Quote Originally Posted by Stuart Griffiths View Post
I paid a deposit and one months rent. but the agency never gave me a contract and a refusing to fix appliances in the aprtment, due to this i am a month behind rent and said im not going to pay until i have a contract and things are fixed. They said they will send someone round to get me out where do i stand??
Many thanks
Dear Mr. Griffiths,

Hello,

Verbal rental agreements are valid by law, so the fact of not having a contract in writing does not allow you to retain the rental fees and consider the rental to be void . Therefore, our advice is that you continue paying your rent as normal, in order to avoid them being in a position to file an eviction order at the courts of justice. Please be aware that you can only be forced to leave the property through a court order.
Initially, you should have made sure that all appliances worked well before you entered the rental, as they may now claim that the appliances have been damaged by a bad use on your side, thus considering you responsible for the repairs.

We see here two options:

1. That you send the rental agency a registered letter ( Burofax ), ideally prepared by an expert solicitor, claiming the rental contract in writing that indicates the initially agreed rental conditions and that they repair the damaged appliances, warning them that if they fail to do it before a fixed date, you will deal with the repairs yourself and deduct the expenses from the rental fees ( make sure you can prove that the appliances were already broken when you entered).
2. The other option that you can consider, in order to avoid future problems and turning your rental into a nightmare due to a tight relationship with the landlord, is to leave the apartment, cancelling the rental and obviously losing your deposit, however, making a written agreement with the rental agency that indicates keys have been returned and that no additional sums will be mutually claimed by either party.

Should you intend to keep the rental, we strongly advice you not to retain the rental fees and be up to date with the payments.

Regards,