# Rent Allowance Tenant - Rent in arrears



## npaul (18 Feb 2009)

I have a rent allowance tenant that has signed a tenancy agreement last week and will be moving into my property soon.  They have paid a security deposit for me to hold the house for them until then and I have cancelled all advertising of the property.

The tenancy agreement is very clear that 1 months rent is to be paid when I give them the keys to the house and that all subsequent rent is to be paid in advance.

The tenant called me yesterday to say that he would like this first rental payment to be paid back to him as soon as the HSE makes the first payment of rent allowance at the end of March.  This effective means that the tenant is paying rent in arrears.

Is this common practice for rent allowance tenants to pay the landlord in arrears (I do realise that the rent allowance is paid in arrears by the HSE) but surely, the tenancy agreement is between the landlord and the tenant and does not mention any provisions for HSE / rent allowance.

Also, on repayment of the security deposit then signed tanancy agreement is quite clear.
Am I under any obligation to repay the deposit given that I am out f pocket for the loss of rent (over 2 weeks) between the signing of the lease and the eventual outcome of my discussion with the tanant and also for the cancellation of the advertising, inconvenience etc.?

I would prefer if the tenant simply moved in as agreed and that no dispute arises as the tenants do seem to be reliable and honest.


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## murphaph (18 Feb 2009)

Just tell them you will be paying nothing back and that the terms were quite clear. The agreement has nothing to do with the HSE etc. My RS tenants pay in advance.


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## gipimann (18 Feb 2009)

From my experience (on the HSE side), it would not be common practice for rent to be paid in arrears if the tenant is claiming Rent Supplement.  In fact I'd doubt if it happens at all.   As you said, Rent Supplement is paid in arrears but this doesn't (and shouldn't) have a bearing on any lease/tenancy agreement between landlord and tenant.


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## lightswitch (18 Feb 2009)

Spoke to a SW officer about this and RA is paid in arrears. It is left to the tennant to come up with the first month rent, very alkward situation for both landlord and tennant. This was about 5 years ago thought when I was renting out my house due to re-locating. Things may have changed since then. I'm sure your local RA office will take a call from you regarding this to confirm either way. LS.


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## murphaph (18 Feb 2009)

If somebody was paying my rent almost in full every month, I think I'd be able to scrape together a single month's rent. I know people on RS have various reasons for being on it but a lot of them make absolutely no effort to get that first month's rent or deposit (the latter which the HSE can pay for them).


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## thedaras (18 Feb 2009)

I personally know someone who ,when she eventualy did get a  place that would take RS,had to beg and borrow to come up with the money for the months rent in advance and then theres the months deposit to pay as well.It is often very difficult for SW recipients to get this kind of money and money lenders often benifit from this.
Then if the tennant needs/wants  to move they have the deposit tied up with the current landlord,making things even more difficult for them.


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## npaul (19 Feb 2009)

Thanks for your views.

I will be meeting with the prospective tenants this weekend to see if they are willing to comply with the tanancy agreement and just pay the rent in advance as agreed.

Assuming things don't get out of hand, I may be willing to agree to a compromise whereby I reduce the level of the Security Deposit by 50% as soon as the first direct debit payment of RA is received.  This way I still retain some level of security while retaining the rent in advance that I require and the tenant receives some money back.  This may be the easiest way to proceed as the tenancy agreement only needs to be amended to indicate the new security deposit amount.

Does this seem like a fair compromise under the circumstances.  (I realise that some of you out there i.e. landlords, may think I'm mad to compromise).

Also, does anyone have a rough idea of % of landlords that accpet rent payment in arrears rather than in advance which I would assume is the more common way of doing things?


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## npaul (23 Feb 2009)

Met with tenants at weekend.
We came to compromise of reducing the Security deposit by 50% on receipt of the end of March rent payment while maintaining the rent being paid in advance as per tenancy agreement.  It's a risk I'm willing to take as the tenants seem honest.  If this was not the case I think I would not have agreed to the compromise.
Time will tell if my decision was correct or not....


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