Landlord problem....,what else??

Bitsie

ok ill try make this as short as possible.....there are 3 of us in the house, last month one moved out, we had problem replacing her so landlord moved in his friend to "help us out" as he said. Now he is moving out as he has caused some problems. But now the landlord reckons that if we dont find someone to take his room by end of month then we have to pay his share of rent....we were only given a week and half notice to find someone else.
Is it the landlords right to demand extra rent for this room of us??? i didnt think so!!

MorningStar

Sounds like he is being a bit abrupt now but if rented out the house to three people and somebody moves out the rent should stay the same. The rent is for the house not the room. By suggesting his friend moves in he was helping you out. If it didn't work out so be it. If you want to keep renting the house get another housemate.
The problem isn't with the landlord it is with the fact your friend moved out. He tried to help you out but it didn't work out. If I was him I would be a bit annoyed that it didn't work out and throw the responsibility back on you (where is was always). He is still being relatively easy going about by giving you some time with the rent. Why should he lose money because your friend moved out?
Try thinking from his view rather than assume all landlords are out to screw you.

Bitsie

it wasnt our friend that moved out, when i moved in i was renting the room, i didnt move in together with the other two. i moved in with two strangers. then another one decided to move out, so now im caught in the middle and expected to pay extra rent. when i moved in i didnt agree to rent the whole house, i was just taking the room.

Bitsie

i would understand if me and twp friends rented the house together and then one of them moved out, but thats not the way it was.

BC

Do you have a lease?

If not then just don't pay the extra rent. Unless you've signed a lease where you are taking on the entire house there isn't a lot the landlord can do about it.

Gilgamesh

completely agree with morningstar on this.

the rent of the house isn't determined by the amount of people living in it,
you guys signed a contract, then under yourselves decided to split the rent, that is how you have to see it

Bitsie

but thats what im trying to say....we didnt sign anything. 3 different people before me took on the house then they started to move out one by one, i am just one of the people who took on a room after them. no lease or anything.

MorningStar

Bitsie wrote:

but thats what im trying to say....we didnt sign anything. 3 different people before me took on the house then they started to move out one by one, i am just one of the people who took on a room after them. no lease or anything.

Then you don't have to pay the extra rent. You are right, before you tell him though I would check out if he is regiseterd to rent the house out. This way if he really complains you can hold this against him. That's assuming he isn't which sounds like a safe bet.
The fact he got another tennant (regardless of him being friends) and it didn't work out I can kind of see his point. Keep trying to get a housemate you like. This is why rooms shouldn't be rented seperately and if they must leases are really important.

Bitsie

yeh i can understand that he doesnt want to lose any money over this but it really isnt my problem either, im not rentong out the whole house. i may take your advice Morningstar about checking him out as we pay cash in hand every month for rent so dont even have a bank account number for him!

landser

Bitsie wrote:

yeh i can understand that he doesnt want to lose any money over this but it really isnt my problem either, im not rentong out the whole house. i may take your advice Morningstar about checking him out as we pay cash in hand every month for rent so dont even have a bank account number for him!

It is your problem. from what you say, you are a party to the lease of the house... whether that lease be recorded in writing or not. you may have thought that you were renting a room, but you weren't. that's your fault for being, at best, naive. DAFT is full of ads saying "room to rent in house", when what they should say is "spare room in house". I'm with the landlord on this one. if you can't afford the rent, move out and quit whining about it.

Bitsie

im not whining about it, im asking for advice, so dont need comments like that thanks very much, i have had nothing but trouble with this guy in the house so you dont know the half of it. there was no agreement whether it be verbal or written that this was being rented as a house so im bound to nothing.

Bitsie

if the wording is wrong in ads for rooms then thats there own fault, not mine.

Third_Echelon

If you don't have a lease stating what you are responsible for then you are not duty bound to pay the extra rent.

My lease for example states how much i pay per month. If one of my flatmates moves, i dont have to pay their 'share' of the rent...

If this isn't in writing for you, then no way should you pay. The law is on your side in this....

pollyantic

Sounds to me like you're looking for support from people on boards to rip your landlord off.
If you dont like him move.
But dont try not to pay him what you owe him.

In fact you should move anyway, because its clear you have a problem with the setup there. Why on earth would you want to stay if things are annoying you that much

Santa Claus

landser wrote:

It is your problem. from what you say, you are a party to the lease of the house... whether that lease be recorded in writing or not.

Landser,
A lease is a LEGAL document, so if one doesn't exist then the landlord has no rights to expect the tenants to pay extra than the agreed amount they normally pay each. Saying that being party to a lease whether it's recorded in writing or not is Bull.....There is no such thing as a verbal lease !

Bitsie,
Ask him for his PPS number, say that you need it for claiming rent tax credits from the tax man....See how forceful he is then about demanding the extra money (if he's getting rent cash in hand then i'd be amazed if he's declaring it for tax and even if he is he probably isn't declaring the full amount).
Did he issue you with a rent book or give you receipts for your rent you've paid so far ?

My only worry would be that without a lease, if he decided to sell the house tomorrow he could turf you all out without much notice.....You've no rights effectively in the absence of a lease !

Bitsie

pollyantic wrote:

Sounds to me like you're looking for support from people on boards to rip your landlord off.
If you dont like him move.
But dont try not to pay him what you owe him.

In fact you should move anyway, because its clear you have a problem with the setup there. Why on earth would you want to stay if things are annoying you that much

how am i ripping him off, i dont owe him anything, i pay my rent i agreed to pay every month on time. and everything else is fine with the house and the landlord isnt that bad, its just over paying this extra rent.

seamus

Simple question:

Do you pay the landlord individually, or do you collect up all the money, and pay him as one?

Lease or no lease, if you don't pay individual rent, you could be boned.

