UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hello everyone!

I'd really like some sound advice. A friend and I found a lovely flat but it's via a private landlord. He strikes me as someone very laid back i.e. it takes him a long time to respond to emails. We put in an offer for his property which was his asking price. He told us that we would have to pay £770 into his account as a holding fee (this equates to two weeks rent) - which is fine, I appreciate he needs some security.

He then said once he received the money in his account he would send through the referencing forms and provided the references were favourable we could then proceed. He offered no timeline. We completed the forms and had them back to him within 2 hours. 6 years ago, I had a credit issue which left a mark on my score. It's a long story but basically my debt was sold to a 3rd party and but I had paid and this company argued I hadn't (that's another issue for another time!!) anyway, I was completely honest about it on my reference form. We then heard nothing for 3 days. The landlord then called me on the 4th day and asked for me to give him details of this incident, of which I did. Then we heard nothing again. He then asked me to send through 3 months of my bank statements - of which I did. I have been debt free and have a score of 922 on Experian.

He then called me yesterday to say because of the "adverse" credit, he wanted 8 weeks deposit instead of 6 weeks because he really is trying but he needs extra security. This annoyed me as he has all of my rental history with proof that I have never defaulted on rent ever, as well as work references and 3 months worth of bank statements. But again, I'm willing to do this so he has assurance.

The real problem is that he wants the 8 weeks deposit plus a month's rent in advance cleared in his account before we see a tenancy agreement. I find this ludicrous. Everyone I have spoken to and certainly renting via a letting agency you pay a holding deposit and then all of the monies after reviewing and singing a tenancy agreement.

I have pasted his email below for reference.

"Given the diverse credit situation the reference checking process has taken longer than usual.


I am pleased to say that i am happy to proceed with your renting the flat. However, given the adverse credit situation i will require an increased deposit of the equivalent of eight weeks rent. Therefore in order for us to proceed to signing the tenancy agreement and my handing the keys to you i will require the amount of £4,038.33 to be cleared into my account (the same as you used for the holding deposit). This is broken down as follows:


£1,668.33 - 1 months rent in advance
£3,080.00 - Deposit
£60.00      - Reference checks
-------------
£4,808.33
£770.00    - Less holding deposit already paid
-------------
£4,038.33
-------------


As soon as this is cleared into my account we can proceed to signing the contract."


Because this has dragged on for so long, I am so stressed out about it all. He also has £770 of my money is his possession. We don't know how long the tenancy agreement is for, what furniture he is providing, he hasn't mentioned about putting the funds in a protected account (TDP).

Any advice, etc will be very welcome!

(apologies for the extremely long rant!!!)
Perhaps you would like to let me know of your ideal move in date? I can then discuss this with the existing tenants to see if we can reach the most mutually beneficial date.


I look forward to hearing from you.

The Landlord appears to have something you want, so you might have to jump through some hoops to satisfy extra demands.

The alternative is, surely, just to wash your hands of the situation... but be very careful you understand what will happen to that holding deposit in that case.

As a Landlord, I would want to have money in my account prior to signing the AST and handing over keys - that's a given. However, that could be very shortly beforehand... like - 1) a payment is made over telephone banking while in the property, 2) I check my account and see it straight away, 3) we all sign the AST and 4) I hand over the keys, we do a check-in and I leave.

But - and this is the thing I think you're most interested in - I always give prospective Tenants a copy of the AST I will ask them to sign well before we proceed to handing over money and signing the thing and providing keys.

On page 2 of my AST I have the following text - in a box in bold - "Tenants should read this Tenancy Agreement carefully to ensure that it contains everything they want and nothing that they are not prepared to agree to. Tenants must always be given the opportunity to thoroughly read and understand this Tenancy Agreement before signing it." and then I have a bit that says "Date Provided to Tenant(s) for Review".

In my view it is not reasonable to be provided with an AST on the day you would sign it.

The Landlord should have his AST ready to go... I would be somewhat suspicious if it could not be provided (just as a draft) beforehand for your review. It might contain other terms and conditions in there that you are not willing to sign... however, you have already thrown a bit of cash at this, so you might have to accept things you normally might not.

Hi Hippograff!

Thank you so much for taking the time to advise me - it's really appreciated.

I completely understand that our landlord needs to have some security - he already has 2 weeks rent in his position and if we pull out he keeps that cash. My really big worry is parting with £4k without seeing a tenancy agreement. It just strikes me as very risky. We have no security from him. He has all of our credit history, 3 months worth of statements, £770 of our cash, references from work and from past properties and all we have from him is his mobile number and his name.

I'm sure it cannot be standard practice to pay the full sum of money before seeing and signing a tenancy agreement? We've been very flexible and walked to the beat of his drum and accepted that he wants us to pay 8 weeks deposit instead of 6 weeks but handing over money to what essentially is a total stranger is setting off alarm bells.

I agree.

Although I would not want to cause undue panic.

Have you checked that the name you have matches the recorded name of the owner of the property on the Land Registry... this will cost you £3 I believe?

http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/public/property-ownership

I do not think it is unreasonable of you to ask the Landlord to send you across the AST for review before parting with further money. Any normal person would surely be accepting of this if the request was made in the right tone... i.e. not in an aggressive manner... just saying "before we proceed further we'd really like to review the Tenancy Agreement we'll have to sign for this property, can you get it to us over email, please?"

A flat-out refusal to do this would make me want to walk away, as there is no sensible reason (I can think of) to refuse.

As it happens I agree.

Just ask for a copy, together with any further clarification.

I am a bit old school and always ask for the first months rent and deposit in cash, we meet, we sign, we give keys, I get cash.

I then obviously rush to the bank and put in the cash 

In allot of ways I suppose this is just the same as what he is asking for, maybe that might be an option for you?

Hippogriff,

You are amazing. Thank you so much for that. I have checked and at least he isn't a fraudster - he does actually own the building.

I have responded to the landlord saying that we will happily pay the money on receipt and review of the AST - so it's in his hands now. If he wants to pull out then fine, we'll find somewhere else to live and I should then hopefully receive my money back.

Don't suppose you are letting anything in London!? 

X

Quote from: boboff on July 11, 2014, 11:33:00 AM
As it happens I agree.

Just ask for a copy, together with any further clarification.

I am a bit old school and always ask for the first months rent and deposit in cash, we meet, we sign, we give keys, I get cash.

I then obviously rush to the bank and put in the cash 

In allot of ways I suppose this is just the same as what he is asking for, maybe that might be an option for you?

Hi!

I would be completely happy to meet with the landlord and pay him in cash after reveiwing the AST. I'm completely happy for him to physically view me make the transfer over internet banking. I am not happy to hand over a wad of money without any kind of security for me.But he wants us to pay him in advance and then discuss the tenancy agreement. I may be female and blonde but I am not an idiot. (welll mostly...)

Quote from: Buttercup84 on July 11, 2014, 11:33:31 AMI have checked and at least he isn't a fraudster - he does actually own the building.

That's something less to worry about then. I think the Landlord would be an odd fish if there was an unwillingness to send over the AST for your review before doing anything more.

Being a laid-back Landlord is fine... I might be a tad concerned if this laid-back approach transfers through to maintenance issues (as you say, he does seem to be taking a long time to respond to emails) but - there might be nothing to worry about - as you're not his Tenant yet (he might be totally professional once you have a Landlord / Tenant relationship formalised).

That said, if the flat is as good as you've implied, he might well have the luxury of being very laid back. I'd always remember to put yourself in the Landlord's shoes as well - you do have that historic credit issue, after all. Best of luck.