Help needed urgently

saucy77

My sister and her partner are renting a house through a letting/estate agent.

They had signed a 12 month contract in August paid a £250 fee for registration/administration costs to the letting agent as well as 4 weeks rent advance deposit.

The problem now is.. the owner of the house wants to sell it. And has just put it on the market with the agent my sister is using to rent it.
The letting agent have said that they can transfer her deposit to a new property if she rents with them again, but with her only being on their books since August, they want another £250 fee!

The owner of the house has stated that she doesn't want my sister or her partner to buy the house and that she desperately wants a quick sale.
I've not actually seen the contract as yet, but have heard what it states, and according to the contract... it only states that she legally has to give notice after the 5th and the 11th month within the contracted period.

According to the letting agent, they can give my sister 1 months notice at anytime! She is scared that she will have no where to live.

Also, sice she has lived in this property... she had no central heating for just over a month and no hot water. Their only source of heating during this time was the gas fire in the living room.
The floor is a what they call solid wood, but in trueness is floorboards with lots of holes in, and one of which isn't actually a small hole.. but looks more like they forgot to floor that part of the room. (3' x 2' gap)
Just after they moved in, they had mice and pest control gave my sister a letter to give to the owner about sealing up the holes as a "matter of urgency", these have still not been sealed even now.
Then 2 weeks ago, the bath had leaked all through the ceiling into the kitchen, the owner did this time get the plumber out, but the damp is still there in the kitchen including the tiles floor, which are now coming away.

What can she do?
Does she have a legal leg to stand on?

DGJsaver

oh my god that is outrageous

surley surley the tenancy agreement says at the end of the 12 month contract notice can be given or something along those lines...??

saucy77

Nope nothing there.
She even took the contract to CAB and CAB said they couldn't find anything in the contract that states the time slot in which they can give her to get out. But when she confronted the letting agent with this new found knowledge, they pointed to a small paragraph... which I am yet to see, but will hopefully be able to post the full contract detail in an hour or so.

Trollfever

Shelter and CAB.

liz545

Advise her to speak to Shelter as a matter of urgency, but also have a think about what she wants to get out of the situation. The property sounds pretty awful, so does she really want to stay there, or is this a good opportunity to get out while she can and find a better home (through a better agency!). Her deposit should be legally protected, so she should have details of the scheme it's protected in. Has she been served notice to leave the property? She should have received something like this:http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/pdf/Section21Notice.pdf If her contract is for a fixed term (12 months or 6 months) then the landlord can't serve notice until this term expires; so if it were for 12 months then he wouldn't be able to ask her to leave until the end of that term - she could leave earlier by mutual agreement but under these circumstances she'd be justified in asking for a buy-out/financial compensation for her cooperation as he's breaking the contract. If it's for 6 months then AFAIK he would have had to serve notice for her to leave prior to that date, otherwise it becomes a periodic tenancy and he has to give her 2 months notice (http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/notice_to_quit.htm).

I'm frankly surprised that the CAB aren't aware that the law states a mandatory 2 months notice, and the contents of the tenancy agreement don't really matter, as the law supercedes any such agreement. This would be deemed to be an unfair term and therefore not legally enforceable (http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/consumer_leaflets/general/oft381.pdf)

So to summarise:
-talk to shelter
- get the details of the deposit protection scheme. If it's not protected, that's a whole 'nuther kettle of fish!
- explain to the LL and letting agent that you will require 2 months notice as legally required; if the LL is prepared to compensate her for breaking the contract (I'd suggest a fair sum would be equivalent to 3 month's rent) then she will be prepared to move out earlier, provided she can find somewhere to live
-start looking for somewhere new to live
-go with her, if you can, because she'll be scared and need moral support

DGJsaver

whats the point of it being called a 12 moth contract then ??

check the wording

clutton_2

as far as i am aware a 12 months contract is just that. 12 months. I do not know how a landlord can get out of that. If he is in a panic to sell, maybe he is being repossessed. Even if he has put it on the market, you have a legal right of "quiet enjoyment" and you do not have to let ANYONE into the property if you dont want to - and that includes letting agent, landlord, estate agent, prospective purchasers - noone. But - if you want to get a better place, you are now in a strong position to insist that the landlord at least pays ALL your costs to move - agency fees, moving van etc etc you have a bargaining tool.

it would, however, be helpful if you posted up the exact clauses in the tenancy agreement about the "Term" and any break clauses in the agreement before doing anything decisive.

liz545

DGJsaver wrote: »

whats the point of it being called a 12 moth contract then ??

check the wording

It could be that they entered into a 12 month contract with a break clause, that enables either party to leave at the end of 6 months, or it could be a 12 month fixed-term contract. Either way, I suspect we have a landlord who doesn't really know what they're doing and has run out of money, and an estate agent who can't see his legal responsibilities for the admin fees!

