After viewing a property and paying my holding deposit via OpenRent, myself and prospective landlord have signed the tenancy agreement, through the RentNow feature of OpenRent. However, my prospective landlord has now asked that I pay my deposit and first months rent directly to him, not through OpenRent. Their reason being that OpenRent charges landlord a commission (is this true?). They said they have a tenancy deposit scheme that they use, too (but failed to tell me the name).
I do not feel comfortable paying my landlord directly, as I opted for OpenRent for the safety and security of it. My signed tenancy agreement also states the details of the deposit scheme that OpenRent use and also explains how OpenRent keep my first months rent until I have moved into the property. If I pay my landlord directly, this would surely mean that he is going against what is stated in the tenancy agreement?
I would appreciate advice in how to proceed in this situation.
Also, if the landlord refuses to continue through OpenRent and I consequently cancel the tenancy, will I be able to get my holding deposit back? I feel as though I should considering the landlord is going against what the tenancy agreement says regarding the deposit, but any info/advice is appreciated.
i am a landlord I will only take the deposit and the rent at the time I give the lease and it has to be cash. I do all this myself not thru any 3rd party
Thanks for your reply! My concern is that I have signed the tenancy agreement through OpenRent though, which states that my deposit is to be paid through OpenRent. 5 minutes after the landlord signed the agreement, he emailed me to request I pay the security deposit and first months rent directly and not through openrent. If I were to pay my landlord the deposit directly, this is going against what my tenancy agreement says.
Thanks, Colin. I think if the landlord had provided their own tenancy agreement, I would feel okay to pay the deposit directly to them. But my understanding is that if I do not pay through OpenRent, the tenancy will be technically ācancelledā on OpenRent therefore causing my tenancy agreement to also be cancelled.
If you havenāt already, you can contact our support team at https://www.openrent.co.uk/faq#i-have-more-questions. They will be able to look into the specific details of the tenancy between you and your landlord and help you.
Some general and fast answers to your questions here:
if the landlord starts the tenancy setup process through our Rent Now service, then they must use the deposit protection scheme we use for our deposits
we donāt ācharge landlords a commissionā. Iām not sure what that would mean. We charge landlords a fixed price, which is advertised in advance, to use all our tenancy set up services.
if the landlords pulls out of the process, then the tenant will not lose their holding deposit
Email the team for more detailed help with your particular situation.
I didnāt think OpenRent charged commission, thanks for confirming. The only thing I can thing is the landlord might be getting mixed up with the fixed rate of RentNow. Although, I assumed they would have already have paid this, considering we have done our referencing and signed the tenancy agreement through OpenRent - could you confirm if the landlord will have already have had to pay this fee at this stage?
We do not plan on paying any money directly to the landlord without doing so through OpenRent. But for clarification, do you know if the tenancy agreement created through OpenRent would still be valid if we were to pay the deposit and first months rent directly (and therefore not through OpenRent) to him? My understanding is that if we do not pay through OpenRent, the tenancy agreement would be cancelled - could you confirm if this is correct?
They used Open Rent to advertise only, not using the Rent Now service, and the landlord provides their own contract, takes the deposit and payments themselves.
They used Rent Now service to advertise and the deposit and first month is paid to Open Rent and thereafter you pay the landlord directly going forwards. The landlord will receive the first monthās rent within 10 days of moving in.
They used Rent Now as above and continue to use the service for rent collection - for which there is a charge to the landlord.
In any case your deposit must be registered in a government approved scheme and you will be given the tenant prescribed information - regardless if you give the deposit via open rent where is held in custodian by the scheme, or by the landlord directly where they hold it under an insurance protection. Itās a legal requirement. So you would have information of where it is being kept, which with open rent is with mydeposits.co.uk
Your post assumes they opted for option 2. In which case you have paid your deposit and first month to open rent already. Your landlord canāt change their mind at this stage. Is their some confusion about money going forward perhaps, they donāt have to go through option 3 and can collect rent directly, so after you move in they give their bank details and future months are paid to your landlord
As others have said, if they used Rent Now then the deposit and first monthās rent is paid to Openrent. The only charge is the one for the service, which I think itās Ā£49.
Open rent does keep the first monthās rent for two weeks, which is inconvenient for the landlord if the money is needed, and this Ā£49 is deducted from Openrentās payment.
I used to provide my own contracts and deal with it all directly. Recently I opted to use Openrent as I feel the tenants find it safer and I also know the contract is legally sound.
Your landlordās reply is a huge red flag. He lied about OpenRent, and he wants to be paid directly. Unless he is a personal friend (and even then I would be wary), you should not pay him directly but only do it through OpenRent. If he refuses, then surely the tenancy agreement would be annulled as he would be in breach of the terms of OpenRent. If he did not like getting paid via OpenRent then why did he use the site?
I have previously used open rent ārent nowā service. I found it to difficult for customers to use and fraught with difficulty. I now use the advertising option only. It sound to me that the landlord has had a change of heart and wants control himself, I would.After all it is his property and us landlords have a lot to contend with. As others have said he has to deposit you deposit in a scheme so you are protected, if you dont like it walk away I am sure the landlord wont have difficulty letting to someone else who is less demanding.
I believe both parties will have to sign a surrender deed which nullifies the signed agreement. I went through the process back in May with a tenant that was paying 10 months rent in advance. I didnāt feel comfortable with Open Rent holding such a large sum for 2 weeks in such precarious times. Open Rent provided the deed for both parties to sign and it was a fairly straightforward process. I then created the tenancy agreement myself and the tenant paid the rent and deposit directly to me. I was totally open with my tenant with regards to the reason for wanting to do this and they completely understood. As mentioned in previous comments, alarm bells would be ringing if your prospective landlord isnāt being totally open with you.
As landlords we use Openrent from the start to the end. Other than the initial Rentnow, no charge is taken by Openrent. Our latest tenants paid 4 months in advance to secure the let, Openrent organised this and the deposit, a week after the tenants moved Openrent deposited the full 4 months rent into our bank account. The previous tenantās deposit was paid back via the Openrent holding deposit scheme a week after they left. It has been a very good system. I donāt know why your guy wants to take the deposit, Iām not even sure if itās legal?
Instead my girls and I have been looking for an apartment for three months and nothing, I think london is really hard to find a home And sadly there is now little trust among humans, Anyway, thanks open r for giving me some hope. Good evening everybody