Problems with my letting agents!

Fire_Fox

Please ensure that ALL communication from now on is in writing by recorded delivery with NO exceptions. If the letting agents ring you refuse to discuss the situation and politely request they write - use the broken record technique if necessary, repeat yourself until they get the message. I am not clear which problems you have reported to the letting agents in writing by recorded delivery and which verbally - can you clarify? Can you also please confirm whether your damage deposit is lodged in one of the three schemes? Is there a dual signed inventory which details the condition of the property as well as the contents?

You shouldn't have to prove you did not cause the damage - it is impossible to prove a negative!! - the landlord needs to prove that the damage did indeed occur during your tenancy, and that it was either down to you not "acting in a tenant-like manner" (i.e. wilful damage or not reporting maintenance issues). It's absolute nonsense that you would have gone up on the roof and removed tiles, I suspect the arbitration service will think the same.

Try not to panic, we will do all we can to help you as long as you follow our instructions to the letter. From now on you must be meticulous in your record-keeping, you need evidence of all your dealings with the letting agents to date and your efforts to resolve the maintenance issues. You will not get your deposit returned for some weeks after this tenancy ends, can you borrow money or can you stay with family in the mean time?

mrmichaelf

I have sent letters recorded delivery, I have kept copies and recipts as proof of posting. I have sent a couple since they served the notice but have had no reply.
Unfortunately, the only family we have local is my mum, and she has no space for the 2 of us and 2 children, and we are trying to borrow the money but are struggling. There is also a dual signed inventory.
What would happen if we haven't moved out by the date they have given?

The bond is paid into a deposit scheme, not sure which one off hand.

Jowo_2

mrmichaelf wrote: »

we are trying to borrow the money but are struggling.

What would happen if we haven't moved out by the date they have given?

The bond is paid into a deposit scheme, not sure which one off hand.

Are you on housing benefit or working?

Some councils operate deposit guarantee schemes for those in low income/housing need. Check their website.

Look at the Shelter website to understand the eviction process and how the local council is obliged to deal with any homeless application. Ask Shelter to check the document to make sure its been properly completed and served (many landlords make a paperwork mistake and invalidate it).

Essentially, if you stay past the notice period, the landlord must take you to court to gain a possession order. It might take a month or so after the expiration of the notice to get this court case to the local court and the judge may grant a month or so extra time to move out if the defendent makes a good case for it. Then if the tenants are still in place past the date on the possession order, the landlord has to return to court to get bailiffs appointed to enforce the removal of the tenants.

It is important that you double check if/where your deposit is protected. Were you given information on this? You can check with each scheme if you've mislaid the info. The reason why it is important is because if they haven't protected the deposit, the notice they've served you is invalid.

tbs624

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Try not to panic, we will do all we can to help you as long as you follow our instructions to the letter. ..

:eek: Whoah, Firefox .....no-one reading replies on an open forum should follow anything posted by others "to the letter".

Suggestions or guidance ( rather than "advice") on here can be useful , yes, but folk are best advised to seek their own clarification from a local Tenancy Relations Officer, a Shelter worker or a qualified legal representative.

See MSE Forum Rules:

All info is the opinion of posters – it’s not our view. We have an amazing forum with a huge wealth of helpful info. Yet remember it's open to all, and sometimes messages are posted that are misleading or downright wrong, most users are helpful but there are always a few bad apples. Don't rely on information being accurate or complete. If you do, it's at your own risk. Please do your own research before acting.

tbs624

The fact is that there is nothing to stop a LL evicting a T once they are on a stat periodic agreement, provided they follow procedure: retaliatory evictions after Ts complain about overdue repairs issues are fairly common place, unfortunately.

It is unlikely that you, as the T, can be held responsible for the condition of the roof, unless you failed to report slipped/missing tiles as soon as you noticed them and even then a LL would have to show the proportion of damage that was attributable entirely to your omission

Maintaining the roof and gutters etc fall under what are called the Landlord's "repairing obligations" - these apply to all ASTs, by statute, even if not mentioned in the tenancy agreement itself. The LL & T Act 1985, s11 states:

"11 Repairing obligations in short leases

(1)In a lease to which this section applies (as to which, see sections 13 and 14) there is implied a covenant by the lessor—

(a)to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes),

(b)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for the supply of water, gas and electricity and for sanitation (including basins, sinks, baths and sanitary conveniences, but not other fixtures, fittings and appliances for making use of the supply of water, gas or electricity), and

(c)to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the dwelling-house for space heating and heating water."

