Hi, Our landlord wants to renew the lease for 12 more months however they do not want to involve Open Rent.
A ‘homemade’ contract has been sent through to sign. Is this a smart move? How will this affect my protection? Will my deposit will be safe?
Most unusual🤔
Many landlords use Open Rent just to find tenants. Then use an agreement of their choice. Many will use a professionally drawn up contract made available to them from a landlord association that they belong to or one provided by the government which is free to download. You will just have to ask the landlord how they plan to deal with your deposit.
Are they changing anything on the contract? If not, there is no logical reason to sign a new one. The existing one can roll on forever under the same terms & conditions.
I don’t know what the motivation would be to take an OR contract away from OR. It doesn’t cost the Landlord anything unless they use OR rent collection service.
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The landlord is saying that OR are charging to renew the lease?
The main person this action will disadvantage is the landlord. I would suggest you ask the landlord if the tenancy can just go periodic. This will ensure that the terms remain the same as during the fixed/initial term and mean no extra work for the landlord. If he refuses, then read the document he’s asking you to sign very carefully. Ask about the deposit, but again if he fails to keep it protected it will work against him since you can then claim a 3x penalty against him along with the original deposit.
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OR offer a free renewal service. Is your LL self- managing or using an agent as a ‘middle man’. If the latter, likely its the agent charging a fee.
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Nothing wrong with that a lot of landlords including myself use they own contracts which may have been taken from other sources. Just read it thoroughly as you should with any contract. The contract should also show the deposit system used and the landlords address and contact details. Both which should be on your existing contract.
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