Am I liable to pay rent even though I have turned in the keys and ended my tenancy?

Newhousebuyer97

[Deleted User] said:

When is the rent usually due in a given month.

Normal on the last day of the month. I pay in advance, so I paid for May's rent in April. On May 31st, I had already paid for May's rent. I was forced to pay the equivalent of 10 days of rent in June 

Newhousebuyer97

RHemmings said:

Voyager2002 said:

First: check that your deposit is properly protected.

(If not, the landlord could be required to pay you a penalty of up to a year's rent, but you lose the right to claim this at the end of the tenancy. So check this out first: you will find full details on the Shelter and Shelter Legal web pages.)

I think you may have this wrong. The penalty for failing to protect a deposit is from 1x to 3x the deposit. Also, I believe that the penalty is independent from the deposit. So, you can still claim the deposit back even if you are receiving a penalty for not protecting. https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/housing/deposits/taking-your-landlord-to-court-if-they-havent-followed-the-deposit-rules/

OP - which of the Property Ombudsman Scheme or Property Redress Scheme is the EA a member of? You mention the 'property ombudsman' so can you confirm that it's the Property Ombudsman Scheme, not a property ombudsman in general. You need to go through the EA's complaints procedure first. Again, information on the complaints process for the EA should be on their website. 

OP - I'm just going to be a bit devil's advocate here. You had an agreement going on until July. But, you are wanting to leave early. The EA is letting you leave early, and having found a new tenant who is moving in, want you out of the house a week and a bit early to prepare the house for the new tenant. If this were a legal contract dispute and you were seen as having broken the one-year contract, then the landlord can sue you for their losses. However, the landlord is expected to minimise their losses. I am slightly wondering if the EA's action in wanting you out of the house by the 31st but for you to pay up to the 9th is them minimising their losses. Now, you have paid and this hasn't gone to court and hence the situation is different. But, only as a devil's advocate position (not meaning to cast EAs and landlords as 'the devil'), I wonder if from their point of view the solution they have offered you is reasonable and has minimised the amount that you have to pay without the landlord experiencing losses. Including a - they may feel reasonable - time between you moving out and the new tenant moving in. 

Note: I in reality agree with the viewpoint in posts above that they have agreed to an early end of the tenancy through their language, but I wanted to think about it from the landlord's and EA's viewpoint. 

Yes I meant the Property Ombudsman scheme. 

 I appreciate that they had to advertise earlier than planned to allow me to leave earlier. I was thankful but I don't think this makes it ok. I want to know if this is common practice as I have never experienced it, before I launch a formal complaint. I would challenge that they are experiencing any loss at all but I may be wrong. I used a cleaner they stipulated and paid for it(£500). I checked out of the flat with no issue, nothing damaged or broken. in addition, the landlord has considerably increased the rent for the new tenants, so this to me just seems greedy. Maybe I don't fully understand all the costs related to letting a property. 

la531983

Newhousebuyer97 said:

[Deleted User] said:

When is the rent usually due in a given month.

Normal on the last day of the month. I pay in advance, so I paid for May's rent in April. On May 31st, I had already paid for May's rent. I was forced to pay the equivalent of 10 days of rent in June 

When you say "forced"......how?

It takes months to evict anyone if that was your worry about not paying it and being turfed on the streets a few days before the end of May (which would have been illegal for many reasons), if you already had confirmation you could surrender the lease on 31st May, and got a reference if applicable, you should have told them to sod off. Getting it back is going to be a battle, likely a small claims court job.

Newhousebuyer97

la531983 said:

Newhousebuyer97 said:

[Deleted User] said:

When is the rent usually due in a given month.

Normal on the last day of the month. I pay in advance, so I paid for May's rent in April. On May 31st, I had already paid for May's rent. I was forced to pay the equivalent of 10 days of rent in June 

When you say "forced"......how?

It takes months to evict anyone if that was your worry about not paying it and being turfed on the streets a few days before the end of May (which would have been illegal for many reasons), if you already had confirmation you could surrender the lease on 31st May, and got a reference if applicable, you should have told them to sod off. Getting it back is going to be a battle, likely a small claims court job.

I had already started moving out at the start of May so I wan't afraid of being evicted.  They stated I would be charged an additional fee for every day late the payment was. I paid just to get out of the situation and not jeopardise my deposit which is significantly more. I didn't get any advice before making this decision. 

Kim_13

No doubt they had received a council tax bill for 1 June to 9 June, so thought they could use the rent they weren’t owed to pay this rather than have no money coming in and bills going out.

If their previous rental income wasn’t enough to cover a void of this length and associated expenses, then perhaps the rent did need to go up. 

Once they told you that your tenancy would end on 31 May (do you have this in writing?) then that superseded the previous agreement they’re now attempting to rely on so as to avoid a void period. As another poster said, they could have said 9 June if they wished, but once they’d said 31 May, that was binding unless you both agreed otherwise which obviously you haven’t.

Keep copies of their trying to threaten you with charges for every day late that the 1 June to 10 June ‘rent’ was paid. Absolute chancers, so they’re getting 2 lots of rent for a day as it stands - the council don’t even do that and bill only the new owner/occupier for the day on which the property changes hands.

pjs493

Newhousebuyer97 said:

lisyloo said:

Have you asked them why they think you are liable for the rent after the tenancy ends?

