Help needed with my old landlord
Discussion
Our company lets a lot of resi property and this situation crops up quite often.
The tenant owes a month's notice, but wants to go sooner. We will sometimes agree something like, "pay for the next two weeks, go immediately and we will call it quits".
Tenant: "If you let it straight away can I have my money back?"
Us, "If we don't let it for a month are you going to pay the additional two weeks?"
Tenant: No.
Perhaps it's a symptom of everyone's growing sense of entitlement, but tenants DO tend to think that they only have rights, not responsibilities.
Taken from a blog post on Nearly Legal:
"In legal terms, Mr Toogood did indeed have a claim – there is no obligation to mitigate for landlords on the fixed term of the contract, meaning that they can claim for rent for the remainder of the term without attempting to re-let.
Most landlords take a practical view, seek to re-let and ask the outgoing tenant for the rent up to the date of re-let. But not Mr Toogood, who would insist upon his legal right for payment of rent for the remainder of the contractual term."
Your landlord could have just left it empty whilst collecting the full rent for the remainder of the contract and making no atttemp to find new tenants.
"In legal terms, Mr Toogood did indeed have a claim – there is no obligation to mitigate for landlords on the fixed term of the contract, meaning that they can claim for rent for the remainder of the term without attempting to re-let.
Most landlords take a practical view, seek to re-let and ask the outgoing tenant for the rent up to the date of re-let. But not Mr Toogood, who would insist upon his legal right for payment of rent for the remainder of the contractual term."
Your landlord could have just left it empty whilst collecting the full rent for the remainder of the contract and making no atttemp to find new tenants.
Andehh said:
OP, Pistonheads being what it is is generally filled with more Landlords then it is Tenants, so I think you will inevitably get a more Landlord skewed point of view.
It is a sizable amount of money, so I would definitely seek clarification from one of the independent help groups, Shelter, Citizen Advice etc etc.
A lot of it will come down to what can be proved. I handed keys back as goodwill to allow VIEWINGS -vs- I handed keys back as vacant possessions. Phrasing like that will dictate a lot I think.
For the sake of a £30 claim & getting some advice, I would be sorely tempted to give it a go...
See 13m's post below your. Skewed points of view don't change facts.It is a sizable amount of money, so I would definitely seek clarification from one of the independent help groups, Shelter, Citizen Advice etc etc.
A lot of it will come down to what can be proved. I handed keys back as goodwill to allow VIEWINGS -vs- I handed keys back as vacant possessions. Phrasing like that will dictate a lot I think.
For the sake of a £30 claim & getting some advice, I would be sorely tempted to give it a go...
richatnort said:
So i read up a bit more in this issue and it would seem that legally I am in my rights to get my rent back. As I didn't legally sign that I relinquish my tenancy she's technically sub rented the house out while I'm in my tenancy. The problem is my contracted said that my tenancy runs out on the 30th September so if I choose to leave it unoccupied for that time that's my choice as there isn't anything in the contract to say it can't be unoccupied for X amount days. I'm going to write her a formal letter and tell her these facts and tell her that I'm going to small claims court because it's £35 and if the law decides I'm not right and I'm bit owed it but I just feel robbed and I can't understand how someone can keep £500 when they aren't out of pocket and could easily send it back instead of spending it on whatever she's spent it on
Fek me what an angry person you are or come across.How about you had a tenancy contract. you wanted to break your contract, the owner and you agreed that if you pay £x rental amount equivent to the rent to the 30.9.16 then you can be released early the contract ends.
You negotiated an end to your contract to save you money. The LL agreed for £x to end your contract early. You paid £x you vacated and gave keys back. Your contract has ended. end of - that's it.
What the owner does with the property after that is none of your business. you have no contract its not your property. if she had sold it would you want that as well?
Utilities should be in your name (perhaps they wernt more fool the landlord)
Did you have mould and condensation in the property? bet you did........ bet you thought its the owners making and not your. I'm sure you left the property in a much better condition then you found it as well?
Look if I thought you were being done over and most others here I'm sure we would say. You are not. Enjoy your new home and Christmas -ps. heat the property, open the windows and ventilate.
Edited by superlightr on Wednesday 30th November 12:14
richatnort said:
I think you are all right i think I'm just real upset at seeing that sum of money in her pocket and not in mine and I'm just angry. I'm going to reply back and tell her I'm not paying the gas and electric bill as it was after we moved out and not my responsibility as it was from when we relinquished the keys as you've said and tell her she can use the £500 she robed of me to pay it back easily and not to contact me again
If this upsets you, god knows what you're like if someone really wrongs you..Why not go crying to mummy, maybe she'll put a plaster on it?Your landlord did not rob you, you came onto here looking for the tiniest shred of support in your incredulous petulant ways so that you can mitigate clogging up the courts. Cake and eat it comes to mind?
In short, she relented, took a risk, saved you some money and you want more!? I'm not one to support landlords, but in this case I certainly do..
We coordinated our first house purchase so it aligned neatly with the end of our rental period - with around a three day overlap to thoroughly clean the old place up. That way we didn't have any overlap where we paid for two properties. Seemed to work out okay.
