Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Advice needed on legal/contractual point with estate agent
I'm having an end of contract dispute with the letting agent for the property I currently live in and wondered if anyone has any advice or knowledge on the matter.
The issue is that the signed contract they have states that we have to give 2 month's notice. And yes, I did sign it.
However, I signed it based on the fact that they had sent me via email, a specimen contract to read through, prior to going in and signing, and this clearly specifies 1 month notice.
They are saying it's tough basically, that I signed, so I'm stuck. But I still have the original email and specimen contract, and at no point on signing the 'changed' one, did they point out any differences, in fact saying it was the same.
I appreciate I should have read it through, but I thought I had!
Any help gratefully received...
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ElleCarumba on
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Shelter have a good website with lots of legal advice regarding housing. They also have a housing advice line which might be able to help
http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/your_housing_situation/pri...
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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on
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Cara. I am no specialist but this point came up when I was working and dealing with a lot of contracts. I was always worried something like this would be slipped in. I am pretty sure the lawyer helping me work through the deal suggested that in fact such a change slipped in without prior notification at the stage of signing was not appropriate and you could not be held to a clause that had been altered like this.
It was a long time back, and I am not clear on the detail but I think you should not back down in a hurry.
Without volunteering anyone I believe Consl. Schmitz is a lawyer and has been know to help out on some areas of law.
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Permalink Reply by Elisa Kaczynska-Nay on
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Dear Cara,
I would think it practically certain, under English law, that a signed document, unless the disputed clause was hidden, in small print, etc, would supercede any draft document preceding it.
You may have a point if their emails say the final contract has exactly the same terms as the draft ones (and that's why you had not bothered reading the document you signed), but I would not count on it.
Nonetheless, you may want to go and see a Citizens Advice Bureau to make sure, they deal with such cases all the time, so have much more experience than me (just academic) - and a letter from them may persuade your landlord to give in? Best wishes Eliza
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Permalink Reply by cara howard on
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Thanks for the advice everyone. At the moment it's a stale mate situation and it looks like I'm stuck paying 2 months notice even though I move in 2 weeks.
I appreciate that I signed the document that states 2 months, but I did question when signing, if it was the same as the contract they had sent me via email, and they told me it was exactly the same. I feel this change should have been pointed out. If I had known anything was different about it, I would have sat in their office for as long as it took and read every word, as I had done on the one they had emailed me.
I'm beyond fuming and firmly feel that the agent should pay the additional month's rent.
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Permalink Reply by Darrel Kwong on
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Cara
The OFT state that a tenant has NO legal requirement to give notice to end their fixed term. If the tenancy has become periodic then law dictates you MUST serve the correct notice i.e. one month to expire of the last day of a period
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