Rental arrears notice from Tenancy company.

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somapop

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 Mar 2010
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5,074
Hi all.

I've just received an email from the accounts department who looks after the payments on my flat.
It's states that I'm in arrears for underpayment (part of which was a recent monthly increase which I can see) but another is for £200 going back to when I first took the flat on four years ago. This is for the week I was in the flat before the new month (starting on the first) commenced.
At the time I signed the agreement for a deposit (£725) and a months rent.

I've had communication with the guy who showed me round at the time (who looks after the admin on the property on behalf of the owner - all via the agency).
He'd queried some figures a few months back ands suggested I phoned the accounts team (which I promptly did).
Speaking to the account manager, she confirmed nothing was outstanding and mentioned he may have been a little confused.

So today I'm struggling to work out why I owe that initial £200. Surely at the time this would've been mentioned and NOT 4 years on?

I've got the spreadsheet from theme listing every transaction but I'm at a loss what do next?

Also have the spectre of that £725 deposit which tend to be a wrestle to get back.

I'm looking at moving (buying a place) in the next few months (the flat is very expensive for a one bed, damp, cold, mouldy flat).

Any suggestions from a legal standpoint?
 
somapop said:
Hi all.

I've just received an email from the accounts department who looks after the payments on my flat.
It's states that I'm in arrears for underpayment (part of which was a recent monthly increase which I can see) but another is for £200 going back to when I first took the flat on four years ago. This is for the week I was in the flat before the new month (starting on the first) commenced.
At the time I signed the agreement for a deposit (£725) and a months rent.

I've had communication with the guy who showed me round at the time (who looks after the admin on the property on behalf of the owner - all via the agency).
He'd queried some figures a few months back ands suggested I phoned the accounts team (which I promptly did).
Speaking to the account manager, she confirmed nothing was outstanding and mentioned he may have been a little confused.

So today I'm struggling to work out why I owe that initial £200. Surely at the time this would've been mentioned and NOT 4 years on?

I've got the spreadsheet from theme listing every transaction but I'm at a loss what do next?

Also have the spectre of that £725 deposit which tend to be a wrestle to get back.

I'm looking at moving (buying a place) in the next few months (the flat is very expensive for a one bed, damp, cold, mouldy flat).

Any suggestions from a legal standpoint?
Click to expand...
Have a look at when your tenancy agreement was signed/started and check when you first paid your monthly rent. If you signed up to the tenancy and then only paid the first month's rent a week later then you probably do owe a week.

For example, if your tenancy started on the 1st Jan then you will owe rent from the 1st Jan, it doesn't matter if your first payment is set on the 7th Jan. They should have charged you a pro-rata payment for everything prior to the 7th Jan but it sounds like they screwed up, missed it, forgot or whatever.

I don't think that you will be able to escape it because the tenancy agreement and past payments will show that you had the property for a week and nothing was paid for that period. Citizens advice is a good route if you really feel they've done something wrong and won't budge but I'd just be honest and talk to the letting agent for a breakdown.

The deposit will be sat in escrow with somebody such as DPS and is separate from all of this. At the end of the tenancy if there is no rent owed or damage then you will get it all back. You won't have any problems if you've been a good tenant and everything is in good condition. Only a real arsehole landlord would cause trouble over £725.
 
The deposit is separate so not relevant here.

It reads like you pay on the 1st of the month I.e. you pay on the 1st march and that is the rent for you having the property for march.
When you moved in, you moved in on about the 20th of the month and this payment relates to the 20th - 31st of the month you moved in.

Sounds like it's a valid payment that is owed although it should have been identified when you first moved in but you can't dispute based on that unless it was more than 6 years ago.
 
Thanks all.
That makes sense. I'm just surprised I wasn't charged at the time for this amount i.e. the 20th to the end of the month was added into the first payment.

I'd already phoned the agency last year on the back of anything owend (the aforementioned conversation with the account manager who stated nothing was owed).

However, I have a spreadsheet breakdown from when I first moved in and there's the £200 showing around the time I paid the deposit AND 1st months rent.
I'll phone the office sometime tomorrow and clarify.
 
I don’t know why people are saying your deposit safe.
Unpaid rent can be taken out of it.
 
117 M34 said:
The deposit is separate so not relevant here.

It reads like you pay on the 1st of the month I.e. you pay on the 1st march and that is the rent for you having the property for march.
When you moved in, you moved in on about the 20th of the month and this payment relates to the 20th - 31st of the month you moved in.

Sounds like it's a valid payment that is owed although it should have been identified when you first moved in but you can't dispute based on that unless it was more than 6 years ago.
Click to expand...
As far as I'm aware the deposit isn't fully separate. What I mea is if he decides not to pay the £200 and it's a valid payment he owes then they can take it from his deposit.
 
I'll add that the concern for my deposit isn't totally unwarranted.

Before I rented rhis place it had been many, many years since I last rented. There were several times when I never saw my deposit back at the end of my tenancy (despite never missing rent, or leaving any damage to the property etc).
The last place myself and my ex rented (before we bought a house) we lost our deposit (to a private, pie faced, wealthy landlord I recall very well).

No issues with this agency (I've never actually had any contact with the landlady who owns this flat) btw, it's coming from past experience.
 
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