Rent by Standing Order - can landlord force this issue?

jojo2004

Hello - I'm really hoping someone can give me some advice!

I live in a privately rented flat with three other housemates. We have a joint house account (a savings account, of course, in best MSE tradition, so that the money which sits there accrues interest), held in all four names, into which we each put our rent, and out of which we pay a monthly standing order to our landlords. It's a holding account, I guess, so that there aren't four separate payments going to the lnadlords each month - this was our choice, for their convenience.

Having had the standing order fail three times in the last eighteen months, our landlords are now understandably worried, and have stated that it "is a condition of your (our) tenancy that you set up a monthly standing order" to be paid by each tenant into the joint house account.

Now my problem: I choose to pay my rent into the house account quarterly, because I receive my funding that way - i.e. three months of my money goes into the joint account at once, at the beginning of each quarter, in advance of the due date for the first rental payment of that quarter, so effectively I am paying in advance.

My landlord is sending threatening emails, saying if I do not set up a monthly standing order from my own personal account, into the house account, she will terminate the contract.

Surely a) it is none of her business how and when I choose to pay into an account which is held in mine and my housemates name - it is only her business that said account have a standing order in place to pay the rent each month, b) I am paying early - how can she threaten to kick me out for doing this??? and c) the standing order we jointly pay to the landlords is due on the 24th of each month for the month ahead (which when we moved in, I thought was pretty early, but they are fussy b***ers, so hey!)
Now she's saying we have to each have a standing order, payable on the 20th of each month - 10 days before the rent starts to "apply" (at least as I think of it), and the last email she sent me, (in red ink and caps lock,) said I had to have one on the 15th of each month - 2 weeks early!!!! This can't be right!!! I could be earning interest on that money in those two weeks!

Can she make it a condition of tenancy that we pay by monthly standing order into this joint "holding" account? Can she find out? It's not her account, so I can't see how she can? It's not in the contract at the moment, and we haven't agreed to any changes.
Please help!
Jo

clutton_2

why has your rent S/O failed 3 times in 18 months - of course she is worried ....

no she cannot insist on how you as tenants organise your funds. She cannot change rent date unless she changes the tenancy agreement. BUT she is entitled to have her rent IN her bank account on rent day, and if it is not , due to bank slow handling of transactions then you should reasonably arrange for the payment to go out of your account a day or two early to ensure it arrives in her account on the correct day. Some "banks" are still claiming 10 days to clear a cheque - depends which banks you are using.

You signed a legally binding agreement to pay rent on x day each month, she is legally entitled to have it on that day.

jojo2004

I know she's entitled to have the rent on the day specified - but she has now made that day two weeks before the month begins - i.e. I pay February's rent on the 15th Jan???
I have friends whose landlords still collect rent in person on the first day of each month - why should I lose two weeks interest because she's worried?

chappers

you shouldn't as has been said she can't change the rent date.

lynzpower

But shes worried because YOU arnt getting the money to her on the right day.

I had this problem with standing orders as well, and I set it up to go out early, by 2 weeks, just to make sure that the LL got the money.

You are not stickign to your side of the agreement! WHY NOT.

liz545

I'm not sure I understand this - you pay your portion of the rent into the house account quarterly, and a standing order from this account pays the total into your landlord's account monthly, is that right? If that's the case, then she has no way of knowing whether you're making deposits into that account monthly, quarterly, or yearly; and no bank in their right mind would give her that kind of information as she's not the named account holder. Talk to your bank. Find out why the standing order has failed. Ensure that your flatmates are also paying their rent into the account on time. Then tell her that you've changed your standing order - she can't verify this, you don't have to do anything, and it'll give her peace of mind. Politely reassure her that you'll make sure that the rent always reaches her by the rent due date as stated on your contract, and ensure that your rent (individual and joint) isn't late again. HTH!

KITCHEN1_2

"is a condition of your (our) tenancy that you set up a monthly standing order" to be paid by each tenant into the joint house account"

If that is what is on your tenancy agreement then she has the right to enforce it and indeed that is what you should have done under the agreement. If it did not suit you then you should not have signed the agreement. If ,on the otherhand it is not in your tenancy agreement at this time ,but she has simply put this to you verbally then she is trying to amend an existing tenancy agreement and she cannot actually enforce that. She would have to wait and issue a new agreement when the old one expires which you and your co tenants would have to decide to accept ,or reject.

I've been in your landlords position and I have to say it is frustrating to have be involved in what ultimately should be a matter that is resolved between the tenants. How they fund ,or don't fund a joint rent account should really not be an issue that a landlord should have to worry about overly. They have a right that the tenants should deliver the rent on time just as said tenants have a right to expect the landlord to act on his liabilities under the agreement in a timely manner.

Seems appropriate to also say that one of the main frustrations I have had over the years is that many tenants are just so focussed on getting the property they don't spend enough time and effort on actually reading the tenancy agreement in detail and many act surprised when they subsequently find they have breached same in some way.

clutton_2

what i dont understand is - if you are paying quarterly into an account and the rent is not being paid - one explanation is that your mates are not paying their rent on time - you should be blaming them not the landlady.

You are not acting like a grown up here - worrying about two weeks interest, and suggesting that the landlady come and collect the rent in person ...... is not an adult response.

If there is not enough in the account to pay the rent on several occasions, there wont be any interest anyway

nobblyned

Why have you missed 3 payments in the last 18 months? You have already broken your tenancy agreement. As others have said, no wonder the LL is worried.

I would stop focusing on the injustice of losing 2 weeks interest, and give a little thought to why your rent isn't being paid on time as you have agreed.

If what the Landlord has suggested solves the issue, then that would be one way to proceed, or perhaps they would be amenable to an alternative. It is you as tenants that have defaulted on your agreement.

lifeisgood

It is a condition of your tenancy that your rent is in your LL's account on the due date each month. She is obviously concerned because she never knows from one month to the next whether it will be there or not. However, she has no business to dictate how you operate your own bank accounts. Is there a communication problem between you?

Is the tenancy in all of your names?

One possible answer is to draw out cash from the joint house account, and pay it into a local branch of her bank on rent day. Her account will be updated with cleared funds on that day, and you will all have saved a few days getting the money together. This will only work if her bank has a branch local to you.

But do communicate with her. I'm surprised she hasn't given you notice.

GarethK

Now this is a very interesting thread and may be the reason why i have had a section 21 served on me! Like most i should imagine i pay my rent by standing order every month, it comes out on the day the rent is due and takes 3 days to clear. This has been going on since the first month i rented, its now been 8 months.

I was whinged at by my LL because they were going overdrawn and we i didnt set up a direct debit, on advice from the bank because i am not paying a business i cannot do a DD only a standing order.

The problem arises when rent falls on a Saturday so the LL doesnt get the money cleared in her account until the 4th for example.

This has happened twice in the 8 months of renting. Now i had no problem in changing the standing order to 3 days before but this was not asked by the landlord.

In fact at my previous property thru a letting agent i paid rent by cheque on the due date and NEVER had an issue!

Sorry if this drifts OT slightly but it has helped me answer my own question!

In the future i am going to have the SO coming out 3 days before the due date or just get a landlord that understands how the banking system works.

Gareth