Contract sign issue

OpenRent Chat
1

The contract has been signed, move in date is 23 July, i had paid the holding deposit, open rent is asking me to pay the whole balance which includes remaining deposit and the whole rent.

my question was can i pay the remaining deposit now and pay the rent when i get the keys on 23 July

2

You have paid 1 week holding deposit. What is due will be balance of first month rent and whatever security deposit you have agreed.

Your contract will say when it is due but normally due as soon as contract signed, which isn’t 23 July is it?

Discuss with the LL what they are expecting and agree something.

If you can’t provide in timescale agreed with LL then you don’t have agreed terms and conditions agreed between you and LL so by definition you don’t have a contract and LL may retain the holding deposit and return the rest, and you’ll need to find somewhere else

Good luck

3

You need to ‘read’ the contract you have signed. I think it will say it should be paid before move in date, but read it, it will be clear I am sure.

4

@Karl11

As OR chasing them for balance of 1st month rent we can assume they are on the OR contract. This isn’t very precise but does say (sample apt)

"Initial rent . due following the signing of this agreement "

…

"Tenancy Terms

  1. The Landlord lets to the Tenant the Premises at the Rent specified above.
  2. The Initial Payment of Rent is payable upon signing this Agreement and must be paid in cleared funds no later than the Commencement Date. The Tenant shall have no right to occupy the Premises, until payment of the
    Deposit and the Initial Payment of Rent has been made in full."

So it says the Initial rent is ‘due’ and 'payable ’ following the signing of the contract and also that it must be paid in full and have cleared into (Openrent 's) account by the commencement date (which is the date specified for 1st payment set out in the contract.

@Ahan you could play try and play chicken with the landlord and wait till they give you the keys on 23rd but the contract says you have to have put cleared funds into Openrent 's account by 23rd and bank transfers can often take 24h so you can’t really risk it. It would also be one way to p*ss off your new LL straight away and it’s totally unnecessary. If you read the contract you are protected by Openrent who hold onto the Initial rent for up to 14 days before passing on to the LL - this is to protect tenants so if LL didn’t hand over the keys you would get your rent back.

“The Initial Payment of Rent will be paid to OpenRent and held by OpenRent up to a maximum of 14 days from the Commencement Date, after which it will be paid to the Landlord with OpenRent’s fees deducted where applicable.”

Appreciate you want to keep the £ in your account as long as possible; LL will understandably want you to stick to contract and to have paid before they hand over keys. Be reasonable and talk to them and find some middle ground acceptable to you both or walk away.

Good luck