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So I've lived in my home for 15 years. I moved in on the 20th of the month but it was agreed that I could pay rent at the end of the month (that's when my payday was). This has always been the case.
Fast forward to now and my landlord sold the house. He served me with a section 21 despite promising he would only sell to another landlord so me and the kids didn't get evicted (probably irrelevant info but I'm still salty about it!).
THANKFULLY at the eleventh hour, another landlord bought the house and is keeping us here.
So the new landlord closed on the house sale on the 31st of March, and I've paid my rent on that date to him instead of the old landlord, as....he's not my landlord any more.
Old landlord is now saying he won't release my full deposit but is instead deducting just under £229 for "rent arrears".
He's saying I owe him the money from the 20th to the 31st of March.
Can he do this? He wouldn't ever have received any money on the 20th, or before the 31st of the month any other time, and it feels really unfair that I have to pay a full month's rent to the new landlord and ALSO be sanctioned £229 for rent arrears that I don't feel even are rent arrears.
Bearing in mind the old landlord ignored my reports of repairs that needed doing for 6 whole years, leading to there being black mould and ceiling damage in the bathroom from the roof leak he refused to fix, and a hole in my teenagers ceiling from the leak in her room (the new landlord is going to fix both of these thank god).
The old landlord did 6 monthly house inspections (via a letting agent), they took photos of the repairs every time and then just never sorted them out, despite me constantly chasing them.
And now he's trying to say I owe HIM money? I feel like I shouldn't be hundreds out of pocket just because he sold the house?
I can hear the saltiness in my post I just really hope he's not in the right here 😂
Landlord completed the sale on 31st? You owe him the rent up to this date and the new landlord only gets the rent after this date. Sounds like you paid the wrong landlord..
I thought the rent was paid for the month AHEAD though? I'm sure that's what my tenancy agreement said (although it has been some time), that you're paying im advance for the month ahead (not the previous month). So my understanding was, my old landlord was paid end of Feb for the month ahead?
Yes that is correct, but didn't your post mention that you had an agreement to pay on the 31st rather than the 20th? That means you still have 11 days that are owed to the old landlord. You're paying for the month ahead to the new landlord, but the back-date days before month end will be for the old landlord
But you do owe the landlord money. He should have charged you a bridging payment when you moved in, to cover the period from the 20th til the end of the month. You would only have got that payment deducted from your final rent on moving out. Seems like you were done a favour by not having to pay this bridging payment at the start of your tenancy. Regardless, that 11 days of rent you owe your previous landlord. It’s not a sanction. You’re in debt.
Ah man, I wish I'd been made aware of this 15 years ago when I could have quite happily afforded to lose a few hundred quid! Thanks for your reply!
Yes rent arrears can be deducted from the deposit
So you moved in on the 20th and asked to pay at the end of the month as that's when you get paid. Landlord agreed.
Did you at any time pay for those 10 days?
It was always agreed that I could pay the payment for the month ahead on the 31st of each month, as opposed to the 20th
Yes, but you have not answered the question. Did you ever pay for the days from the 20th?
No because I wasn't asked to, sorry I wasn't trying to purposely evade the question! I was just saying that they just said it's ok to pay on 31st rather than 20th
The landlord is asking you to pay it now
You can dispute but as long as the landlord can dig out bank statements of payment receipts they can show a shortfall in rent.
I'm a tenant here and had a similar issue when I moved in. Grabbed my keys the day before my actual move in date, official contract date, offered to pay that extra day, landlord refused. Come next month on the exchange keys day he enquired about the rent and I told him HE didn't want me to pay for the extra day and as per contract I would be paying accordingly but to clear any doubts I paid for that "extra" day separately straight away and the following day, as per contract, paid for the rent. Now, your contract says 20th, your landlord was kind enough to accommodate your financial situation and let you pay 11 days later (very kind) that didn't write off those 11 days, you still have to pay for them. In regards to the complaints you had about the property you could've reached out to a solicitor, citizen's advice, your council, etc. You have a new landlord now, they will have to pick up that bill...
You owe the old landlord rent from the due date (20th) to the 30th (last day of ownership).
Ah man, can you not just tell me what I want to hear? 😂 are they allowed to add on charges? Bc 10 days wouldn't be what they're deducting
They can’t add on charges you don’t agree to, and if that is the case you raise a dispute with the deposit service.
Ok great, thanks so much for your responses
There are very specic charges they are allowed.
