Tenancy agreement?

[Ethos]

Bascially I've signed a 10 month contract and pre-dated cheques until this ends for my rented flat. I want to move out for a fair few reasons....the main one to save around £400 a month!

Anyhow, basically i'm not allowed to stop paying until i get someone to move into my room and take over my contract. As I want to move now this is a pain as I dont want to be paying for a room im not using.

My folks reckon I should just cancel the cheques and let them keep my deposit (one months rent) so that gives them 6 weeks PAID rent to find someone for my room....

I'm really not sure where I stand, im obviously binded with the contract... but whats the worse they could do? I guessing court to get me to pay the rest of the rent? But would they? My mum is the guarantor and obviously i'm not wanting to get the house blacklisted etc...

I've rang the landlord and explained the situation, but I doubt he's gonna let me off, he should be ringing tommorow.

Any experiences, suggestions would be gratefull

[td5]

http://www.compactlaw.co.uk/ try there

[Aaron]

Hmmm... that all sounds very dodgy to me. If you're paying £400 a month then you would have thought that everything would have been done via a standing order.

Have you checked through your contract about the circumstances for leaving? Most standard contracts allow you to terminate the contract if you give around 2 months notice.

I would not suggest running out on your landlord. You'll probably end up in the small claims court and if that happens then your credit rating will plummet and you'll probably be blacklisted.

A lot of the better estate agents run background checks so if you ever want to rent anywhere decent in the future then you could be in a lot of trouble.

I'd have a chat with the landlord, explain your position. I'm sure you can come to some arrangement. If your landlord tells you to piss off, then you can look for loopholes in the contract/do a runner.

[telfer12000]

If you signed a contract with a fixed term lease and need/want to leave before the end then the landlord will be able, by law, to claim the rent from you until the end of the lease.

Furthermore, as you point out, only the landlord can (AT HIS/HER DISCRETION) agree to the early termination of your tenancy on the condition that you find a replacement tenant.

Suggest as a first step you might want to contact CAB for further advice.

In reality, if it's an agency acting on behalf of a landlord then you will invariably be pursued for any outstanding monies plus costs (if required) whereas if u are dealing with the landlord direct you might be able to appeal to his/her sense of fairness and come to a compromise with regard to payment because it is pain in the a*** to pursue someone for money through the courts.

Edit: Think carefully about doing a runner because listing the debt with Experian or Equifax (the main credit scoring agencies) is very simple and inexpensive for the landlord/agency and you will find that you will not get any credit/rental/mortgage until you clear the debt (or wait 10ish years)

[Ethos]

Well the landlord should be ringing me back tommorow, so i'll keep you updated. Fingers crossed.....

[Ethos]

Weak Just spoke to the landlord and he basically said he can't just let me off the contract (thats what I expected though tbh). So I guess I'll just have to advertise? Anyone want to live in plymouth??

[Ethos]

Hmmm, been speaking to my Dad about it... he reckons I should call their bluff. Ie cancel my cheques and see what happens. Then if I do get a court order, ring them up and agree to pay the rent. Not sure if this is such a good idea, my Dad always acts first and thinks later!

[Angus]

Doesn't it cost money to cancel the cheques?

Have you tried finding somebody to rent the place; you want to avoid p***ing people off if at all possible.

If you haven't tried yet, give it a try - you might get a quicker response than you imagined.

[Swafe]

cost me 7.50 a cheque at HSBC

[Ethos]

Yea, natwest said its £10 a cheque to me on the phone...