Multiple month upfront rent

Landlord Discussion
1

Under the current situation, I wonder if landlord asks for multiple month upfront payment, say, 3 months or 4 months,

  1. what the implication would be later, for example, will that affect serving eviction notice?
  2. How to confirm this in the agreement?
  3. In my understand from looking at the openrent website, Openrent will collect one month rent and deposit and the one month rent will be paid to the landloard after move-in; the other payment will go to landlord directly. Is that correct?
  4. Maybe I am too cautious here, how about if at that stage the tenant refuse to pay the rest of two month rent even though that was agreed before? I suppose I just don’t give the keys?
2

  1. No it would not.

  2. I added in the Clause section of the tenancy. Also if memory serves me right, I think there is a part on openrent.co.uk tenancy that you can take rent in advance. I did not use because basically said they can pay however months in advance then nothing until that advance is used up. So If pay in January 3 months in advance nothing due til May as 3 moths covers Feb, March and April which was no use to me, as purpose of rent in advance is because tenant didnt pass credit check. So come May am I am in the same position. I asked for X months in advance plus rent due every month until notice given. So if pay 3 months in advance in January, next rent due February and so on so am always 3 months rent in hand(sorry long and wordy but hope it makes sense). Rare but true I had a tenant from 2018 to 2019 who offered and paid for 1 years rent ib advance. Best tenant ever, a very rare gem :smile:.

  3. Yes but if you are asking for rent in advance then ALL payments yo be made BEFORE tenancy start date and hand over the keys. N.B This ahould be explained in your clause section and in writing to the tenants. MAKE IT CLEAR!!!

  4. Yes, as no payment, no tenancy. You made it clear and was part of the tenancy agreement that they signed.

Hope I helped a bit.

1 Like
3

Hi Kai,

The article below explains more on rent in advance within the ‘Rent Now’ process:

We will collect all of the rent in advance you request and pass it to you as we do with the first months rent normally :slight_smile:

4

As Brenda4 says, this situation often arises when prospective tenants can’t provide proof of continuous income. I’ve had a tenant that paid 6 months in advance every half year for a couple of years before we agreed a move to monthly rent. He was an international person launching a restuarant in London and had a business partner who could verify everything he told me. Great tenant and very successful restaurant. Stayed for 5 years before moving abroad to new venture. Current tenant has paid 2 month rent in advance buffer plus 5 weeks’ deposit in addition to 2 months rent up front and then monthly from the end of 2nd month. This is because although he has a contract of employment, his salary is variable (not commission or bonus based). Slightly odd but it all checked out. In short, there is nothing wrong with asking for multiple months rent in advance as long as the situation warrants it, you are very clear with the tenant how it will work and that it is well documented in the tenancy agreement for both your peace of mind.

5

So in the tenancy agreement, how many months of rent I should put for" rent in advance"? If say I asked for three months rent upfront, do I input “2” here as this is on top of the 1 month rent that openrent will collect normally?

6

Thanks Brenda4. That’s really helpful!

7

Hi MatthewC,

Thanks for the post. Just one to be clear if we use Openrent to collect in advance rent: Is that like what Brenda4 described in her post, that is, if we collect for 3 months rent in advance, then the next due payment will be fall into the 4th month from the start of the tenancy, instead of the second month?

8

Hi Brenda4,

I have another quick question: let say if you have asked for four months rents in advance, then how do you state in the contract about the other three months rents (except the one that is for the first month rent) ? I would think straightaway that it will be for the last three months rent before the end of tenancy in the Clause section. Given that the notice is 2 month, how can I make sure that the tenant feel fair about it if the tenant leaves before one year’s contract?

9

Hi Kai,

That’s correct - if the tenant pays multiple months of rent in advance, this will be used straight away. This means that if the tenant pays 3 months rent in advance, this is for the first 3 months of the tenancy and the next rent payment will be for the 4th month.

When setting this up, you’ll need to let us know the total number of months rent in advance you want the tenant to pay.

10

Hi Kai,

This would depend in the tenant and how you feel about them. In my case the tenant was fine with me having 3 months rent in advance despite the 2 months notice. So if tenancy was Jan to Dec tenant give notice in October and stops paying rent. When they move out I would have to give them back 1 months rent plus their deposit(protected). Everything was written in the contract and it might seem ‘unfair’ to the tenant but its their choice. The tenant wanted my house and was willing to do that to get the house. My other house were tenant paid 1 years rent at once, I took just the normal protected deposit. Ultimately this is your house and business or source of income so you treat it as such, am not doing it has a charity (sorry to be so harsh). How relaxed or strict you are depends on your circumstances and demand for your place. I had a lot of interested tenants as house was in London and close to underground so I could be a bit more picky/demanding.