Bully boy letting agent - advice please

blckbrd

I'd imagine that the LL introduced his toe to the LA's backside demanding that he go collect the rent.

I'd also imagine that a toe in the backside induces sufficient discomfort to result in @rsy-LA-on-doorstep at 8.30pm when he could have been enjoying a chicken balti with naan in front of the telly.

"Can he speak to us like that?" Hmmm seems he (thinks he) can because he did. Some people are just inexcusably poor communicators. Advise him otherwise (perhaps when you apologise for late payment).

Don't focus on the outrage of having a stroppy LA on your doorstep - focus on paying your rent on time, every time, without fail. He'll have no reason to come back then will he?

Fire_Fox

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Blckbrd I'll stand you a chicken balti with naan if you are ever in sunny Bradford for that awesome post.

clutton_2

as a LL =- i always prefer it when tenants tell me ahead of time that they are having problems... there are always solutions to problems - but not if you dont knwo there is a problem


so... moral .... next time you are going to be late TALK to your agent

what LLs & LAs hate more than anything else is no rent and no explanation ....

he may have been rude.. we get that everywhere we are in this society....

MissMotivation

blckbrd wrote: »

I'd imagine that the LL introduced his toe to the LA's backside demanding that he go collect the rent.

I'd also imagine that a toe in the backside induces sufficient discomfort to result in @rsy-LA-on-doorstep at 8.30pm when he could have been enjoying a chicken balti with naan in front of the telly.

"Can he speak to us like that?" Hmmm seems he (thinks he) can because he did. Some people are just inexcusably poor communicators. Advise him otherwise (perhaps when you apologise for late payment).

Don't focus on the outrage of having a stroppy LA on your doorstep - focus on paying your rent on time, every time, without fail. He'll have no reason to come back then will he?

:T:T:T at last, a sensible reply!

Great post!

clutton_2

re SEction 8 notice - LL has to fill in a Section 8 notice, giving you the grounds upon which s/he is going to make an applicatin to the court, and on the form s/he must give you 2 weeks notice that an application for possession will be made.

Its only on that date (provided you still owe rent) that he can make an applicationto the court. The court will consider things and then offer a date for the possession hearing... maybe a few weeks/months away (depending on how busy they are ). IF the court awards p ossession they will porobably give you 28 days .... so dont panic.....

Jowo_2

Assuming you pay monthly, you appear to paying your rent arrears about a week or two before the next months rent is due. Will you go into arrears on the 26th of this month shortly after clearing the previous arrears?

Don't confuse being served notice with being evicted quickly - the Shelter website will give you an understanding of the entire eviction lifecycle and procedures which means it can actually be a lengthy process depending how many stages it reaches before either the tenant leaves or the landlord gains a court order for possession and whether or not they have to enforce this with bailiffs.

Note that if a tenant who pays monthly does not pay their second months rent, then the day after the second months rent is due, the landlord can issue a Section 8 notice. If at the time of serving and at the time of the court case, the tenant has 2 months rent arrears, the judge will always award possession of the property back to the landlord - he has no discretion and its a mandatory ground. No amount of showing him mobile phone logs or reasons for the arrears or complaints about rude agents will make any difference to the judgement.

There are discretionary grounds, however, such as late payment and so forth but the judge doesn't have to accept them. Read up on the grounds for eviction.

With an S21 notice, as long as it is served correctly, the judge will always award possession back to the landlord. Its known as a no fault notice as the landlord does not have to provide a reason. If you tell the forum when your current contract expires or if the original one expired and your rental period, the forum members can tell you how quickly the landlord could evict you that way.

The Shelter website has a section about landlord harassment and what constitutes it and as they offer free expert advice, you could check with them if this also applies to agents and how to prevent it happening again. Keep a log of all contact with the landlord and agent - keep good records.

Milliebert

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Oh and do manage your finances so that rent comes before festivities.

