Withhold rent- L has no Gas Cert./mortgagee consent?

[jeffrey]

Is the property in:
a. England & Wales; or
b. Scotland?

[sr2010]

need to clarify my situation urgently

hi, if you have read my other post regarding rent increase then you may understand where im at with this ( quick recap)
moved in last march with an AST ( undated)
after 3 months rent ws due to increase by £100 ( landlord never enforced this)
today have paid my rent -minus the £100 increase, simply due to the fact that i wont have my top up cash till thursday and thought better i pay the large amount than hold on to it till i get it all
anyway my son has gone to see him as he wasnt availible earlier in the day ( have called at his place of business twice and he wasnt there)
basically he has told my son to tell me that i will be served with 2 months notice to move out, tommorow
i clain HB for myself and my children and this is currently how my rent book looks ( ill explain dates etc as i go) :


moved in ( 18th march 2009)
19/3/09 - rent due-£700- date 18/3/09 -cash received £700- arrears- Nill
18/4/09 - rent due £700- date 18/4/09 - cash received £700-arrears-Nill
18/5/09 - rent due £700 - date18/5/09 - cash recieved £700-arrears-Nill
16/6/09 - rent due £700 - date 18/6/09 - cash revecied £700- arrears- nill
17/7/09 - rent due £700 - date 17/7/09 - cash received £700- arrears - nill
19/8/09 -rent due £700 - date 17/8/09 - cash received £700 - arrears- nill
18/9/09 - rent due £700 - date 18/9/09 - cash received £700 - arrears- nill
21/10/09 - rent due £700 - date 21/10/09 - cash received £700 - arrears nill
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this next part is when i withold rent to "forced" him to have the gas appliances serviced and a cert provided , payment was made up within the week as you can see
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19/01/10 -rent due £700-date 19/01/10-cash received £700-arrears,nill
22/01/10-rent due £700-date 22/01/10- cash received £700- arrears,nill
27/01/10-rent due £700-date 27/01/10-cash recevied £700-arrears £800
22/2/10 rent due £800-date 22/2/10-cash receieved £700-arrears £900

the part that tells me that my rent would be incresed is simply scribbled on the tenancy, and the landlord never ever mentioned it till last month

where do i stand, i think im ahead with my rent? as i aid the first payment the day i moved in ( ?) - ive never had a landlord where ive had to be looking at the legal side of things before, have never been a pain in the bum tenant ( well not till i demanded the gas saftey thing for 3 long months- but i had a moral obligation as a mother to do that for my childrens sake)

really worried obviously many thanks in advance

s xx

[Moderator1]

Three separate threads by same member have been merged here. Do not cause problems by starting continuation threads; use the same one.

[sr2010]

when i came back from taking the children to school today, i had missed the postman who had a letter that needed signing for- which i assume is the letter giving me notice,( wont be availible for collection for 24hrs)
im sorry but quite desperate for help now and have no idea where else to turn
many thanks in advance

[Preston]

i clain HB for myself and my children and this is currently how my rent book looks ( ill explain dates etc as i go) :

moved in ( 18th march 2009)
19/3/09 - rent due-£700- date 18/3/09 -cash received £700- arrears- Nill
18/4/09 - rent due £700- date 18/4/09 - cash received £700-arrears-Nill
18/5/09 - rent due £700 - date18/5/09 - cash recieved £700-arrears-Nill
16/6/09 - rent due £700 - date 18/6/09 - cash revecied £700- arrears- nill
17/7/09 - rent due £700 - date 17/7/09 - cash received £700- arrears - nill
19/8/09 -rent due £700 - date 17/8/09 - cash received £700 - arrears- nill
18/9/09 - rent due £700 - date 18/9/09 - cash received £700 - arrears- nill
21/10/09 - rent due £700 - date 21/10/09 - cash received £700 - arrears nill
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
this next part is when i withold rent to "forced" him to have the gas appliances serviced and a cert provided , payment was made up within the week as you can see
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
19/01/10 -rent due £700-date 19/01/10-cash received £700-arrears,nill
22/01/10-rent due £700-date 22/01/10- cash received £700- arrears,nill
27/01/10-rent due £700-date 27/01/10-cash recevied £700-arrears £800
22/2/10 rent due £800-date 22/2/10-cash receieved £700-arrears £900

the part that tells me that my rent would be incresed is simply scribbled on the tenancy, and the landlord never ever mentioned it till last month

Are you saying that the landlord has written "arrears, nil" in your rent book each time you have paid £700? If this is the case, this seems to be good evidence that the rent was not in fact increased in line with the "scribbled" amendment on the tenancy agreement. Unfortunately I doubt whether anyone reading this could be sure what the outcome would be if the matter were to be decided by a court, but in my mind the balance of evidence has probably swung back in your favour. As I have mentioned before, neither a landlord nor a tenant will usually be "bound" by a simple accounting or clerical error. So, a single mistake or even a number of mistakes may very well be ignored by a court. In your case, though, there appear to be eight consecutive entries each indicating a rent of £700 (and nil arrears). I think this may well be read as a clear intention on the landlord's part.

To set your mind at rest though, you really need to take all the relevant documents to a local solicitor or advice agency so that they can review all the information in context.

[sr2010]

Thankyou again Preston
especially that I now don't feel quite so nurotic lol
I haven't done a great job of explaining so I thought it would be better all round if I simply copied the entries from the rent book,
I hear what you're saying and although breathed a sigh of relief I will as soon as I can, make an appt with a lawyer or CAB to see where I go from here,
but honestly, heartfelt thanks from me for the time you've given my problems
xx