Landlord's invasion of privacy... recourse?

NotTheOne

Long story short, I was having a bit of fun with my special lady friend. One of my flatmates is late on the rent apparently, and the landlord let himself in, not only to the flat, but into my room, catching me stark chuffing naked diving for the door lock.

Now, as you can imagine, I'm not best pleased. To say nothing of my girlfriend.

The property is rented, and he gave no notice of entry.

Do I have any recourse? He doesn't appear to be listed on any landlord associations, but I've only had a cursory google for his name.

Cheers all

Manual_Reversion

Put it down to experience! You'll laugh about it in time. And I'm sure your LL has learnt his lesson the er, ahem, hard way as well.

Definitely one to tell the children/grandchildren in the future (!?)

NotTheOne

That's where I was heading, but he's been a rubbish landlord, and this takes the biscuit really (he had workmen in who stole from us, and the place has never been cleaned properly since they left...) I was after something more substantive than laughing about it, but I don't guess there's much I can do apart from get over it!

Thanks anyway.

Jowo_2

Change the lock, change it back when the tenancy ends (which will be sooner than later if your flat-mate isn't paying the rent).

Willsnarf1983

this sounds like multiple occupancy to me rather than a tenancy for the whole house, now from what I have read I think the landlord can enter the communial rooms as he pleases however your own room is out of bounds and he has to be given permission to enter.

If you all have a joint tenancy then as above change the locks, if not I don't think u can

Will

NotTheOne

Willsnarf1983 wrote: »

this sounds like multiple occupancy to me rather than a tenancy for the whole house, now from what I have read I think the landlord can enter the communial rooms as he pleases however your own room is out of bounds and he has to be given permission to enter.

If you all have a joint tenancy then as above change the locks, if not I don't think u can

Will

It's a joint tenancy, and I'll probably change the locks to prevent it happening again. Thanks for that pointer.

clutton_2

if you have a yale lock, then put the "sneck" down whenever you are in - that way he cannot get in when you are home

franklee

Well as I always say keep a paper trail I'd be writing the landlord a detailed letter objecting to his intrusion and pointing out the distress he has caused your special lady seeing you both in the buff.

From these forums it seems there are still far too many landlords who will just let themselves in. What was he doing in your room anyway if it's the flat mate short on rent, did he think you keep the flat mate's cash under your pillow Certainly if you write it would be something to hold over him should he be a pain at returning your deposit etc. if you have written evidence of what a plonker he is imagine how embarrassing that would be for him if any deposit disputes got to court. The terms to bandy about are "quiet enjoyment" and possibly if it happens again "harassment", (or perv ) should make him think twice.

Frankly I'd just change the locks as routine as this type of thing happens all too often. On the grounds that prevention is better than cure I'd suggest you need a lock on the door that can be locked both when you are out and in. For a fit on with no damage to an internal door you may want to look at the Uni-Lock developed by Mathew Price at Bournemouth University. A free standing shed alarm is another possibility. For external doors just change the lock barrels replacing the old ones when you leave (may not be an option if the landlord has rights of access to communal areas in a shared house, it depends if you are all on one agreement or all separate agreements with communal areas).

Again worth writing a complaint about the intrusion to head off any objections the landlord may raise to your changing the locks. You may well be in breach of the tenancy agreement by changing them but I don't think that would count against you has you have reason to change them having been walked in on.

PasturesNew

It could have been worse ... your lady friend could have bound you up naked and blindfolded while she popped down the shops for some ice cream/whipped cream/licking sauce/who knows what ....

greenface

NotTheOne wrote: »

Long story short, I was having a bit of fun with my special lady friend. One of my flatmates is late on the rent apparently, and the landlord let himself in, not only to the flat, but into my room, catching me stark chuffing naked diving for the door lock.

Cheers all

so you call it a door lock is that rhyming slang Ahh see "special" lady

Jowo_2

NotTheOne wrote: »

It's a joint tenancy, and I'll probably change the locks to prevent it happening again. Thanks for that pointer.

Are you aware that you are jointly and severally liable for rent arrears?

It's not your flat-mate's arrears, they are yours, too.

Not that it excuses the landlord's failure to respect your right to quiet enjoyment of the property and noisy enjoyment of guests in it.