that payment to them will count as a payment to clear your debt to the landlord. 

macman

Did you agree with the LL that you could void your 6 month fixed term contract 2  months early without penalty? If not, then you owe rent up until 13/2/22, minus any deduction for the retained deposit, assuming no other valid deductions for breakages, cleaning etc.
Losing your job does not void the contract.
The bank mismatch is not really relevant: you last paid rent over a year ago, so in the meantime they may have changed the company structure, ownership and bank account.