Isn’t that against the Tenant Fees Act?. I’m sure prepayment of a final months rent would count as a deposit , which assuming you also take a deposit would be over the 5 week limit allowed.
I’ve not heard that
I’ll take legal council and get back to you
Monies identified as a deposit are a deposit
On that basis alone one would not be able to take rent up front from internationals or bulk rent from students
In law ( David Smith landlord law conference) the rent is rent and what is not used is held in trust by the landlord
Using that ethos I take the last months rent and it is essentially held in trust
It is designated as tenant money and identified as rent
I thought the same as Karl 11
Thank you for highlighting this
You are correct
It is all in the wording
You can take advance rent as a lump sum and use as such but not rent first and last month
It depends when its used. Its possible to take lump sums to cover the first few months and also possible to take first and last month as long as last month is specified in the contract and its used for that month. Of course this is of little use in practice as the last month is rarely known and if its retained past the specified month, then it open to being claimed to be a deposit.
Legal counsel advised yesterday you can take lump sums but you cannot take first and last month ( you can’t take advance monies if there is a gap; it’s classed as hidden monies which is not permitted under TFA)
Is there a case s/he knows of? Im aware of cases that have gone the other way.
I didn’t ask neither did she cite specific cases
I asked for generic advice in response to Karl and Collins statements
Well I guess she may just be being cautious. As far as I am aware, a contract granting a fixed term tenancy that begin in July and ends in December and with states that 2 months advance rent is taken in respect of July and December’s rent, would be perfectly lawful, if a little useless.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.