URGENT advice needed. Letting agent threatening to change locks on my door

d.ross_2

QuantumSuccess wrote: »

Yes that is correct. And I do feel very frightened indeed. If he does try to get in I will call the police. Does that sound reasonable for me to do that?

Sorry I wasn't trying to frighten you. I was thinking more along the lines that he was trying to get in when he knew that you were out.

t0rt0ise

QuantumSuccess, reading some of your other posts on the board it seems that you are ill and have a carer. That worries me now. Have you talked to your carer or your other mental health support and told them that you need to find somewhere else to live? I know it's none of my business but I'm concerned that you may be acting in haste and could do with some real support, as opposed to support at a distance on the internet.

QuantumSuccess

t0rt0ise wrote: »

QuantumSuccess, reading some of your other posts on the board it seems that you are ill and have a carer. That worries me now. Have you talked to your carer or your other mental health support and told them that you need to find somewhere else to live? I know it's none of my business but I'm concerned that you may be acting in haste and could do with some real support, as opposed to support at a distance on the internet.

I suffer from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and related illnesses. I'm not mentally disabled but my illness manifests as such an intense anxiety and sense of terror that I become incapacitated at times. It's funny that you should bring this up Tortoise because I *thought* I was handling this whole episode OK but for the past few hours I have been in a complete and utter state. The honest truth is that I am in no fit state to move but I don't know what else to do. I spoke to my carer today and I also had a therapy session with the psychologist. They are both absolutely horrified at this turn of events re the flat. My carer suggested that at the very least, if a Judge tried to evict me they would be compelled to give me longer to move out, apparently, because I am not well enough to move right now. I feel very helpless. My psychologist doesn't have a clue about tenancy law and my carer doesn't know a whole lot about it either.

I will call Shelter again tomorrow.

I won't go into the details of how I got such a horrible case of PTSD but let's just say it's connected to being attacked by a male assailant. So you can imagine what a state I am in now that there is a possible danger of this very aggressive male letting agent "breaking in" to my flat to change the lock. I'm in absolute pieces.

It might be a bit overly ambitious of me to imagine that I am in a fit state to move flats, fight the LA in court and remain in one piece right now. But not sure I have any other options!

Anyway, thanks for your concern.

Gwhiz

Quataum - so sorry to hear of all your issues as well as the rental nightmare.

All I can say is I wish you well and a speedy resolution.

jjlandlord

This seems to have been blow out of all proportions by both sides and spiralled into into a very bad situation...

Last piece of advice to OP:

(1) The lock: First thing is to be sure whether such a lock is allowed on that door or not as per regulations.
(a) it is not: The door must be fixed one way or another (ie. by OP or by agent). It may be financial advantageous for OP to drive that herself rather than letting agent do it.
(b) it is: Then I think that agent has no ground to demand it be removed or to make any deduction to deposit. But obviously at this point that does not mean that they will no not pursue eviction one way or another (relevant only if OP wants to stay).

(2) section 8 notice and moving out: Again, the question here is what OP wants to do: stay or leave. It seems to me that she does not know herself.
(a) she wants to leave: She can use the s.8 notice to offer to surrender the tenancy before the fixed term expire, or she just leaves when it does expire.
(b) she wants to stay: Tricky one as that would imply mending the relation with the agent/landlord, which I am not sure it realistic at this point.

In any case, OP should behave reasonably at all times and correspond with agent in writing, if only to support her case before court/deposit scheme adjudication should that be necessary.

DVardysShadow

QuantumSuccess wrote: »

Here is the exact wording of the letter that came with the Section 8 notice. Please note the letter is signed by the maniac at the LA.

"You are being served this notice in the presence of a witness. As a requirement under the Housing Act 1988 we cannot commence proceedings until after [gives date 2 weeks away]. Once the notice has expired, we will have our appointed representative prepare the possession proceedings against you. At a later date there will be a hearing of your application at the County Court. You will be required to attend this hearing. We will be successful in obtaining an Order for Possession (as against a Suspended Order for Possession).

Our charges to you for preparing the S.8 Notice will be £30.00 plus VAT. For the County Court Summons and steps up until a possession order is granted we charge £600 plus VAT for enforcement with the bailiff we charge £60.00 plus VAT. Full proceedings will begin on {gives date 2 weeks away}, where a court date will be requested. You must be aware that you will be liable for your own disbursement costs, like court fees, our fees and enforcement fees.

