House Contract

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by Jabby Mcgee, May 11, 2011.

  1. Jabby Mcgee

    Jabby Mcgee Valued Member

    Hi guys. I need some advice from some people who may be in the know...

    In September of last year, I signed an accommodation contract for Student Halls, for a period lasting up until June. However, my course finished in April, and as soon as the course finished, I vaccated the property and handed in my keys to the office. 10 weeks prior to this I had informed the office that as my course was finishing on April 15th, I would be leaving on said date.

    Recently however, I have received an email from the accommodation manager demanding £850 rent for this current term, even though I am not living in halls anymore. His rationale is that I signed a contract up to June, and am therefore bound to it. However, I feel that I went into that contract under false pretenses, as I was not made aware of the fact that my course finished so early, and so believed that I would have to stay in university until June. The accommodation department, however, knew what course I study, and therefore should have been aware that i, as well as many others, would be finishing early. That not being the case, I left and refuse to pay £850 for nothing. In addition, the fact that I gave ten weeks notice of my departure means that the accommodation office have plenty of time to refill that room, and so somebody else could come along and pay the £850 rent.

    My question is: given that I gave ten weeks notice of my departure, and am not longer living in halls, am I still bound to that contract. Either way, I'm not paying the rent, but Id prefer to know that I don't have to.

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. d0ugbug

    d0ugbug learning to smile

    Yes, estate agents and the likes are crooks. The only way I've ever gotten out of a contract like that was if I found someone to take over the the few weeks / months of the lease.

    You signed, you should have been aware, you have to pay. Sorry

    Although someone "in the know" might say other wise this is based on my experience of renting properties both as landlord and a tenant
     
  3. Moi

    Moi Warriors live forever x

    Seek legal advice. Sounds like you might have to pay but there may be a way out.
    If you still hold the tenancy what's the chance of a party?
     
  4. Chimpcheng

    Chimpcheng Yup... Giant cow head... Supporter

    Having been screwed over by my university in the past I think the short answer is, yes, you have to pay as you signed what is no doubt a legally binding contact. Sucks, but crap happens.

    A friend of a friend fell foul of a similar thing. Someone caused damage in his halls of residence, no one owned up so cost of repairs was divided amongst those living there at the time and demands for money sent out. He refused to pay... The university refused to grant him his degree. In the end he paid...

    Now, I'm not sure if the university was acting legally by withholding his degree, but it did the trick...

    Edit: Just did a google search. Yup, universities are within their rights not to confer degrees to students over unpaid bills or fines.
     
    Last edited: May 11, 2011
  5. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    You signed an x weeks contract, you have to pay for x weeks rent. You might have been able to fill the room yourself and transfer the contract, but the accommodation service has no obligation to do that for you.

    And 'false pretenses' only applies if the university sold you a term that met academic requirements and then tried to add 10 weeks to the end of the term. Since I've never heard of a university doing that, I feel safe in assuming they didn't.
     
  6. SpikeD

    SpikeD At the Frankenstein Place

    As long as you realise that they will hound you forever for the money and it may well impact your credit score enough to complicate matters should you wish to rent privately in the future, or any other credit type agreement. I would consider the long term hassle vs sucking it up and paying them what you owe.
     
  7. Chimpcheng

    Chimpcheng Yup... Giant cow head... Supporter

  8. Kwajman

    Kwajman Penguin in paradise....

    Yup, sounds like you have to pay. Try to sub-rent the apartment but ultimately its up to you unless the fine print has an out for you.
     
  9. OSu,


    What did you learn? :) Is it worth 850 quids?
    (methink it is...)


    pay up & move on.


    Osu!
     
  10. Jabby Mcgee

    Jabby Mcgee Valued Member

    Thanks for the replies guys. Pretty much confirmed what I thought was the case, although not exactly what I wanted to hear :p

    That's effectively what has been done though. My course finished on April 15th, and my course isn't an exception - a surprising majority of courses finish at this time of year, and a lot of students have had the same problem as I have. I moved out on April 16th, and the my rent for that term covered me for up to April 18th. Now however, I am expected to pay rent from April 18th to the end of July 9th. So I am expected to pay rent for accommodation for 11 weeks after my course has finished.
     
  11. holyheadjch

    holyheadjch Valued Member

    Did you or did you not sign a contract for a fixed term?

    You're a grown up now. When you sign agreements, you are expected to hold up your end.

    If you think halls are bad, wait until you hit private student landlords, many of whom make you pay for an entire 52 week lease, not to mention their habit of screwing you out of your security deposit.
     
  12. Jabby Mcgee

    Jabby Mcgee Valued Member

    I signed up as a mature student, and have rented privately in the past prior to going to university, so please don't think of me as some naive kid. I understand that I signed a fixed term contract, however, my problem with the terms of that contract is that when signing up to it I had no idea that my course was effectively a term short, and so for me to be expected to pay 11 weeks rent for accommodation that is not required is, in my opinion, ludacris. The accommodation department, on the other hand, had access to this information, knew that my course only lasted until April, and yet still only offered a contract up until July.
     
  13. d0ugbug

    d0ugbug learning to smile

    The problem is the uni will tell you, you should have read the contract or found out about your course first. You chose on site accommodation when you could have gone private.

    I don't think there is much you can do sorry

    I also think halls tend to run till July is that students who travel tend to get things packed up or sorted before they move back home for summer or for good!
     
  14. Chimpcheng

    Chimpcheng Yup... Giant cow head... Supporter

    If your university is in a nice town/city then you have yourself a nice place to stay up till July. Granted it's £850 of nice place to stay, but you could use it as a place to kip as you hit up the nightlife or use the university careers service, interweb facilities, etc., as no doubt the next step for you is a job...
     

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