joncourtenay Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Hi. I'm a new landlord with a tenant leaving a property today. During the tennancy she witheld rent for almost 3 months and concequently I was charged more than the total of her deposit in bank fees for unpaid mortgage payments and direct debits missed as the funds were not in the account. Am I entitled to keep her deposit to cover some of my costs? Many thanks for any help. JCBY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Hi, A couple of comments. If you tenancy agreement clearly states that there will be charges for the late payment of rent - and defines what these charges will be - then it is reasonable, in my opinion, to charge these to the tenant (by with-holding some of the deposit money) as they agreed to the terms of the tenancy at the start. However, just because you are unable to manage the cash flow of your buy-to-let business (ie: you do not have sufficient funds to cover the mortgage etc if your tenant misses a rent payment) is not a reason to pass all of the resulting bank charges onto your tenant. You are running a business. You need to ensure that you have sufficient cash flow to cover your expenditures. In summary, charge the tenant what they agreed to pay in the event of late rent payment - the rest of the charges are down to the mis-management of your business (by you). Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPEL Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Ditto to Mark's advice, it's a good idea to keep a cushion. The tenant is no more responsible for managing your personal circumstances than you are of theirs. How long did you leave checking rent was paid on time before identifying a problem. If checked on time, it's likely you could have taken measures to avoid charges. OK, so if the rent was paid on time you wouldn't have the problem but the tenant is only responsible for contract obligaions not your personal obligation to also manage your own affairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Dewsberry Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 A rare one this !!!! As I am in complete agreement with Mark and Gpel .... Not often this happens ! The Rodent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GPEL Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Let's meet up & share our common ground. Hmm, if only we could agree where :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trenners Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Hi, I'm going to go for a lie down ........ Margaret Thatcher was still in power the last time that rodent, GPEL and Trenners agreed ........ Good luck, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Dewsberry Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Bring back Poll Tax I say ! The Rodent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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