Landlord request feels unfair

[Uberbeeboo]

Hi, I'm looking for some advice about our rights as tenants. We have lived in our rental property for coming up to 5 years and were made aware in March our landlord wanted to sell when our tenancy ended on 31st august 2024.

We therefore purchased a new build property which we believed would have been built by now, however we now have been given the completion date of 30th September 2024.

Today we asked the estate agent who manages our property if we can stay until our new property is ready to move into and they have responded with an ultimatum saying we can stay, but there will be a £400 increase of the rent per month starting next week when the rent is due.

The rental house is not sold and we've only done 2 viewings since April. We've been good tenants and were disappointed we had to move anyway. We really can't afford an extra £400 next week, so I was hoping if someone would kindly give me a little guidance with this please?

The estate agent is acting so badly! You keep mentioning the ombudsman scheme, but I think you need to actually report him to the estate agency redress scheme. Sometimes, the mere mention of the redress scheme will make the agent respond immediately. I'd ask him which scheme he's in, although there's only two schemes and I think you can look them up and find which one's he 's in.He has to be in one or the other.
Contact the TDS direct asap and tell them the estate agent isn't responding to your emails. It's usually quite a short time a response is required by with the other schemes. I expect TDS is similar though I've had no dealings with them.
I'm a private landlord.

Hi thanks for your response. Their redress scheme is The Property Ombudsman, I found it on their website. I've spoken to them and there's a procedure I need to follow before they'll investigate. I was holding off complaining until I had the deposit back, but I'm losing patience a bit. It's frustrating that not one member of staff has responded to us either, so that just shows they've been told to ignore us. I've genuinely never dealt with anyone so awkward. He has until the 31st October to respond about the deposit, but I already know it won't be good news.

Hahah no, although he was an excellent bluffer! He had me an anxious wreck

I do know that someone has been in the old house as the blinds are now open. I have to pass there to get my son to school, so they can't deny they don't have the keys.

Could you go into the Estate Agent's office in person? Unannounced of course!

So a bit of a rubbish update

We called TDS and they said that the landlord has withdrawn consent to use TDS as there is an ongoing dispute. She says this may be court but they have not been told either way.

She has said to get in contact with the agent to ask. If we do not hear back from them or from the court within the next 6 months from today, then we can go back to them and they can enforce the full deposit

FFS
what wankers. What if you needed that deposit for somewhere else.
how do they get away with it

I genuinely don't understand what's going on. How is it possible to withdraw from the TDS? Honestly I think he's doing this out of nastiness.

It seems awful. I assume he tells the TDS he is thinking of taking you to court and the deposit is in dispute, then after 5 months and 29 days he releases it. Just to be petty!!

@Uberbeeboo How annoying for you - I get the feeling they, EA/LL probably know how to play the system.

The court action is the key to this as I believe it does allow a withdrawal from TDS, but I am not 100% sure though - but my issue would be, TDS must have proof of court action before allowing withdrawal and as you have none have they? I would go back and ask the question.

I maybe think it is worth speaking to a specialist solicitor if you can, it may be they will provide a small amount of advice for free or a fixed price consultation.

@Uberbeeboo of course he is. Is there a way for you to make clear what has happened, to TDS?

Get all your evidence ready and maybe ask your conveyancer, I think you said she was good, what her view is. And maybe check in with CAB as to whether you can go after HIM in small claims court.

I dealt with an a-hole like your LL. He clearly thought he could bully me and I never rose to any of it. Yours is used to bullying and people just running in terror. Just stay calm, line everything up but also try to compartmentalise this so it doesn’t eat you up. Whatever happens, you are safe in your new home and eventually he will be a distant bad memory.

If possible it gets worse. My husband called the agent direct, I was there and he was polite and reasonable. The agent went ballistic, called my husband a snake and that we've acted illegally, we're going to court and he's going to take us for all we've got. He then hung up, no argument. I'm out of my depth here

He said the house was a mess, but it wasn't. He mentioned rotting floors but we reported this to him at the time when we moved in as we were unsure it was safe. Fortunately we have videos, photos of it how we left it, however surely he realised we have this evidence. I'm not sure how court can help him. I can't get my head around the name calling! I wish I'd recorded it.

