Rent payment problem with landlord

jozi

Got a nice email of the landlord the other day regarding rent, he's out a few euro's :mad:

Bit of background first. This is my second time living in the house, college last year and again this year, allong with 5 others. There have been some changes over the summer, some people left and new tenants moved in.

The email, Basically its a excel sheet with all the rent he has recieved since february and he's out money, quite a substancial amount even.
2 of the current house mates aren't here at the min, 3 others have check our bank statements and we are all fine with payments to date. The 2 which are away at the min are prob the 2 most profesional living here and we have little doubt they didnt pay rent.
The only person who also isnt here because he's gone backpacking for a few months in Europe is the 6th house mate. He's rented his room out tempory to a girl till he gets back, she paid him (not the landlord) 600 for a month and a half so far.

From going trough what should be paid monthly we think the guy that has been gone hasn't been paying rent since he moved in (June), there's rent missing every month for the amount he should be paying. All his rent totaled up + 1 month from 1 of the other tenants (he had not paid by the time we got the mail) comes close to the amount owed, its out a few euro because we noticed we pay 10 euro to little each month.

I'm just wondering where do we stand? Can the landlord evict us all? Or just the guy (if it is him) who hasnt been paying rent, in which case does that means the new girl renting temp has to go? We know he didn't use her 600 to pay rent, one of us opened a statement from the bank which doesn't show him paying rent ever to the landlord. (There are 1 or 2 other reason why we think he may not have payed rent which i won't go into).

We won't know for sure till tue-wed when the other 2 house mates return if they paid or not. The rest of us are going to get statements printed for the landlord in the mean time.

To make things worse (or better) i just got a txt from the guy traveling if he can move back in as he's coming back in maybe 2 weeks. Should we tell him about the situation, let the landlord be here wehn he arrives back to sort it out?

Anyone any advice on what to do, where we stand etc?

Jozi

inigo

Not sure of where you stand but here's an idea: how about contract(s)? Have you all signed one with the landlord or is there only one for the property which would have been signed by only one of the tennants? If each of you has a contract it wouldn't be fair perhaps even legal to throw you out if you've paid. If there's only one contract he could probably do it.

Also, if you suspect the guy due back in a couple of weeks hasn't paid and you let him know about the situation, he may decide not to come back at all...

Good luck!

daiixi

If he's asking to move back in then either he's a fool for thinking he can still get away with not paying rent (if indeed it is him who has not been paying) or perhaps he's been paying his rent into a wrong account? This happened before with a flatmate of mine - she was paying money into a random stranger's account who, of course, didn't raise the matter with the bank because - hey! FREE MONEY! Once we figured out the problem she was able to contact the bank and they transferred the money to the correct account and the random stranger was left a little red faced. Not saying that that's what is happening here but it's a possibility right?

./edit: As to where you stand, well it all depends on your lease with the landlord and what action your landlord wants to take. If he's happy with the rest of you staying in the house then he may decide to let you stay and just chase the flatmate responsible for payment. As for telling your flatmate who is travelling? I'd wait for him to return before mentioning anything.

jozi

As far as i know no one signed anything, if there was a contract then i haven't seen it.

I'd love to believe he might be paying into the wrong account but im affraid he might not be. Unless he has been paying the rent in cash and not money transfer then maybe, we opened his post from the bank and there are no sums of money that could be rent.
There where a few other things that made the others not trust him like, money going missing from a shared pot for buying house hold items etc.

I've not told the guy about the landlord looking for money, i dont think i should incase he wont come back. I was very surprised he txt about coming back, wasn't expecting him till jan, but i guess he wants some of his belongings he left.

@daiixi: the girl that moved in here has paid him a sum of money, obviously its never going to see the landlord. You say your flatmate was paying into the wrong account, would you think it is possible for my flatmate to get her 600 euro back?

Thanks,
Jozi

daiixi

Has the month and a half period that she's paid him for expired? If it's ended then no, she paid him for the sublet of the room and therefore cannot ask for any of the money back. If he's come back early and wants her out of his room, then yes, he would have to give her a proportion of the money back. Does the girl have a receipt for the money she paid?

Check with the two flatmates who are away then give the landlord a call and organise what you believe to be the situation with with. Ask him what he thinks you should do/what he wants to do.

jozi

Thing is she paid him in good faith that he was going to pay the landlord the rent which is what is very unlikly that he is going to do.

We'll see tuesday when the others get back

Eurorunner

If he's rented rooms out individually (as opposed to one of you renting the whole house and subletting) then I would be taking the view that its between him and the guy who hasnt paid.
If he comes to the conclusion that your all out, maybe its because hes píssed off with renting in general and is either going to get out of renting or rent the whole house out.
If theres no cash forthcoming from your prime suspect, then I'd imagine the subletter will have to either pay up again or leave. Can't expect the landlord to take the hit. She has made a mistake in paying him the lot I think. Did she get any type of receipt or written/signed agreement with him?
If I was her, I would either call threshold or mail them - explain the situation and see what they say.

bullrunner

if i were you i would get proof from people who have paid the landlord. Give this to the landlord and explain the situation as best you can. Be honest with the landlord...at this stage if he thinks you are lying to him he could just say sod the lot of you and evict everybody. Also make sure that everybody that says they have paid is paying to the correct account!!

As for the girl who is paying the sublettor..tell her to stop paying him and pay the landlord instead.


It may be a better idea to get 1 payment made each month to the landlord...but this depends on everybody agreeing a person to pay the landlord and this person being honest enough to pay him!!

good luck with it!