Talk to someone at Shelter 0808 800 4444 or at the local Council, as previously suggested.

chewmylegoff

Jowo wrote: »

Essentially, if you stay past the notice period, the landlord must take you to court to gain a possession order. It might take a month or so after the expiration of the notice to get this court case to the local court and the judge may grant a month or so extra time to move out if the defendent makes a good case for it. Then if the tenants are still in place past the date on the possession order, the landlord has to return to court to get bailiffs appointed to enforce the removal of the tenants.

obviously the consequence of doing this is that it may be mentioned in any reference that a future landlord asks for. it may therefore be more sensible to comply with a (valid) notice. mind you, in this particular situation it sounds like the LA will give you a nasty reference regardless.

mrmichaelf

We are not on a low income or benefits, but our outgoings means we would find it difficult to get a bond together before we get this one back.
I dont see the sence in them asking us to leave. It is an empty property for them, and they will surely have to rectify the problems before anyone moves in, or else the whole situation would arise again?
We are wondering what the actual owners of the property think abut everything that is happening, as they live in Australia. We cannot get any contact details for them from the letting agents, but the owner is on Facebook.
Should I contact them on their perhaps?

chewmylegoff

mrmichaelf wrote: »

I dont see the sence in them asking us to leave. It is an empty property for them, and they will surely have to rectify the problems before anyone moves in, or else the whole situation would arise again?

as tbs says above their actions don't need to be logical, they just need to be legal. they don't need to provide reasons.

you could look at it this way - them forcing your hand may improve the situation in the long run as unless you're deeply unlucky you won't be living in such unsatisfactory circumstances. it will be a pain in the short term, you'll just have to cut back your outgoings to save a deposit.

you could contact the landlord on facebook, but then you'll still be living in a house managed by a terrible letting agent. may be he would agree to a longer notice period though.

mrmichaelf

I'm thinking the owners may ditch the letting agents if they knew the full story.
We now have 5 weeks to find somewhere and a bond. Its not going to happen.

We also got turned down by several letting agents when looking for this place due to myself being self employed and a poor past credit history.

Someone from Shelter is due to give me a call back.

All we have asked them to do is rectify the roof and find the cause of a leak. I intend to tarnish the name of their company as much as possible.

princeofpounds

I dont see the sence in them asking us to leave.

There isn't much sense. A retaliatory eviction seems a bit odd in these circumstances, unless there is more to the story than you have told us. This is not a housing-benefit dependent letting so they would struggle to let without a working boiler!

We cannot get any contact details for them from the letting agents, but the owner is on Facebook.
Should I contact them on their perhaps?

I would suggest yes in this instance. There is quite a high likelihood that the owner does not know what is going on. It might be the case that the letting agents have messed up somehow and will blame the disrepair on you when you have left in order to cover their backs. Or it might be being sublet without permission. Or the landlord might be a **** as well, you never know! If you get no reaction or a negative reaction then at least you know where you stand.

Simply state that you have no confidence that the agents are even passing on the messages as they will not give direct contact details, and so you are forced to contact them direct. You might wish to mention (briefly) that the agents have refused all repairs and that you will be bringing in environmental health for an inspection too as a result.

OK what to do now? Well, the eviction notice is what it is - if the landlord really wants you out and you are no longer in your fixed term then they will succeed within a 2-4 month timespan (assuming your deposit actually is protected - check with your scheme to make sure - and they follow the right procedure). But you don't have to move anywhere until a court order is made.

So you will have to assume you are potentially moving and wait to see if the direct appeal brings any results.

In the meantime, I suggest that you turn the full weight of the law on the landlord.

- Contact your local environmental health department to ask for an urgent inspection; they can issue a legally-binding repairing notice and can handle prosecutions if these are not met.
- Do you have an up-to-date gas certificate? If not, again the council will be interested.
- Again, have you checked with the scheme to see if the deposit atually is protected?
- Have you been given an address for service for the landlord in England and Wales? This doesn't have to be their personal address, it just needs to be an address that they are happy to be served notices on and should be on the tenancy agreement. You aren't entirely clear what addresses you have and have not been given. If you have had nothing at all then you can aim for a prosecution of the agents.

Normally I would advise you to use the procedure on the Shelter website (Lee-Parker vs Izzet 1971 is the case it was based on, if you are interested) but given that you have to deduct repair costs from future rent you would need to be quick about it. If you already put complaints in writing weeks ago then you only need to supply your quotes and a further warning, as well as notice of intent to deduct from rent as it has already been established that the landlord has been unreasonable.

Keep all the evidence you have in case of deposit dispute!

As for CAB, a shame their advisor doesn't seem to know what they are talking about. The burden of proof lies with the landlord, but the standard of civil proof is on the balance of proobabilities rather than beyond reasonable doubt.