Can you go back to your solicitor and ask them to advise you?
It seems you’ve acted legally so far, and they’re panicking and ranting because they’re not used to someone standing their ground and knowing more than them. I’m sure they’re hoping you’ll be intimidated.
Definitely get legal advice, even if it’s only 1 letter to send to the agent to make sure he does as he’s supposed to

Hold your nerve @Uberbeeboo he is out of control because he is not used to people standing up to him. Keep calm as you have done. I reckon he will end up backing down. Clearly he thinks you will. He’s hoping you will give up on your deposit.

Ok take a deep breath, you are not out of your depth even though it may feel like, you have done really well so far and I am sure you will continue to do so.

As you say you have evidence, that is very important. Make sure it is all date and time stamped etc and readily available.

You have not received any court paperwork, that doesn't mean to say you will not but considering how long the EA/LL has been issuing threats I am surprised nothing has come yet, so maybe it won't.

I would find a solicitor who specialises in this area, it will be worth sending a letter outlining your position, mentioning you documented the check out condition of the property and have copies all correspondance to and from the EA/LL throughout the entire tenancy. Do not be as specific as saying you have video and photographs.

Be seen to be reasonable and get the solicitor to ask for the return of the deposit in full.

If it does go to court, you seeming to be reasonable and trying to sort the dispute will work in your favour, as will all the documentation you have. Ask the TDS to put all their comms in emails so you can have a record of that too.

Apologies I know you probably feel I am teaching you to suck eggs here, but the EA/LL want you to be stressed about this so be prepared if it does go to court by getting everything ready to go.

Check your home insurance policy. A lot of them have legal cover.

By that conversation, I think the agent is stressed out too. He kept ignoring our call so we called from another number and he answered. When he found out it was from us he started shouting and swearing, my husband couldn't get a word in. He said that the landlord has made every decision and they have simply done as they're told. My husband said the complaint will therefore be sent to the landlord and he got himself even more upset. Maybe court is the best thing that can happen. I don't know how he has the time to go through this, I genuinely don't.

I would also take some time to build together a dossier of all the evidence you have. The timelines, what happened when, all your attempts at contact and resolution, their failure to respond etc. Keep it objective, without any of the emotions in it.

How can this possibly be legal? Surely the whole point of the tds is to oversee disputes. What is their purpose otherwise?
Have you made a formal complaint to the regular of the estate agent? He sound like a vile bully. So sorry that you and your husband are having to deal with these appalling people. Can you get some legal advice?

Two very sensible posts from @Bayern. I've used home insurance legal cover before so definitely worth checking.

I think you should email the estate agent, detailing the conversation so that you have a contemporaneous, written record, and also mention his thoroughly unprofessional behaviour.
Have you already emailed them with your photographic evidence of how the property was left, etc?

What is the illegal act he is accusing you of?

You already had legal advice about how long you were able to stay in the property, and you’re out now. So that bit’s over.

So this is all about the return of the deposit?

If he is saying you left the house in a state of disrepair he just has to let the deposit people arbitrate as to whether the repairs allegedly required are equal to the amount of the deposit.

If they consider you have damaged the property to an extent that repairs will cost more than the deposit, I guess they could sue you for the excess, but none of this is “illegal”, it’s just a contractual dispute.

You should make a note of what was said on the phone now, while it is fresh in your mind. It may be relevant in a complaint to his disciplinary body.

I agree he's panicking and the agent is the one who's out of his depth, ranting and raving about 'court' but not actually doing anything.
Sit tight, make notes of what he said.

I can't believe the Deposit system allows this but I guess it's a loophole he's using. So you might have to wait but in the meantime line up every complaint route you can.

'You should make a note of what was said on the phone now, while it is fresh in your mind. It may be relevant in a complaint to his disciplinary body.'

Definitely. Putting it in writing now and emailing the agent as above would be very useful legally speaking.

Coincidentally I know of a young student who is going through similar hostilities with this agent, although he's gave up and lost his deposit.

The person my husband spoke to today was the director of the agency, he's the one who we've dealt with so far. We asked why he hasn't acknowledged our complaint and he said we were 'fucking lying snakes' and he won't acknowledge it.