could someone advise me on what to do please.

lovecrafting

no problem. If im not here he cant do anything can he. so if i spend as much time as i can out then it will be ok until i find somewere. it dosent help my daughter tho, she has dissabilities and needs to be able to be at home really

lovecrafting

i dont have one of those agreements no, but i will check with shelter thank you

overlyconcerend

www
handymanknowhow
.co
.uk/
safetyandsecurity/
changing%20the%20lock%20on%20a%20UPVC%20door
.htm

changing the locks on upc doors - apparently easy enough.

don't forget to keep the originals and don't risk your safety by not doing this if you can afford to.

If he can let himself in during the day he can do it at night too.

theartfullodger

Lovecrafting:

Really sorry to read your story & really sorry that this little b******d is doing these things...

Bit of a long post but there's a few points. If you're not sure about anything check with Shelter 0808 800 4444.

a) If you get a chance tell the little s*****ce of a LL that you are seeing the advice centre on the 21st & that you have been getting legal advice (Shelter & l from here, even If not legally qualified). That may make him back off

b) re. being paid in cash & no receipts – I'm absolutely certain that means he's fiddling his tax. So you have power over him!! You can grass him up any time you like, now or later when you feel more able to.

c) Re AT5 & your question about if your tenancy was not “official”. It is official. It is probably what it says it is, a SAT. If he did not in fact serve a AT5 before you signed the tenancy then it is an AT which gives you even more rights: Don't worry about it.

d) What your Landlord is doing in various ways is harassing you. There is the “Protection from Harassment Act 1997” which starts by saying (the bit relevant to Scotland..)
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1997/40/crossheading/scotland

8 Harassment. S

(1)Every individual has a right to be free from harassment and, accordingly, a person must not pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another and—
(a)is intended to amount to harassment of that person; or
(b)occurs in circumstances where it would appear to a reasonable person that it would amount to harassment of that person.

He can get up to 5 years in Barlinnie for that. Any more nonsense from the little toe-rag and call the Police & get a crime reference number.. Keep a note of anything your landlord does - just a written note, will come handy if it ever gets to court.

e) Re repairs... Your Landlord MUST have written to you about the PRHP (Let me guess: he didn't) . The PRHP sorts out problems in Scotland between landlords & tenants over repairs – see
http://www.prhpscotland.gov.uk/prhp/1.html
Shelter can give you more advice..
You need to put any repair issues in a letter to him if you haven't already: Keep a copy!

f) re. insisting on cash & no receipt. If you feel up to it try presenting him with a cheque (take a photocopy of it first) and maybe a covering letter “hello Mr LL here is your rent in form of a cheque” - if possible with a witness. I think it would be hard for him to then claim you hadn't paid. Does the tenancy specify that rent must be paid in cash?? Would be interesting to know...

g) Re eviction process etc. Your Landlord cannot evict you: Only the court can evict you. If the LL tries then call the Police – and remind them that illegal eviction is a criminal offence, it is not a civil matter & will them come round sharpish...
To evict you he has to serve various notices in the right way. Don't want to go into which notices & how as he may be reading this thread, but many Landlords get this bit wrong & find when they get to court their paperwork is invalid: Ah, shame...

h) Re fines of £50 or whatever for late payment: These are illegal in Scotland. Not allowed, oh no!!
http://www.govanlc.com/illegal-tenancy-charges.htm

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco]The Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 (as amended) prohibits landlords from charging tenants for the cost of preparing a lease, 'key money', administration charges, or for the cost of preparing an inventory etc., All of these charges are known as 'premiums'.[/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Monaco] [/FONT]

If this case ever gets to the Sheriff Court I think your Landlord will get a very big surprise, hopefully a huge fine & a good kickin'. And then the TaxMan can come round and get his money also..

Zumba eh?? Blimey, you've more energy than me lass!!

Best wishes to you & your family. Post with any more questions. You are already in touch with Shelter so you've got the good guys helping you!! Keep smiling & don't let the little b******d know he's got to you.

Artful: Scottish Landlord.

lovecrafting

Artfull. Thanks so much for helping e out here. I managed to get some sleep last night so can see thing a little clearer today. My partner admitred to me last night that he is also worried about him turning up, he even asked his mum if we could stay there for a wile until we find somewere. its un practical because she is old, also i am of the understanding if we do that we then make ourselves homeless. so we are going to have to stick it out, we are not in the wrong so why should we run away. during this time we are trying to get money together for a deposit, if it means going back to lancashire where i can look in a window and phone a number, get a house that day then so be it.

the kids are off school again today because they were so cold last night they didnt sleep much.

