Nightmare Landlady - advice needed

moneysavinmonkey

CB1979 - would prefer not to say where it is.. is not london but i consider it 'down south' having lived in Scotland for the last 5 years! Is a relatively small place (not a city) + no uni... so not a massive amount of rental property about but I managed to find somewhere and negotiated a rent discount at my new place when i moved out.

Perhaps my girls would be better reducing their rent according to Western promises figures + then moving out at the end of this AST - don't think they will be able to hang ontil April for rent deposit scheme though!!!!

I thought an HMO had to be 3 storeys?? where can i find out more about that- does the local council deal with that??

westernpromise

moneysavinmonkey wrote:

westernpromise - interesting about rent deposit scheme... will look into that + maybe advise friends to hang on if they can - I take it you are a landlord from you 'slant' on things... personally think it is a great idea. Every property i have rented i have paid rent on time and maintained immaculately (even as a student!!) - but i've never received my deposit until at least 3 months after i moved out + had to prepare court actions twice now.

I've mostly been quite fortunate with tenants - I have 2 fairly 'premium' properties, one my own former flat and the other my OH's, which I pay to have professionally maintained.

Anything needs doing, the tenants don't have to phone me and argue the toss over whether it really needs to be done. By prior arrangement, they just phone the agent. If it's under £600, it gets done instantly, without my even being asked. Only if it's more than that, or it it's a bit out of the ordinary, do I have to get involved.

The tenants can reach me if they need to, so if the agency fell down and let problems like the above arise, I would just fire them and appoint someone else. Your situation would never in a million years happen if you were my tenant.

It's not cheap, but I'm completely bought into the view that it's worth it. My tenants have the best landlord they've ever had, so they don't want to leave, so I get and keep quality tenants, and so I have no void periods and no damage.

The trouble is that if the tenant is a !!!!!! scumbag, they really do hold all the cards. It is hard to get them out as it is, and now, it will be all but impossible to get anything off them, even their deposit, in lieu of unpaid rent.

I am actively looking for ways to evade this nonsensical arrangement whereby some bunch of bureaucrats, who presumably hate me because they imagine landlords are rich, hold a deposit that I should have because it is my damn' property that is at risk. I am thinking eg of saying no deposit, but pay the rent 10 weeks on advance, rather than 4. It irritates me hugely that this government always sides with the scrotes.

barnaby-bear

moneysavinmonkey wrote:

I thought an HMO had to be 3 storeys?? where can i find out more about that- does the local council deal with that??

Not any more - more than 1 seperate household and it's an HMO (2 person flat-shares specific exclusion).
Is there an inventory - if so if it says dining room... table... chairs you've got proof it's a dining room but in any case it's changing the nature of the property i.e. they thought 3 bed flat share. They need to hit her with letters demanding all the crappy diy is sorted so they have a huge wad of problems.
She has a contract to maintain. There are all sorts of legislation on cupboard, fridge, worktop ratios in kitchens a 4th person might push limits.

moneysavinmonkey

barnaby-bear: the inventory states dining room/4th bedroom: which contained only a sofa(which converts to a bed)
it wasn't supplied with a dining table - that was brought by one of the girls from her last flat... don't know where she will put it now! There is nowhere else to eat in the house.. except off you knee in front of the tv :-(

if it is an HMO then think she may have some problems with kitchen space rules i think... also in my old room a drainpipe was installed infront of the window so it could only be opened a fraction...was highly annoying but never considered it could be illegal.

I'm sure they could certainly compile a list several pages long of items that geniunely need fixing... but I don't understand what good that would do??


ts-aly200... i value your advice as you have been through a similar (albeit much worse situation!) what happened in the end + would you do anything differently if it happened again?

barnaby-bear

moneysavinmonkey wrote:

barnaby-bear: the inventory states dining room/4th bedroom: which contained only a sofa(which converts to a bed)
it wasn't supplied with a dining table - that was brought by one of the girls from her last flat... don't know where she will put it now! There is nowhere else to eat in the house.. except off you knee in front of the tv :-(

if it is an HMO then think she may have some problems with kitchen space rules i think... also in my old room a drainpipe was installed infront of the window so it could only be opened a fraction...was highly annoying but never considered it could be illegal.

I'm sure they could certainly compile a list several pages long of items that geniunely need fixing... but I don't understand what good that would do??

Bingo - "Dining room/4th bedroom" - i.e. implies communal mixed use area i.e. moving someone else in changes use from possible dining room - devaluation in tenancy, fundamental change to tenancy.

