My landlord claims to have never received my notice to end the tenancy

jacko552

I sent my landlord notice to end my tenancy at the end of june, ready to vacate on the 9th August. I sent it by 1st class post but neglected to get proof of postage. I also sent him messages by whatsapp to inform him that we would be purchasing a property and would not need his property anymore.

The Whatsapp conversation went as follows:

17 June

Me: Hi x, our house purchase has finally started moving, and they want to complete asap due to a pregnancy in the chain - can you confirm the earliest date we could give this house back to you?

Him: If you can post the notice we accept on receipt. Your rent date is the 10th so if I had it now your notice would expire on 9th August. We can put it on the rental market now and if we get a new tenant earlier then that would release you earlier

Me: Okay I'll let you know when we've posted it

And then we didnt speak again until today when I asked how he wanted his keys back.

I'm of a mind, after speaking to Shelter, to rescind the updated notice letter I sent today stating that we are serving a new notice, and just give him the keys back on the 9th as planned, since its been cleaned and is ready to be moved into again. If he wants to take it to dispute stage, do I have a leg to stand on?

MeteredOut

Did you let him know when you had posted it, as you said you would?

What does your tenancy agreement state about how you must give notice?

propertyrental

Presumably this is England?

And you have a Statutory Periodic Tenancy?

And presumably you sent the notice to the address provided by the LL 'for the serving of notices'?

You say "Okay I'll let you know when we've posted it" - did you do that?

You have muddied the waters by serving a new notice (which will presumably expire on 9th Sept), implicitly accepting that you had not already served notice.

If you vacate and stop paying rent on/from 9 Aug, the LL may well claim rent arrears from your deposit. Impossible to anticipate how arbitrators would rule.....

theartfullodger

In your shoes (but I do gamble) I'd leave, taking loads of photos, returning keys  (or shoving back through letterbox  ) then see if he sues you for (ongoing) unpaid rent.  Suspect he won't, and even if he did might well lose in court.

Artful, landlord.

Good luck!

NB what exactly does tenancy say, if anything, about you serving notice?

As long as you served it validly then that he didn't read it is irrelevant, you served valid notice.

Was your expiry date end of initial fixed term (in which case usually no notice required).

jacko552

Hi Both,

Yes, England, Statuary Periodic Tenancy and I sent it to the correct address as per the tenancy agreement. Unfortunately I neglected to let him know when I'd posted it.

@theartfullodger the tenancy agreement says:

9.3 You agree that any notices given under or in relation to this Agreement which are to be given in writing may be served on you either by being left at the Property or by being sent to the Property by first class post. Notices left at the Property are deemed received the next working day. Notices sent by first class post are deemed received two working days after posting.

The main problem is I didnt send it registered, I just popped it into a letterbox.

jacko552

If I move out on the 9th August, does the landlord then have any grounds to keep charging me rent until the appeal/court case is through with? That's what I'm really not wanting!

RHemmings

Your landlord can only sue you for their actual losses, and is required to minimise their losses. If you moved out, then your landlord would be expected to advertise the property and get a new tenant as soon as reasonably possible. 

The situation here is unclear as others have said above. You didn't confirm by WhatsApp that you had sent the notice. And, you didn't send the notice by recorded/tracked delivery. They say that notices to you can be left at the property and are considered served, hence if you wanted to follow the path recommended by @theartfullodger, then you could tell the landlord that you posted it first class and consider the notice served. May not hold up in court. But, you could say that, noting that it's similar to the situation described for giving notice to you in the AST. 

However, as others have said, you then gave the new notice. Which appears to me (non-lawyer alert) to have accepted the situation. As others have said. 

I'm no lawyer, and this is not legal advice. But, I can't see how the landlord could possibly sue you for rent going beyond the date of the new notice. Which I guess will be the 9th of September. So, that should be the worst case. Provided there aren't additional factors such as considerable damage to the property - which I guess there aren't. And, if the landlord can get a new tenant before then (quite possible in the current market depending on where you are), then it should be less. 

If you decide not to pay past the 9th, then if I were you I would tell the landlord immediately, and would advise the landlord of the need for them to minimise their losses by advertising the property and obtaining a replacement tenant ASAP. But, given the situation described, if I was you (OP) I would probably think that the second notice was me agreeing, and pay the extra month rent. 

silvercar

If you’ve paid a deposit, your landlord may decide to take the missing rent from the deposit. You and he would then go through whichever tenant deposit scheme he chose and dispute the return of the full deposit. So the arbitration scheme would decide whether the landlord should accept the notice he didn’t receive.

saajan_12

So if you did post the notice 2 days before 9th July, then its deemed served and expires 9th August, and no further rent due. If you didn't, then you never served notice until today and expires 9th September. The stuff about deemed service isn't really the issue - the question is whether you can prove that you actually put it in the post, eg by going into a post office and getting a proof of postage receipt. Most likely the LL will deduct the months rent from your deposit and it'll be for the aribter to decide who they believe. 

While the LL does need to mitigate losses, its unlikely that they would be able to advertise, hold viewings, cover referencing, sign agreements, and have the tenant willing to start before 9th Sept considering most have a 1 month notice period and may not be able to afford a significant overlap in rent plus deposit. So the LL's losses are probably a full months rent or longer, though the longer bit is the LL's problem. 

Ultimately your options are vacate by 9th Aug and take your chance with the deposit scheme OR pay an additional months rent and move out / clean more gradually which may save something. The question for the deposit scheme arbiter will be whether you posted the notice or not.
- The evidence in your favour will be your word and the texts suggesting you were going to send it asap.
- The evidence in LL's favour will be their word and the texts suggesting the move out was contingent on a house move (fraught with delays), that you would text when it was sent which you didn't do in July, and the fact that you resent it. 

Neither is concrete and the LL has to tip the scales, but on the balance of probabilities, I think that's more likely to be the LL. 

jacko552

Some confounding factors which have been discovered since - the house has been up on Rightmove to rent since at least the 1st July, with the Let Available Date listed at 09/08/24 and the estate agent or landlord has been round in the past week and taken pictures for Rightmove without our permission. I feel like this tips the scales slightly more in our favour?

theartfullodger

9.3 seems to be about notices served on you - not on landlord - or did I misunderstand\??