can a repair man let himself in?

clutton_2

OP - i am pleased for you that it was only the water overflow....


i have experienced tenants blocking up soil pipes, and damaging them, and faecal matter appearing at the back of the property round about the drain area - if it had been that i would have treated it as an emergency and fixed it as soon as possible..... .. and would have defended that action to any judge.....

OP says ""he was fixing the toilet because it was overflowing outside" "it" was not defined...

i assumed pee and poo - Franklee assumed water......

franklee says "its not the first time" ( i made assumptions) -

When did you become MSE forum moderator then ? - you make assumptions all the time....


So you dont think that giving advice to call the police because your landlord is fixing your toilet to be OTT ???

give me strength.....

Wee_Willy_Harris

Water pouring out of an overflow, from an unknown source and for a reason unknown. At the very least, I would suggest that this would warrent urgent attention. Cistern overflows are not too good at coping with the large flows of water a cistern can experience and frequently become restricted through lack of use. It would not be unreasonable for the LL to be concerned that there was the possibility of flooding (or risk of the same).

Having said that, an advisory phone call to the tenant would have been desirable, but I can understand the LL being issue focused at that time.

Police? (shakes head)..... The fire service might have been more use.

sonastin

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

Police? (shakes head)..... The fire service might have been more use.

Seriously - you arrive home to find a stranger inside your house and your first thought wouldn't be "what the **** are you doing here I'm calling the police"? Your first thought would be "thank goodness there is someone fixing the problem I hadn't even discovered but a call would have been nice"

Maybe its because I've never really lived in rented property but I'd be horrified to find a stranger in my house if I didn't even know there was something to be fixed.

Sure in this case it turns out to be an over-reaction but better safe than sorry. Or do I just live in a really bad neighbourhood?

Wee_Willy_Harris

sonastin wrote: »

Seriously - you arrive home to find a stranger inside your house and your first thought wouldn't be "what the **** are you doing here I'm calling the police"? Your first thought would be "thank goodness there is someone fixing the problem I hadn't even discovered but a call would have been nice"

Maybe its because I've never really lived in rented property but I'd be horrified to find a stranger in my house if I didn't even know there was something to be fixed.

Sure in this case it turns out to be an over-reaction but better safe than sorry. Or do I just live in a really bad neighbourhood?

Well, you started the conversation in your post....
"what the **** are you doing here..... ?"
"I was sent by Mr xxxx, from your LA to fix a leak."

As I said, a telephone call before the visit would have been better. But, such is the nature of an "emergency".

I presume that if you came home to find a couple of firemen in your house, your first thought wouldn't be to call the Police? Then again, who would you call if you found the Police in there?

Sarsie

I think your agents taken liberties with the rules a bit to be fair. I would've said phoning at least one of you, even if it's only to leave a message, would be the minimum I'd expect.

In your shoes I'd have a chat with the leting agent and say cooly and calmly but nonetheless clearly that I wasn't impressed about that and I would expect a phone call as a minimum courtessy in future please. It would appear you are well within your rights to complain, but since they have the power over whether or not you stay in your home then I would approach cautiously rather than throwing the book at them from the outset.

bitsandpieces

If it was a genuine emergency, a repairman can let themselves in (I presume you'd rather come home to find a repairman than flood damage etc.) However, it's common courtesy for the agent or landlord to call you - aside from anything else, if someone unexpectedly finds a stranger in the house they might call the police or kick them out in a less-than-friendly fashion.

clutton_2

all this thread goes to prove is that


landlords just cannot win

we are damned if we do

damned if we dont


"""thank goodness there is someone fixing the problem I hadn't even discovered but a call would have been nice"


so an emergency is ONLY an emergency if a tenant discovers it ?????

get real.... emergencies happen... at any time..... notice is not always possible in an emergency


apart from that... i have lost track of the hundreds and hundreds of calls i have tried to make over the years to some tenants when they have had their phones switched off.... am i supposed to let my property, and their HOME, be damaged because they wont answer the phone ????

franklee

clutton wrote: »

all this thread goes to prove is that


landlords just cannot win

we are damned if we do

damned if we dont


"""thank goodness there is someone fixing the problem I hadn't even discovered but a call would have been nice"


so an emergency is ONLY an emergency if a tenant discovers it ?????

get real.... emergencies happen... at any time..... notice is not always possible in an emergency


apart from that... i have lost track of the hundreds and hundreds of calls i have tried to make over the years to some tenants when they have had their phones switched off.... am i supposed to let my property, and their HOME, be damaged because they wont answer the phone ????

A leaking overflow does not justify going in without notifying the tenant unless the property is let out on individual ASTs with the landlord having access to the communal areas.

It was just a small puddle of water.

All the OP wanted was a phone call before hand!!!

PasturesNew

What if the OP had been in the shower at the time... or, in the shower 'entertaining', or strapped to the bed smothered in peanut butter. Might not have heard the door IF he'd knocked even.

amcluesent

I'd pop around to the CAB, there could be compo due from the LL!