Contract on her side is to maintain etc, by not maintaining etc - contract broken - broken contract/devalued tenancy much much easier to run away..... small claims really sympathetic to nasty satanic LL-witches who ignore the regulations, if you need to claim back deposits that way.....

Check out the basic Housing act guides from local council
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:UTxyVNLWp84J:www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/11FA1B84-DAF4-47C1-80DA-28621BB10D82/0/Basicguidetohousesinmultilpeoccupation.pdf+housing+act+ratio+fridge+1989&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=1

I'm betting her fire access / alarm system /fire door standards maybe lacking....

barnaby-bear

Councils can vary slightly - you need 1988 housing act and the 2006 ammendments of what HMO is

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:BqrcwVAZgKsJ:cambridge.gov.uk/ccm/cms-service/download/asset/%3Fasset_id%3D4163140+housing+act+ratio+fridge+1989&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=3

moneysavinmonkey

Thanks for everyones help so far...

on my list to tell them is...

Get advice from:
CAB
Shelter
Homeless Prevention Officier + HMO people at council.

Make notes on all breaches of contract by LL
Document everything that needs fixing
Take photographs of rooms

Write to LL and state she can not change nature of dining room and she is devaluing their tenancy + they had a binding verbal agreement that only 3 people would live there.

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then if 2 extra people do move in....

Stop paying rent + move out.

If LL threatens them, say can bring a small claims court action if she wants but also have various documentation about her breach of contract etc. + could counterclaim for deposit + could report to HMO people.

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i also know that there was no gas safety certificate and that none of the electricals had been officially tested....i guess this is also something that she is breaking the law on?? Is there anything else that they could bring up - i know there is something about fire resistant furniture? what else!!

RHemmings

westernpromise wrote:

I've mostly been quite fortunate with tenants - I have 2 fairly 'premium' properties, one my own former flat and the other my OH's, which I pay to have professionally maintained.

Anything needs doing, the tenants don't have to phone me and argue the toss over whether it really needs to be done. By prior arrangement, they just phone the agent. If it's under £600, it gets done instantly, without my even being asked. Only if it's more than that, or it it's a bit out of the ordinary, do I have to get involved.

The tenants can reach me if they need to, so if the agency fell down and let problems like the above arise, I would just fire them and appoint someone else. Your situation would never in a million years happen if you were my tenant.

It's not cheap, but I'm completely bought into the view that it's worth it. My tenants have the best landlord they've ever had, so they don't want to leave, so I get and keep quality tenants, and so I have no void periods and no damage.

Can you give us some examples of things you've had done to your flats? My current landlord isn't too good on some fronts. For example we'd really like the gas stove replaced. It's safe, but mostly inoperative. Only the rings work. Normally I'd just ask, but the problem is that we're on a rock bottom rent for the area, and I'm hesitant to rock the boat. I've been expecting him to raise the rent at some point, at which point I'll negotiate over a slightly better service. But the rent rise hasn't happened yet.

Sorry for going off-topic on this thread. But my advice for the OP just echoes what else has been said here. They need to get out ASAP and leave the landlady to her own self-destruction. I'm evil enough to decide to move out but wait a bit, let her move the extra two people in, and then dob her into the authorities before leaving. The OP might not be so evil.

barnaby-bear

moneysavinmonkey wrote:

Thanks for everyones help so far...


i also know that there was no gas safety certificate and that none of the electricals had been officially tested....i guess this is also something that she is breaking the law on?? Is there anything else that they could bring up - i know there is something about fire resistant furniture? what else!!

Eeek the gas safety is CRIMINAL (as in literally not metaphorically):
The electrics aren't a legal obligation.

Try fire doors, fire escape (if flat), fire alarms? Take a video of the working gas fire with a picture of todays paper - so she can't dsiconnect and claim always was so. Entering flat without notice devalues tenancy on right to quiet enjoyment. The flamable foam furniture labels should be attached if not there furniture illegal too. You can basically say you want to leave, say you have all this money she has to spend to make it legal and you'll get authorities or you'll keep quiet and go with your money (then leave it 6 months and grass her up for fun anyway! And for moral reasons!)

moneysavinmonkey

Lol RHemmings - i'm not generally an evil person but if it was up to me i would probably go with your plan!!!

she is a mean greedy lady, and she is has been throughly difficult + rude and made our lives a misery just so she can feel superior and protect her profit.

My friends are a bit more soft than me so i'm not so sure they would follow through with the plan...doesn't stop me reporting her though i guess!!