Whoo-hoo our first place together!

[kea]

the contract doesn't cover the 2nd year does it?

as for the increased deposit - that does sound rather shyster-y if the place is unfurnished! i can possibly understand an extra 2 weeks but could the cat really do enough damage to use up a full 4 weeks' deposit?!
are you dealing with the landlord direct? sometimes going through agents can actually be useful in these situations. i also find it helps to ask for a copy of the contract 'for my solicitor to look over' - lets them know it's not worth messing you around, which saves time later on.

 

[Cloo]

Phew! I am triumphant-ish. They’ll send a contract with our original agreed deposit and meet us in the middle for the price raise, which is fair enough. And now they know that both of us can push for getting things our way.

It is supposed to be a two-year contract, with some windows for giving notice after 12 months (which is not what we wanted). We have it (in writing, fortunately) that they will renegotiate after 12 months to give us a more flexible deal for giving notice.

 

[Cloo]

Now we’re just trying to ensure that the first receipt does take off my holding deposit (current version doesn’t) and asking why they haven’t put a date on the contract and request that we don’t add one. That seems rather fishy to me

 

[kea]

definitely fishy. is this the landllord you're dealing with? do they have other properties or is it a 'non-professional'?

 

[nogoodboyo]

I don't think it's unusual not to date the contract until later. I do that all the time - the effective dates of your tenancy ought to be in there anyway, so the date of the agreement isn't all that significant.

Why would it be fishy?

 

[kea]

i've never signed a rental contract without a start date for possession of the property on it! i assumed that's what she meant ...

 

[EastEnder]

The start date of the tenancy should be the same day as the full deposit/1st months rent is handed over.

 

[Cloo]

OK, so there should be traceable proof of when tenancy started in when you paid up then.

Obivously, I've not much experience of renting, just gsv hadn't seen it done before. Thanks for info.

 

[gsv]

To clarify:

At my request, we can give 2 months notice in the second year. This is in the contract they've given us and is satisfactory

The "no date on the contract" thing isn't the starting date (1 December, there in black and white, though it may shift a couple days later due to plaster drying ). It's the date the contract is signed. ie

AN AGREEMENT [their caps] made the 'do not date' [their pencil insertion] Two Thousand and Five BETWEEN [their caps again] Sanderbrook Investments Limited [their bold] blah blah blah

It just seems odd that they don't want us to date it. Maybe they want to date it when we send it back with our signatures?

As to losing our deposit, I've not lost one yet and I don't intend to. I took the last landlords to court over my deposit and won

(though it was a right pain in the arse).

Thanks for all the advice folks


GS(v)

 

[mango5]

Yay for youse!

 

[pidgeonhead]

Cool.

Was in the Village on Sat. night, and the greyhound track, I get about, me.

Beats the hell out of most other S.London towns, that's for sure.

Safer than Slutton or Kingston... and you're on the District line.

Well done.

 

[Cloo]

Deposit paid, contract sent etc!

 

[gsv]

Yazaaay!!! <runs around in circles with arms in the air/>


GS(v)

 

[MarkMark]

cool

 

[kea]

well done

 

[rennie]

woooow!