ITS CALLED... MAKE A NOTE !! "AFFORDABLE WARMTH OBLIGATION "

03001231234 ( tel number)

I was informed that HB had been suspended from 29th May, and expected a final payment from them. HB was diverted to me some time back.

No payment was made so I rang to be told they were waiting for more info from him. I assumed this to be confirmation of dates ?? I texted him to cause him to do as required.

Today HB have informed me that they are making payment up to the 17th June, a bit of a surprise and detailing a payment in excess of £200 more than expected.

We all know that if they make an overpayment that when they realise this, at some unknown point point in the future, they will want it back.

The T has arrears so obviously the extra is useful in bringing those arrears down, but of course if it has to be repaid this could be at a point when the T isn't available or capable of compensating.

So taking the payment in hope that there is no reclaim may not be good business.

I've heard, I think, that HB can pay for a period leading up to the first salary payment. Is this correct or am I in fantasy land ?

All thoughts appreciated.

Assuming the reference checks were not done properly, do i have any legal right to take the credit referencing company to court or is my contract purely between the letting agent and me? The letting agent said he simply took the pass score as a green signal and put the tenants in. I do think there was a problem with the reference checks but who can i go after, letting agent or the referencing company.

we responded via letter and asked for her reasons and disputed we had not had any text request or verbal fone calls for a refund as shes implied and we would be able to respond when she could claify these questions and see the evidence they had against us ( being a months rent in advance and bond cheque paid by her) we dont belive even thou she paid a months rent in advance because he lefft early he should be intitled to a refund ( the council were notified and benifit payments stopped to us) !! she obtained the tenancy i believe under flase pretences as she failed to mention any criminal past of her son ( which she clearly knew about ) we have loads of old letters left behind in the room from solicitors and police etc which surly would go some way to character ref this horrible boy !!

so now we have this court letter addressed to us both saying hes claiming this money back and we ignored his letters, calls text ??? ive not seen or heard from him since he left ! oh and bloody interest and court fees !! please advise we are so sick of tenants ripping us off been doing this 10 yrs and last year has been on eviction after another and we have done nothing wrong !! suzie

1 You could just not take a deposit

2 You dont take a deposit but get one or even better 2 good guarantor's in place.

3 Only rent out to HB tenants and use their deposit bond scheme.

4 Increase the rent by say £25 pcm and take the risk that the tenant stays at least 18 months which would give you a big chunk towards any damages or arrears. Also maybe take a guarantor. If no damages you get a bigger return.

Another option I have heard is to take the credit card details of the tenant but not sure how you would do it. The more mature members will likely remember when you used to hire a car the company would swipe your card with a mechanical clunky swipe machine that was loaded with a carbon slip. You would then sign it but no figure entered but if you damaged the car the hire company would enter the amount later.

I like the sound of this but not sure if you can still use these machines, also how long can you keep the slip before using it (I guess it could be renewed with every ast renewal) and will it be honoured if the CC is cancelled by the tenant?

I can see a lot more landlord & agents being caught out with a x3 claim as soon as Shelter get onto it.

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2013/669.html

It makes the deposit bond for HB tenants more desisable than ever or not taking a deposit at all.

The law is a ass at times.

Licence or  Tenancy Agreement

I understand that if I let on a license my tenant has fewer rights under the law. Can I simply call my agreement a license instead of a tenancy agreement?

Landlords would often prefer to let under a license as it does indeed give the tenant fewer rights under the law.

However, this is far from a straightforward issue and there have been many legal cases fought over the distinction between a license and a lease (tenancy agreement).

Property can be occupied but not necessarily “possessed”. The distinction is a subtle and elusive one but nevertheless very important. Occupation of property comes under four main headings in English law: Freehold (owner), Leasehold (tenant), License (authorised occupier) and trespasser (squatter).

A license allows occupation but does not give the occupier legal title in land, as does a tenancy. So, a guest in a hotel has a license to occupy, as does a lodger in a property where the landlord is in occupation, and as does a company which occupies a serviced office or workshop space.

The big advantage to a landlord is that the licensed occupier can be removed (subject to the notice period in any agreement) without too much trouble – they have no legal protection.

