Ending a rental agreement early. Need advice.

sebastianlieken

Hi all, i'm new to this corner of boards and wondering if you could give me some advice.

I am currently living in an apartment with a flatmate for which we each signed a 12 month lease on August 13th 2012. Our accounts are debited on the 13th of each month to pay for the month ahead.

Recently their have been alot of car break-ins in our "secure" private car park and we both decided we wanted to leave. We wrote our landlord asking if we could terminate our contracts early as we were no longer comfortable living here as the car park simply isn't secure.

she replied with:

Sebastian

I am really sorry for the unfortunate situation and I am making any effort possible to chase the management company to address this situation. I have got in touch with the estate agents to put the property back on market, and I am happy to terminate your contracts earlier than the end date of 13 Aug 13 providing we are able to find replacement tenants before your contract ends. Are you happy for us to give your mobile numbers to the estate agents, who will contact you to arrange potential viewings? for your information the agent we'll be using is Lough & Quay and/or Gerry O'Conner.

We then replied saying that we would be keen to help in any way we could regarding viewings - but asked her considering that i've lieved there hastle free for 3 years, to consider allowing us to leave in one months time (July 1st)

Anyway, She hasn't responded to any emails in a while (she's either annoyed or stewing and not giving a firm date to us)

My question is regarding the deposit; there is a £700 deposit on the place

If all goes well and someone moves in before our contract is up, what's to stop her from turning around to us and saying "No you cannot have your deposit back as you did not stay out your full 12 months as per the lease agreement which you both signed"

Would her email to us stand as evidence that she agreed to terminate our contracts early, provided she could find a replacement before our contract is up?

If not, what should I do to get a garantee?

Esoteric_

sebastianlieken wrote: »

Hi all, i'm new to this corner of boards and wondering if you could give me some advice.

I am currently living in an apartment with a flatmate for which we each signed a 12 month lease on August 13th 2012. Our accounts are debited on the 13th of each month to pay for the month ahead.

Recently their have been alot of car break-ins in our "secure" private car park and we both decided we wanted to leave. We wrote our landlord asking if we could terminate our contracts early as we were no longer comfortable living here as the car park simply isn't secure.

she replied with:



We then replied saying that we would be keen to help in any way we could regarding viewings - but asked her considering that i've lieved there hastle free for 3 years, to consider allowing us to leave in one months time (July 1st)

Anyway, She hasn't responded to any emails in a while (she's either annoyed or stewing and not giving a firm date to us)

My question is regarding the deposit; there is a £700 deposit on the place

If all goes well and someone moves in before our contract is up, what's to stop her from turning around to us and saying "No you cannot have your deposit back as you did not stay out your full 12 months as per the lease agreement which you both signed"

Would her email to us stand as evidence that she agreed to terminate our contracts early, provided she could find a replacement before our contract is up?

If not, what should I do to get a garantee?

If you find a replacement tenant before your fixed term lease ends, you are entitled to receive your deposit back (minus allowable deductions for things you have broken, if anything).

If you find suitable tenants and she refuses to refund your deposit, lodge a dispute with the PRTB, it costs 25 euro.

If you find suitable tenants and she refuses to allow them to move in, you are entitled to leave, with your deposit returned.

LowKeyReturn

Can't give legal advice here but if you check the Accommodation forum you'll find similar threads.

My only concern is £700 deposit. Is that a typo or are you in NI?

Marcusm

LowKeyReturn wrote: »

Can't give legal advice here but if you check the Accommodation forum you'll find similar threads.

My only concern is £700 deposit. Is that a typo or are you in NI?

Lough & Quay estate agents (great name) is based in Belfast so I would bet that he is in NI/UK. PRTB etc will be completely irrelevant. No security of tenure/part IV type issues, solely short term assured tenancies. These re fixed term in nature and early termination is generally only possible through agreement. I would suggest that the email documents the basis on which the landlord has agreed to an early termination, i.e. if the tenancy is replaced.

Esoteric_

Apologies, if the OP is in the UK, everything I said should be disregarded.

sebastianlieken

Marcusm wrote: »

Lough & Quay estate agents (great name) is based in Belfast so I would bet that he is in NI/UK. PRTB etc will be completely irrelevant. No security of tenure/part IV type issues, solely short term assured tenancies. These re fixed term in nature and early termination is generally only possible through agreement. I would suggest that the email documents the basis on which the landlord has agreed to an early termination, i.e. if the tenancy is replaced.

Yep, in the UK, and it is a great name for a letting agency right!

Let me just start by saying that i'm not out to get the landlord, i'm not looking for gain, i'm just looking after my own interests not to be victimised. I've been stung by landlords before and can only say the experiences have made me bitter.

I was thinking along the following lines for a plan of action to keep our own garauntee in check

I will let the standing order go from my account on the 13th of this month as normal (not doing so would be in breach of a contract which also protects me). Then, on the 1st July I will be owed a full refund (no itenerary for the apartment was ever created or signed - besides, it's in better condition now then when I moved in) and I will also be due a pro-rata refund for this months rent.

Until she refunds us (at the time we plan to move out on July 1st):
we will make sure NOT to stop our standing order (to keep the contract valid)
we will make sure NOT to sign a decleration of surrender
we will make sure NOT to hand back any keys.

If she refuses to refund us:
we can stay until August 13th as per our contractual agreement
She will probably lose the June fee to the letting agent meaning she is now down by ~£750
We have every right to refuse her entry to the property unless in the case of an emergency, or for inspection of state of repairs for which we are to be given 24 hours prior notice, and that is only to the landlord - not a letting agent
We will still be legally entitled to a full refund as no inventory list was ever established or signed
Lastly, we wont be motivated to clean the apartment to the same impecable standards as it is now.

anyone see any holes in my plan?

Cody Pomeray

Yes, don't cause aggro!

My experience is that landlords and tenants who expect confrontation usually end up getting it. Peacetime rarely survives a Battle Plan.

sebastianlieken

Cody Pomeray wrote: »

Yes, don't cause aggro!

My experience is that landlords and tenants who expect confrontation usually end up getting it. Peacetime rarely survives a Battle Plan.

Like I said above, I'm not out to get the landlord, i'm not looking to take advantage of the situation. We've been sorting things out very amicably up until now (and have always had a good landlord - tenant relationship), I just dont want to be standing there with my trousers around my ankles if worst comes to worst. It's simply a plan that i'll be keeping to myself until I need to use it.

It's not a nuclear deterent, it's a bullet-proof vest.

(and dont go saying a bullet-proof vest is gonna be bugger all use when a nuke goes off :P )