If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.
Options
Can't pay landlord the rent
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Hey, well just need a bit of advice on what we should do...
Our rent (student house) for the period April to July was due on April 1st, but our student loans don't come in until the 24th of April. Obviously this poses a problem when we've all been living on £5 a week for god knows how long.
The landlord is pretty much demanding that we pay him it, saying that we get should get the money of our parents or something until then; he can't seem to grasp the concept that not all parents have £600 lying around...especially when a few of us our from single parent families...
So yeah, i'm basically wondering where we stand on this? Maybe we could find £150 to pay him per week until the loan comes in, but i'm not sure if even this is possible for all of us.
Cheers.
Our rent (student house) for the period April to July was due on April 1st, but our student loans don't come in until the 24th of April. Obviously this poses a problem when we've all been living on £5 a week for god knows how long.
The landlord is pretty much demanding that we pay him it, saying that we get should get the money of our parents or something until then; he can't seem to grasp the concept that not all parents have £600 lying around...especially when a few of us our from single parent families...
So yeah, i'm basically wondering where we stand on this? Maybe we could find £150 to pay him per week until the loan comes in, but i'm not sure if even this is possible for all of us.
Cheers.
0
Comments
It's pretty much not possible to get all we need from the bank since most of us are at our overdraft limit. Loads of his other tenants are in the same position too.
I'm not sure what he's threatened since due to circumstances i've only met him once, and all my other dealings have been through my housemates / the staff in his restaurant.
It's not really his prob that you can't pay it.
From the other side he cant really do anything much anyway if you have a contract with him. He would have to apply to the courts to get you out by which time you will have paid.
If he wants to be arsey about it I suppose he could evict you for non-payment, but then he wouldn't get any money, and probably wouldn't be able to re-let half way through a term.
I suggest you have a meeting with everyone and thrash it all out.
Well anyway, we're not really that hard up, i was pretty much just wondering on where we stand if we put it off by 3 weeks and what he can do it about it.
Or you could just tell him youre sorry but its gonna be a bit late and theres nothing you can do about it. Make sure you DO pay it the moment you get it though. Its best to keep the landlord on your side if you can.
The thing is, its his house. Rent isnt optional.
Most landlords have a buy-to-let mortgage on the rental property.
Personally, I'd tell the landlord that he can wait for his money. If he took you to court that's all the court would say, and he wouldn't get before a judge before April 24 anyway.
He'll just have to lump it. He's hoping to put the pressure on to see if you'll crack. You won't, and there's nothing he can (legally) do about it.
Actually, he can't deduct anything for non-payment of rent from the deposit. Any penalty charges in the tenancy agreement could not legally be deducted from a bond.
In reality the landlord can't do anything about it. The penalty clause can't be bigger than the cost of the default. Defaulting by a few days would not attract a penalty to the landlord.
Basically he can swivel for his money. I'd suggest being subtle and pleasant about this, but you can't pay before the loan comes in, and he will just have to live with it.
I would point out, however, that the student loan is meant to cover vacations as well as term-time. The student loan date is no excuse to default on a tenancy agreement, as you should have budgeted better. I think your behaviour has been pretty shameful really, and your landlord is well within his rights to demand payment for rent. A shocking example of why students simply cannot be trusted with money.
I would also say that landlords are thieving vermin of the highest magnitude, and anything that makes them lose all their money and go bankrupt is a damn good thing. I'd love to see them all lose all their savings, thieving cunts that they are. They're the reason why nobody can afford to buy property, and they are a cancer on society that should be exterminated.
It's normally a good idea to discuss this with the letting agency, and try and avoid signing a Joint and Several Liability contract wherever possible.
A decent letting agency will be open to negotiation if it will cost them a sale.
well we agreed to it..! i know she'd never do a runner. and she knows i wouldn't. this year my mum is down as my guarantor. but i'm going to be with a letting agency this time and i think they think it makes us feel more grown-up and independent. when the reality of is it, most of the time parents pay the rent anyway!
Fair enough, I just don't trust Joint and Several Liability contracts.
Though some landlords insist on them because some lenders insist as a condition of mortgage that the contract has certain clauses in it.
What's the alternative?
Dunno, they have to have money to live.
But then they go and waste it away and can't pay the rent.
Be buggered if I know what to do about it.
We all do it. Students or not.
It's due to type of person, not to occupation.
But the fact is if you give a kid a cheque for over a grand, it takes a LOT of self-control to not go and blow it in a month. My first SLC cheque was the biggest amount of money I'd ever had in my name, but I didn't have to budget as I lived in catered halls.
ive done alrite, i should be graduating with student loan debts only
lived in self catered halls 1st year, at home (whilst mum was in aussie) for 2nd, and in private this year at £100/week
i only get into my overdraft at the end of term when no loan is left and i dont have a job either, my mum gives me £20/week only
i live a comfortable life, nice food, alright flat, alright social life - i just dont live beyond my means with overpriced clubs and ready meals, most students have that trouble, so wrapped up in illusions of grandeur, that they forget to only buy what they can afford
i'm skint now though and it's not my fault - i've been sensible with my money. not trying to point the blame onto anyone else but sometimes even when you do your best you struggle. i get my loan and pay my fees of £400 and then half my rent leaving me with not very much.
Not that this particularly bothers me, and don't get me wrong i'm not moaning or anything, it's just i don't see how on this sort of budget i can raise the money he seems to need so urgently.