Former land lord withholding post and possessions

Rich1968

Hello All,
This my first posting so please forgive if in wrong place.
I have recently left lodgings where I had stayed for the past 7 months.
I left quickly and with little warning to land lord in responce to his unacceptable behaviour.
The day of moving was awkward and difficult (land lord was present) and I was unable to take away all my possessions - including mail.
I have tried contacting my former land lord to ask that I can pick up my things but he will not answer the door, phone or texts.

How do I stand? We had no contract; I have paid him in full and I have no inventory of what I had there.
Am I completely stuck?
I have considered to threaten to inform his employer of his alcholism and other vices which could threaten his job (not acceptable as job is sensitive defence related).

Please help,

Regards

Rich1968

Jowo_2

This is the law on how landlords can treat tenants goods

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/uncollected_goods.htm

It is up to a tenant to arrange mail forwarding - there is no obligation for a landlord to do this, they can just put it back in the post as 'gone away'. Set up mail forwarding with the Royal Mail.

StudentMoneySaver

It sounds like you should really call the police, if he has no intention to give the possessions back to you it may be theft (intention to permanently deprive). Also, its a criminal offence to withhold or open mail not addressed to you.

Saying that, I'm not entirely sure if your tenancy agreement (or lack of) has any baring on this but I can't see why it would. Someone else more knowledgeable may be able to tell you more.

edit - Jowo has a point regarding mail. Get mail forwarding set up asap.

custardy

StudentMoneySaver wrote: »

It sounds like you should really call the police, if he has no intention to give the possessions back to you it may be theft (intention to permanently deprive). Also, its a criminal offence to withhold or open mail not addressed to you.

Saying that, I'm not entirely sure if your tenancy agreement (or lack of) has any baring on this but I can't see why it would. Someone else more knowledgeable may be able to tell you more.

edit - Jowo has a point regarding mail. Get mail forwarding set up asap.

withhold from whom?
the mail is delivered as addressed
from RM's point of view the job is done and it has reached its final destination

RAS

Rich

How long ago did you leave there?

Re the post, you need ot organise your mail redirection yourself.

StudentMoneySaver

custardy wrote: »

withhold from whom?
the mail is delivered as addressed
from RM's point of view the job is done and it has reached its final destination

The Landlord withholding mail from the OP. It seems that its the OP's responsibility to sort out his mail redirection so there doesn't seem to be any recourse for him. It would be nice if the Landlord just gave him his mail though.

custardy

StudentMoneySaver wrote: »

The Landlord withholding mail from the OP. It seems that its the OP's responsibility to sort out his mail redirection so there doesn't seem to be any recourse for him. It would be nice if the Landlord just gave him his mail though.

but the landlord doesnt have to do anything
as i said the mail is delivered
the witholding of mail offence is aimed at RM staff witholding mail before delivery
the landlord could bin/do nothing or return the mail to sender if they wished and no offence is commited

StudentMoneySaver

Ah, I wasn't aware that there wasn't a law preventing people from withholding mail not addressed to them. It seems like there should be.

custardy

just to add,if anyone else is in the position of the op
you can go to your local RM delivery office (that delivers to the old address)
and arrange a mail collect,this is a free service
you will need proof of ID and address obviously but this can start from the day you go to the office

Fire_Fox

DO NOT blackmail your ex-landlord under any circumstances. Send him a recorded delivery letter asking for your property to be made available or you will seek redress through the courts. I am pretty sure this is a civil not a criminal matter, therefore nothing to do with the police.

DVardysShadow

Jowo wrote: »

This is the law on how landlords can treat tenants goods

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/uncollected_goods.htm

It is up to a tenant to arrange mail forwarding - there is no obligation for a landlord to do this, they can just put it back in the post as 'gone away'. Set up mail forwarding with the Royal Mail.

That is going to be difficult. Royal Mail send a confirmation letter to the old address, which must be returned or acknowledged in order to prevent redirection of mail by anyone other than the addressee.