saucy77

The Tenancy Agreement

An Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreegment is made on the date specifed for letting an un-furnished dwelling-house under Part 1 of the housing Act 1988 as amended under the provisions of the Housing Act 1996

Date of Agreement 24th August 2007

Landlords details and tenants details.
Property address

Date of Commencement 24th August 2007

Term of Rental 12 months (Twelve)
Rent payable details

Security Deposit £900

The deposit is held under a Tenancy Deposit Protection Scheme operated by The Dispute Service Ltd (address)

Whereby it is agreed

1. The landlord lets and the tenant takes the property together with the furnishings, fixtures, fittings and effects therein
2. The agreement may be bought to an end in accordance with the provisons n section 5 to 12 and schedule 2 of the housing act 1996.
3. In this agreement references to the singular shall include the plural and the references to the masculine gender shall include the feminine and where two or more persons are together the tenant, their obligations to the landlord shall be joint and several.[4]The Tenant hereby agrees with the landlord as follows.

a) To pay the said rental by the due day and in the manner specified, the (letting agent) reserve the right to charge £25+VAT per week, payable to (letting agent) to cover additonal administration costs involved, once the rental becomes 5 days overdue.
b) To pay all gas, water rates or metered water rates, electric light and power which shall be consumed or supplied on or to the property during the tenancy and the amount of all charges made for the use of the telephone (if any) on the property during the tenancy.

And the list goes on..

Section 5.. The landlord hereby agrees with the tenant as follows.
a) To pay and indemnify the tenant against all taxes (except specified in 4c above) assessments and outgoings in repsect of the property, except charges for supply of gas, water rates or metered water rates, electrc light and power of the use of any telephone.
b)That the tenant paying rent and performing agreement and stipulations on this part, may quietly possess and enjoy the property during the tenancy without any lawful interuption from the landlord or any persons lawfully claiming under or in trust for the landlord.
c) to insure (or if any headlease provides for the superior landlord to insure to endeavour to procure the insurance) under house owners comprehensive insurance policy the proprty contents and keep the same insured during the period of tenancy against loss or damage by fire and all other risks as shall by a normal house owners policy and the tenant shall be responnsible for insuring those items which he personally introduces into the property during the period of tenancy.
d)To return to the tenant any rent payable and in fact paid in advance for any period while the property is rendered unhabitable or inaccessible by reason of fire or other risk insured against (unless the result of an act of default by the tenant) the amount in case of dispute to be settled by arbitration.
e)To maintain all gas and electrical appliances and make good or replace any defective parts due to fair wear and tear and not caused by any negligence on the part of the tenant.
f)To keep good repair and proper working order the installations contained in the property for the supply of water, gas and electricity and all mechanical and electrical items as are included in the contents but this agreement shall not be constructed as requiring landlord to carry out any work fr which the tenant is liable by vrtue of his duty to use the property and the contents in a tenant-like manner and provided further that the tenant shall indemnify the landlord respect of the cost of repairs of such installation or items resulting in misuse of the same howsoever and by whomever caused.
g)That he is the sole owner of the property and that consents neccesary to empower him to enter into this agreement have been obtained.
h)To give 2 calendar months' notice prior notice in writing to determine this agreement, such notice not to be given at any time before the expiry of the 4th month of this agreement.

The next part s mutally agreed section, having read through down to this point...
Section 6(h)
The landlord hereby gives the tenant notice that possession of the property might be recovered on ground 2 of part 1 schedule 2 of the housing act 1988 as amnded under the provisons of the housing act 1996, namely if the mortgagee should become entitled to exercise the power of sale and should require posession of the property for the purpose of disposing it with vacant possessions in exercise of that power.

Your thoughts please, and recommendations.

Strapped

5 (h) is the break clause. She can be asked to leave with 2 months notice. (The tenancy started in August, so she's now in the 6th month).

I'd advise doing what was suggested by clutton - offer to go sooner if the LL pays the costs (esp if she suspects the LL is behind with the mortgage as they will be desperate to get the place vacant).

clutton_2

irrespective of what it says in the AST a landlord (who is NOT subject to repossession notices) cannot get any tenant out of a property without a court order.

So, even tho he gives you two months notice, you do not have to leave - he will then have to apply to the court for a Possession Order, and even then you dont have to leave. he will then have to go back to the court for a bailiffs warrant and only when the bailiffs knock on your door with court order in their hand do you have to leave - however - by that time, you will have a CCJ. But this whole process takes time - maybe a couple of months or more so, you will have some breathing space.

i would spend £3 on the Land registry site and find out who your landlords lender is, and then contact them to see if they are instituting Reposession Proceedings against him. Then at least you will know if speed is of the essence or n ot - if he is being repoed - you may well have to leave pretty damned quick.