Had the occupier been granted a tenancy, then they would have legal protection (security of tenure) either under the Housing Acts (1988 & 1996) for a residential tenancy, or under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954, in the case of a commercial tenancy.

The crucial distinction between the two – license or tenancy – is the terms “exclusive possession” and “control”. So, where a tenant can exclude all others, including the landlord, he has a tenancy, regardless of what the landlord may title his agreement.

On the other hand, generally, where the landlord can exercise control (usually living on or occupying the same premises, or providing management or cleaning services) and where the tenant cannot exclude all others (lodgers and serviced office occupiers share facilities) then a license situation exists, even if the agreement says tenancy.

In the famous 1985 case (Street v Mountford) the House of Lords held that it is a matter of fact (the situation) that counts, not form (the wording) of the agreement.

So, a landlord granting exclusive possession of premises, or a part thereof (land in legal terms), for a fixed term, will create a tenancy, regardless of what title the parties attach to the agreement.

In the case of residential occupation there’s a peculiar “grey” area of the law sitting somewhere between the lease and the license. This is the situation where a landlord lives in the building but where the occupiers do not share facilities – they have their own.
This is known as an “occupier with basic protection”, someone who does not have the full rights and protection that a tenant would have. Nevertheless, to be certain of being fully lawful when seeking challenged possession, the landlord should apply through the courts for a possession order.

In the case of a commercial tenancy, the landlord has always had the traditional remedy of forfeiture, where a tenant is in breach of his contract. This is so whether lease or license, but great care should be used in applying this remedy – seek legal advice in every case.

You are likely to be an excluded occupier if:

• you share accommodation with your landlord, or
• you live in the same building as your landlord and share accommodation with a member of your landlord's family, or
• you are living in your accommodation for a holiday, or
• you do not pay any rent for your accommodation.
• If you are an excluded occupier you will have very few tenancy rights. It is important to remember how easy it is for your landlord to evict you. Because of that it might be difficult for you to get repairs done or resist rent increases.
• As an excluded occupier your only right is to stay until your landlord asks you to go, or for as long as your written agreement says. Your landlord can evict you by giving you reasonable notice (which can be verbal) and doesn't need a court order.
• What's the difference between a lodger and a subtenant?
• A subtenancy can apply to anything from a single room to an entire property. The main difference is that the subtenant must have exclusive access to at least one room - usually a bedroom. Neither the person you rent from, nor the head landlord can then enter the subtenant's accommodation without permission.
• Having a lodger is similar to a subtenant, but the lodger can't stop the landlord from entering their room(s). The lodger may also receive some services, such as meals, laundry or cleaning. These things will depend on what was agreed at the start of the tenancy. Subtenants may have stronger rights than lodgers.

She has given her notice to the letting agent and i contacted them to tell them i would be selling the property, only to discover that they are going to try and charge me a £1000 exit fee! The have also told the tenant that if the sale isn't completed by the time her current tenancy agreement ends, then she will be obliged to sign another 2 year agreement with them.

This is plainly absolutely ridiculous! As far as i am aware, if i chose to stop using a letting agent and sell the property while a tenant has a current tenancy agreement, then the agent is entitled to charge me an exit fee, but if if i inform the agent that i will be selling the property as soon as the current tenancy has expired, i don't understand how they can charge me an exit fee as there will not be any current tenancy once it expires normally.

Possibly i'm misunderstanding this, but it seems to me that the agency are lying to the tenant in an attempt to make her sign up for a new 2 year tenancy agreement, at which point they will come to me with the signed agreement and try to charge me a £1000 exit fee. Either that or they are trying to get as much money as possible from me while they still can by charging me the exit fee as it would be payable on the current situation i.e. with a standing tenancy, and carefully failing to mention that once the tenancy ends the exit fee won't be payable.

Can anyone comment on the legality of this situation, or even if this appears at all reasonable?

Thanks in advance for any advice...........

From the information I have required, this is the procedure we intend to follow:

*serve a section 8 notice, what is the prescribed period for this? does the notice resemble a section 21 notice? Are there any specific details which must be included in order for it to be valid? Any ideas where the best place I will get a template for this?

