changing the locks

belisha-beacon

I was off work today and discovered my landlord letting himself into my house with no prior permission. I was in the bathroom after a shower and because I heard the keys in the lock I assumed it was my boyfriend and thought nothing of it when the cupboard doors were all being opened and stuff being moved around. It was only when I shouted down that I would be down in a bit and heard the sounds of things being hastily put back followed by the sight of my landlord running out of the house that I realised what was going on. Needless to say, I am totally freaked out by the idea that my personal space has been invaded and that I had been in a completely vulnerable position. I don't feel safe in my house any more. We're looking for somewhere else immediately but until then, I want to change the locks. There have been previous incidents where I thought that things had been moved around but I had assumed that I was just being silly and forgetting where I had put things.

I've been to CAB and my local council and both have said that it should be fine to change my locks, but because there is a clause in my contract saying that I need permission from the landlord then they advised me to do that first to avoid legal difficulties. If not, they will write a letter to inform my agents that I should be allowed to change the locks so that i can have quiet enjoyment of the property, but that could take up to 10 days. BUT the landlord says that I can only change the locks if I give him a copy of the new key which would obviously make the whole thing pointless. If he legally needs access then I will let him in when my boyfriend is there but I want to make sure that he cannot get access illegally. If he has been going through my stuff then he could have nicked ID documents, have all my financial details, or anything.

If I change the locks now, rather than waiting for the council to write to my agents, will I be creating any sort of risk? Also, I now don't want the landlord coming round at all when we are not there because it is obvious that he can't be trusted not to riffle through all of our stuff. Can I say that I will only allow viewings of the property when I am not at work, even though my contract says that I have to allow viewings at 'reasonable hours'?

bunnydrumming

I would be calling the police and making a report as he was going through your cupboards so obviously up to no good. If he had just been checking something on the house it may be slightly less invasive but he was rifling through your private property! CREEP - landlords have the right to enter the building without your permission in case of emergency but on all other occasions they have to get your permission.

You should definitely ring the agent as well and tell them so they can make a choice as to whether they keep him on their books for future lets! Also any single women who may rent from him in the future should be ware so i would def tell the agent and the police!

I would write him a letter and CC to the agent saying you don't want any viewings unless you are there or someone from the agency as you cannot trust the landlord with your privacy - not sure about your rights though.

oo oo - you should also report him to your local council as all landlords have to bide by council guidelines even for private rents

belisha-beacon

Thanks, bunnydrumming. I did report him to the letting agents and the first person I spoke to was appalled, but the managing director rang me back and unfortunately their official position is that we should consider giving him some leeway as he has so many houses in our area and he has told them that he thought that he was in a different house - apparently he went into ours 'by mistake'. I hope that they are just trying to keep face and that actually they are going to do something about it, but the undertones of what I was told seems to be that he makes a lot of money for them. Aaargh.

I'm certainly going to take your advice and get this recorded in a formal letter. I also contacted the council, and they said that it was definitely wrong but they wouldn't take action unless there was evidence of repeated attempts. I don't intend to give him the opportunity!

Ulfar

Report it to the police, even though he is the landlord he has no right to enter.

cte1111

If he was there 'by mistake', then why didn't he stay and apologise rather than running away? Not sure about the legal position but hugs for the awful shock, not a nice feeling.

Treadway1

From a legal standpoint, the interesting question would be: As he didnt have permission to enter the property, and as he hadnt given 24 hours prior notice of the visit (as he would be legally obliged to) did he then enter the premises as a trespasser???

If the answer to that question is yes, then he has effectively committed the offence of Burglary ( Sec. 9(1)(a) Theft Act 1968 for those who are legally minded) as I would say that his obvious intention there was to steal something.

Id be interested to hear what any legal beagles on here had to say on this....

SUESMITH_2

wow thats horrid, could you not fit bolts so at least when youre in he cant get straight in

nothing else to add except good luck finding somewhere else soon

Bennifred

If you were to change the locks without telling him - how would he know?

Treadway1

Bennifred wrote: »

If you were to change the locks without telling him - how would he know?

Presumably he would find out the next time he decided to make an unscheduled visit!!!

Bennifred

Treadway1 wrote: »

Presumably he would find out the next time he decided to make an unscheduled visit!!!

Indeed - but he could hardly object, could he? And if he did - so what, as OP wants (understandably) to move out anyway - at least she'd feel safe in the meantime. His is the greater wrong, IMHO.

tek-monkey

I'd have my BF kick the **** out of him, but I'm not known for being reasonable! Seriously, police should be called immediately.