only 2 weeks notice

[sunshinett55]

Hello

What is the legal requirement of notice for tenants to give landlords?

I came back off hols on the 15th, Aug, found my tenants email sent to me on the 10th to say that SHORT NOTICE they are leaving at the end of the month.

These tenants I let in 12th December and they said they woudl stay long term, but now they are leaving. Also I got them to sign a letter as they could not pay their deposit before moving in the letter is signed at the bottom by them agreeing to an installment plan to pay the deposit monies and despite emails etc, they have paid no deposit monies. Although they have signed this letter agreeing to it, would this stand up in court with their signature on it?

So I cant used deposit monies as lost rent as I dont have any.

They did sign a tenancy agreement, but whether this would hold up in court as downloaded, not done with an estate agent, just myself and a friends signautre as witness.

In this it says that,

"The Tenant can terminate the Tenancy by giving three months written notice. ".

But even if one did not have a tenancy agreement, surely paying by BACS everyone month into my bank account the same sum and this sum labled .......RENT, it clearly shows that they paid monthly for their propety.

so is it like a job, if paid monthly, do you have to give one months notice. Do they legally have to give me a months notice anyway as they paid monthly into my bank acc?

Does anyone know if I am covererd at all?

I dont want to be out of pocket by taking them to court as they are the sort to fight.

I am keeping nice with them at the moment as I dont want them to refuse any viewings. I have to make the most of the time that I have left to get in as many viewings as possible.

I only had from the 16th to 31st Aug to find someone, then you have refs etc to do.

they knew I was away on hols until 15th and did not have email access all that time, I gave them my mobile number and in fact checked on them by email the first week I was away out of 2.5 weeks, and said that the final week I would not have email access.

So can anyone help, what would you do, where do landlords stand legally on this please?

My tenants leave on the 31st and they are moving far away.

Any comments help is appreciated.

sunshinett

[Melboy]

You know what... having read through your story I would be inclined to just let them go and start looking for a new tenant.

Yes, what they have done is not ideal but let's come back to you....the landlord.....I am guessing you are not quite experienced as a Landlord as you seem to be very unsure of the normal tenancy contract times which are 1month's notice for tenant and 2 month's for Landlord's and you have ignored conventional deposit rules to cover your forthcoming situation. You should have taken a deposit from day 1 not the way you did it which has proved to be worthless in the long run.

Being a landlord is a steep learning curve and you are learning but from the bottom and the key to any successful landlord tenant business is to minimise your potential errors and pitfalls.

So, let them go... start again and follow the rules of successful landlording and above all buy a book and have a read or read through this forum to see some of the horror stories of unsuccessful landlord/tenant situations.

Mel.

[Trenners]

I agree with Melboy - let them go. You have made lots of errors and you will, no doubt, learn from some of them.

For information - if you had taken the deposit in installments then you would have had to protect EACH INSTALLMENT in a Government approved tenancy deposit scheme. If you had used the scheme backed by the National Landlords Association (Tenancy Deposit Solutions) then you would have need to purchase a protection certificate EVERY MONTH at a cost of at least £26.50 per certificate.

Lesson to learn - either decide to accept zero deposit (together with all the risks that this involves) - or get the deposit upfront before the tenants receive the keys.

I would suggest you use a letting agent to find your next tenant .....

Good luck,

Mark

[sunshinett55]

I agree with Melboy - let them go. You have made lots of errors and you will, no doubt, learn from some of them.

For information - if you had taken the deposit in installments then you would have had to protect EACH INSTALLMENT in a Government approved tenancy deposit scheme. If you had used the scheme backed by the National Landlords Association (Tenancy Deposit Solutions) then you would have need to purchase a protection certificate EVERY MONTH at a cost of at least £26.50 per certificate.

Lesson to learn - either decide to accept zero deposit (together with all the risks that this involves) - or get the deposit upfront before the tenants receive the keys.

I would suggest you use a letting agent to find your next tenant .....

Good luck,

Mark

[sunshinett55]

Hello thanks for reply.

We bought this hse in Aug 2007, this is our only rental property. It is a small modern hse in the ISLE OF MAN, so the rules and regs will be slightly different over here, although its good to chat to landlords about tenants and problems.