Bitsie

Santa Claus wrote:

Landser,
My only worry would be that without a lease, if he decided to sell the house tomorrow he could turf you all out without much notice.....You've no rights effectively in the absence of a lease !

i know he could turf me out and if that happens then i just have to move on but im not giving in that easy and payinghim money i dint think i owe. Liek you said there was no lease.

Bitsie

seamus wrote:

Simple question:

Do you pay the landlord individually, or do you collect up all the money, and pay him as one?

Lease or no lease, if you don't pay individual rent, you could be boned.

well i usually give it to one of the lads and they give it to landlord then altogether with his own rent.

landser

Bitsie wrote:

there was no agreement whether it be verbal or written that this was being rented as a house so im bound to nothing.

great... prove this in court and see how much it costs you. as pollyantic says, if you hate the landlord so much, why are you still there? the landlord is being pretty decent and the only one being bolshy is you. you signed up to what you thought was a room, but in fact it would appear to have been a house. that's your fault or at best, the fault of the existing tenats in the house, not the landlord's. However, if you feel you're not bound to anything, then, likewise, neither if the landlord, and it's out you go!

voxpop

if you have no lease or rent book , the landlord can turf you out tomorrow - there is proof you have been paying rent - you have a right to either a lease or rent book.

Heres the way I see it - if you are all paying seperate and someone moves out, the person moving out should sort out someone to move in. With you, the landlord got his mate to move in - his mate should have paid the landlord his first months rent in advance plus a deposit of 1 month. So if the guy moves out in the middle of the month, without giving proper notice, the landlord simply uses his deposit as rent, giving you guys a month to find a replacement.
If the landlord didnt get rent in advance or a deposit from his mate, then its his own fault and he (the landlord or his mate) should take the loss, not the people currently living in the house.

Its all a bit complicated because noone know where they stand because there is nothing written down. Always get a lease espically if you are paying cash in hand!

Bitsie

i never said i hated the landlord Landser, you should read the replies properly! and i can easily prove there is no written agreement, because i dont have one!!! and saying i SIGNED up to a house is bull becasue i signed nothing. maybe you should think before you type stuff here.

Bitsie

i know Angry Penguin and his mate didnt give a deposit or anything so not fault he didnt get one and now he is expecting me to pay for it

Bitsie

sorry, i would just like to point out that we have only been given a weeks notice to replace this guy and plus the guy moving out hasnt even bothered cleaning his room and its in really bad shape and stinks so impossible to expect people to take it at the moment, so not alot of notice given to us before we are expected to pay the extra rent

MorningStar

You don't need a lease to have rights. Most leases don't give you any more rights than the standard rights you have. No lease in this case means you can say you rented a room but he can say you rented the house. The fact you didn't know the other person works in your favour here.
No landlord can turf you out legally without trouble. He can't even enter the house without your permission. If you stop paying rent he has to bring you to court before anything can happen and that can take 6 months.
The best think to do it try to agree with him and get another housemate. Being right or wrong doesn't really come in to it because it's not worth the hastle. Have yourself covered and be carefull. People with mortgages on rental property can get very upset at the thought of losing money or the taxman. Alot of the newer investors make mistakes but don't actually mean harm.

Bitsie

The best think to do it try to agree with him and get another housemate. Being right or wrong doesn't really come in to it because it's not worth the hastle. Have yourself covered and be carefull. People with mortgages on rental property can get very upset at the thought of losing money or the taxman. Alot of the newer investors make mistakes but don't actually mean harm.[/QUOTE]

yeh well im hoping to find new housemate in time and then get a lease off him, i think the least he can do is give us a bit more time to find one.

voxpop

Well if you have no lease,no rent book and pay cash in hand - you have no proof that you have paid anything or lived in the house for any time span. He could turf you out and deny any knowledge of you ever renting.

It seems in this case that the landlord got his mate to move in and didnt apply the same standards to his mate as to others (ie getting the deposit,etc). If the extra rent isnt much extra then maybe call the landlord, explain things and maybe offer to pay half to "help him out".

Investors are grown ups, if they make mistakes, let them solve it themselves.
Why should a tenant pay for the landlords mistake,espically if the landlord isnt paying tax and creaming in the cash on his second/third/fourth..... house.

landser

MorningStar wrote:

You don't need a lease to have rights. Most leases don't give you any more rights than the standard rights you have. No lease in this case means you can say you rented a room but he can say you rented the house. The fact you didn't know the other person works in your favour here.
No landlord can turf you out legally without trouble. He can't even enter the house without your permission. If you stop paying rent he has to bring you to court before anything can happen and that can take 6 months.
QUOTE]

this is all very laudible, but not quite how the system works. the landlord can call around and change every lock in the house and turf the tenant out for non payment of rent. the tenant would then have to initiate proceeings against him, which could take 6 months! He may well have breached the tenats rights, but 6 months down the line, having spent a large sum of money on costs (no solicitor does this type of work without money up front) and having already had to find somewhere else to live, any victory on the tenant's partcould well be a Phyrric one. this is the real world situation.

Bitsie

Well like i said i would just be happy if he just gave us more time to find new tenant and that would solve everything, he cant expect us to find one in less than a week especially if his mate hasnt bothered cleaning out his filthy room!

Santa Claus

Landser, Would i be right in guessing from your pro-landlord posts that you are a landlord yourself ????

Santa Claus

Bitsie wrote:

Well like i said i would just be happy if he just gave us more time to find new tenant and that would solve everything, he cant expect us to find one in less than a week especially if his mate hasnt bothered cleaning out his filthy room!

Bitsie,
Best thing to do is ring him and say this. Also tell him you want receipts for all rent paid and his PPS number to claim your tax credits....that should shut him up very quickly !