landlord problems

[pedro666]

Hi all thanks for taking the time to read this, i hope someone will be able to help,
the problem i have is that my Estate Agent IPS in leicester sent me a letter last week stating that i owed them £675 is rent arrears, i phoned them and told them that i paid it in on the first of the month as per usual, the reply that i got was that because i signed my tenancy agreement on the 22nd of the month the rent was due on the 22nd, but on my tenancy is clearly states that rent must been paid on the first of every month, both me and estate agent signed this. I told them this and they said that it doesn't matter that it says that, its from when i signed it, is this true??? also the letter that they sent me stats that the rent is to be paid on the first, i am prepared to go to court with this as i feel i am being "conned" into paying them these charges,

[Zazen.Warrior]

Re: landlord problems

What charges?

There is nothing to go to court over here, just pay as agreed.

Probably a computer generated letter, they are very literal.

[pedro666]

Re: landlord problems

the charges are because they say i was late with my rent payment which i paid on the 1st of every month but because they state that it was due on the 22nd it has been late 8 days or so, and the rent i have been paying has been going on late charges atc....

thanks for any advice ppl

[Zazen.Warrior]

Re: landlord problems

So these are charges for 'late' payment in addition to the rent?

[pedro666]

Re: landlord problems

yes, they say that the rent i have been paying has been going towards paying off the late charges so i pay them £350 a month on the 1st but because they say it was due on the 22nd they take the charges out of my rent money meaning its short by whatever amount they charge for it being late.

[enaid]

Re: landlord problems

You signed your agreement on the 22nd of the month ?
Your contract states your rent is due on the 1st of the month ?
When you signed the agreement did you pay any money upfront? if so what and how much?

[Zazen.Warrior]

Re: landlord problems

And does your contract mention additional charges?

[pedro666]

Re: landlord problems

thats correct, contract says rent must be paid on the first of the month, we paid £350 bond, £350 first months rent and £200 fees credit ref etc... that was on the 22/7/09 but when we moved in the owner of the property said that there wes no couples allowed, so a few heated phone calls to the esate agents later they moved us into a property over the road the next day.
that was well over a year ago, been paying rent 1st of every month since, then out of the blue 2 months ago they sent me a letter saying that because i signed the agreement on the 22 i was late every time with the rent, i went down and spoke to them and the lady said if i pay £450 for the next 3 months then would call it quits! then she said they needed to do a inspection, so the next day this guy came round had a quick look round, smashing a £60 vase on his way out, didnt even say sorry!!

Phoned them today saying i think they are bang out of order and the lady said that it was the owner who wants to evict us for late payments, when i questioned this "late rent" issue she told me that because we signed the agreement 22nd, every time we paid it in on the 1st i.e 8 days later, they took there charges for late payments out of that!


where do i stand on this?

can they come in and throw my stuff out if im not there?

if i go to court with this how to i go about getting a lawyer?, i haven't the money for one,

thanks so much for this, its a very stressful time at the min,

[enaid]

Re: landlord problems

Ok your £350 bond should have gone into a Government authorised Tenancy Deposit Protection (TDP) Scheme.
A landlord must inform a tenant within 14 days of receipt of a deposit what TDP scheme they have used to protect the deposit.
Failure to do this will mean a landlord can be subject to a court fine and cannot seek to evict a tenant using the accelerated possession procedures normally available at the end of a contract.

The £200 fees will have been explained to you when you enquired about renting through them.

So your first months rent you paid £350 on the 22nd of the month and your contract says you pay on the 1st of the month?
So you moved in on the 22nd or 23rd?
Did you then pay your next months rent on the 1st of the following month? or did you pay on the 22nd?

[pedro666]

Re: landlord problems

we actuly moved into the property im in on the 24/7/09, paid next lot of rent on the 1/9/09 and so on till 2 months ago when i got the letter, this was the first i heard about it, which makes me think somethings not quite right,

[enaid]

Re: landlord problems

we actuly moved into the property im in on the 24/7/09, paid next lot of rent on the 1/9/09 and so on till 2 months ago when i got the letter, this was the first i heard about it, which makes me think somethings not quite right,

This is what I am trying to get to, you paid 1 months rent on the 22/7 that would take you to 22/8 ok?
You didnt pay until 1/9 so in fact they are correct in saying you were behind with your rent.
Have you read you contract and does it advise you of charges they can and will make if you are late?

[pedro666]

Re: landlord problems

yes theres a page at the back of the contract that says

LATE RENT CHARGES
any rents later than the 1st of every month or quarter(in case rent is paid quarterly) will attract an interest penalty calculated at 40% of the daily rent payable for the delayed period

[enaid]

Re: landlord problems

Ok I think you must write to them and ask them for a breakdown of the charges they are asking.
Even 8 days late every month over that period wont equate to £675, so I think you need now to do everything in writing and see how they get their figures.

[pedro666]

Re: landlord problems

ok thanks, so if i write to them and ask for a complete breakdown of all charges then what? ive read that they can apply to the court for an eviction notice, think i read somewhere it takes 14days, will the court or someone else inform me if they have done this? i really would like my say in court! also its abit strange after a year that they would bring me up on this!

thanks again enaid and zazen

[enaid]

Re: landlord problems

Although it is easier for Private Landlords to evict their tenants there are still procedures to be followed.
This link from Shelter gives the reasons and also the procedures for eviction. If you fill in the details on there it will help you understand what your Landlord can and can not do and then hopefully you will be able to sort out your situation.
Enaid x

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad...iction_checker