Please note that a possession order will also result in a county court judgement made against you for any outstanding fees that you owe us and this will affect your credit rating, and will make it impossible for you to get credit anywhere until such time as the debt is repaid.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Once the proceedings begin, the process will not be stopped. Please contact me at your earliest convenience. It is always best to liase with us to avoid unnecessary action. We will need to make regular visits to your property in case you abscond without communicating your intent to leave."

This is borderline harassment.

What does he mean "You are being served this notice in the presence of a witness"?

GDB2222

DVardysShadow wrote: »

This is borderline harassment.

What does he mean "You are being served this notice in the presence of a witness"?

The OP does not need to be egged on to more confrontation that she cannot handle. How about some constructive advice taking into account her fragile state?

Here are my suggestions:

1. Invite the LA to view the flat, but only at a time when your carer will be present. If possible, try to find a time which suits your LA and ask your carer to be present then, rather than the other way around.

2. Agree with the LA what needs to be done about the lock, who will get it done, and what it will cost.

3. Work out in your own mind which is more stressful: Moving flat or fighting eviction proceedings. In the end, and it could take many months, eviction proceedings are bound to be successful, I am afraid.

4. Try to engage with the landlord. Writing was a good idea. Sending it recorded delivery was not such a good idea, as he may not be in when the postman calls. I would send it again just ordinary 1st class post.


As far as possible, forget about issues such as whose fault this situation is. It's just something in life you need to deal with as best you can.

spugzbunny

Ok 3rd time I have typed this as I am an idiot!!

Firstly - GDB first good advice you have given above. You were too harsh on the OP to begin with. I don't feel she baited the LA and in my opinion the LA jumped straight in with a section 8 after the first contact!

OP - do you still want to move out before end of tenancy? If you do I would recommend you follow the advice on here about writing to the LA (cc in LL) to offer a date to leave and end tenancy. If you do this and they agree make sure all legal aspects are covered and that you have the required paperwork to break the contract early. You don't want to give them the opportunity threaten court again

If they disagree then hold tight. If you can stay in the property then OK. You swill more than likely be out before it even goes to court. If you feel you can't cope then contact Shelter and someone like MIND. CC the LL in anything you write from now on and also foreard their communictaions to him.

I would also take pictures of the lock and ask a locksmith to quote you for the cost of putting it back to it's original state. Get it in writing.

Also take pictures of all the house. If they try to keep your deposit weeks down the line, you will need to go through DPS so you will want all the back up you can.

Finally, read read read about tenancy law. There are some excellent forums and sites (not least this one) and forearmed is forewarned! Personally I would be writing a very detailed letter quoting both my contract and tenancy law stating exactly where they are going wrong BUT that's me and not you!!

Idon't think the LA knows his Aris from his elbow. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing and they clearly know about a section 8 but do not know the details. You cannot claim a section 8 on a clause in a contract that in itself is invalid. For example if the lock actually meets fire safety regs (yet to be confirmed) then you have not broken any clause as a clause that states you cannot change the locks is against contract law (i think that's right!). You can also not bandy around fees pulled out of your aris and claim the OP WILL be liable to pay them. That is for a judge to decide and by wafting about CCJ threats they are surely harrassing you. Then the fact that they could have just served a section 21 makes me think he's either an idiot or (more likely I imagine) looking for some extra pennies by bullying you out and keeping your deposit.

Good Luck! And when this is over feel free to let us know who this twot is!

QuantumSuccess

Having spoken to my carer etc, the plan of action I've decided is most realistic for me is to do the following:

1. Sort out the issue of the lock with the Fire Prevention Officer ASAP. If I have done something wrong and the lock doesn't comply to regulations, then hire a locksmith to sort it. Write to LL/LA to let them know what I've done. If the lock is deemed fine by the Fire Prevention Officer - get that in writing and forward a copy of the document to the LL/LA

2. Sit tight. Continue paying rent. Plan to move out when my lease expires. This gives me a longer period to calm down and find a place to move to that I will really like and not feel rushed and terrified.

3. If this case does make it to court - make sure I have all the correspondence and paperwork and go there and present my case.

The idea of simply moving out in the next couple of weeks (if the LL would agree to an early surrender) is a very pleasant idea but realistically I do not feel I am up to coping with all the stress that moving entails right now. My carer thinks I should stay put for as long as I can, in fact I should stay here until a section 21 is served and has expired, so that I can "stabilize" and take things at a relatively gentle pace, pack my things up slowly and so on.

Thoughts?

Anything else I should be doing?

QuantumSuccess

Thanks GDB, Spugz and everyone else for your helpful posts.