Deposit withheld ?
Discussion
I have just finished paying two years of rent to a company for a house share for my son in Salford whilst at Uni there.
Six folk in a smallish house, £544 a month, paid on or around the first of the month.
We were told we were getting the deposit back, but one tenant has left owing three months rent, as such he has forfeited his deposit, so there is an outstanding balance of £1124, one girl has already had her deposit back in full so the company are trying to take it out of the 4 other tenants deposits which is a deduction of £225.
Is there any legal basis they can do this, i was guarantor on my sons rent, not this guys.
Typical shady lettings company, its the principle as much as anything as they have been dicks all the way through and the place was shoddily refurbished and has had loads of problems with floods and electrical problems to which they sent unqualified handymen to sort out.
They get almost 40k in rent for a 100 grand house in Salford, they should be absorbing the loss, not us.
Six folk in a smallish house, £544 a month, paid on or around the first of the month.
We were told we were getting the deposit back, but one tenant has left owing three months rent, as such he has forfeited his deposit, so there is an outstanding balance of £1124, one girl has already had her deposit back in full so the company are trying to take it out of the 4 other tenants deposits which is a deduction of £225.
Is there any legal basis they can do this, i was guarantor on my sons rent, not this guys.
Typical shady lettings company, its the principle as much as anything as they have been dicks all the way through and the place was shoddily refurbished and has had loads of problems with floods and electrical problems to which they sent unqualified handymen to sort out.
They get almost 40k in rent for a 100 grand house in Salford, they should be absorbing the loss, not us.
Depends on the terms of the agreement. It may say that the tenants are all jointly and severally liable for the rent (or words to that effect) in which case you will struggle.
Have you got a copy of the tenancy agreement?
£544 per month for a room in a shared house sounds like a good earner! It was £32 a week in my day!
J4CKO said:
Six folk in a smallish house, £544 a month, paid on or around the first of the month.
They get almost 40k in rent for a 100 grand house in Salford, they should be absorbing the loss, not us.
Is paying 40% of the house value normal? I'm looking to move into student let's from BTL and that's mental compared to say Canterbury where student let's will be about 7%.They get almost 40k in rent for a 100 grand house in Salford, they should be absorbing the loss, not us.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Separate, we rented a room and I was guarantor, have told them to furnish me with anything they have that says I am liable for someone elses rent.It was bloody expensive, they are a bunch of shysters. Its £225, not the end of the world but will seriously piss me off and I am not dropping it without conclusive evidence that I haven't got a leg to stand on. I have paid them over 13 grand so not taking this lying down.
Nearly 40k rent on a 2 up 2 down in Salford worth 100 grand with a cheapo tart up job done to make it look nice in photos, was all sub standard.
Sarnie said:
98elise said:
Is paying 40% of the house value normal? I'm looking to move into student let's from BTL and that's mental compared to say Canterbury where student let's will be about 7%.
Small difference in Canterbury and Salford..........Sound like I need to be looking to Salford for my next property investment!
The deposit is apparently held with these guys,
https://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/
Will wait for a reply until the end of today and then proceed with them if not forthcoming, or satisfactory.
Their reviews online arent exactly Stellar, 1 star in the one I found with maybe ten reviews.
20 days since my son moved home, wonder how long this is going to take ?
I have plenty of time at the moment so can make a nuisance of myself
https://www.thedisputeservice.co.uk/
Will wait for a reply until the end of today and then proceed with them if not forthcoming, or satisfactory.
Their reviews online arent exactly Stellar, 1 star in the one I found with maybe ten reviews.
20 days since my son moved home, wonder how long this is going to take ?
I have plenty of time at the moment so can make a nuisance of myself
Edited by J4CKO on Thursday 16th July 09:23
Perhaps o/t but this is what my Sons agreement says who is also at Uni:
"Unless otherwise expressly provided, the obligations and liabilities of the parties under this agreement are joint and several. This means that where, for example, the Tenant is more than one person, they will be liable for all sums due under the agreement, not just liable for a proportionate part."