If you get a chance tell the little s*****ce of a LL that you are seeing the advice centre on the 21st & that you have been getting legal advice (Shelter & l from here, even If not legally qualified). That may make him back off

This is what i will tell him if he turns up here today, i really dont want to go to his garage where i will be alone with him. if he comes here I will say, I am seeking legal advice and could all our communications be in writing from now on please.

re. being paid in cash & no receipts – I'm absolutely certain that means he's fiddling his tax. So you have power over him!! You can grass him up any time you like, now or later when you feel more able to.

I have been looking on the hmrc website and there is a space there to report people, I will be doing this but dont think its the best idea when i am in the house.

What your Landlord is doing in various ways is harassing you. There is the “Protection from Harassment Act 1997” which starts by saying (the bit relevant to Scotland..)
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...ading/scotland

Thank you for that, I will have a good look thru this when I wake up a bit more.

e) Re repairs... Your Landlord MUST have written to you about the PRHP (Let me guess: he didn't) . The PRHP sorts out problems in Scotland between landlords & tenants over repairs – see
http://www.prhpscotland.gov.uk/prhp/1.html
Shelter can give you more advice..
You need to put any repair issues in a letter to him if you haven't already: Keep a copy!


you guessed right, he didnt tell me anything about this. I will have a look thank you

re. insisting on cash & no receipt. If you feel up to it try presenting him with a cheque (take a photocopy of it first) and maybe a covering letter “hello Mr LL here is your rent in form of a cheque” - if possible with a witness. I think it would be hard for him to then claim you hadn't paid. Does the tenancy specify that rent must be paid in cash?? Would be interesting to know...

I have tried presenting him with a cheque he said it must be cash. The tenancy sais nothing about it being presented in cash just that it must be paid by the 28th

Re eviction process etc. Your Landlord cannot evict you: Only the court can evict you. If the LL tries then call the Police – and remind them that illegal eviction is a criminal offence, it is not a civil matter & will them come round sharpish...

at the moment, this is the one think keeping us from going a bit mad, at least we know the law is on our side. if he comes here at all, other than to nock on the door asking for rent, I will be calling the police, same as if he dosent leave when i have told him i am seeking legal advice.

Re fines of £50 or whatever for late payment: These are illegal in Scotland. Not allowed, oh no!!
there is a clause in my tenancy stating.
7. in the event of the tennant contravening any of the conditions of this offer or if the rent is not paid within 3 days of the date upon wich it falls due to be paid, interest and legal rate shall automaticly become due and payable on the rent outstanding, said interest being from the date the rent is due untill its paid. the tenany shall also be liabel for any bank charges attributable to the tenants failure to pay rent timeously. Further the landlord will be entitled to give the tenant one months notice to quit terminating the tenants use and ocupancy of the let property, not withstanding the terms of condition 5(m) and the tennant hereby binds and obliges himself/herself to remove from and vacate the let property on the date upon such notice expires and a note of the tenants forewarding adress will be given to the landlord.

does this mean i cant have 40 days notice? and that he can charge me the £50 (for rent i dont bloody owe)

Zumba eh?? Blimey, you've more energy than me lass!!
lol i wish, i havent been this week because i cant think straight, i am actually training to become an instructor so as I can start doing my own classes, i guess thats ou the wondow at the moment.

Best wishes to you & your family. Post with any more questions. You are already in touch with Shelter so you've got the good guys helping you!! Keep smiling & don't let the little b******d know he's got to you.

Thank you, i really appreciate your best wishes. I really cant say how much helping me out has kept us going, I would be an absoloute wreck without the help from you (and the others on here)

lovecrafting

ok this is what i am thinking.

i might write to him (recorded delivery via royal mail even tho he lives on the next street)

Dear mr ******

I am writing to you with regards to 27 ***************** ky5 bla bla bla. as you are aware, I have been paying rent since 28/11/09 and have not been provided with any recipts, I have sought legal advice ont his and am advised you must provide some form of proof of payment upon request, as you are aware I have requested this on numerous occasions and not received it. I am now requesting again, that you please provide writted evidence of any payments you feel I have made within a reasonable time.

I have also reported many other repairs to you during my tenancy and these have not been completed. I have provided another list of repairs for your information and would appreciate if you could let me know a timescale of when these repairs will be completed.

