Landlord's right to withhold rent paid upfront, after she terminated the lease

[Susan Becker]

I am new to My Broadband, and don't know if I'm posting this to the right place, however, I imagine I will find out and be pointed in the right direction if not.
I signed a lease for a house, contract period 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2020, at a monthly rental of R7000 p/month. I paid R7000 X 12 (R84 000.00) plus R7000 deposit upfront. Being a single mom, self employed and having sold my house which was my source of income, and receiving no child maintenance, I could not keep up with my municipal accounts. On 21 October I sent my landlord an email requesting that she change my contract period to a 10 month period and that two months rent be allocated toward monies owing to her. At first she gave me notice that I breached the agreement and instructed me to vacate the premises by no later than March 2020. Two weeks later she gave me new notice to vacate on or before the end of January 2020. I owe her 6 months rent plus municipal plus money she paid for medical expenses when I recently fell into depression, plus R3000 for 2x cash loans she advanced to me. The total hereof is R55 000.00, which includes rent for December during which I start moving out on the 1st, and leaves a balance of R29 000 over paid which does not include deposit.
I have asked her several times if she would pay back at least one month's rent from the money I over paid her, as I need it to pay for relocating and bills. She informed me that I will be held liable for rent until she can find details another tenant, and that she can't just put any tenant in the house, it has to be the right tenant. Can she do that? And if she can, can she withhold all my money? Am I not entitled to get at least some of my money back and how long am I expected to wait?
I am very unhappy about the situation. I finally have a new job prospect after I moved to a new town, but if I stand to lose this money I won't be able to pay a nanny to look after my children in order that I can start working and making money, I also won't be able to relocate as per the arrangements that are now in place.
Please advise. I'm desperate.

 

[R13...]

She's free to charge a penalty when you terminate the lease prematurely but I'm sure it has to be reasonable. You could ask the rental tribunal to help.

 

[xrapidx]

She's free to charge a penalty when you terminate the lease prematurely but I'm sure it has to be reasonable. You could ask the rental tribunal to help.

Sounds way more complicated with loans and medical fees being paid... I'd imagine OP won't get far in getting the money back.

 

[quovadis]

#1 If you've paid the entire lease upfront including a deposit up front you cannot be in breach of the lease.
#2 If you're prematurely cancelling the lease agreement with notice of 20 business days notice in writing she is only allowed to deduct a cancellation fee to cover her costs but refer to the lease agreement - it may contain termination costs etc.
#3 I'm not sure how you still owe 6 months rent if you paid it upfront?
#4 If she was offsetting your upfront lease payments against her loans to you were you aware of this?
#5 Technically if you're in debt to someone they may withhold whatever funds they have received in lieu of payment.

 

[saturnz]

She's free to charge a penalty when you terminate the lease prematurely but I'm sure it has to be reasonable. You could ask the rental tribunal to help.

reasonable is considered to be around 70% of the lost income

the OP has very little wiggle room here, together with the fact that this sounds like a real mess

 

[R13...]

#2 If you're prematurely cancelling the lease agreement with notice of 20 business days notice in writing she is only allowed to deduct a cancellation fee to cover her costs but refer to the lease agreement - it may contain termination costs etc.

Looks like the landlord could be entitled to a lot more than a cancellation fee going by this article,

Under the CPA a tenant has the right to cancel any lease by providing 20 business days’ notice. But - and this is a very big but - this doesn't mean a tenant can simply walk away penalty free and there could well be some financial repercussions in the form of a cancellation fee, the cost of advertising as well as other ‘reasonable costs’ if the landlord is unable to secure a new tenant in the short term.

 

[Quintrix]

The big legal word in the quote above is REASONABLE. And the landlord must prove all expenses such as advertising. Another place to get an answer is on Facebook: legal talk SA

 

[Sosio]

Just something to add here, and assuming my math checks out, even ignoring things like penalties I don't think OP will get anything back.

OP stated she paid :
R7000 X 12 (R84 000.00) plus R7000 deposit upfront.

During this time a debt of R55 000 was accumulated, which INCLUDES the rent for December.

OP stated an amount of R29 000 is owed by the landlord, (84 000 - 55 000), but OP has been residing in the property since July (So 5 months till end Nov = 5 x 7000 = 35 000).

So OP has an excess of (84 000 - 35 000 = 49 000) with the landlord, if we take the 55 000 off that OP will owe the landlord R6 000, the deposit could cover this but there will not be much left to reimburse.

 

[MirageF1]

One very good reason I will never pay for any lengthy rental upfront(say more than 2 months in advance )
Just far to fraught with possible issues.

 

[krycor]

One very good reason I will never pay for any lengthy rental upfront(say more than 2 months in advance )
Just far to fraught with possible issues.

I only do that in dec-jan due to current company paying early some years (basically when boss wants to be paid early). 1st time i hear of someone paying foa a year in advance tho.

 

[MirageF1]

I only do that in dec-jan due to current company paying early some years (basically when boss wants to be paid early). 1st time i hear of someone paying foa a year in advance tho.

No, I've heard of it before both locally and UK...it may seem like a good incentive when the rental is discounted for upfront payment...BUT NO, THANKS.

I'll keep the bucks in my account, not yours is my motto ( as well as the lost interest I may gain don't forget )
No control once it's gone.
Simple.

 

[saturnz]

One very good reason I will never pay for any lengthy rental upfront(say more than 2 months in advance )
Just far to fraught with possible issues.

many times I've rejected people wanting to pay a year upfront, applicants generally wish to keep their financial affairs private, which is almost always a red flag