Talk to shelter, or visit /r/legaladviceUK for more specifics.
Spoiler alert: it won't be nearly as much as you think, or people here will convince you of.
Thank you so much I will look into this!
Sounds like it’s money you owe him and it’s all fair and square. Some might say after 15 years it’s a bit tight of him but he’s every right.
Yeah I've come to realise since I posted that he is fully entitled to do this. I kinda just wish I'd known back then cos I'd have just paid it, when finances were a little healthier!
I guess I always just saw it like this: you pay it on a certain day of the month for that month, I didn't see it as owing for those other days. If that makes sense!
Just sticks in my craw a bit that I've had to put up with him refusing to fix repairs which I (apparently) could have brought in environmental health over (but I didn't want to annoy him ironically), and then he's done this. Would have felt fairer to have just left it, given he's never put his hand in his pocket to fix important things.
But, as you say, he's within his rights to do it. Perhaps I should have exercised mine better
Live and learn don’t sweat it. It’s all done now and you move on. At least you are staying put I guess
Yeah that's absolutely it, the most important thing is we get to stay here (yey).
And my amazing new landlord initially told me to just pay him the remainder of the bond after the deduction, even though it should be £500. He's then come back and said he's thought about it and I can just keep the remainder of the bond and "treat myself" bc I deserve a break 😭 he is honestly an angel! Fate, imo, he seems an absolute stellar human being
Obviously. This is the reason a deposit is taken.
The reason a deposit is taken is so 15 years down the line a landlord who refused to pay a penny towards important repairs can claim back 10 days of rent the tenant didn't even realise she owed? Oh right 😂
Not sure what’s so difficult - you owe landlord rent from 20th to end of the month. Usually this would be picked up as part of the sales process but if it hasn’t then ex-landlord has right to collect from deposit. Have you paid a deposit to the new landlord?
Also not sure why you’re “salty” - ex landlord said he’d sell to another landlord which he has done. A s21 notice is standard process. You should have a new contract with new landlord
The deposit that I paid 15 years ago is going to the new landlord when it's released to me, this is what the old landlord is deducting money from.
I explained why I was salty but to expand further - I was called and told the landlord was selling the house, immediately panicked and asked if me and the kids were getting evicted and assured, promised, we would NOT be getting evicted. That they would only be selling to another landlord.
Then all the viewings came, which they made ME do with the prospective new buyers, despite them knowing I was recovering from brain surgery as I had a brain tumour. And the people coming to view were all private buyers.
I then just got a random section 21 through the door one morning, no warning.
I don't really feel that was the right way to go about things, hence being salty.
Edit: Sorry I forgot to say that the new landlord (thankfully) came to view right at the end when my eviction period was up and basically saved the day, but they were absolutely NOT exclusively trying to sell to another landlord. He was the only landlord. They shouldn't have lied imo
You had NO obligation to help him sell his house. Don't do that again. Always, ALWAYS seek advice, first.
Good riddance to what sounds like a POS landlord and I'm gladnthe new one gives you some hope. 😊
Welllll I did read about that (after I'd done a good number of viewings), and in the end I said I wouldn't be doing them any more. And I felt really bad, bc I'm soft, but as you quite rightly said I had NO obligations. The estate agents got quite nasty with me when I wasn't available to do a viewing one weekend, as my family were visiting to make sure I was OK, as I'd just lost my job of 7 years right after I'd had brain surgery and a miscarriage. And I thought nahhhh, I'm not doing this any more! I owe you nothing!
Yes absolutely, he really wasn't the best landlord at all (putting it mildly) but the new one seems absolutely lovely! Win win!
Onwards and upwards 😊
Thank you!
>not sure what's so difficult
She's had it explained, and admitted she didn't know. Not sure what the point of this comment was hours after the answers had already been given.
>not sure why salty
Because it's scary to know you can be thrown out of the only home you know with 8 weeks notice?
There was no need to be a nasty prick with your post, but you did it anyway.
Plenty of other LLs answered questions and didn't succumb to the stereotype...
And there’s always some righteous twat who feels the need to pipe up 🥱
To clarify, have you always been 10 days in arrears? Or did you overpay in that first month 15 years ago?
I would speak to the DPS if I were you. This should have been sorted out with their conveyancers before completion.
