kerbut Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 We had a new tenant move into one of our properties on the 1st of November, the first rent due date being 1st December ,our Tenancy Agreement states the money due should be in our account before the due date. The tenant rang last night to say he had made a mistake on the Standing Order and the bank had just rung him (at 18.45 !!,yeah ,right )to say they had not made the payment,he said he would pay the full amount in cash into the bank account today, I checked the account this afternoon and found that he has paid £360 into the account but that is £290 light of the proper rent.Luckily I have rent guarantee insurance and a guarantor,but this doesn't bode well when this happens on the first months rent. I fail to see how he made a mistake on the standing order as we print it out with our details on it from the Landlord Law website. Should I return the £360 to him and wait until he pays the full figure ?or retain it, as I am not sure how this will affect the rent guarantee and ultimately the serving of a section 8 and 21 if I have accepted part payment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Retain the £360 and request the remaining rent money from him asap Mel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbut Posted December 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Thanks Mel Did that straight away ,I phoned his wife's mobile as she was leaving work ,she said he was meeting her and would phone back in 10 minutes, an hour and a half later he phones to say he paid part cash,part cheque. The truth will be seen tomorrow as cheques paid into Natwest don't show on online banking until after midnight but cash shows up straight away,if its not showing tomorrow but shows on Monday or Tuesday they hotfooted it to the bank and paid a cheque into the account in the hour and a half they had before they phoned me,time will tell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted December 2, 2011 Report Share Posted December 2, 2011 Take it easy Kerbut......don't get to excited.....mistakes do happen. I've heard many of the excuses over the years......some are quite convincing.....some are even genuine ! One thing is for sure, it won't really matter how excited you get or how much you jump up and down, there is very little you can do to rectify the situation, either way, in the short term. Don't loose any sleep over it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Give him the benifit of the doubt this time (i find this does sometime happen at the start od a tenancy) but as soon as you get the full payment let him know you expect the rent on time full all further rents. If it happens again go straight to the guarantor and request payment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbut Posted December 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Yes RL and Grandpa, maybe I reacted to quickly ,but in all the years of being a landlord its the first time this has happened to us, anyway sequel to the story, he had paid a cheque into the bank and it showed on online banking this morning. I spoke to him on the phone this morning and thanked him for the payment but did draw his attention to the payment before due date clause in the tenancy agreement,he told me they had just opened an account with Nationwide and was transferring money from Gibraltar to the Nationwide ,this I can believe as they moved from Mijas in Spain to our property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carryon Regardless Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 My contracts detail payment date as the 20th, for all T's. With allowance for clearing times, bank holidays and the like often I see payments cleared and available by the 25th. My design is for funds to be in place for mortgages going out on the 1st. I penalise for payments made after the 25th, but if made prior to the 1st I credit back on their statement, unless it becomes habitual and they haven't communicated this to me. I aim to check status, for all, online shortly after the 25th, much simpler for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 I have someone who pays late every month almost without fail.....one, two sometimes three weeks late. Occasionally a full month late. Been there three years, pays top dollar in rent, place is kept in an immaculate condition and everything else is perfect. Don't shoot a gift horse.........etc etc. Every situation has its own positives/ negatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carryon Regardless Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Similar, I've a T since 2002. Sometimes up to £1200 in arrears (rent at £386 pcm). Flat lovely, he good guy. His penalties provide an extra £360 pa, if he fails to pay arrears I've had more than that over the years. It's not always a bad thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerbut Posted December 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Good thinking COR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 I'd also like to add that some of the people who have viewed my properties over the years who, I have had serious doubts about initially and been on the verge of turning down have turned out to be some of the best.......the best payers, tidy, clean, helpfull, accomodating and longest tenants. So, I've learned to be more.....flexible, open minded, diverse, patient and a lot less likely to jump to conclusions. Learning to be a good judge of character is almost the biggest skill that a landlord can learn and I'm still working on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted December 4, 2011 Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 I'd also like to add that some of the people who have viewed my properties over the years who, I have had serious doubts about initially and been on the verge of turning down have turned out to be some of the best.......the best payers, tidy, clean, helpfull, accomodating and longest tenants. I totally agree I have had tenants with the best references in the world etc but have turned out to be the biggest pain in the backside with a bloody minded attitude. I have also had tenants with a big big question marks over them but have accepted them on the instruction of the landlord and they have being model tenants. The above doesn't happen very often and we turn away a few tenants because we don't like the look of them (for want of a better word). You do get a gut instinct after a few years in this game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theartfullodger Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 My contracts detail payment date as the 20th, for all T's. With allowance for clearing times, bank holidays and the like often I see payments cleared and available by the 25th. My design is for funds to be in place for mortgages going out on the 1st. I penalise for payments made after the 25th, but if made prior to the 1st I credit back on their statement, unless it becomes habitual and they haven't communicated this to me. I aim to check status, for all, online shortly after the 25th, much simpler for me. My tenancy agreements specify payment into my account - cleared funds in my account - by appropriate date (monthly anniversary of tenancy start date..).. Can't see why one would not specify cleared funds in account by a date . I don't penalise (most tenancies being in Scotland where, due to Rent Act (Scotland) 1984, that would be illegal... ) however I have a clause in tenancies noting a bonus of £50 will be paid if all rent payments on time & in full: Since having this clause payment histories have been much better,... carrot usually works better than stick... Tenants do have problems from time2time with payments - I'm sure all posters here have probably had financial challenges at various times.. I prefer to be understanding & flexible 1st time, but warning letters next tiume then notice2quit.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carryon Regardless Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 Yep it would be an unfair clause here to, but the T doesn't know that - so far anyway. Most T's don't know the ins and outs, by the time they seek advice the situation is lost anyway. Where a T may go on the offensive regarding the penalty they get a S21 as why would I still want a T who sees it as fair that they pay when they want. If I end up repaying some penalties I've lost nothing as in truth it's an attempt at being a psychological incentive for them to pay rents as contracted. It's the rents I want not the penalties. Your way would mean advertising the property for £50 pcm more than you expect, far less attractive for responses. I prefer to be on the low side, increase the responses and hopefully choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest theartfullodger Posted December 6, 2011 Report Share Posted December 6, 2011 .......... Your way would mean advertising the property for £50 pcm more than you expect, far less attractive for responses. I prefer to be on the low side, increase the responses and hopefully choice. ??? How'd get to £50pcm more.. I'm only offering a single bonus, once, when they leave... a one-off £50.. Agree about advertise low get more choice mind... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carryon Regardless Posted December 7, 2011 Report Share Posted December 7, 2011 Gotcha, sorry I didn't read it like that. Nice idea but I can see how that could be seen as a deposit, more hassle for us sasanachs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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