landlord not accepting rent

[elegantnails34]

I am a sole trader and have a small business. My lease for the small
premises I rent just indicates my annual rent, however my landlord bills me quarterly which I did not mind as long as they gave a bit more time to pay the lump sum as my understanding wa that my rent is paid monthly.

This was okay until the last invoice which was dated the 20th september for three months rent up to december 2012. I paid this large bill in October but then got a letter back from the landlord together with a cheque for the rent I had paid. In the letter, they said they cannot accept my recent payment as the rent was paid out of time. Their Managing agents also sent back my payment for electricity again that they cannot accept the payment for an invoice that they had raised.

Is this normal for a landlord? what does this mean? I know they had mentioned that someone was interested in the property so are they trying to bully me into leaving? Why are they not accepting the rent and the
payment for electricity? Has anyone every experienced this before?

Help!!

 

[Homer J Simpson]

I don't know why they are sending the cheques back, but I'm concerned that you seem to struggle with a quarterly invoice when you were prepared to pay monthly. Surely you'd just 'save' the monthly payment and pay three months at a time when you receive your quarterly bill.

I'd take a close look at your lease and what it says about payment terms/termination/late payments etc.

I'd also be tempted to re-send the cheque saying 'please find enclosed a cheque for invoice number xxxx for the lease from xx to xx.

 

[arcon5]

Could this be the LL trying to create a situation whereby you are in arrears with rent in order to put a new tenant in?

If you have their bank details i'd be transferring it to them. Also keep the rejection letters.

What exactly is the LL after here?

 

[Spongebob]

Could this be the LL trying to create a situation whereby you are in arrears with rent in order to put a new tenant in?

This is the only conclusion I can come to. They want rid of you and so are engineering a situation whereby one day you arrive and find the locks have been changed.

If I was you I'd be looking for new premises pronto. I would not want to remain with this landlord under any circumstances.

 

[QuickHomeBuyers]

RTBL (Read the Bl**dy Lease)

The message you have entered is too short. Please lengthen your message to at least 10 characters.

 

[Kirsty H]

Hi, Commercial leases commonly state that you pay rent quarterly in advance. You need to read the lease to see what yours says. It will also say what happens if you pay rent late. Your landlord cannot just kick you out unless you signed a lease which is not protected by the Landlord and Tenant 1954 Act, and this should have been pointed out to you by your solicitor.

No-one should be signing a lease without properly understanding what they are signing themselves up to. Get a solicitor to look at it for you.

 

[Spongebob]

Your landlord cannot just kick you out

If a tenant is in arrears with their rent a commercial landlord has enormous power. He can send in bailiffs to seize assets, even without a court order. The law on commercial tenancies is still rooted in the attitudes of medieval times.

This landlord is clearly up to something. Refusing money is just not in the genetic make-up of landlords unless they are playing to another agenda.

 

[Kirsty H]

Yes the landlord can send in the bailiffs, but they should abide by certain rules. The law is currently being reviewed on this.

However the point still remains that the tenant is in a strong position if they have security under the lease, and the landlord has to prove why he should be able to evict the tenant. If the tenant had arrears, but paid them before the court date, then it is very likely that the judge would say the tenant was allowed to remain.

Whatever the landlord's "agenda" is, he has to comply with legislation.

As I have said before - don't sign a lease until you understand what it means, and if you take advice then you can negotiate the terms to suit you better. Unfortunately some landlords will take advantage of tenants who don't know what they are doing, but arm yourselves with the right advice and you can act to protect yourselves and your business.

 

[deniser]

Landlords commonly refuse rent if the tenant has breached a covenant in the lease and they don't want to be seen to condone it as they would lose their right to take action in respect of the breach.

But payment of rent late isn't one of these circumstances. Payment of rent is fundamental to the whole agreement and they can't refuse it if the lease is otherwise still subsisting.

They are definitely up to something. Are you sure you haven't breached the lease in some other way such as sublet a part or made unauthorised alterations?

 

[elegantnails34]

Thankyou for all your comments. I did go through a solicitor before signing the lease and as to late payments, the lease just says the landlord can charge interest for late payments and I was a day late. This was never an issue before. I have now started to look for other premises as I cannot trust this landlord and his managing agent who are both rejecting payments.

I have referred all the letters to the solicitor that handled the lease.

I have taken all your comments on board!!

 

[Homer J Simpson]

Hope everything works out, let us know how you get on.

 

[Alpha30]

By any chance is the property being considered for building or similar by the landlord? They might be trying to get you out to do other things.

I'd resend the cheque by recorded delivery.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

[elegantnails34]

Landlords commonly refuse rent if the tenant has breached a covenant in the lease and they don't want to be seen to condone it as they would lose their right to take action in respect of the breach.

But payment of rent late isn't one of these circumstances. Payment of rent is fundamental to the whole agreement and they can't refuse it if the lease is otherwise still subsisting.

They are definitely up to something. Are you sure you haven't breached the lease in some other way such as sublet a part or made unauthorised alterations?

That would have been easier to workd out of course if I had breached any part or made an authorised alterations which I have not done. If that was the case, they would have given that as a reason.

A few months ago, they tried to offer me alternative premises as they said
they had someone interested in the one I occupy but I said No as this
location is better than what they had offered. So they are trying to get more rent for it and are doing everything they can to make things difficult for me. I have not cashed their cheque which they returned so technically I am paid up to December 2012