Problems with landlord / apartment managemnent

xpinkladyx

Hi All,

Please bear with me as I explain the situation…

I rent a 3 bedroom apartment along with two of my friends, we are all young professionals. We keep the flat in really good order and it’s in a great location so we don’t want to leave it.

We began renting the apartment in July 07, found the apartment through a letting agent (Operating under the name say Y Rentals). When we were moving in we signed a tenancy agreement with our landlords (Operating under the name say X Rentals). Due to the similarity of the names we were led to believe the letting agents and landlords were the same company. The lady we dealt with was introduced to us as the manager of the complex, she has since left and been replaced by Mr A.

In Oct 08 Mr A came to us and told us that our apartment had been sold but that it wouldn’t affect us in any way, apart from who we paid our rent to. So he gave us the name of our new landlord and new bank details for rent.

So anyway, over the last 6-8 months loads of stuff in communal areas has been breaking e.g. lifts, intercom system etc. and it is not getting fixed. When we try to contact Mr A he NEVER responds to calls, texts, emails or letters.:mad:

After loads of complaints to Y Rentals they say they have no responsibility for any of the situation and that they were only used for letting the property, they say they explained this when we moved in (they didn’t but it is our word against theirs):mad:

The problem we have is that the new landlord is putting us under pressure to pay rent (have been withholding for a few months until things get fixed) but as he only owns two apartments out of 51 he doesn’t feel it is his responsibility to fix communal problems.
We also have no written confirmation that this new landlord actually owns our apartment and nobody to contact to confirm this…:eek:

I think I’m rambling a bit so I’ll stop now but would really appreciate if anyone has any comments or advice for me )

m_13

If the apartment is leasehold - and I'd presume it is - then a Management Company are likely to be responsible for the communal parts. They will have obligations under the lease as to what they should do (repairs, cleaning).

You can find out who owns your individual apartment and the overall leasehold from the Land Registry for £3 per enquiry. You can also get a copy of the lease documents for the flat which will outline the Management Company responsibilities.

Once you have this you need to contact your landlord and point out that as he holds the lease and pays the service charges, he must complain to the Management Company.

However, I don't think withholding rent is a sensible thing to do as after it is 8 weeks overdue your landlord can get you out under Section 8 for owing the money.

Henry_Hoover_2

Shouldn't you contact the management company of the block, rather than the landlord/letting agent? Do you pay a service charge yourself, or is it the landlord? Either way, the management company are responsible for the communal areas.

theartfullodger

You state ==="

So he gave us the name of our new landlord and new bank details for rent.

======="

Were you also given the new Landlord's address & was it in England & Wales??? You MUST be given an address for the Landlord to "serve notices" (notices from you to him).

Because...==="
My understanding is that
a) If you weren't given an address in E&W to serve notices you can't be forced to pay rent (!)
b) Address must be in England & Wales.. (I am aware of the issue as I live in Scotland - not England & Wales - but rent a house in England. Each year my Letting Agent puts my Scottish Address on the new tenancy for the one house I have in Englerland: I then point out it is probably in Agent's interest & mine if we use the Agents' office address. Of course I tell the tenants were I live, email IS & 'phone (in case they are unhappy with the Agent..._ but “serving notices” is a different matter.

I believe this is all to do with " [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]section 48 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987; namely, not giving an address in England and Wales for the service of documents on the Landlord[/FONT] "

See also
http://www.lettings-landlords.co.uk/info/sec_47_48.html

"===

I'd also want to check that this alledged new Landlord really is the owner.

Think a trip to CaB for advice may be a good idea...
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
Cheers!

Artful

xpinkladyx

Hi
Thanks to every one for the replys so far!

The apartment is actually in Northern Ireland but I would imagine that there would be similar rules for here so I'm going to keep looking in to it.

In reply to Henry_Hoover the only contact details we have for the management company is Mr A (see first post) who is completely ignoring us and doesn't seem too bothered about his responsibilities.

Thanks again to all,

Doozergirl

You must not withold rent under any circumstances!

There is a prices you can follow but a letting agent is totally different to a managing agent. It is your landlord that would be responsible for contacting the Managing Agents - as well as any owner/occupier in the building.

Even if your landlord isn't bothered about maintenance in the building, there must be an owner occupier that is bothered enough to complain? The lift will almost certainly be under some kind of maintenance contract (any numbers in the lift itself?) and possibly the intercom system.

xpinkladyx

Just to explain a few things... it's complicated

The way things are at the minute we don't actually know who our landlord is... i know that sounds silly!

The apartments were built and are owned by a construction firm (funnily enough we were never given the name of it and don't have any contact details) Until last year this firm owned all of the apartments and employed a manager Mr A to look after them.

So we have a contract with this firm X Rentals, but the only way we can contact them are through Mr A (who we can't get hold of)
Had we realised at the time that X Rentals and Y Rentals were two different companies, we would definitely have made sure to get contact details for X Rentals but unfortunately we didn't.

I understand about the withholding rent but we thought it would be a sure fire way to get them to ring us chasing it and then we could speak to someone about the problems. But as the rent supposedly has to go to the 'new landlord' this hasnt worked and to be honest nobody seems too bothered about us not paying the rent.
We are also a bit wary about what has happened to our deposit in all of this so we want to protect ourselves a bit that way.

Can't get into the lift to check for a number but from memory I pretty sure there was nothing in it.

Really appreciate everyone's comments :T

m_13

Ah. Now I see. There are lots of unsold flats where the developers are renting them out direct whilst they are still for sale. However, it sounds like your property was sold with tenants (you) in situ. Take a look on www.houseprices.co.uk and see if the property is coming up as sold and when.

Unfortunately on lots of these developments with unsold properties the official Management Company does not have to be formed until a certain percentage of the flats are sold. If that percentage has not been reached then the Management Company may not yet exist and so no fees are being received from owners.

Once you know who owns your flat then you'll be able to do something!

tbs624

theartfullodger wrote: »

xpinkladyx - so sorry to hear of your experiences...

Re-read my first post: If you haven't been told who your Landlord is and his address for you to serve notices YOU DON'T HAVE TO PAY RENT.

I'd strongly suggest taking advice from CaB or solicitor before withholding rent but, if you haven't been informed and can therefore legally withhold rent I think (speaking as a Landlord myself) that the Landlord might suddenly start getting interested in fixing your problems....

Artful - check again - the OP is in N Ireland and the the relevant bits of legislation here are :

The Private Tenancies (Northern Ireland) Order 2006
The Tenancy Terms Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007
The Rent Book Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

All private tenants have to be given a rent book which has to contain the name, address & tel no of the LL and any LA used.

For a tenancy beginning after April 2007 the LL has to provide written
info - a Statement of Tenancy Terms - within 28 days which has to include the following:

• Address of premises
• Name of tenant(s)
• Name and address of LL
• Contact tel no for LL
• Name & address of any LA & description of services provided on LL's behalf
• Contact tel no for LA
• Emergency/ out of office hours tel no

Failure to do so is an offence & can result in a fine of up to £2,500.

xpinkladyx - contact the District Council if you don’t have this information - they are responsible for enforcing these private tenancy issues. Do not withhold rent, without seeking legal advice, however tempting it may be to do so. Any problems with the communal areas would generally be for your LL to sort out with the freeholder/management company, once the LL has been formally notified of the problems by you.