UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi all,
          I need some advice please. I'm trying to help and protect my son, who lives away from home. He has recently moved and his ex Landlord is refusing to pay back over paid rent. He is owed 17 out of 31 days rent and the ex Landlord is adamant he does not have to give this back, "it's not how it's done" he says...
I've tried negotiating with him and he's tried every tactic to put me off.
If I take him to the small claims court on line, how successful will I be?

Many thanks,

SarahJT.

You say he has recently moved out... but do you mean he has recently moved out early?

Any agreement will have dates in it... rent is paid in advance... so when you refer to overpaid rent, do you mean rent was paid until - say - the 10th of a month, but the agreement ended on the 1st? As that would be strange. Or do you - more likely - mean that rent was paid until the 10th of a month, the agreement ended on the 10th of a month, but he moved out at an earlier date?

If the former, then you have a point.

If the latter, then you don't - that is not overpaid rent - that is moving out early (choice).

Hi,
    Thanks for your response. My son paid the rent on the 10th of March and moved out on the 24th. His Landlord asked him to vacate the property in February (he says he wanted to renovate the property from a 2 bed to a 3 bed. But he had viewings for new tenants, whilst in
its current state.  Not sure if any of this is relevant?)
We had planned to move him on 27th but had to move faster because of the Corona virus restrictions.

Many thanks and kind regards,

Sarah.

So the normal rent period is from 10th of a month to the 9th of a month and the ex-Tenant moved out on the 24th (or 27th) because the Landlord asked that?

If so, then I would say that, yes, the rent is something considered overpaid. Legally speaking, the ex-Tenant had possession of the property until the upcoming 9th and if they left of their own accord for convenience then that would be different. The issue I foresee is proving the Landlord effectively forced the situation and compelled the ex-Tenant to leave early... when, legally, they had no ability to do that, and the ex-Tenant didn't need to do so.

Renovations, viewings etc. etc. are not relevant, no.

My son left on the 24th March, there wasn't a specific agreed date, just "May" from the landlord.

Thanks,

Sarah.

Of course there was a specific agreed date... the date detailed in the agreement. The question is... why did your son leave early? Was it through his own choice or was he effectively forced out by the Landlord? If you believe it is the latter then the Landlord should (morally, if nothing else) repay the rent paid for the days your son was not there - as it was the Landlord's specific request that the property be vacant (for whatever reason)... but if there is no such proof then it comes down to the agreement... the agreement has a date in it and your son left before that date... but he didn't have to, legally he had a tenancy until that date, and rent would be due. Hope that helps.

OK, thank you, for your help and advice.

Kind regards,

Sarah.