kellywindy1
18-08-2010, 19:21 PM
Long story im afraid; I have rented a property from letting agents since june 2008,just a six month contract followed on by a year contract. At the end of my year the property was taken over by a new letting agent.
This is when my problems began after asking them for a new contract to sign for another year they never sent one and each time I rang them they claimed not to have any record of me previously ringing, I also asked for a new direct debit mandate to be sent to me which still never got sent. The first months rent I paid by my card so not to get in arrears and they promised to send me a mandate AGAIN! 2 weeks later and still no mandate but a pipe had begun to leak, I rang up 3x that week to report it, and was told an engineer would call me back after which I had no choice but pay to get it fixed myself as it was causing water damage.
After ringing them several times over 3 months they still hadn't taken any rent from me at which point i decided to stop ringing them and wait to hear from them, 8 months later I get a phone call issuing me with a section 21 and giving me notice to move out by oct 1 2010.
I explained to the lady what had happened and she blamed it entirely on myself and demanded the rent arrears in full. I haven't got the money they have asked for but agreed to vacate the property and pay a lump some towards the arrears and agree to a monthly payment plan which she refused and told me they would now chase my guarantor for the arrears.
I am just curious on where i stand legally, I never signed a new contract because they never sent one to me or a mandate can they legally chase me for the money and if i have asked to pay towards the arrears and pay it in full can the go straight to the guarantor? It seems awfully unfair as i have always paid my rent until they took over and they never came to fix the burst pipe? any suggestions would be so greatly appreciated.
This is when my problems began after asking them for a new contract to sign for another year they never sent one and each time I rang them they claimed not to have any record of me previously ringing, I also asked for a new direct debit mandate to be sent to me which still never got sent. The first months rent I paid by my card so not to get in arrears and they promised to send me a mandate AGAIN! 2 weeks later and still no mandate but a pipe had begun to leak, I rang up 3x that week to report it, and was told an engineer would call me back after which I had no choice but pay to get it fixed myself as it was causing water damage.
After ringing them several times over 3 months they still hadn't taken any rent from me at which point i decided to stop ringing them and wait to hear from them, 8 months later I get a phone call issuing me with a section 21 and giving me notice to move out by oct 1 2010.
I explained to the lady what had happened and she blamed it entirely on myself and demanded the rent arrears in full. I haven't got the money they have asked for but agreed to vacate the property and pay a lump some towards the arrears and agree to a monthly payment plan which she refused and told me they would now chase my guarantor for the arrears.
I am just curious on where i stand legally, I never signed a new contract because they never sent one to me or a mandate can they legally chase me for the money and if i have asked to pay towards the arrears and pay it in full can the go straight to the guarantor? It seems awfully unfair as i have always paid my rent until they took over and they never came to fix the burst pipe? any suggestions would be so greatly appreciated.