Guest X-QUORK Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Thought the following might be of interest regarding my previous landlord. As far as I know, he owns around a dozen properties and first got into property rentals around 5-10 years ago. He's a retired MD of his own marketing company and we always found him to be a gentleman, if not always the quickest at dealing with problems. We moved out of his property in May and agreed to pay him £100 towards his lost rent (all a bit complicated, but kosher). Anyway, we inadvertently paid him twice after believing a bank transfer had failed when it had in fact gone through ok. Since then, we've asked him a number of times if he could repay the £100 we overpaid, only to be met with embarrassed apologies and excuses about moving funds around between accounts. In the past we trusted each other when dealing with the odd financial transaction, and like I say, he's always been reliable and honest. I can only assume he's in deep doo-doo with the banks if he can't even repay our £100. We happen to have two cheques from him which weren't cashed previously due to a change in circumstances, so it's becoming rather tempting to cash one in to cover our loss. Would that be illegal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomberbrown Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Thought the following might be of interest regarding my previous landlord. As far as I know, he owns around a dozen properties and first got into property rentals around 5-10 years ago. He's a retired MD of his own marketing company and we always found him to be a gentleman, if not always the quickest at dealing with problems.We moved out of his property in May and agreed to pay him £100 towards his lost rent (all a bit complicated, but kosher). Anyway, we inadvertently paid him twice after believing a bank transfer had failed when it had in fact gone through ok. Since then, we've asked him a number of times if he could repay the £100 we overpaid, only to be met with embarrassed apologies and excuses about moving funds around between accounts. In the past we trusted each other when dealing with the odd financial transaction, and like I say, he's always been reliable and honest. I can only assume he's in deep doo-doo with the banks if he can't even repay our £100. We happen to have two cheques from him which weren't cashed previously due to a change in circumstances, so it's becoming rather tempting to cash one in to cover our loss. Would that be illegal? Do it, but only the difference of the £100 you're owed and the value of the cheque (I'm sure you would anyway). Bet it bounces though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 TBH, is it worth it, for only £100 (I know this is actually a very reasonable sum but you know what I mean) when a future landlord may want a ref from previous landlords about you...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomberbrown Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 TBH, is it worth it, for only £100 (I know this is actually a very reasonable sum but you know what I mean) when a future landlord may want a ref from previous landlords about you...? ...otherwise known as blackmail?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 ...otherwise known as blackmail?? oops! well yeah, but also pragmatic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest X-QUORK Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 oops! well yeah, but also pragmatic. TBH I've thought about just dropping the matter, my wife's more pi$$ed off about it than I am. I just find it staggering that the guy can't stump up £100, things must be bloody dire if he can't cover such a relatively small amount. His property portfolio must be worth in excess of £1.5 million, even after the recent falls, yet he can't raise a measily ton? Bearing in mind the decent relationship we had with him, I'm sure he'd rather pay us if he could, so I can only assume he's cash broke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Loo Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 TBH, is it worth it, for only £100 (I know this is actually a very reasonable sum but you know what I mean) when a future landlord may want a ref from previous landlords about you...? 2 weeks social security for a single man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crashologist Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 If he owes you money ask for it back! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest X-QUORK Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 If he owes you money ask for it back! Ummm...we have been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Landlord Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 TBH I've thought about just dropping the matter, my wife's more pi$$ed off about it than I am. I just find it staggering that the guy can't stump up £100, things must be bloody dire if he can't cover such a relatively small amount. His property portfolio must be worth in excess of £1.5 million, even after the recent falls, yet he can't raise a measily ton? Bearing in mind the decent relationship we had with him, I'm sure he'd rather pay us if he could, so I can only assume he's cash broke. I guess he is pushing towards £1million in mortgage dept if he bought with minimum deposits between 10 to 5 years ago. Strange that even with interests rates at rock bottom he cannot get his 12 houses to work for him - I guess the drops in rental rates have crippled him. Although there are a lot of us that are making more money now on SVRs / Trackers / low fixes compared to a few years back when we had 15% higher rental income. I don't much sympathy for the LL, but make sure you know the legal side of writing a cheque to yourself, even though the money is owed. ps. I wonder if he MEW'd for holidays/cars/etc. and he is really screwed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingsgate Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 At the moment we are making more money each month than we ever have, due to the very low interest rates. No cash-flow problems here at all. Using the extra money to pay down the loans, though, so by the time base rates start to rise, we should owe quite a bit less..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest X-QUORK Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 I don't much sympathy for the LL, but make sure you know the legal side of writing a cheque to yourself, even though the money is owed. The cheques are already written out for sums less than £100, but together they'd pay us off. I'm a bit wary about cashing them though, from a legal perspective and also kicking a bloke who's already down isn't really cricket. He's not terribly ostentatious, other than having a small yacht he and his wife go sailing in most weekends (in the UK), but who knows what goes on in other people's finances? