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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Landlord asking why we don’t have emergency funds

198 replies

JustDrained48 · 10/04/2019 23:52

We’ve rented the same property for 2 years.
We’ve always paid bang on date.
I’ve recently changed jobs which meant a change to my pay dates for the first month.
I immediately emailed our landlord to tell him this monthly rent would be a day late but would follow the original date here after.
Obviously I said I was sorry & hoped this was ok.
He sent a v long email by return stating that we needed to explain to him why we didn’t have emergency funds to cover these one off occurrences.
Should I even grace him with an answer?

OP posts:

ZippyBungleandGeorge · 10/04/2019 23:54

It's one day! Ignore him

mightskys · 10/04/2019 23:56

You have agreed to pay on an agreed date so rather than telling him you would be a day late maybe you should have asked him first. He may have bills and stuff to pay on the date you pay.

ChicCroissant · 10/04/2019 23:59

Or it could be that he wants the rent on time and is wondering if this is the start of a longer run of late payments. If you pay on time next month, then he might be reassured. As a former landlord, I wouldn't be impressed with a late payer either tbh (and it was certainly the start of something in our case!).

MummytoCSJH · 11/04/2019 00:03

Mightskys, not sure how you can 'ask if it's okay' to pay late when you literally do not have the money until the later date. What if they say no? It's not going to enable you to pay it sooner.

Idontmeanto · 11/04/2019 00:06

Wanting you to have an emergency fund is symptomatic of the landlord enjoying a level of privilege where owning more than one property is possible and the insecurity of having no savings inconceivable.

It’s also not unreasonable of him to want his rent on time. Can you ask your new employer for funds early to help with the transition? Pop the rent on a credit card for 24 hours?

You are both being a bit unreasonable!

alittlesnow · 11/04/2019 00:07

Blimey, a bit of an overreaction on HIS part, but then again, I wouldn't have been arsed to let him know my rent will be a DAY LATE. That's really nothing. Any landlord who is that precious or panicked about the tenant paying the rent 24 hours late, should not be a landlord. If anything HE should have 'emergency funds' for when tenants pay late!

mightskys · 11/04/2019 00:07

It sounds to be as if OP said something like "just so you know rent will be late this month but on time next month". Rather than explaining due to job change etc (or else the landlord wouldn't be asking about finances). Either way, their rental contact will say rent is due on X date and OP is not sticking to that.

Imagine if you had bills to pay and your employer said "sorry but next month we are paying a day late"

AventaRizon · 11/04/2019 00:17

*Imagine if you had bills to pay and your employer said "sorry but next month we are paying a day late"
I don't think the OP needs to do all that much imagining, as that is pretty close to the situation they are in

mightskys · 11/04/2019 00:24

Yes because they have moved jobs not because the employer decided to change the date of payment

RunAlexRun · 11/04/2019 00:25

I think it's a bit cheeky of you, but there was no need for the landlord to be condescending in his reply!

x2boys · 11/04/2019 00:27

Surely this happens sometimes? When I lived in private rented we had a standing order mandate set for a certain day of the month as that was how the agency wanted us to pay but if that day fell over the weekend o r bank holiday the bank paid on the next working day .

decimalpoint · 11/04/2019 00:30

Well surely he has an ‘emergency fund’ if he has bills to pay

LizzyMac40 · 11/04/2019 00:32

Most landlords are fine if it's a day late especially when made aware of a change in circumstances. It's not your fault! Yes, landlords need to pay bills but they also need to look after their tenants. ( they took that responsibility on when they signed up to be a landlord). I know many landlords who have multiple buy to let's, and can't fill rooms etc, can't pay bills, mortgage etc and run themselves into the ground....it's not worth it! I know of a council tenant who hasn't paid rent in months and just done a moonlight flit as has happened in a street along the road from me. Think how much that's going to cost council tax payers to get rid of all contents, do the place up and refurnish it! Not fair on us folk that pay a bloody mortgage to try and own our home. We are paying for it through council tax.

mightskys · 11/04/2019 00:33

@decimalpoint you don't know the financial situation of the landlord. But still I agree, if the landlord expects the OP to have emergency funds then he should also have emergency funds. Especially as it's only one day.

dronesdroppingzopiclone · 11/04/2019 00:34

I wouldn't have even told him it was going to be only one day late, there was your mistake. He might not have noticed and if he had, would have just said I forgot or made a mistake. I'd ignore his message. Beyond paying the rent and ability to demonstrate you can pay the rent, your finances are none of his business.

IncrediblySadToo · 11/04/2019 00:35

Should I even grace him with an answer?