I have the following books, Renting out Your Property for Dummies, Successful Property Letting by David Lawrenson, Which Renting and Letting, and also a Lawpack NLA book which gives sample letters. Perhaps I should read these again, but when you read a few it gets confusing.

I was swayed by this last couple, they seemed nice and a family, and said intially that they would pay the deposit before they moved in, and then it came to they said that they could pay half before move in day 12 Dec, so just before Christmas not a good time for anyone. Anyway it came toand then I either let them in with a letter drafted for installment plan or I did not and it was all very last minute then. We DO NOT have to put the deposit in any protection scheme over here, and I put in the tenancy agreement that it is kept WITH NO INTEREST and can be used at the end of the tenancy for things like cleaning etc, garden, and any damage to the hse. So the two tenants before I took deposit but these I did not. I shalll not do this again, but it was just that they were going to let me down last min otherwise, but I know I have been let down now, and took a chance. I will not do this again.

Noticed the download of tenancy agreement, have you used this one? It might be slightly different and might have to alter a little as Isle of Man.

I do appreciate your advice. I am currently undertaking viewings and hoping for good tenants.

Sunshinett55

[SPEEDTWIN]

I think you need to be very very carefull about taking advice from forums and books that mainly deal with england & wales as you live on the isle of man. The housing act is designed for E&W and you should really take legal advise from a local solicitor who deals with housing law on the IoM.

I do not know even if you have to protect the deposit in the IOM, it may turn out that you dont. Tread carefully

[sunshinett55]

thank you for your reply, we dont have a scheme to protect the deposit like across, so we can keep the deposit ourselves. in the tenancy agreement put that the deposit is held without interest and that monies can be deducted for it for missing items, damage to property, etc, etc.

i always give the tenants receipts for the deposit.

new tenants to move in end of this week, deposit paid and receipt given for this, they are going to pay the first months rent into our bank account. the tenenay agreement has been signed and the inventory to be signed in the next few days.

with the tenancy agreement its difficult as previous ones have had a friend witness signatures, but dont want to keep asking friends it puts them out, so this tenancy agreement has only got tenants (husband and wife) and landlords (us, husband and wife) signatures on it. but what i have done this time is to put on the end of each tenancy agreement page the following in the hope that this makes it more secure, that they have signed for each page to say that they agree to the terms on that page, please see below,

................................................................................

.... We, the Tenants accept and agree to the terms of this agreement.

thought this was a good idea and then on the final page, this

5. IT IS EXPRESSLY AGREED_upon between the parties hereto that the provisions contained in the First Schedule of the Tenancies (Implied Terms) Act 1954 shall not apply to the demise hereby created.

INWITNESS WHEREOF of the parties hereto have executed these presents this the day month and year first written before.

Executed by the said Landlord

……………………………………….

Signature of Mr

……………………………………….

Signature of Mrs

By the said Tenants

……………………………………….

Signature of Mr

Signature of Mrs

the trouble is if you go through a solicitor they charge so much £250 an hour, and if you go through letting agents they charge a lot too and they also take months to get a tenanty, dont know why. if i market it i market it well, suppose its becuaes i only have one to do, but can then be on the ball with it, do all the checks etc. only trouble is no witness signature.

was told that if i got proof of signatures on other id, like driving licence, passport and got copies of these then this would be good enough without witness signatures, dont know if this is true, but this is what i have done.

there is another site that i look at all the time now, its very good, Landlord Referencing Co, its fairly new, and they seem very friendly, run by a landlord for landlords.

it is good to chat with landlords, we can help each other and share our experiences. i thank you for your help and taking the time to contact me. many thanks.

[SPEEDTWIN]

Why dont you use a good letting agent that is on the IOM with the sole purpose of picking their brains for 6 months or a year to get the basic legallities.

Regarding witness signatures it is not needed on tenancy contracts on the mainland unless it is drawn up as a deed and i have no idea if it is needed where you are and i would guess you dont know for sure either.

So as i said earlier you are on dodgy ground asking any techical questions regarding contracts, notice periods, notices to quit and many other because to be honest you may as well ask on a Scottish or American landlord forum until you know what the differance is.