landlady issues.

klee1505

Hi guys,

I wrote on here a few weeks ago about my landlady not fixing the loo and couldnt get hold of her because she was away in france?
well she finnaly came back last week and we made an arangement for her son \(who is a handyman) to come round last saturday to fix it .
all is now fixed with the loo and it works fine now. when he was there he noticed the light in the toliet didnt work due to the cord being broken and it didnt pull properly. he advised us he didnt have the correct tools to get this done and come back in the week to get this sorted, we said to him we would contact him when we are both in to get this sorted( due to my other half working nights and me working days when i get home id have to make sure he is up for the guy to come round) he was fine with that and us contacting him when we where avaiable in the week.

aparantly he came round last night when neither of us where actually at home no phone call nothing left so we had no idea he had even been.

got an email from the landlady today saying she had given him her key and he was guna let him self in when we wernt at home!!! Now i emailed her back and said it is against our tennancy aggreement for her to give someone a key and alow them to let them selves in with out our concent which i will not be giving due to the fact i do not want a total stranger walking into the house wheere all our valuble items are kept and just because we dont really like the fact that someone just letting themselves in. she has now gone absoluty mad at me stating that i have no choice if i let them in or not as it is her house;

now i am extremley mad and dont know where i stand. in our tennacy agreement it states that for any one to come in the property they have to give us 24 written hours notice and it has to be convinent for us also
can you give me some advise on what to do?
Thanks

dopester

I feel angry for you.

Read another MSE thread earlier today where the landlord took measurements of a bedroom, whilst the tenant was asleep in bed, totally unaware of the landlord's presence. :mad:

I don't know what measures can be taken against landlords who think they can do whatever they please with regard to access. Who don't follow 24 hours written notice rule (which again to me isn't clear.. does the landlord have to check the tenant has received written notice... they could not bother sending it and claim it was lost in the post).

http://www.privatehousinginformation.co.uk/site/148.asp

It is advisable to set out the arrangements for access and procedures for getting repairs done in the tenancy agreement. The landlord or landlord’s agent has the legal right to enter the property at reasonable times of day to carry out the repairs for which the landlord is responsible and to inspect the condition and state of repair of the property. However he must give at least 24 hours written notice before doing so; other than by mutual agreement, or in genuine emergencies.

It is the tenant’s right to refuse access if the tenant wishes. If access is refused the landlord cannot enter - this is because the tenant’s right to exclude people from the property overrides the landlord’s right of access if the two are in conflict. However, refusal to let the landlord inspect at all, will put the tenant in breach of the tenancy agreement.

klee1505

thanks for replying.
see i honestly dont have a problem with the guy coming in just at a suitable time and a time when we are actually there. she has now emailed me saying i have aparantly accused her of stealing when i mentioned i had valuble items in the house, i meant that if they get broken i never once said " you cant come in because your going to steal my valuble items" surely she should see where i am coming from by saying i only want him going in when i am there but she doesnt. because no one is there untill 6pm tonight i am now worried that she will just tell him to go in any way and if he does what can i do? im thinking of going home at lunch and putting something behind a door so i know if he has come in? but still what can i do if he does go in

Bufger

change the barrel in the lock. keep the old one to change back over when the tennancy is up.

consultant31

The landlord is not allowed to enter the property if the tenant does not agree (unless there is cause to suspect the tenant has damaged the property.

I would quote the relevant passage from your tenancy agreement to her and say you will be getting advice from a solicitor. You can often get ½ hour free from a solicitor so it needn't cost you anything.

I would then be looking for somewhere else to live as your relationship with your landlord is likely to be irretrievably damaged.

klee1505

well we have a years tennancy with our landlord that ends next may. are we in our right to leave early? because i really cant see a good relationship being bult with them or anything getting better.

dopester

From what I've just been reading, on ... there might be a case to seek damages for, or an injunction against, trespass. Depending on the actual circumstances / evidence. If it were myself, I'd check it through with a solicitor, and have them write a warning letter to the landlord.

Civil Proceedings.

This course of action is more suited to tenants who may need an injunction to restrain a landlord or to regain possession of a property.

Damages and injunctions are available only in civil proceedings in the county court. To bring proceedings, a `cause of action' is necessary which means that a landlord must be shown to have broken some rule of law by his actions and to have caused the tenant to suffer loss or harm because of this.