That may just mean that if the "Tenant" as in the Agreement he signed was him + one other both would be liable or it may mean that he + all the other Tenants are equally liable? There is him + 6 others all with separate agreements afaik.
TX.
"Unless otherwise expressly provided, the obligations and liabilities of the parties under this agreement are joint and several. This means that where, for example, the Tenant is more than one person, they will be liable for all sums due under the agreement, not just liable for a proportionate part."
That may just mean that if the "Tenant" as in the Agreement he signed was him + one other both would be liable or it may mean that he + all the other Tenants are equally liable? There is him + 6 others all with separate agreements afaik.
TX.
hutchst said:
Are student lets or HMO's exempt from the deposit registration scheme?
Nope, if you've paid a deposit relating to a tenancy, it has to be protected. Only three schemes in operation, the OP's link is to the TDS. You can use their website to check if the deposit has been protected. Claim against a deposit should be notified within 14 days.You'll get it back if it was a room by room contract, just mention Trading Standards and The Property Ombudsman if you don't.
J4CKO said:
Nearly 40k rent on a 2 up 2 down in Salford worth 100 grand with a cheapo tart up job done to make it look nice in photos, was all sub standard.
Are these numbers correct?You mentioned in your OP that there were six sharing, but just here that it was a 2 up, 2 down worth £100k.
It would be highly unusual to have six people in a property of that type, more so for the property to have a gross yield of 40% - even though that probably includes utilities.
If each tenant had a separate tenancy agreement for a specific room there is unlikely to be joint and several liability. But you need to check that there isn't a contract for the entire property.
The lack of signatures on a contract doesn't mean that there isn't a contract, by the way.
It all sounds rather odd.
Louis Balfour said:
J4CKO said:
Nearly 40k rent on a 2 up 2 down in Salford worth 100 grand with a cheapo tart up job done to make it look nice in photos, was all sub standard.
Are these numbers correct?You mentioned in your OP that there were six sharing, but just here that it was a 2 up, 2 down worth £100k.
It would be highly unusual to have six people in a property of that type, more so for the property to have a gross yield of 40% - even though that probably includes utilities.
If each tenant had a separate tenancy agreement for a specific room there is unlikely to be joint and several liability. But you need to check that there isn't a contract for the entire property.
The lack of signatures on a contract doesn't mean that there isn't a contract, by the way.
It all sounds rather odd.
Apparently we are getting the deposit paid back within 2 days as they cant provide evidence we agreed to that clause.
Not sure how anything can be legal without a contract, all I signed from what I can see is the guarantor forms, was pretty busy at the time and there was a lot of providing references, bank statements and stuff.
The house is listed as six bedrooms, last sale in 2018 was 110k, which is a guess when they bought it.
It is a small end terrace, has the attic converted to a bedroom, Master bedroom split into two I think, the living room converted to a bedroom, dining room now a bedroom. All the other properties listed on that road are the same but show on rightmove as 2 or 3 bed. so Its your usual student accommodation
Currently listed as £125 a week, which works out to the 540 odd a month I was paying, assuming the other tenants were paying the same (Which I believe they were), thats £3250 a month or 39k in a year.
The house was 110k, then they did it up, so probably stands them at around 130k, maybe a bit more, so its not forty percent yield.
They obviously have to provide, maintenance, bills, insurance, admin, pay tax etc, but even so, not a bad return on the investment, even allowing for a grand or so of lost rent, and they still own the property which over time should still gain value.
Wont put the actual house down as dont want to fall foul of name and shame rules.
J4CKO said:
Not sure how anything can be legal without a contract, all I signed from what I can see is the guarantor forms, was pretty busy at the time and there was a lot of providing references, bank statements and stuff.
There doesn't need to be any paperwork for there to be a contract. A contract exists where there has been an offer, acceptance and consideration. The property was advertised (offer), your progeny moves in (acceptance) and then pays rent (consideration). But it sounds as though you are going to get your money back, so there is a happy ending.
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