It’s likely they’ll pro-rata you for the month, if you didn’t pay extra when you moved your date before then you haven’t paid those days rents. On a plus, it’s a nice neat date for your new landlord and they’ve let you stay. Moving house would likely be a lot more expensive and stressful than 10 days rent.
Whilst it has been your home for 15 years, sadly you are still the tenant. The renters reform bill coming in this year will give you extra protections from your new landlord pulling the rug from under your feet.
Thank you for speaking to me so respectfully. I never overpaid, they just said move in on the 20th but pay for the month ahead on the 31st.
Oh the new landlord is AMAZING. I'm so so grateful to him, he's been really great. He viewed the house and immediately said he'd sort the repairs out and also get me a new fridge freezer as my integrated freezer has been broken for years but the old landlord wouldn't fix it. He couldn't believe the old landlord wouldn't fix the repairs, and he's been great about the bond. He said I can just pay him the remainder after the old landlord deducts the arrears, he knows I'm going nowhere and I've been a good tenant all these years.
He's signed me straight into a 5 year tenancy and said he will keep renewing for 5 years as long as I want to stay here (which is forever!), he knows I just lost my job, had the brain tumour, miscarriages etc, and he just said he knows I deserve a break. I've honestly landed on my feet so much with the new landlord, he seems like an absolute diamond.
So all's well that ends well 😊
Thank you for your reply!
That’s great. It sounds like you won’t end up out of pocket, the old landlord gets his 10 days to count his Penny’s, and the new one will invest in your future with a long term tenancy and repairing the property.
Frustrating that the old guard squeezes everything they can out of you, but try and think of it as a Twat-tax, and they are soon to no longer be your issue.
Twat-tax! 😂😂😂 I chuckled in real life, love it!
You're right, thank you again for the responses (and the laugh)
Twat tax!!!! I wheezed! 😆😆🤣
Well guys thank you for all your comments, I now see that I have to suck this up 😂 just feels unfair that he wouldn't get any of the repairs sorted but then is going to chase me for 10 days of rent from 15 years ago when it was first agreed, but hey ho, such is life!
Thanks again to everyone who has commented!
Why would you stay for 15 years if it was so bad?
If he didn't pay a penny who did? What things needed doing?
Because it's my home? I've raised 3 children here, it's a lovely 3 storey townhouse in a very quiet street, amazing neighbours/friends, it's the most perfect location and house, bar the repairs that need doing.
Nobody did. The repairs are outstanding still; the new landlord is going to fix them. He came out today with the guy who's going to do the repairs, got everything measured up etc, the house only became his 2 days ago.
My (integrated) freezer is broken and has been for years, but the most important repairs are: a leak in my roof which has caused massive damage to the bathroom ceiling. And another leak in the roof in my eldest daughters room which has caused a hole in her ceiling
On a side note to all of this, the usual process when changing landlord ownership is not to release the deposit to you the tenant and then you send to the new landlord. The old landlord would instead transfer the deposit via the scheme to the new landlord. Thus they wouldn’t actually claim anything, the tenancy isn’t over - unless you want it to be.
Oh really, I wonder why they've done it this way then! Very interesting thank you for that info
Well he’s done it so he can claim Money back 😂
Omg of course 🤦♀️bc he wasn't going to want to spend thousands taking me to court for a few hundred quid.
All this and he left me with a toilet leaking water for a week and it only needed a new washer, good flipping riddance 😂
It won't cost him thousands; he'll probably just go for small claims – that's only £35 for claims under £300.
Oh well, he's taking it out of the bond anyway so it saves him £35 😂
Not necessarily. It looks like OP has a new tenancy agreement with the new landlord so for all intents and purposes the old tenancy agreement has ended. It is also likely that the rent has increased in 15 years so the new LL is allowed to take a larger deposit - I certainly would.
Transferring via scheme only works if old and new LL are using the same scheme and the deposit is held within the scheme (instead of using the insured option where the LL or agency holds deposit but pays a fee to the scheme for this).
Thank you for this information!
The lovely new landlord has actually told me that he wants me to keep the remainder of the bond that was released to me as he feels I deserve a break and to "treat" myself. He doesn't want a penny, never mind the full whack (I thought I'd have to make up the shortfall). How nice is that!
The new landlord seems absolutely top notch, so I'm feeling like this whole thing is fate (if one believes in such a thing!).
Thoughts on this - positive and negative thoughts welcome… let’s get it moving.
You dispute it with the DPS
Yeah I am definitely going to do this thank you!