Hand over of deposit

rhapsody

These days it seems the norm to pay rent etc by bank transfer so everyone has a record of the transaction. I'm just wondering how people usually arrange the deposit & first months rent. The tenant doesn't want to hand over any cash until they have the keys, checked over house & signed lease; the landlord doesn't want to hand over keys until deposit & rent paid.

I have suggested cash on the day to keep it straighforward but this might cause tracability issues later. Just wondering how people usually do this?

djimi

Get a signed receipt from the agent/landlord and if possible pay by cheque so that it is more traceable.

silja

As a landlord and a tenant, I have always used cheques.

Paulw

A signed receipt is best. But, a bank draft also works well, and is traceable.

OS119

as both a LL and tenant, i use cash.

meet at the property, check all ok, lease signed, tenant hands over cash, LL hands over keys, recepit and signed and handed over.

cheques might bounce, bank transfers can go wrong - or not happen - and are a pain in the backside to sort out while you're all standing around a cold flat while you've get better places to be.

cash is king.

rhapsody

Thanks for your replies Yeah cheque sounds like a good idea, I didn't even think of that. Would a cheque not be the same as a bank transfer for the landlord though? -in terms of time. Tenant offered to call bank and put through transfer once lease is signed but this is not acceptable to landlord. Landlord wanted tenant to put through transfer in last few days though lease signing and move isn't til Monday- so it would hit their account by Monday.

I dont mean to be argumentative on here- thanks again for the replies

rhapsody

OS119 I only just noticed your reply now, thanks. Yeah that sounds like the best plan, I was surprised that the landlord wanted & expected[/I][/I] tenant to transfer money without checking everything out etc (e.g. landlord supposed to get some stuff fixed etc before the move). Ok will suggest cash & receipt will work

OS119

rhapsody wrote: »

OS119 I only just noticed your reply now, thanks. Yeah that sounds like the best plan, I was surprised that the landlord wanted & expected[/I][/I] tenant to transfer money without checking everything out etc (e.g. landlord supposed to get some stuff fixed etc before the move). Ok will suggest cash & receipt will work

i'd be very wary of any arrangement that tied a tenant to a property before the final checks had been done and hands shaken - and writing a cheque is daft: either it means giving the LL the cheque a week before you sign a lease, or the tennant moves in and the LL doesn't have the deposit for a week afterwards.

all of the alternatives to cash are less convenient to both parties (i don't know if you've ever tried ring up a bank on a sunday evening to do a transfer), and provide less 'walk-a-way-ability' if all isn't well on the day. imv a LL would have to have a very good (bad for the tenant) reason to insist on some payment method other than cash on the day.

very suss, personally i wouldn't touch it with a bargepole.

rhapsody

I think its more that the landlord hasn't done this before & it's their own house so maybe they're wary of the tenant. The landlord's argument was that they couldn't hand over keys without fee, and I do think thats reasonable. The fact that they expected the tenant to it though- I think- just means they haven't thought it through. Too late to back out now!

OS119

rhapsody wrote: »

I think its more that the landlord hasn't done this before & it's their own house so maybe they're wary of the tenant. The landlord's argument was that they couldn't hand over keys without fee, and I do think thats reasonable. The fact that they expected the tenant to it though- I think- just means they haven't thought it through. Too late to back out now!

if a LL is wary of a tenant they shouldn't let to them. a LL who lets to someone they don't trust to give him a pile of cash as the LL gives the tenant the keys richly deserves anything they get.

i'm completely puzzled by the LL - why should they think that its acceptable for the tenant to give them money before the lease is signed, the property inspected and the keys handed over?

if you're the tenant i'd seriously advise you not to go with this LL - any LL so frighteningly stupid and out of his depth on this most basic issue is likely to make your tenancy an absolute nightmare. i know its late, but there are lots of properties looking for tenants, and the cost of a hotel for a few days while you sort out something else is nothing compared to the aggravation that this idiot is going to put you through while you're living there.

not even wrong

I would hand the landlord a cheque when they gave me the keys on the day I moved in. A landlord demanding a cash-only deposit I would see as a massive warning sign that I'm dealing with a cowboy.

Not to mention that I wouldn't feel very comfortable carrying a four-figure sum in cash around with me...

OS119

not even wrong wrote: »

I would hand the landlord a cheque when they gave me the keys on the day I moved in. A landlord demanding a cash-only deposit I would see as a massive warning sign that I'm dealing with a cowboy.

Not to mention that I wouldn't feel very comfortable carrying a four-figure sum in cash around with me...

sorry, as a LL i wouldn't touch you with a bargepole.

you've got my property (and legal occupancy) and i've got a peice of paper that may well have less value than used toilet paper. not exactly equitable is it?

cash isn't a sign of a cowboy unless a) he doesn't want to give you a recepit, and b) he wants to be paid in cash each month.

djimi

OS119 wrote: »

sorry, as a LL i wouldn't touch you with a bargepole.

you've got my property (and legal occupancy) and i've got a peice of paper that may well have less value than used toilet paper. not exactly equitable is it?

cash isn't a sign of a cowboy unless a) he doesn't want to give you a recepit, and b) he wants to be paid in cash each month.

The same goes for any transaction paid for by cheque. If thats the attitude you have towards anyone who wants to pay by cheque then you wont do business with many people. As a tenant I would want to pay by cheque because its traceable. The other way of looking at it is that if I pay a LL my deposit in cash and he disputes it at the end then I dont have much to fall back on; a signed piece of paper maybe. Personally Id prefer to have something traceable.

OS119

djimi wrote: »

The same goes for any transaction paid for by cheque. If thats the attitude you have towards anyone who wants to pay by cheque then you wont do business with many people. As a tenant I would want to pay by cheque because its traceable. The other way of looking at it is that if I pay a LL my deposit in cash and he disputes it at the end then I dont have much to fall back on; a signed piece of paper maybe. Personally Id prefer to have something traceable.

i see what you mean, but surely a bank transfer (fairly instant) would provide that security without the hanging around for a week to see if the tenant actually had any money?

personally i've never had a tenant have a problem with paying cash for the deposit and first month - the sums are mentioned in the lease, which both parties get a signed copy of, and i give a pre-printed, signed reciept. tbh it would be pretty difficult for me to persuade anyone that i had not received the money when confronted with such evidence.

i don't think i could tell you the last time i paid for anything with a cheque, or was asked to take one - though imv there's a difference between taking a cheque from someone you've dealt with in the past and been happy with, and taking a cheque for maybe £1500 from someone you don't know, based on references of other people you don't know, that will give them legal occupancy of your property.

short version, i'd never give someone keys and a lease without cash in my pocket or having had a direct transfer. any would-be tenant who wouldn't accept that can find many other properties to rent in the local paper...

djimi

Bank transfer is the way to go really; provided you have the means to do it on site. I suppose there is an element of trust involved no matter what way you go about it; if you are trusting someone enough to hand them the keys of your place then surely you need to trust them enough that a cheque wont bounce and also that they have the means to pay the rent.

The key is to get a receipt for the deposit whichever way it is paid.