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Hi.
My first post, but having let our house so that we could move, I doubt this will be my last!
I have a technical/legal question with regards the Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement - In short, is there any responsibility on a letting agent to ensure that both members of a couple renting a property are named on the tenancy agreement?
Some background to this question:
Last year my now wife let her house to a couple via a letting agency.
The tenancy agreement was due to come to an end at the beginning of October. The tenant's partner has fallen pregnant again and they need a larger home.
We then learned from the letting agency that the tenant had been in touch just before the last month's rent was due to say he had already moved out of the property.
He told the agency they were welcome to take the last month's rent from the deposit which is being held by DPS and he would allow it to be returned to the agency.
He stated quite, ironically that it was his moving early from our house (without telling us) and into his new home that has caused him financial hardship so he can't afford to pay the last month's rent in the manner in which it should be paid. Cheek!
Upon checkout last week, which he wasn't present for, the agent and subsequently their contractors found over £900 of genuine damages and dilapidations (gouges in interior walls, damage to interior painted walls and wallpaper, a hole in a plaster board wall, poor attempts to repair shelves fitted then removed from walls, shrubs ripped out of the garden etc, etc,) They had also found that the professional-clean prescribed in the tenancy agreement hadn't been carried out. The cost is £250 including carpet cleaning.
The rent arrears are £695, the final month's rent.
Unbeknownst to us, we must have missed this little gem, but the letting agent has a policy where the rent is less than £750 pcm of only collecting one month's rent plus £200 as a deposit.
So the deposit amounts to £895. The tenant's total invoice is £1,845.
To add insult to injury we've learned that the tenant has called the agency stating that he intends to dispute any claim against his deposit.
Since they moved from the house, we've noticed a lot of post from catalogue and finance companies arriving in his partner's name. The letting agency made us aware at the beginning of the tenancy that it was a couple taking the house, but only the male tenant is named on the agreement and only he was referenced.
Is this correct? Doesn't she have to be named and reference as a joint tenant, jointly and severally liable for the total amount of the rent? Or at the very least, shouldn't she be named somewhere on the tenancy agreement as an occupant at least?
We've also since discovered that the tenant's partner, is named on the electoral role, but he isn't. Or at least not his Surname is there, but his first name is completely different to that which is on the tenancy agreement.
A little more digging on the electoral role uncovered his previous address - They are shown at that address under her name and the name he has used for the tenancy agreement at our house.
I hope you're following this!:tinysmile_aha_t:
Companies House shows that he is listed as a Director under the name he has used on the tenancy agreement, along with his partner as Company Secretary at a company of accountants dissolved last year.
His partner is listed under her name as Company Secretary at a new company of accountants formed late last year. His name as it appears on the electoral role at our property (not the one that appears on the tenancy agreement) is listed as a Director of that firm.
The letting agency forwarded us the referencing report, and surprise, surprise his "employer" is this new company, the one which has him under a different name as a Director.
In another twist, the name of the person who confirmed to the referencing agency that the tenant works for the firm appeared on a letter that arrived at the house from the DVLA last week confirming that that person had successfully informed DVLA that he had sold his car.
On the surface of it, it appears that this couple are messily attempting a career as fraudsters. They've left a trail behind them and we will issue a summons for whatever is left after any deposit dispute is resolved with DPS, if only to link both of his assumed names legally and achieve a judgement against him in his name and his alias. I have managed to obtain enough documentation I think to convince a decent judgement that both are one and the same. I doubt we'll see another penny apart from the deposit.
I am though very interested to find out whether the letting agent has acted improperly by not naming both parties somewhere on the tenancy agreement. I would have thought if they were a couple (and the agency did know that they are as they also have a 5 year old son they declared) that both adults would have to be named as jointly and severally liable for the rent to avoid issue if for example the relationship broke down and one party moved out during a tenancy.
Does anyone know if this is a legal requirement?
Thank you in advance for your help!