Yes, you should, with good grace.

He’s not your bank.

Your agreement is to pay him on x date, not another date of your choosing. You should have asked him if it was ok, not just told him you weren’t going to pay on time.

How would you feel if your payroll just decided to change the day you were paid?

PregnantSea · 11/04/2019 00:59

The landlord is probably panicking that this could be the start of you regularly paying late or stopping paying completely.

I know that YOU know this isn't the case, but you can't blame him for thinking that it is. To you or I the idea of not taking rent payments seriously sounds ridiculous, but there are enough people out there that don't. Watch an episode of nightmare tenants. Your landlord will be aware of how often this happens and will worry about it.

PlasmaRain · 11/04/2019 00:59

As OP has pointed out there was no point asking him because if he’d said no, then what? Some bloody ridiculous replies here, some people really do live paycheck to paycheck with very little wiggle room for emergencies. Op did the right thing, she informed him in advance that, for the first time in 2 years, this month’s rent would be late by one day.

I would reply ignoring the emergency fund jibe, just simply repeating that this is a regrettable one-off due to you changing jobs, you’re sorry for the inconvenience and going forward you assure him that the rent will be paid on the regular date.

dontgobaconmyheart · 11/04/2019 01:04

Yes you should respond to him OP, I'm not sure why you wouldn't really, that is money you owe him and you are not legally in a position where you call the shots on altering the date rental money is paid, which is a change to your tenancy agreement no matter how small it realistically is. He is not BU to query with you why you are not paying rent on time but is BU to have been rude or intrusive if he was asking personal questions or the tone was off.
I have emailed a landlord before to request a change to billing dates but have always offered and then duly paid the difference even if it is a day's rent as it is my problem and request, not the landlords. If you really did email informing him rather than requesting then YABU and I'm not surprised the landlord is not happy. I wouldn't be. (And no I am not a landlord)

With all that said, his specific query about emergency funds is not appropriate and I would not answer it. You rent a property from him, anything past that point re: how you manage your finances is none of his business and you have a right to full privacy. He ran a credit check on you when you let from him presumably and found it acceptable so there is no more to say.

I would email apologising for the misunderstanding in the wording and clarify it is a one off -either ignore his query re: emergency funds or state that I felt it was not an appropriate /point out that the landlord-tenant relationship does not require access to information about your finances in this manner if you really want to but why breed bad blood and just pay on time if he won't agree to a day late. Why is it ok for him to be down money for a day but not you?

I'd have asked well in advance or just used my overdraft if I didn't have savings, at the end of the day rent is a financial commitment- it's just one of those things. Does sound like a bit of a misunderstanding based on poor communication though!

safariboot · 11/04/2019 01:09

I'd be tempted to shoot back that the reason I don't have any emergency funds is because "the rent is too damn high". But that probably wouldn't be clever.

helacells · 11/04/2019 01:21

He's right why don't you have emergency funds?

Mummyoflittledragon · 11/04/2019 01:50

Cheeky bastard. Him not you. Just respond. “As I say this is a one off and future payments dates will be adhered to.” If it happens again, blame the bank - these sort of glitches do happen from time to time.

Shinesweetfreedom · 11/04/2019 01:57

One answer could be
“Well twat I am paying through the nose for a high rent So haven’t got bags of cash left over, and as someone running a business,which is what being a landlord is supposed to be why has you not got an emergency fund to cover these one off occurrences “

TheChiefBMS · 11/04/2019 02:18

It sounds like an automatic response from Landlord. After all, you aren't missing a payment, only adjusting the the pay day by 24 hours. That is not sufficient time to cause a problem to Landlord, and after one or two months of payment on the new date they should be assured that it isn't a tall story.

To the PPs saying "he might have bills on that day" : give up. If you are so dependent on the rent to pay the bills - to the day! - you are operating as a landlord irresponsibly. How will you deal with a boiler breakdown or flood? Landlords should have resources. I have been a landlord many years. Not a wealthy one. But you meet responsibilities.

If a tenant changes pay date (by only 24 hours!), it makes no difference! There are enough piss-taking tenants that don't pay/don't warn you of problems... A tenant changes job and pay day... And tells you in advance? You threaten them? I'd offer them a longer term contract!

They're paying. They have and can get jobs. They give you advance warning of changes. They pay.

OhTheRoses · 11/04/2019 02:35

I'm a landlord. I'd have expected you to ask if it was ok, not tell me. You are breaching the contract and imo should have exhausted ways of not breaching and asked as a last resort. Options: pay advance, bank loan, part payment. I imagine the landlord is now concerned this is a slippery slope.

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