They replied " You signed a one-year agreement and so you are  liable for the rent until July"  therefore I must pay until the new tenants move in. This doesn't make sense to me. My interpretation is the landlord does not want any interruption in revenue and so is forcing me to pay for the gap between tenants. This is not relevant but they have also upped the rent by 20% for good measure for the new tenants. 

This would also be my interpretation given what you’ve written. The landlord has graciously allowed you to get out of your tenancy early so doesn’t want to also suffer the loss in revenue. They could have insisted you pay until the end of your tenancy agreement. So if look at it as you only having to pay for 10 days when you could have had to pay for two months. 

RHemmings

Newhousebuyer97 said:

Yes I meant the Property Ombudsman scheme. 

 I appreciate that they had to advertise earlier than planned to allow me to leave earlier. I was thankful but I don't think this makes it ok. I want to know if this is common practice as I have never experienced it, before I launch a formal complaint. I would challenge that they are experiencing any loss at all but I may be wrong. I used a cleaner they stipulated and paid for it(£500). I checked out of the flat with no issue, nothing damaged or broken. in addition, the landlord has considerably increased the rent for the new tenants, so this to me just seems greedy. Maybe I don't fully understand all the costs related to letting a property. 

In my post, I was trying to see things from their side. It's not that I agree with them. 

My previous EA and landlord allowed me out on any day I chose, without having to stick to full calendar months renting. I was on a rolling contract, however. They also had about two weeks void before new tenants came in and started paying what I guess to be a much higher rent. Overall, they gained financially due to me moving out. 

I can't immediately find a case on TPOS's website the same as yours. This one has an early termination fee dispute, which is vaguely vaguely similar to yours. 

https://www.tpos.co.uk/news-media-and-press-releases/case-studies/item/a-high-price-for-an-early-exit

Both the Code (Paragraph 12f) and the TFA provide that the agent could charge an early termination fee if a tenant requested to leave before the end of their tenancy. However, the fee claimed could not exceed the financial loss suffered by the landlord in permitting the termination, and the costs reasonably incurred by the agent in this regard. Moreover, an agent should be able to demonstrate (through evidence) that specific costs were incurred. The Ombudsman would also expect an agent to act in accordance with the tenancy agreement (Paragraph 15a) and to communicate clearly, accurately and effectively regarding any early termination charges (paragraphs 1d, 2a and 2b).

You haven't been charged an early termination fee (unless I missed that), but you are being asked to pay for the rent for a period where you didn't have access to the property having already returned your keys as requested. There may be other things here - e.g. has your landlord paid fees for the (in your case short) overlap? I suggest reading this case in full even though it doesn't match your situation 100%. Though, it may have been simpler if they just ended your tenancy and charged an early termination fee. 

I did a search and didn't find any other cases similar to yours. This doesn't mean that they don't exist and other search terms may find more relevant cases. 

propertyrental

There are two potential legal positions and ultimately only a court could decide.

1) your 12 month fixed term contract does not end till July (it would help if you gave an exact date!). You have asked to surrender your tenancy early. The LL does not have to agree, but can choose to agree subject to whatever conditions he wants. In this case, his condition is that you pay rent up to the date a new tenant moves in. If you are unwilling to accept this condition, you would be liable for rent up to the fixed term end date (some unspecified date in July).

2) Conversely, you appear to have written confirmation that the LL has accepted your early surrender for 31st May. (please quote exactly what the LL, via his agent, wrote) without conditions. Therefore your liability for rent (and utilities, council tax etc) ends on 31st May.

As an aside, what rent the LL is charging the new tenants is totally irrelevant.

RHemmings

propertyrental said:

As an aside, what rent the LL is charging the new tenants is totally irrelevant.

While it doesn't seem to be applying here, would it not be relevant if an early termination fee was being charged. Or if the landlord had to sue the tenant through the court. Because in both cases it's only actual losses that can be claimed, and if the new tenant moves in with a higher rent, that will affect whether there has been a loss or not. 

In the current case there will not be any court case - I would assume - because the OP has paid what is claimed. And, the additional money paid - rent up until the 9th of June, is not presented as an early termination fee. 

But, I ask the above while thinking of the general case. 

saajan_12

Newhousebuyer97 said:

lisyloo said:

Have you asked them why they think you are liable for the rent after the tenancy ends?

They replied " You signed a one-year agreement and so you are  liable for the rent until July"  therefore I must pay until the new tenants move in. This doesn't make sense to me. My interpretation is the landlord does not want any interruption in revenue and so is forcing me to pay for the gap between tenants. This is not relevant but they have also upped the rent by 20% for good measure for the new tenants. 

You did have a minimum term until July, which the LL could have held you to. If you ask, they can agree to amend that in return for whatever costs or terms they choose. You can agree or refuse and just pay upto July. They can choose the new tenants would have 20% higher, nothing wrong with that. 

The tricky bit is what the agreed terms were. 
- Could be rent payable until 10 June, and time for them to physically prepare for the changeover. Your payment for the 10 days rent evidences this. 
- Could be the tenancy terminates on 31 May, so rent ends then. 

Ultimately its up to a judge or deposit arbiter if you can't agree and someone escalates it.