1) the guttering outside on 5 places is completley worn thru, It needs replaced. I first reported this on 28/11/09

2) holes in walls. this was reported beffore i moved in

3) the bathroom wall is comming away from the house, I have advised you of this on many occasions. it is now extremley cold int he property and my children are getting sick.
4) the gate in the back garden, this rubs against the side of the house (bathroom wall) and is causing damage, i canot simply not use this gate as it is a right of way to other people living within the block.

5) the gas saftey cartificate has expired.

I would appreciate if you would please let me know when these repairs will be carried out so i can be at home as i do not wish anyone to be in the house wilst no one is here.

I am seeking legal advice on all of these issues and would appreciate if all communication would be in writing from now on please.

signed

IronWolf

Next time someone refuses to give a receipt, or refuses checks, just refuse to pay them.

Send them a letter with proof from the post office, stating clearly that you will pay him upon receipt of bank details. If he wants to take you to court for charges for late payment, he now has to prove he gave you the bank details and you still didn't pay.

It sounds like he doesn't have permission to rent the house from the mortgage company and doesn't declare the income in his taxes. Move out and then report him to HMRC and report it to his mortgage company

theartfullodger

Morning:

Re writing, great, sounds good (but see rewrite below..) but DON'T DO RECORDED! - He can refuse to sign for it. Send it from a post office & get a **free** "Proof of postage". If you want to make absolutely sure send it also from another post office also with proof-of-postage. (That's the advice given to Landlords to get notices to tenants who don't want to receive the notice..)

Re...

I have tried presenting him with a cheque he said it must be cash. The tenancy sais nothing about it being presented in cash just that it must be paid by the 28th

If the tenancy does not say cash then as-far-as-I-know cheque (or standing order..) is OK. Maybe check with Shelter..

Letter.... (note bolding & some spelling corrections

Dear mr ******

I am writing to you with regards to 27 ***************** ky5 bla bla bla. as you are aware, I have been regularly paying rent since 28/11/09 as you know. I have asked for receipts. .............. COLOR=Red]there is AFAIK no legal requirement to provide receipts except if rent is paid weekly - is your rent weekly??[/COLOR I am now requesting again, that you please provide written evidence of any payments..

I have also reported many other repairs to you during my tenancy and these have not been completed. I now provided you with another list of repairs for your information and would appreciate if you could let me know a timescale of when these repairs will be completed.

1) the guttering outside on 5 places is completely worn thru, damaging your property. It needs replaced. I first reported this on 28/11/09

2) holes in walls. this was reported before i moved in

3) the bathroom wall is coming away from the house, I have advised you of this on many occasions. it is now extremely cold in the property and my children are getting sick because of this.
4) the gate in the back garden, this rubs against the side of the house (bathroom wall) and is causing damage to your property. I canot simply not use this gate as it is a right of way to other people living within the block.

5) the gas safety certificate has expired. I understand there is a legal requirement for there to be a current one. Please contact me to arrange a mutually convenient date & time for a Gas-Safe engineer is inspect the gas installation: Do not visit regarding this matter yourself or send an engineer without my written agreement to a date and time in advance.

I would appreciate if you would please let me know when these repairs will be carried out so i can be at home as i do not wish anyone to be in the house whilst no one is here.

I am seeking further legal advice on these and other issues and would appreciate if all communication would be in writing from now on please. Please let me know if you require any further information or, indeed, if I may help in any other way.

signed

Re. 40 days -

does this mean i cant have 40 days notice? and that he can charge me the £50

don't understand, what are you referring to?? Re £50 charge for late payment (if there was a late payment). Nope, it's illegal. That is the firm advice I have had from "LandlordaccreditationScotland
www.landlordaccreditationscotland.com
(But then he doesn't sound like an Accredited Landlord to me... ;-) )
and what the Govan law centre web-site says.


Re Gas safety this tells you all about it...
http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/advice/renting_a_property.aspx

When the engineer does turn up as to see his Gas Safe ID: (Used to be called Corgi).
http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/about/how_to_check_the_id_card.aspx

If he hasn';t got one or won't show it to you send him away.. Any decent registered engineer will be more than happy to show his ID to you.

Cheers!

Artful

lovecrafting

Thanks again artfull.

re weekly rent: no i pay monthly.
I will send it from the post office today.

lovecrafting

I just thought i would let you all know, I have found a house, I gave a deposit last night (and got a receipt)