The OP should have just hung onto the keys for three more weeks as he'd paid for it. It doesn't matter if it's empty during that time, because it was still his to do with as he pleased. The mistake was giving the keys back. If the landlord reckoned they didn't have any keys for their own property (to show people around) then they're either stupid or lying.
The OP should have just hung onto the keys for three more weeks as he'd paid for it. It doesn't matter if it's empty during that time, because it was still his to do with as he pleased. The mistake was giving the keys back. If the landlord reckoned they didn't have any keys for their own property (to show people around) then they're either stupid or lying.
Ahonen said:
Hark at Perry Mason here. Oooh, some people are so serious. Honestly though, OP hasn't a hope if he's really trying to argue that he didn't intend to give up the lease and instead was simply 'lending' the agent the keys to conduct viewings.
I'd bet my last tenner he cancelled his contents insurance, had the place fully cleaned, all his furniture gone and a check-out inventory scheduled or even carried out on or before the date he handed the agent the keys. Ergo had moved out and just fancies a few hundred quid off the landlord.
Blimey, some of you lot can be unnecessarily personal/nasty. Never fails to amaze what people say behind the safety of a keyboard
OP, this is a big grey area. Landlord has made double the money for one month, but she has saved you a month's money. Landlord did it because she knew she could re-let it very easily & wanted to keep you sweet so you weren't a hassle on leaving/for the last couple of months. Had it been a bad market & would have taken her ages to re-let it, she'd have kept you put.
Maybe go off the quality of her landlord duties? if she has always been fair & reasonable with you, let it slide. If she has been awkward & disinterested, maybe suggest meeting you half way.....? if she has been a total pain £30 & file a money claim.
OP, this is a big grey area. Landlord has made double the money for one month, but she has saved you a month's money. Landlord did it because she knew she could re-let it very easily & wanted to keep you sweet so you weren't a hassle on leaving/for the last couple of months. Had it been a bad market & would have taken her ages to re-let it, she'd have kept you put.
Maybe go off the quality of her landlord duties? if she has always been fair & reasonable with you, let it slide. If she has been awkward & disinterested, maybe suggest meeting you half way.....? if she has been a total pain £30 & file a money claim.
its simple contract law. both parties agreed a sum of money to end the contract early. the op paid that sum to be released and returned the keys. That's it. The OP cant now complain about anything the owner did or does with the property after he negotiated his contract to end.
Why is it so hard to understand?
Why is it so hard to understand?
bristolbaron said:
If you book a 7 night hotel deal but only stay 6 nights do you get a refund for the night you chose not to stay? I'd be horrified to find that room was used by someone else once I'd got home! 
that is a parrot zoosh moment I hope? ???
if you book for a week and half way tell the hotel you are checking out and give the key/card back then you have ended your contract. They will clean and rebook the room.
if you eat half a lunch meal at a restaurant and then get up, pay and leave you cant go back at tea time and expect to eat the other half. It will have been thrown away.
some strange people with views of how business and contracts work.
superlightr said:
its simple contract law. both parties agreed a sum of money to end the contract early. the op paid that sum to be released and returned the keys. That's it. The OP cant now complain about anything the owner did or does with the property after he negotiated his contract to end.
Why is it so hard to understand?
The way I read it is that the original contract ended on Date Z. The tenant asked for the contract to be ended on Date X - two months before Date Z. The landlord said no, but agreed to end the contract on Date Y - one month before Date Z. The tenant vacated the property on Date X, even though his amended contract ran until Date Y, and the landlord filled the property after Date X, but before Date Y, thus gaining double payment for a period between Date X and Date Y during which the tenant's contract was still active. Crafty behaviour by the landlord but if the tenant had completed the handover before Date Y was reached and clearly wasn't coming back then the best they can do is forget about it and move on, gaining some solace from the fact that they were let off a month. If the tenant didn't want the landlord to be able to fill the property while he still had a contract there himself he should have arranged for the handover to happen on Date Y.Why is it so hard to understand?
MitchT said:
The way I read it is that the original contract ended on Date Z. The tenant asked for the contract to be ended on Date X - two months before Date Z. The landlord said no, but agreed to end the contract on Date Y - one month before Date Z. The tenant vacated the property on Date X, even though his amended contract ran until Date Y, and the landlord filled the property after Date X, but before Date Y, thus gaining double payment for a period between Date X and Date Y during which the tenant's contract was still active. Crafty behaviour by the landlord but if the tenant had completed the handover before Date Y was reached and clearly wasn't coming back then the best they can do is forget about it and move on, gaining some solace from the fact that they were let off a month. If the tenant didn't want the landlord to be able to fill the property while he still had a contract there himself he should have arranged for the handover to happen on Date Y.
That's the way I understood it. Contractually, it was still his flat until Date Y. Does the contract state what conditions need to be met for the contract to end? Key handover? checkout inspection? If left ambiguous then surely the contract doesn't end until Date Y.Morally, handing over the keys & stating its empty and saying goodbye means what it means though...but who can prove what?
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