Rent late by one day – consequences?

[malleus]

And there's only one thing you need to understand: Your rent must reach recipient on the 1st of the month at the latest.
If it does not then it is your responsibility to fix this.
That's it.

Strong comeback. But most likely you really don't understand.

I try to make it easy: The landlord wants from the letting agent that he has the money in his account on the last day of the month by 23:59:59 and not on the 1st as per agreement.

[jjlandlord]

I try to make it easy: The landlord wants from the letting agent that he has the money in his account on the last day of the month by 23:59:59 and not on the 1st as per agreement.

So why do you say the rent is late?
If it reaches recipient on 1st it's on time, remind the agent/landlord about the contract. An try to do it in a less cocky way than you post online.

[grouse]

I try to make it easy: The landlord wants from the letting agent that he has the money in his account on the last day of the month by 23:59:59 and not on the 1st as per agreement.

In that case he wants it the day before it is due and is in the wrong.

You should be aware that most letting agents and some larger landlords use software which check payments received against rent due on that day, any payment not received on the due day automatically gets sent an arrears email the next day.
Payments 1 day late may not affect your reference this time while the letting agent remembers you but in a few years time when you are forgotten or the staff have changed then all they have to go on is your payment record and they will just see a lot of payments highlighted in red.

I have received reference requests for tenants that left 7 years ago and if I can't remember the tenant I can just give a factual account of arrears. In your case when answering the question: Did the tenant always pay his rent on time? the answer would be no.

[theartfullodger]

malleus: If you want a forum where the only replies permitted for you are ones you are going to be happy with perhaps look elsewhere: If you find one (free, open to all,..some pretty good info & advice...) could you let us know as I for one are not aware of any...

Cheers!

[malleus]

It's an assumption.
I assume that when the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with Mars when and I make the transfer on the 1st - by the way, the latter happened exactly once - the letting agent doesn't see it and sends out an email before he leaves the office, because the landlord insists on having the money on the 1st on his account. If that doesn't happen the landlord sends an email on the 2nd to the letting agent why the money wasn't in his account. Something like this.

Yes, I did remind the agent about the contract. This is where it all started. Here is his reply:

The landlord is chasing me about the rent and I would like to close the accounts for this month.

I replied to this explaining how and when I make the payments pretty much exactly like I explained it in my initial posting.
So I think that the letting agent tries to get me to send the money earlier to him, so he gets the LL off his back (for whatever reason).

Now I might be in my late thirties and only be renting and letting for twenty+ years but I never experienced anything like this before. It doesn't make any sense to me and I can only assume that the landlord is pissed at me, because I made him do something a couple of weeks back he tried to get out of.

All I'm wondering about is if he can write me a bad reference because of this or if someone heard of something similar (there might be a tactic behind it - I don't know!)

[malleus]

You should be aware that most letting agents and some larger landlords use software which check payments received against rent due on that day, any payment not received on the due day automatically gets sent an arrears email the next day.
Payments 1 day late may not affect your reference this time while the letting agent remembers you but in a few years time when you are forgotten or the staff have changed then all they have to go on is your payment record and they will just see a lot of payments highlighted in red.

I have received reference requests for tenants that left 7 years ago and if I can't remember the tenant I can just give a factual account of arrears. In your case when answering the question: Did the tenant always pay his rent on time? the answer would be no.

@grouse
you are my hero, this was the kind of answer I was looking for, because it tells me that I have to do something about this, otherwise I might get screwed in a couple of years.

Thank you very much for your reply.

@theartfullodger

I'm not looking for replies that make me happy, I'm looking to get some solid answers by members of the community with experience or who at least care to read the initial post and make an educated guess. You for example tried to be helpful...others not so much
What I certainly do not look for are borderline off-topic instructions on how to live my life.
I read through a couple of threads on the board and in every slightly so anti-landlord themed topic the landlord gang seems to come in and troll the OP. I don't like that very much and I tend to say so.

[mariner]

"..and in every slightly so anti-landlord themed topic the landlord gang seems to come in and troll the OP."

From the content of his reply, grouse would appear to be one of your 'landlord gang'.
Most contributors are LLs (key is in title of Forum) but many are also solicitors.LA's & even T's with some knowledge of LL&T law. All advice is free and designed to educate other browsers to the forum with similar problems. We tend to be more critical of LLs who haven't a clue.
You appreciate grouse' advice because you realise your failure to comply could impact on you in the future. Others have advised how you can avoid this now and poss avoid a prob s21.
The affordable & suitable rental sector is currently a seller's market in most regions, so Ts should wake up & smell the coffee.
Don't shoot the messenger!

[Gordon999]

1. Point out the monthly rent is being charged in advance before your actual usage of the flat accommodation. So you only become in arrears of rent after the one month has expired.

2. Point out the landlord is hold a deposit to insure against non-payment of rent.

3. Point out when you pay the agent's bank account on the 1st of month, you are paying to the nominated account of the landlord. You offer to transfer direct to LL's account as alternative.

[jta]

You could ask to shift your rent day, move it to something like 5/6th of the month, pay the rent for that period pro rata. the next month's rent will then be due on that new day. Doing that will not affect the periods of your tenancy at all.

[jjlandlord]

@grouse
you are my hero, this was the kind of answer I was looking for, because it tells me that I have to do something about this, otherwise I might get screwed in a couple of years.

I'll "make it simple": Do you realise that he just repeated what we had said? Which is basically that the rent must be received no later than the due date.

However, you are claiming that your landlord insist on receiving the rent no later than a day before the due date.

I sort of feel for you landlord now...

[thesaint]

The rent is due on the 1st each month. I receive my salary on the last day of the month and always pay the rent right away on the 1st at the latest.

I try to make it easy: The landlord wants from the letting agent that he has the money in his account on the last day of the month by 23:59:59 and not on the 1st as per agreement.

Posters asking for help are advised to get their story straight before posting. It saves people wasting their time.

1. Point out the monthly rent is being charged in advance before your actual usage of the flat accommodation. So you only become in arrears of rent after the one month has expired.

You have much to learn.

[LesleyAnne]

1. Point out the monthly rent is being charged in advance before your actual usage of the flat accommodation. So you only become in arrears of rent after the one month has expired.

Wrong!

If you sign a tenancy agreement which stipulates rent is payable in advance, you pay on the due date for the next month's occupancy. Therefore, the day after the due date, 1 month's rent is owing, and you are already in arrears with your payments.


In my experience, persistant late payments, even by 1 day, can instill enough annoyance in a LL to evict at the earliest opportunity (end of fixed term), and not provide a very favourable reference! You don't go to Tesco, walk out with next week's shopping and say you will pay them tomorrow!

[malleus]

Thanks again for the helpful answers! I appreciate it.

Sorry to the passive-aggressive troll crowd but I’m not going to feed you any further. I’m not repeating myself or trying to explain what’s obvious.

[Lawcruncher]

I have read this thread and, unless I missing something, it seems to me that Malleus has paid his rent in such a way that the rent actually arrives at the agent on the day it is due. The title is misleading as it is the landlord who is receiving rent a day late. If you employ an agent to collect money for you you have to expect a delay before you get it.

[mariner]

"2. Point out the landlord is hold a deposit to insure against non-payment of rent. "

Also incorrect Gordon. A deposit is held primarily to compensate LL for any T damage etc at end of T. It cannot be used for rent unless specified, and then only at end of T.

Malleus - Goodbye