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Loo Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 At the moment we are making more money each month than we ever have, due to the very low interest rates. No cash-flow problems here at all. Using the extra money to pay down the loans, though, so by the time base rates start to rise, we should owe quite a bit less..... Productive as ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulu Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 The cheques are already written out for sums less than £100, but together they'd pay us off. I'm a bit wary about cashing them though, from a legal perspective and also kicking a bloke who's already down isn't really cricket. He's not terribly ostentatious, other than having a small yacht he and his wife go sailing in most weekends (in the UK), but who knows what goes on in other people's finances? Why not ask him? Say you have these cheques, explain that for whatever reason you did not cash them but suggest it would be an easy way for you to get back the £100 you are owed. If he is a reasonable guy, as you say he is they presumably he would say yes and that would be the end of it. If he is in the dogturd financially he may ask you to wait until the money is there to pay him as it would cost him more in charges if they bounce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeymadman Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Of course, he could be one of those tight gets that's sitting on a bloomin fortune and counts every sodding penny... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selling up Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Of course, he could be one of those tight gets that's sitting on a bloomin fortune and counts every sodding penny... There's a name for people like that: STRs (And proud of it) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim123 Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 There's a name for people like that: Rigsby! tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizzly bear Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 The cheques are already written out for sums less than £100, but together they'd pay us off. I'm a bit wary about cashing them though, from a legal perspective and also kicking a bloke who's already down isn't really cricket. He's not terribly ostentatious, other than having a small yacht he and his wife go sailing in most weekends (in the UK), but who knows what goes on in other people's finances? so write him a letter saying your are still waiting for the refund, that you are sure its an small oversight and to make things easier for him you've taken the liberty of cashing in the cheques - if they are for more than £100 say that you'll refund the difference by cheque once his cheques have cleared. if he really is in trouble the cheques will bounce anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigantic Purple Slug Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Thought the following might be of interest regarding my previous landlord. As far as I know, he owns around a dozen properties and first got into property rentals around 5-10 years ago. He's a retired MD of his own marketing company and we always found him to be a gentleman, if not always the quickest at dealing with problems.We moved out of his property in May and agreed to pay him £100 towards his lost rent (all a bit complicated, but kosher). Anyway, we inadvertently paid him twice after believing a bank transfer had failed when it had in fact gone through ok. Since then, we've asked him a number of times if he could repay the £100 we overpaid, only to be met with embarrassed apologies and excuses about moving funds around between accounts. In the past we trusted each other when dealing with the odd financial transaction, and like I say, he's always been reliable and honest. I can only assume he's in deep doo-doo with the banks if he can't even repay our £100. We happen to have two cheques from him which weren't cashed previously due to a change in circumstances, so it's becoming rather tempting to cash one in to cover our loss. Would that be illegal? You're a victim of "lack of shared interest" syndrome. Seen it happen in many a shared house when people move out. Bascially while they are in the house everything is hunky dory. Then they move out and because they no longer have an interest in keeping people sweet they argue about paying their share of the bills ... "wasn't my cat that was sick behind the telly so why should I have to pay the phone bill etc". I'll add that most people who behave like this aren't particular a$$holes. It's just the way things go when relationships stop and there is no longer a common interest. It happened with about 30% of the people I lived with (and I've sahred houses with a lot of people in the past). Try cashing the cheque. If it bounces, put it down to experience, remember to have something in reserve for next time and walk away. If your bird still nags you to do something, dump here. If she moans that much about 100 quid imagine what shes going to be like when you come back 2K down from the dog track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 (edited) Does he have a real job? Turn up there and ask for the money. If not, cash the cheques. They will probably bounce if he's skint and not if not. He won't have cancelled them as it costs money unless you've lost them. He wouldn't lie to the bank would he? Edited July 13, 2009 by SarahBell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest X-QUORK Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 You're a victim of "lack of shared interest" syndrome. Seen it happen in many a shared house when people move out. Bascially while they are in the house everything is hunky dory. Then they move out and because they no longer have an interest in keeping people sweet they argue about paying their share of the bills ... "wasn't my cat that was sick behind the telly so why should I have to pay the phone bill etc".I'll add that most people who behave like this aren't particular a$$holes. It's just the way things go when relationships stop and there is no longer a common interest. It happened with about 30% of the people I lived with (and I've sahred houses with a lot of people in the past). Try cashing the cheque. If it bounces, put it down to experience, remember to have something in reserve for next time and walk away. If your bird still nags you to do something, dump here. If she moans that much about 100 quid imagine what shes going to be like when you come back 2K down from the dog track. Ref your post - FAIL. My wife and three year old son are family, not some social drop-outs I shared with. Are you 17? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigantic Purple Slug Posted July 13, 2009 Share Posted July 13, 2009 Ref your post - FAIL.My wife and three year old son are family, not some social drop-outs I shared with. Are you 17? Many apologies. I wasn't implying that you and your wife don't have a shared interest - more you and your landlord. The stuff about the dog track was a joke - didn't realise they weren't allowed. No I am 18. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest X-QUORK Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 No I am 18. It shows. Come back when you've grown up a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest X-QUORK Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Quick update for the easily interested, we received a cheque for £100 from our old landlord yesterday. Let's see if it goes through ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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