I'm a stay at home mum, my partner works but he was diagnosed with a serious illness two years ago and has been having a lot of time off. His sick pay ran out and his pay for November and december was absolutely rubbish. FYI, my children had one present each for Christmas and their stocking fillers. We are quite frugal anyway. Festivities was a coincidence, not a cause.

cyberbob wrote: »

Also I cannot believe you gave up a council property to go into private rent. As someone who spent the past 10 years in private rent and is now in a council property there is no way I would go back to private letting

I sincerely hope my MSE member daughter will come on here later and tell you what an absolute nightmare our estate was. Living next door to awful people with paper thin walls who were always screaming at each other, social services visited them all the time, they fought all the time with another family, police two or three times a week, partied all night for at least three nights a week, were dirty, my son developed behaviourial problems and used to roar all day becasue that's what he heard through the walls, we heard children being battered... So believe it - I gave up a dump, not a home, and I suffered that for almost five years. I deserve to be in a better house in a better area!

Jowo wrote: »

Assuming you pay monthly, you appear to paying your rent arrears about a week or two before the next months rent is due. Will you go into arrears on the 26th of this month shortly after clearing the previous arrears?

Thank you for your post. I have to say that this is a one off. We have been here over two and a half years and they have had the best part of 14k off us in rent. We have no problem paying next months rent on time as OH is back in work and pay resumes, he is payed full pay on 25th. His condition has been a "managed" condition which has deteriorated so much he has to now have treatment, but that means he'll be less ill day to day and can work. He has negotiated new hours at work to help with this. So we will be paying on time this month.

Milliebert

I should also have added, our landlord lives in another country and his father has to deal with the letting through the agent. He is an old man (late 70's?) and he asks us to communicate with him. Yes, he knew we were having trouble this time, we spoke with him when he came to do a repair, and he said he would let the agent know. So I assumed everything was ok. I have learned from that.

princeofpounds

Hey, sounds like there is fault on both sides here - clearly you know you should have paid and been proactive about calling the LL.

However the agent sounds very aggressive and do feel free to contact the police if anything similar happens again and he won't leave when asked. Repeated cases would constitute harrassment. Landlord does have a reason to be upset however.

Jowo has basically given you the technical advice you need. Section 8 can only be used when two full monthly payments are overdue (NOT in arrears - what matters is when you are meant to pay not how much time you have paid for).

You would then be summoned to court and as long as the arrears are reduced even one penny below that level by the date of court (some weeks later) you will not be evicted. The only caveat on this is that if you are persistently late, that can also be a reason, but for one instance you are safe.

There would then be a few more weeks before the bailiffs actually came.

The landlord can get you out at the end of your fixed term if he is upset enough, but whilst you are in the fixed term you are safe.

Pay the rent, apologise (but feel free to write about the threatening behaviour of the estate agent and request that all future contact with them is in writing) and it will likely die down.

Fire_Fox

Milliebert wrote: »

We are at fault at the moment. No excuses, but we haven't paid the rent which was due on Boxing Day. (Please bear in mind that there have been holiday days and weekends in this time) but we are now 16 days late. We are planning to pay it on Monday. We paid it late once before, it was due on a Friday and the LL was on the phone shouting at me on the Saturday morning!

Milliebert wrote: »

I'm a stay at home mum, my partner works but he was diagnosed with a serious illness two years ago and has been having a lot of time off. His sick pay ran out and his pay for November and december was absolutely rubbish. FYI, my children had one present each for Christmas and their stocking fillers. We are quite frugal anyway. Festivities was a coincidence, not a cause.

Thank you for your post. I have to say that this is a one off. We have been here over two and a half years and they have had the best part of 14k off us in rent. We have no problem paying next months rent on time as OH is back in work and pay resumes, he is payed full pay on 25th. So we will be paying on time this month.

I'm sorry to hear that your partner has been unwell. Look at this from our POV, you have completely changed your story since the OP: from the POV of the landlord and letting agent you haven't bothered to keep your landlord informed of your financial and personal difficulties. How would you feel if your partner's wages were nineteen days late without explanation?