# Regulatory Compliance Category > Consumer Protection Act Forum > [Question] Does the landlord have the power to report me even if he is the one at fault ?

## helloworld

I had an agreement with my landlord for him to take his money only through debit order every month on the 1st. I never missed a payment, I made sure the money was always available for them to take in my account at their cost. I planned all my finances around this date. Furthermore, the agreement we have together was that anything that should change that affects me or him, should be put in writing and signed by both of us. 

Now my landlord decided to sell the building I am renting in, cancelled the debit order to my account for last month and now expects me to pay him through other means we never agreed on which is EFT or Cash. This change was never put in writing to me and I never signed anything like it. He basically failed to collect as agreed. But now the landlord has sent me a letter advising me that they will report me to the credit bureau if I do not pay within 20 days.

The question is, did he contravene our agreement, does he still deserve the pay and what can I do to make sure I do not get reported to the credit bureau given that the landlord is at fault ?

Furthermore to this question, could I sue for defamation of character if they dirt my credit record at the credit bureau ?

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## Blurock

Why all the hassle? Just pay the guy. You do owe him the money, don't you? 

You can also arrange for a stop order from your bank if you do not have internet banking.  :Confused:

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## Dave A

Let's get this one out of the way -




> does he still deserve the pay


Yes.

For the rest of it, some fights are entirely avoidable, and they should be avoided when there's nothing to gain.

Out of idle interest, how much longer do you have on your lease?

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## helloworld

So you guys are suggesting that I simple pay him and overlook the fact that he contravened our agreement hey?

The thing is the landlord made a mistake, and I want them to pay for it by forfeiting that months' rent. Simple. But now my question is how do I achieve that, can I take them to court should they dare report me to the credit bureau ?

Furthermore to this and answering Dave A's question: The lease has apparently been from this month onwards transferred to the new owner of the building (my new landlord, whom I have no issues with). But my lease was suppose to be ending this end of May 2013 (one and a half month left).

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## Dave A

> The thing is the landlord made a mistake, and I want them to pay for it by forfeiting that months' rent. Simple.


I gently suggest you bear in mind the law does a half-assed job of compensating people for *actual losses incurred* by other people's mistakes.

When it comes to *profiting*.. Let's just say it is even less reliable (unless you're a lawyer, of course  :Wink:  ).

You can easily win a battle and lose the war (i.e. win a point, and still be worse off for it).

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## helloworld

> Why all the hassle? Just pay the guy. You do owe him the money, don't you? 
> 
> You can also arrange for a stop order from your bank if you do not have internet banking.



So you are suggesting that I simply pay them and overlook the fact that they contravened our agreement hey? ***Very High Conflict avoidance in you :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic):   :Wink: 

The thing is I never missed any payments through the debit order. Right now the landlord made a mistake, and I want them to pay for it by forfeiting that months' rent. Simple. But now my question is how do I achieve that, can I take them to court should they dare report me to the credit bureau ? - DO I have a chance in court should they dare ?

The lease has apparently been from this month onwards transferred to the new owner of the building (my new landlord, whom I have no issues with). But my lease was supposed to be ending this end of May 2013 (one and a half month left).

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## HR Solutions

If the initial lease agreement said you will pay via debit orders and the tenant has changed bank accounts etc etc, that is his right.  You owe him the money and how you pay is not his problem.  You are paying him to rent his property and if he now prefers a different sort of payment then that is how you have to go.  If you dont want to pay pick n pay with a credit card because thats what they want and they dont accept it, then go shop at checkers.

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## Dave A

> So you are suggesting that I simply pay them and overlook the fact that they contravened our agreement hey?


What steps have you taken to point out to them that they have contravened the contract?
What loss have you suffered out of the landlord failing to take the rent due out of your bank account on the agreed date?

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## Blurock

> So you are suggesting that I simply pay them and overlook the fact that they contravened our agreement hey? ***Very High Conflict avoidance in you 
> 
> The thing is I never missed any payments through the debit order. Right now the landlord made a mistake, and I want them to pay for it by forfeiting that months' rent. Simple. But now my question is how do I achieve that, can I take them to court should they dare report me to the credit bureau ? - DO I have a chance in court should they dare ?
> 
> The lease has apparently been from this month onwards transferred to the new owner of the building (my new landlord, whom I have no issues with). But my lease was supposed to be ending this end of May 2013 (one and a half month left).



Why create unnecessary conflict? Do you now want to take revenge because you do not like what the landlord is doing? Or are you just opportunistic in trying to "score" a free month?

Consider the facts;
You are renting premises. You are getting a value and have agreed to pay a certain amount per month for that benefit. The property has been sold and the landlord obviously had to cancel the debit order as part of the agreement with the new owner. He can not continue collecting the rent for ever. 

Before taking irrational decisions you should read up on contract law and legal tender. Do not for one minute think that you will get a month's rent free just because you don't agree with the landlord. In any event your legal cost will be much much more than one month's rent.

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## sterne.law@gmail.com

Irrespective, you will have to pay the rent.
What you seek is to claim damages based on an impugned credit record, to your  mind, the equivalent of one month rent.
Forgetting, the failure to inform you of the new payment method, he gave you a 20 day period to rectify the issue, failing which he would then list you.
A plaintiff is obligated to mitigate his damage, meaning, that  if you failed to pay within the 20 days, then you are the author of your own mischief and solely responsible for the damage that flowed from there.
Yes, the landlord breached the contract, more from oversight than maliciousness. You should have then , as per contract, given him 7 days to rectify. Etc, etc.
Given that had you approached a lawyer, for the above advice, it would have probably just cost you R700-R1000.00. Further, a lawyer , with doubtful ethics, may even have said yes, lets fight this, pay the deposit  of R20 000, and lets get it on.

So, in answer, for free, as per all the other posts, let it go and move on. Probably, as it stands this aggravation has cost you more than the rent and maybe an extra bank charge, in terms of harm to your health, both physical and mental.

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CLIVE-TRIANGLE (22-Apr-13), Dave A (19-Apr-13), flaker (19-Apr-13), Justloadit (19-Apr-13)

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