Dreadful problems with landlord- please advise

Vincenzo

Personally I would leave as soon as possible. In the 10 months you have been there you have already uncovered two maintenance issues that could have threatened the lives of you and your family (carbon monoxide poisoning and fire caused by faulty wiring). Not only this but the Landlord appears not to understand how serious these issues are. What will be next?

I would not push the issue on the deposit either, for now. You will be in a much stronger position when you leave if your Landlord has NOT protected it for the whole duration of your tenancy.

kate252

why are you being so nice?
for Gods sake get tough
she wouldnt hesitate to do the same with you

kate252

Vincenzo wrote: »

Personally I would leave as soon as possible. In the 10 months you have been there you have already uncovered two maintenance issues that could have threatened the lives of you and your family (carbon monoxide poisoning and fire caused by faulty wiring). Not only this but the Landlord appears not to understand how serious these issues are. What will be next?

I would not push the issue on the deposit either, for now. You will be in a much stronger position when you leave if your Landlord has NOT protected it for the whole duration of your tenancy.

SPOT ON_ do what this person says- and not being rude- but why, after rebnting all these years, did you not make sure you knew your deposit was protected? next house you go to- can you make sure you get the details next time, and if you were renting through a leting agency i thought they made sure this was done for you

bikerqueen

you earn 50k. Don't go to the CAB, ring a nice lawyer

franklee

gothmaz wrote: »

I read somewhere else on this site that no one has actually successfully claimed the 3x deposit back. Is that correct? Are they prosecuted for not covering it in a scheme, or for not covering it and refusing to pay it back?

Not correct, there have been cases of people winning 3x deposit on here and landlord zone. There are also some county court cases going each way detailed here which I strongly recommend you read:

http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/tag/tenancy-deposit-scheme/

gothmaz wrote: »

I asked her if it was ok if he moved back in, she said it was fine and that if anyone asked me I was a friend of the family renting the property from her....not a good sign.

Check if she has consent to let:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1377883

Or maybe it's tax avoidance?

As for the safety issues, I read some useful advice from Tessa (an English solicitor, and specialist in residential landlord and tenant law), she writes:

"There are some things I find myself saying again and again. For example it is amazing how often I find myself recommending the tenant consult the advice services of their local authority. Local authorities regulatory powers are so much wider now and they have the potential to assist tenants in many ways. In particular in unlawful eviction and harassment matters, and cases of disrepair."

She gives help on finding the local authority's details here:

http://www.localauthoritydirectory.co.uk/
http://www.landlordlaw.co.uk/page.ihtml?id=170&step=2

franklee

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

You're right about the penalty for not protecting the deposit: in theory it's three times the deposit but ad far as I know it has never actually been awarded in a court of law yet but what I do know is that not protecting it is a criminal offense

Some county court cases going each way detailed here, well worth a read:

http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/tag/tenancy-deposit-scheme/

princeofpounds

Ok, probably going to be a long post here...

I am going to give you a good idea of what to do in the situation where you want to stay. I recommend that you start this process because even if you leave you would want to leave the property safe for a new occupant (and carbon monoxide is potentially lethal) and there does not appear to me to be a proper relationship to upset. If you need a reference, ask an old landlord and you will have official papers to demonstrate that this landlord was dodgy.

OK first on the deposit. The basic rule is that it has to be protected within a scheme within 14 days of receipt. If it is not, then you can take her to court for the deposit back plus 3x the deposit penalty.

The award has been made many times - it is not hard to win if you can show you paid a deposit and when you paid it. Just check with the three schemes first to make sure it isn't protected (although I'm sure it isn't given what you have said).

The confusion arises because there was some uncertainty over what happens if the landlord protects the deposit late. Some local judges were letting them off the hook as they felt it was harsh, even though the intent of the legislation was almost certainly stricter - there was an ambiguous word in the legislation that allowed this but it was a matter of interpretation.

Thankfully most judges now accept that the penalty is there for a reason and the bulk of late protection cases are now being awarded to the tenant, though you can't totally guarantee it. If you do go to court, I can provide you with plenty of legal decisions to that effect although there have been none that set a cast-iron precedent as no-one has taken a test case to the necessary level to get one.

You cannot be evicted via Section 21 if the deposit is unprotected. So basically what that means is if you pay your rent she can do nothing to get you out (and remember that if she tries to force you out she may make herself liable for harrassment and illegal eviction charges - evidence is key though!).

