Problems with locks on rented property

clutton_2

with weather that awful it was a difficult situation. if you had to call out an emergency key-guy because your paperwork/phone numbers for the LL were in the house - i cannot see how you can reasonably expect the LL to pay for the call out charge.

scottyh56

Clutton - do you keep your property documents in the car? Does any reasonable person? As I mentioned landlord was on holiday & has never provided a number anyway, agent did not have one on occasion when it was needed.

Weather was not that awful on easter day. I've no idea what the weather has got to do with it anyway!

Seems to be a presumption in some comments made by you and some others that because I'm a tenant I don't take care. In fact I take far more care of this house than I do my own property!

Sold up to move here for 6 months or so between properties. Perhaps we should just tell the landlord we're off - I don't think that will help the LL (who went 5 months without tenants before us) in this market. I need to feel that this is my home if we are to stay. Perhaps a hot tip for landlords.

theartfullodger

By all means tell the Landlord you are off, go ahead & leave... but I think you'll find you still have to pay the rent for the rest of the tenancy or until the first break point, often a minimum of 6 months... See many many posts here from people asking if they can end the tenancy early...

Unfair perhaps but I think you'll find that is what you agreed to in your tenancy agreement.

btw it goes both ways. It is very difficult for a Landlord to get anyone out in the first 6 months in almost all circumstances..

Cheers & I hope it works out for you..

Lodger

scottyh56

Don't worry artful, We'll get our 6 months worth before quitting! But if made to feel this was our home it could be far longer to the benefit of the landlord, maybe us too depending on the house buying market.

olly300

scottyh56 wrote: »

Don't worry artful, We'll get our 6 months worth before quitting! But if made to feel this was our home it could be far longer to the benefit of the landlord, maybe us too depending on the house buying market.

I suggest if you have a trusted family member near by move some of your small treasured processions there.

Not meaning to scare you but some burglars will burgle the same rental property again a few months later.

And next time if the door frame looks patched up , the house doesn't have window locks on all the ground floor back windows or any where you can get access to upstairs at the back, and/or the house has an easy accessible back garden then rent somewhere else.

I have friends' and ex-colleagues who rented a property got burgled and found out the place had been burgled a few months or a year previously but didn't take these warning signs seriously.

lynzpower

I work for a property company and one of the properties we look after has a Bramah lock and i really feel for you as I find them a total nightmare! they are a very specific type f lock and hardly anyone can copy these keys- so if you lose a key you are totally scuppered for getting copies cut.

The 180 you have paid for the fixing should certianly be repaid to you this is not damage, this is excessive wear to the lock and therefore a cost the LL should bear. Personally If I were him Id get a locksmith out and get a normal yale lock for a tenner and a LOT less hassle!

In my experience once Bramah locks go, they are gone, and youll unfortunatley have many problems with them.

On here there is lots of discussion about as a tenant, you have the right to change the lock barrels yourself anyway, as long as the original lock is kept. However Bramah locks are certainly a different shape to normal locks, so yo may have some difficulty in doing this.

I would phone a new locksmith & ask how much it would cost to take out the bramah and replace with a normal yale. It might be costly, I really dont know.

sooz

scottyh56 wrote: »

Clutton - do you keep your property documents in the car? Does any reasonable person? As I mentioned landlord was on holiday & has never provided a number anyway, agent did not have one on occasion when it was needed. No, but I do keep important numbers on my phone.

Weather was not that awful on easter day. I've no idea what the weather has got to do with it anyway! You mentioned the weather, the snow, & distance by bus

What would you have done if you'd locked yourselves out that night (rather than the lock failing)?
You locked all your contact details inside your property, & were unable to call from a mobile, payphone, a neighbours, access the internet or find any way of contacting your agent or LL - but were able to call a locksmith?

I agree with Lynz, Banhams are difficult to have keys cut for, & a 'normal' lock is much simpler to fit, & cheaper to buy & have spare keys cut for. Could you ask your LL to fit one of these instead. For insurance purposes, Chubb sells 5 lever mortice locks.

scottyh56

Unfortunately people are picking up different elements & confusing the story - snow was "On day we first moved in", not Easter day! Agent had no 24/7 number or other help for me then - during normal working hours. That was my point.

How do I keep a number which does not exist on my phone?

What I did on the night was call a friend who looked up Banham's number on the internet.

We seem to be losing the central point - even if I had been able to speak to the landlord or agent (both not possible) they would surely have said get in a locksmith who knows how to deal with Banham security locks. He got us in without damaging the door. On Easter Sunday evening the £138 call out would probably have been matched by any non-expert locksmith who may have left a ttrail of damage.

So the money would have been spent anyway to get us in. So why should I not get it back?

Or should we simply have been left out on the street?

One thing I've noticed in this brief period as being a tenant is that when things go wrong people assume it's your screw up.

I think I've got to the answer to my question. Good night all....

sooz

If you had called the LL or agent, they could have
a) tried a spare key - your key may have been faulty, bent or broken
b) authorised you to pay a locksmith's call out charge, up to an amount they considered reasonable for the date & time, & then reimbursed you the next working day
c) or paid for the locksmith directly

Then you would not be out of pocket.

You obviously have other issues with the agency.
What are the emergency contact details?
Who are you to call in case of any emergency out of hours?

scottyh56

Issues, yes. As I stated, I have been given no emergency contact details. I did ask the landlady when I moved in. Original letting agents were appointed to manage 1 month later. They have given me nothing, no paperwork. I only have their office number.

If I have learned something perhaps it is that they have been negligent in communicating anything to me.

(I tried 3 keys. I did not break the lock!)