I understand that there must be grounds for possession within the fixed period which we definitely have covered.

*if the tenant does not leave within the time serve an accelerated possession order from the courts?

Many Thanks for any productive comments

 On May 5 a tenant and an I signed a lease which starts tomorrow - June 7.

I have emailed and left phone messages to find out what time he want to check in, but he has not responded. 

He gave me $880 to act as holding fee and pro-rated June rent.

He was supposed to check in on June 6 or 7 and pay a deposit of $800.

If I don't hear from him do you think I have to hold it until July 1 before I can look for another renter????

Hopefully he will still show up, but I begin to think that the wording of the agreement might obligate me to hold it until July 1 before even start looking for another tenant  ;-(

Here's the wording .....

"2. Rent.  Resident agrees to pay to Management as rent for the leased premises the sum of $ 1100/month on the first day of each calendar month, commencing on __July 1, 2013__.   The amount of $_880___  shall be paid to cover any holding and rent of the property prior to the commencement date above.  Rent shall be paid by delivering or mailing the full amount no later than the first day of each month to 2561 S Gatewood Ln, Boise, ID 83709. In the event rent is not received by midnight of the fifth day of the month, Resident agrees to pay an additional late charge of $10/day accumulating from the 6th day of the month until the entire month’s rent is paid.  Additionally, any dishonored (bounced) check will be returned to the Resident and result in a $25 penalty due to Management.     (Calculation of June rent and holding fee:   24days/30 days * $1100 = $880.)

3. Security/Damage Deposit and Duty to Clean. Upon payment of $ 800  on June 6 or 7, 2013 as a security/damage deposit and completion of the Move-in Checklist, Resident shall receive access devices including _3_door keys, _1_garage remote control, and _2_ mailbox keys for box 5, middle north boxes.  Management may apply the security/damage deposit to satisfy any deficit caused by Resident, including but not limited to, the payment of past due rent, past due utilities, late charges, damages, cleaning, restoration, liens against the property created by Resident, or any attorney’s fees and costs incurred by Management to obtain possession of the premises or to enforce its rights under this lease agreement."

I have recently bought a flat, and there are 3 girls living there who are on separate licence agreements. They are on 3 month rolling contracts.

They obviously like the flexibility this gives them, if one wanted to leave etc. and it wouldn't impact the others. They just continuously find someone to replace them. 

I would like to do an AST instead, as this is what i am familiar with. Is it possible to create 3 separate AST's for the girls? Obviously they dont want to be bound to the same contract.

Im a little confused at the difference between AST's and lisence agreements. Can anyone help?

Many thanks,

Buying in my location has become a lot more expensive now as M25 investors have flooded in and have bought up a lot of the cheaper end property as to them it is regarded as a very cheap deal and with only an hours drive down the M4 they obviously think it is worth it.

So it brings me onto my topic title.

I have been looking at the property in South Wales for several months now and to the outsider it does appear to be a lot cheaper and much more viable and only an hours drive for me get across the Severn Bridge and into most area's of South Wales.

Anyone care to comment?

Mel.

PS   My new 21st Century  boiler installation is the Dog's Doo-Dahs.            Nearly finished!

I am in the process of purchasing my first buy to let property.

As you know, there are certain advantages of purchasing a BTL within a 5 mile radius of where you live - i.e. easy to get to, and you may already know the area etc.

Does that mean purchasing a BTL in, for example, another town/city, comes with its own set of disadvantages and that I should concentrate on purchasing my first BTL close to where I live until I get further experience of the BTL business?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

I have a tenant in a property of mine 400 miles from where I live.  I want to basically evict her as the house is now in a sorry state after she has only lived there a few months.  I have been advised I need to issue a possession notice which could mean it may take a few months for her to leave.  I have now put the house up on the market and really need access so repairs/redecorating and cleaning can be sorted.  Can anyone advise me on what to do?  Thank you

What are your needs and expectations from a letting agent?

What can a letting agent do to stand out from others, in your opinion?

Would an incentive attract you?

Please advise