Finally, one point in error on deposits above - not protecting them is a civil, not a criminal issue (unlike some of the boiler repair problems you have).

OK, on to the repair issues:

A landlord has a duty to keep the property in good repair. This is under Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This is especially enhanced in the case of hot water and heating, where disrepair can even be a criminal act with fines and even custodial sentence (normally when someone gets hurt). Where repairs make a property uninhabitable, the landlord is bound to find and fund suitable alternative accomodation (as you will still be paying your rent).

You have two main methods of enforcing these obligations if they fail. The first is the tenant's right of repair, which is established in case law under Lee Parker vs Izzet 1971. Shelter have a full guide to the process (look on their website under repairs in private rental accomodation) but the essence is that if you notify the landlord and repairs are not done, you can fund them yourself and deduct from future rent. But you must follow the procedure.

The second is through the HHSRS (Housing Health and Safety Rating System). You local council will have an environmental health unit that can come and inspect for hazards (such as a carbon monoxide warning) and issue legally-binding repair notices.

So, I recommend you do the following:

- write a letter and send it recorded delivery (to establish a timeline). Put, in brief and dispassionate terms, all the problems you have experienced and have not had satisfactory resolution for. Bullet points would probably make sense, try to establish dates of disrepair in the letter too.
- In the letter, remind the landlord of her Section 11 duties to keep things in good repair. Ask for the repairs you want.
- If there is no action within a week, send a follow-up suggesting that you will start the right of repair procedure (you can start including the quotes in this letter in fact) and/or involve environmental health.
- Then do these things if there is still no resolution.
- Then when you decide you want to move out, sue for your 3x deposit penalty. This is a bit easier when you are still a tenant because the landlord has to give you their address for service of notices legally, so you will never have a problem with an evasive landlord trying to avoid service.

One further detail. It might be worth delaying this until the emergency situation with the boiler replacement is completed, if that is really going ahead. Just insist on her funding your accomodation during the repair for now, then deal with the rest of it when you are back in place.

N79

princeofpounds wrote: »

Ok, probably going to be a long post here...

.........

So, I recommend you do the following:

- write a letter and send it recorded delivery (to establish a timeline). Put, in brief and dispassionate terms, all the problems you have experienced and have not had satisfactory resolution for. Bullet points would probably make sense, try to establish dates of disrepair in the letter too.
- In the letter, remind the landlord of her Section 11 duties to keep things in good repair. Ask for the repairs you want and set a deadline of a week for them to get back to you with their proposals.
- If there is no action within a week, send a follow-up suggesting that you will start the right of repair procedure (you can start including the quotes in this letter in fact) and/or involve environmental health.
- Then do these things if there is still no resolution.
- Then when you decide you want to move out, sue for your 3x deposit penalty. This is a bit easier when you are still a tenant because the landlord has to give you their address for service of notices legally, so you will never have a problem with an evasive landlord trying to avoid service.

........

This is great advice (the whole post - I only edited it because quoting the whole post made this post unreadable). The only thing I would add, if you chose to go down this route, is in red in the Prince's originial post.

HellsGranny

To put it baldly-- do you want to live in that house--- or die in it?

Carbon monoxide, whilst not actively poisonous, kills you by taking the place of oxygen in your blood, therefore suffocating you. Carbon monoxide has no smell or taste and it is not a volatile gas (won't catch fire), but it WILL kill you.*

Your 'friendly' landlady is playing russian roulette with Your life.

Report her to Environmental Health and get out of that house! Go to the Council as her actions are making you homeless and endangering your life. While you are at it, get a solicitor to write to her, explaining that her actions are endangering you, and that you will sue if she doesn't get the place fixed tout suite, also letting her know about the X3 deposit return.

That should concentrate her mind wonderfully.

* I am a retired nurse, in A&E I saw plenty of folk each winter with Carbon Monoxide poisoning. The hospital I worked in had a Hyperbaric Chamber (similar to a decompression chamber for divers), which we used for people with this kind of poisoning.

Cheers, HG

clutton_2

thank you hellsgranny.... altho some posters have mentioned this issue , it so saddens me that so many of them are STILL going down the banging on about "3 times deposit" route rather than drawing Gothmaz's attention to THE serious matter which both you and i have highlighted....

It is my understanding that Carbon Monoxide is heavier than air... and it will sink to the floor.... where children crawl, and play and sit.... and children are much more vulnerable to smaller lethal doses than adults......

get onto Environmental Health immediately..... please.......