posted
I moved into a house in September and have now decided that I hate it and want to move.
I’ve been there a couple of months now and still don’t have a contract. This has been because on three different occasions I have waited for my landlord to come over, to find that he doesn’t come or even bother to ring and let me know.
I also don’t have a rent book, I have been given little bits of ripped lined paper with ‘you have given me so much money’ written on them.
I’d love to get my deposit back on the house, but don’t know where I stand legally. I was suppose to live in the house for nine months. One more factor is that he makes me pay cash, everyone else pays by direct debit but he refused to let me do this making it obvious that I am a tax free perk.
I have asked several friends what my legal rights are, but they only seem to have ideas rather than fact.
Does anyone know where I stand? I’d like to move out at the end of the month.
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Astromariner
Going the right way for a smacked bottom
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I think that, if you don't have a contract, you can move out whenever you like. If you're worried about getting your deposit back, withold your last month's rent instead.
ETA: this advice might be a bit ropey because I only did one module of contract law and I seem to have forgotten a lot of it. But you're a student, right? I can't remember. If you are, you should speak to your student support service people: they hear about this kind of deal all the time so should give you some good advice. If you're not a student, you could try your local Citizen's Advice Bureau.
I tried the student place just to receive a rather unpleasant lady who demanded ‘come back another day, cant you see I’m busy’
Normally this wouldn’t bother me and I’d just go back tomorrow, but I was surprised to find ‘fuck you then’ loudly coming from my lips so I think I’ll be going to the Citizens Advice Bureau, once I figure out where it is.
Do I have to make an appointment, or is it a walk in place?
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Astromariner
Going the right way for a smacked bottom
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I think you can just walk in, or phone up/email if it's easier: check disPosts: 2814
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posted
Try Googling "Citizens Advice Bureau UK" for your nearest centre.
I'm really struggling for a polite and non-patronising way of rephrasing, "how could any sane adult move in somewhere without a contract and proper payment agreement?" but sadly seem to have failed.
I mean it in a nice way, though. My brother got horribly fucked over on student lease agreements by "friends" in a houseshare at uni; he really struggled to come back from that experience. It means I no longer worry about being brutally tedious and mercenary where houseshare contracts and finances are concerned; you have to have everything sorted properly or you end up fucked.
If it was just one woman manning the Student Housing Support office, she probably is rushed off her feet this time of year. Phone up and make an appointment.
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posted
He was suppose to bring the contract on the day I moved in but forgot it and said he’d bring it tomorrow but never did and so on. I’m hoping his laziness will be to my advantage
If I don’t get my deposit back, I’ll do the mature thing and fill his walls with dead London mice
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posted
On the basis of the information you've given I would say the following:
Legally: you have a periodic tenancy. This means that if you pay your rent monthly, you can leave at the end of any given month without notice. The landlord, if there is no damage to the property and you've paid your rent has to give you your deposit back.
Realistically: you don't stand a chance of getting your deposit back from your landlord.
The best way to deal with it is to find someone else to move in and rather than them pay a deposit to the landlord get them to pay it to you instead. They can then claim the deposit back from the landlord when their tenancy ends. Then it stops being your problem see?
Edit to add: are you a student? If so at which Uni? I used to be the student housing officer at my Uni and still have a few contacts.
I can't get anyone else to move in. The house was nice at first (i'm a great housekeeper) But it smells funny, the room is tiny, too expensive for what it is along with other problems. The people who live there are vile.
Please note that i didn't chose to live a crap house, i left moving very very late (days before starting) and had to take what i could.
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posted
In situations like this, your legal rights are irrelevant. Without paperwork its your word against his, and is it really worth getting into a small claims bunfight about it anyway?
I'm assuming you pay your rent monthly in advance? Well, give your landlord a month's notice, and keep hold of your rent money. You're unlikely to get your deposit back without a serious game of hardball, which, regrettably, you probably wouldn't win. Your landlord sounds like he's been scamming for years. He's almost certainly very experienced at ripping off students.
Put it down to experience, write off your loss (assuming you don't get away with the "I'll have my last month for free instead of you giving me my deposit back" ploy, that is) and move on.
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Also if he is being a proper twat, I seem to recall that our uni had a black-list for bad landlords which was maintained by the student housing people, if I remember rightly you were able to speak to them and get a particularly bad landlord added to the list so that future students could be warned of them, as far as I recall anyway. Might be worth checking if yours has one he can be added to to warn others off him (after you've got someone else to move in I guess, somewhat self-defeating otherwise..)
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