The following lists some of the actions possible:

* Breach of the covenant for quiet enjoyment (most actions of harassment and unlawful eviction will breach this)
* Breach of contract in general (any other breach of the tenancy agreement)
* Trespass to land ((landlord enters premises without permission)
* Trespass to the person (e.g. assault/battery)
* Trespass to goods (damaging a tenant's goods/furniture etc.)

http://www.midlandslandlords.com/section7.html

clutton_2

lets not get this out of proportion - i am a LL and i abhor LLs who do this - i would not dream of letting myself into one of my tenanted properties.

But - there is a long way to go on the tenancy and relations need to be re-established - maybe you could ask your LL round for a cup of tea and explain the way you feel about this, and show her a downloaded article from Shelter about "quiet enjoyment" at the same time .... tell her you want to stay and you like living there, but hope they will respect your privacy as you will do everything you can to comply with apointments made in advance.

if you dont think you can meet her face to face (always the best way to foster good LL/T relations) - then write her a polite letter - dont go threatening trespass proceedings or anything over the top just yet

talk to her

klee1505

clutton wrote: »

lets not get this out of proportion - i am a LL and i abhor LLs who do this - i would not dream of letting myself into one of my tenanted properties.

But - there is a long way to go on the tenancy and relations need to be re-established - maybe you could ask your LL round for a cup of tea and explain the way you feel about this, and show her a downloaded article from Shelter about "quiet enjoyment" at the same time .... tell her you want to stay and you like living there, but hope they will respect your privacy as you will do everything you can to comply with apointments made in advance.

if you dont think you can meet her face to face (always the best way to foster good LL/T relations) - then write her a polite letter - dont go threatening trespass proceedings or anything over the top just yet

talk to her

beleive me this is not an option. this isnt the 1st problem we have had with her. bassically because i am young she looks down on me i know people might think i am just being paranoid but honestly she really does, she is quite wealthy and extremley rude, the main reason we have resulted in only contacting by email and letter is mainly because when i try and call her she either does not answer the phone, talks to me rudely as if what do you want me to do about it attitude and i am not one of those people who can just sit there and take it.
i am not looking to stay at this house at the end of the tennancy im hoping to get out as early as we can., we have had no end of problems at the house, at one point we had her husband learing over the fence in the garden looking into the house through the concervatry,

the main issue here isnt if we get on or not its bassically the fact that i want to know is she aloud to just give someone a key and tell them to come over at any time they please with out contacting us and at least making sure it was ok with us. and not giving us written notice of this?

not once has she tried to call me or my OH just emailed my work email. for all she knew i could have been off today and been at home with some random person letting themselves in to the house and i would be non the wiser.

she knows no one is at the house today so for all i know she and her son are sitting in the house right now thats what is worrying me

Annabee

dopester wrote: »

I feel angry for you.

Read another MSE thread earlier today where the landlord took measurements of a bedroom, whilst the tenant was asleep in bed, totally unaware of the landlord's presence. :mad:

Dopester - could youpossibly provide a link to that thread or say which section it's in? I would love to read it and can't find it.

Thanks.

dopester

Sure Annabee... I've just looked at my browser history from this morning...

This is the thread:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1866557&page=2

And below is a quote of the specific post..... which maybe I sexed up slightly (also it actually the landlord's EA..), because there was actually a family member overseeing the landlord go into the bedroom whilst the main tenant slept - but nevertheless.

Also a great point he makes in the final paragraph.

I am in a similar situation. My landlord has decided to sell the house I am in. I have had the estate agent coming around for the last couple weeks. I just switched shifts on my job and started working nights. I had already agreed to let him in prior to this to do a floor plan.. He came around at 3pm while I was asleep having gone to bed at 930am. I had arranged for a family member to be in the house while I was asleep.

Firstly the EA was annoyed because I hadn't done my dishes and my laundry was on the radiators and he needed to take photos. Then he asked my family member what was going to be done about viewings since I was working "unsociable hours".

He even then proceeded to insist he needed to take room measurements while I slept, but stopped short of making her wake me up so he could take a photo of the bedroom. My family member opened the door while he took one measurement, while I lay there sleeping.

I felt I had to do this because When I first had objected to his proposed visit he said he had keys and could let himself in. I told him "No offense, I don't want a stranger walking around my house when no one is there." How do they know I am not asleep upstairs in bed. Next time do I have to go to another relative's house to sleep, or will he just walk in? I am not opposed to any of the viewings or what not, I just do not want my life to revolve around their plans.

And if one more LL says why wouldn't you let your LL in when you're not in? Would you let a man from your mortgage company come into your house while you are away? You should trust them right? You do have a mortgage with them? I am guessing you would not like a stranger walking through your most prized possessions, even if they technically owned the building they were in.