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Landlord!

My flatmate and I moved into our flat on 1st February, we've both been in not so great places so were glad to have this one, it's really nice and we've been quite happy here. We signed our tenancy agreement (standard one you see on all the websites), handed over the deposit/first months rent and just before we were leaving (a couple days before we moved in) he mentioned that he would probably leave some envelopes behind the door and asked if we could send his mail to him weekly until he got set up. We thought we were just doing him a favour and said we would do it.

It's been 3 months now and things have been fine, we've only been in touch with the LL once with any issue when the washing machine wasn't working but it was still under guarantee and I called and got it sorted. We have had someone (an old lodger) come now and then to collect his mail and we have been sending our LL the rest of the mail that comes in.

The first we knew of any problem was last Saturday when our LL was back in Edinburgh so came to collect some mail, he complained he hadn't been getting his mail sent every Wednesday as he requested (he's quite adamant about this Wednesday thing). I said that there wasn't always someone around to do it and it was left like that. I then got a text message a couple days afterwards saying that the aforementioned lodger was not to be given any mail as it turns out he has a warrrant out for unpaid fines. He told us to tell him that there is no mail here for him. He also mentioned that he had the post office investigating missing mail as things had gone missing and asked me to make sure things were kept safe. Apparently he had been waiting on some DVLA mail that has never arrived. Me and my flatmate both thought this was a way of him saying that we weren't keeping his mail safe, we did plan to reply to ask about redirection in a "nice" way but I could never find the right words that didn't sound off so ended up not replying.

Tonight I got a phone call from LL saying that he received his mail yesterday (which is odd as we haven't sent it within the last week) and there was something in there that was dated for the middle of April and was asking if it had been lost in the flat or what had happened to it. I explained that we leave his mail on the table and post it whenever we can, so I don't know when this particular peice of mail would have come in. I asked him if he had thought about redirection and he said he wouldn't redirect for various reasons, he mentioned he might be moving again. I asked if he was planning to come back to this flat (to know if we had to move) and he said not for the foreseeable future. We left it at that, I made a huge effort not to be rude when I was quite annoyed!

20 minutes later I get a text from him saying that it is imperitive that his mail is passed on to him (it always is, just not every Wednesday which isn't delibate, we just forget about it) as he has bills to pay and has had problems this month because of it. He said "I do not think at this rate I will be extending the lease beyond the initial sex month period". Now I know he is a first-time LL but surely he can't think us forgetting to send his mail every Wednesday on the dot makes us bad tenants worthy of throwing out? I have been patient and polite to him and haven't tried to put any point across until tonight on the phone. We pay our rent on time and keep the place spotless (in fact, he commented on this when he came to collect his mail).

This is probably more a rant than anything as I don't think my LL has actually done anything "wrong". But trying to write this somewhere to refrain from texting him back when I'm in this mood :rotfl:
Just because you made a mistake doesn't mean you are a mistake.
«13456

Comments

  • BadgerFace_2
    BadgerFace_2 Posts: 333 Forumite
    Return it all to sender marked no longer lives here. You ARE doing him a favour by forwarding it for him. My guess is that for some reason he doesn't want anyone to know he's moved.

    Does he have permission to let off his mortgage lender?
  • vaporate
    vaporate Posts: 1,955 Forumite
    Let the !!!!!! get his own mail. Your not his/her PA are you?
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • Drea
    Drea Posts: 9,892 Forumite
    BadgerFace wrote: »
    Return it all to sender marked no longer lives here. You ARE doing him a favour by forwarding it for him. My guess is that for some reason he doesn't want anyone to know he's moved.

    Does he have permission to let off his mortgage lender?

    No idea, is there a way to check? It does seem odd that he won't redirect. He gets at least 5 letters per day, it is no normal amount of mail :rotfl:

    Forgot to mention on the phonecall he said it was a "requirement of our tenancy" to forward his mail. Yet is not in the tenancy agreement and it was never mentioned until everything was signed and money handed over. We just assumed it would be a month or so until he had got settled at his new address.
    Just because you made a mistake doesn't mean you are a mistake.
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 9 May 2010 at 11:44PM
    You are under no obligation to forward his mail whatever the contract says. I assume the LL does not want people to know he's moved because for example
    a) he is not declaring income tax on your rent
    b) he does not have permission to rent from his mortgegage lender
    c) his insurer does not know he's rented
    etc etc

    Write to your LL and tell him the mail forwarding has become too problamatic and you suggest he tell his correspondants his new address or use Royal Mail re-direction.

    If you have problems, remember it is a criminal offence for the LL to harass you (repeatedly phoning/texting etc, making threats) and it is also illegal for the LL to enter the property without your permission.

    Since the LL is clearly unprofessional, check he has
    a) lodged your deposit with an approved scheme
    b) given you a valid gas safety certificate (if you have gas)
    c) given you receipts for all payments
  • vaporate
    vaporate Posts: 1,955 Forumite
    G_M wrote: »
    You are under no obligation to forward his mail whatever the contract says. I assume the LL does not want people to know he's moved because for example
    a) he is not declaring income tax on your rent
    b) he does not have permission to rent from his mortgegage lender
    c) his insurer does not know he's rented
    etc etc

    Write to your LL and tell him the mail forwarding has become too problamatic and you suggest he tell his correspondants his new address or use Royal Mail re-direction.

    If you have problems, remember it is a criminal offence for the LL to harass you (repeatedly phoning/texting etc, making threats) and it is also illegal for the LL to enter the property without your permission.


    So is tax evasion if that is the case.
    Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam
  • Drea
    Drea Posts: 9,892 Forumite
    G_M wrote: »
    If you have problems, remember it is a criminal offence for the LL to harass you (repeatedly phoning/texting etc, making threats) and it is also illegal for the LL to enter the property without your permission.

    Since the LL is clearly unprofessional, check he has
    a) lodged your deposit with an approved scheme
    b) given you a valid gas safety certificate (if you have gas)
    c) given you receipts for all payments

    Thank you. We are in Scotland so there is no deposit scheme. I don't actually think we have a gas safety certificate, never thought about it. We also didn't get a receipt for our payments, that was probably stupid wasn't it? It is listed on the tenancy agreement what we handed over though...
    Just because you made a mistake doesn't mean you are a mistake.
  • custardy
    custardy Posts: 38,365 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    i wouldnt be forwarding any mail with that attitude
  • Drea
    Drea Posts: 9,892 Forumite
    I think he's being a little stupid to be honest. He has good tenants who look after his flat, pay their rent on time and don't bother him, he's just thrown that away because we aren't doing a favour to him well enough.
    Just because you made a mistake doesn't mean you are a mistake.
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Drea wrote: »
    Thank you. We are in Scotland so there is no deposit scheme. I don't actually think we have a gas safety certificate, never thought about it. We also didn't get a receipt for our payments, that was probably stupid wasn't it? It is listed on the tenancy agreement what we handed over though...

    Apologies - I'm not familiar with Scottish law so check the Shelter/Scotland website here.
  • sooz
    sooz Posts: 4,560 Forumite
    Drea wrote: »
    He said "I do not think at this rate I will be extending the lease beyond the initial sex month period".

    :eek::eek::eek:

    That's not in my standard contracts!

    Since you are in Scotland, he must be registered. I'm not familiar with their system, but presumably you could complain the the private tenancy/housing dept (or similar) of your local council about him
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