My first post, but having let our house so that we could move, I doubt this will be my last!
I have a technical/legal question with regards the Assured Shorthold Tenancy agreement - In short, is there any responsibility on a letting agent to ensure that both members of a couple renting a property are named on the tenancy agreement?
Some background to this question:
Last year my now wife let her house to a couple via a letting agency.
The tenancy agreement was due to come to an end at the beginning of October. The tenant's partner has fallen pregnant again and they need a larger home.
We then learned from the letting agency that the tenant had been in touch just before the last month's rent was due to say he had already moved out of the property.
He told the agency they were welcome to take the last month's rent from the deposit which is being held by DPS and he would allow it to be returned to the agency.
He stated quite, ironically that it was his moving early from our house (without telling us) and into his new home that has caused him financial hardship so he can't afford to pay the last month's rent in the manner in which it should be paid. Cheek!
Upon checkout last week, which he wasn't present for, the agent and subsequently their contractors found over £900 of genuine damages and dilapidations (gouges in interior walls, damage to interior painted walls and wallpaper, a hole in a plaster board wall, poor attempts to repair shelves fitted then removed from walls, shrubs ripped out of the garden etc, etc,) They had also found that the professional-clean prescribed in the tenancy agreement hadn't been carried out. The cost is £250 including carpet cleaning.
The rent arrears are £695, the final month's rent.
Unbeknownst to us, we must have missed this little gem, but the letting agent has a policy where the rent is less than £750 pcm of only collecting one month's rent plus £200 as a deposit.
So the deposit amounts to £895. The tenant's total invoice is £1,845.
To add insult to injury we've learned that the tenant has called the agency stating that he intends to dispute any claim against his deposit.
Since they moved from the house, we've noticed a lot of post from catalogue and finance companies arriving in his partner's name. The letting agency made us aware at the beginning of the tenancy that it was a couple taking the house, but only the male tenant is named on the agreement and only he was referenced.
Is this correct? Doesn't she have to be named and reference as a joint tenant, jointly and severally liable for the total amount of the rent? Or at the very least, shouldn't she be named somewhere on the tenancy agreement as an occupant at least?
We've also since discovered that the tenant's partner, is named on the electoral role, but he isn't. Or at least not his Surname is there, but his first name is completely different to that which is on the tenancy agreement.
A little more digging on the electoral role uncovered his previous address - They are shown at that address under her name and the name he has used for the tenancy agreement at our house.
I hope you're following this!:tinysmile_aha_t:
Companies House shows that he is listed as a Director under the name he has used on the tenancy agreement, along with his partner as Company Secretary at a company of accountants dissolved last year.
His partner is listed under her name as Company Secretary at a new company of accountants formed late last year. His name as it appears on the electoral role at our property (not the one that appears on the tenancy agreement) is listed as a Director of that firm.
The letting agency forwarded us the referencing report, and surprise, surprise his "employer" is this new company, the one which has him under a different name as a Director.
In another twist, the name of the person who confirmed to the referencing agency that the tenant works for the firm appeared on a letter that arrived at the house from the DVLA last week confirming that that person had successfully informed DVLA that he had sold his car.
On the surface of it, it appears that this couple are messily attempting a career as fraudsters. They've left a trail behind them and we will issue a summons for whatever is left after any deposit dispute is resolved with DPS, if only to link both of his assumed names legally and achieve a judgement against him in his name and his alias. I have managed to obtain enough documentation I think to convince a decent judgement that both are one and the same. I doubt we'll see another penny apart from the deposit.
I am though very interested to find out whether the letting agent has acted improperly by not naming both parties somewhere on the tenancy agreement. I would have thought if they were a couple (and the agency did know that they are as they also have a 5 year old son they declared) that both adults would have to be named as jointly and severally liable for the rent to avoid issue if for example the relationship broke down and one party moved out during a tenancy.
Does anyone know if this is a legal requirement?
Thank you in advance for your help!
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