Need some advice on rude landlord

hezza86

I have read this post with interest as about 3 years ago i had a prob with a landlord when i was a student.
I had a maisonette with 3 of us all on the same lease agreement, everything was fine we took good care of the flat even had permission to decorate the hall and make it look nicer. One girl moved out about half way through the term as we no longer got on.
We spoke with landlord who up until that time had been fine, he siad since we were 2 young females we could advertise for a tenant ourselfs but he would also keep an eye out too, we gave him our description of what we wanted from a flatmate (female aged 18-25,non smoker etc) he was happy with that.
Then it all went wrong, he phoned my flatmate one evening to say he had found us a flat mate, fine. not fine it was a 40 yr old man!!!! my flatmates mum went mental and so did my mum and dad. He said he was moving the man in on the monday (this was friday) we paniced and were quite scared, we had a chain put on the door and kept it on as he said he was going to just turn up with the guy to show him round and we said no. eventually he saw sense and after a very worried weekend he said the man wouldnt be moving in,
then we starting haviong problems in the flat and he set a 'fix it' guy round who was a creep he started turning up and letting himslef in saying he had to check stuff he even turned up when my flatmate was in the shower one day and just let himself in, we wrote letters and got no where so our parents came and changed the barrel in the lock and we kept the chain on constantly it was the only way we felt safe, we got a call from landlord one day as the guy had tried to get in but obv his key didnt work, we explained we were unhappy that he was just coming in unannounced etc.
Landlord finally agreed with us and we moved out shortly after.

So my point, id get the barrel of the lock changed, or put a chain on the door so when your in you feel safe.
Some people might not agree but having been in a similar situation id advise it 100%

(sorry for the essay!)

neverdespairgirl

Captain_Mainwaring wrote: »

I thought it was contrary to common law.....

Precisely so. So you can't point to s.X of the Y Act to say murder is illegal.

Captain_Mainwaring_2

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Precisely so. So you can't point to s.X of the Y Act to say murder is illegal.

You know full well about the development process of common law - precedent being one of the methods.

Murder is contrary to common law, are you saying it isn't? and it has little to do with this discussion - there would be no need for a contract if s.X of the Y Act covered the terms of a standard tenancy.

Since you choose to raise your head - should the tenant change the lock without the written permission of the LL?

neverdespairgirl

What I wrote was:

Wrong question. There doesn't need to be a specific clause in a relevant act that catagorically states anything.

For example, there is no clause in an act which says that murder is against the law.

I was pointing out that you can't define the law merely by specific sections in specific acts, and you seem to be agreeing with me!

As far as changing the locks is concerned - I'm not sure. But if I felt unsafe, I would do it personally.

Captain_Mainwaring_2

Thus if the contract implied that the tenant may not undertake any maintenance, periodic or specific, the it wouldn't be an unfair contract and it would do the job if it contained something like the above?

mellymeep

tbs624 wrote: »

Good to get an update - hopefully your letter will make the LA back off, and keep to the rules in future.

We're on your side on this part Mellymeep - I don't think anyone has said that they agree with the LA letting himself in: it *is* unacceptable for him to do so unless there is a genuine emergency.

Can I just check Melly - are you saying that you paid extra to the the LA for the property to be cleaned at the start of your tenancy?

Were you given an inventory of the property, its furnishings & condition etc at the start of the tenancy? Take some photos now (with a dated newspaper in shot) to keep for the end of your tenancy.

not acceptable - clearly you should have been given a key each, rather than having to pay for extra ones. You mention locks on other doors ? You may want to check with the private sector rentals team at the council, as mentioned before, what the local rules are on licensing for HMOs (Houses In Multiple Occupation) .

Let us know what response you get - and do use the Uni accomms office and the Council TRo if necessary for back up.

Edit: has the LA/LL scheme-registered your deposits yet btw?

From what I understand we did pay extra, although it came under the "house signing and admin fee" or something which was 100 quid, the agency said it was for providing us with keys, the contracts, checking the house before we moved in and sending cleaners/maintenance guys round should needs be. (and actually none of these were given to us.. just one contract which we were told to get copies of ourself or they'd charge us an extra 15 quid each??)

We were given an inventory, and it was all filled in correctly with all the faults/things missing (filled 2 pages of A4 with the things wrong with this place!!) which was part of the problem when the agent came round, he didn't believe that the mould/damp/peeling plaster etc was already there when we moved in? :mad:

He's coming back round tomorrow to check the house again, and to take photos of the damage. I wonder if they say anything about the letter.

neverdespairgirl

Captain_Mainwaring wrote: »

Thus if the contract implied that the tenant may not undertake any maintenance, periodic or specific, the it wouldn't be an unfair contract and it would do the job if it contained something like the above?

I'm sure it's me being thick, but I don't get what you mean, here.

EagerLearner

Wow - mellymeep I really feel for you. Having the burden of handling this on behalf of everyone in the house and having the stress of it all with rude agents... they are always on the side of the landlord, sadly that's just the ways things are.

Apart from providing you very swiftly with the landlords actual contact details, you need to make sure that (and many people here know what I am going to say next...) that they have placed your deposit with a registered deposit scheme, if this applies to your situation re: sharing. Also ensure that the niggles re cleaning/damp etc are sorted and if everything is still not to your satisfaction, write a letter stating what is missing.

Writing letters and sending them via Recorded Delivery cost barely anything and you can keep a log throughout your tenancy. I sadly believe that when you check-out of the property, there may be issues, given how unprofessional the agency has shown itself to be so far.

Good luck and keep us posted!

mellymeep

Yeah its fallen onto my shoulders because i'm the mouthy one apparently! And my fellow housemates are pretty much happy to let our landlord and the agency walk all over them! Im not taking any of their rubbish and if they think they can mess with me then they've picked the wrong girl im afraid!

I've not heard anything back yet, but we're supposed to be getting another visit today so the agent can check the damage to the walls has been removed and he's apparently coming round to take an inventory of everything else wrong with the house. I'm quite eager to hear what he has to say in reply to my letter! It's been a few days since I sent it along with the request for our landlords details, someone said that if they don't provide that within 21 days they can be fined? is that correct?

We also think we've figured out how they got the information that they thought someone was living here illegally, one of the agents lives just across the street from us!! We have a few visitors to this house because we all have boyfriends, my sister visits from Newcastle occasionally and we've got quite a big circle of friends, so im guessing he just saw lots of people coming and going.. I feel rather uneasy that he's spying on us though!!

I think we were assured that the deposits were kept in a scheme, because we all signed a seperate contract about that. Sadly im having trouble with my last landlord about my deposit, because as good as he was at maintenance in our flat he didn't register the deposits and think's he can now keep them! ... I just don't have much luck with them really

mellymeep

No visit yesterday, still no reply from the letter.
I think they're going to leave us alone from now on :j