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

QuantumSuccess

lynzpower wrote: »

Personally I dont know how you have put up with thier attitude for 3 years. Is there a possibility that you could find somewhere else, away from these idiots?

I see your point!


I have another question. If they go forward with this bizarre Section 8 claim that they have now said they are issuing on Monday - how long would it take for me to kicked out of the building? I've no idea how these things work. Clearly I will file a defense.

I can move if necessary but I will need time to get it together to find a new flat. Presuming the Section 8 nonsense comes to nothing, and I was just to sit tight for now.....what happens come beginning of August when my current AST expires? No Section 21 has been served at any point. So, how soon could they get me out at the end of the tenancy? I have waded through loads of posts on this section this evening but I am still not clear on how this would work in my situation....

lynzpower

http://www.landlordadvice.co.uk/html/section_8.html

QuantumSuccess

lynzpower wrote: »

http://www.landlordadvice.co.uk/html/section_8.html

Thanks Lynz but that link doesn't tell me anything at all about time frames and so on.

BitterAndTwisted

Respond to the agent's email IN WRITING (not email or text or anything else) and thank them for their observations. Remind them that you have an absolute right to quiet enjoyment of the property and you therefore consider their threats bordering on harassment. Refer to your previous email in which you informed them that you had arranged for an additional lock to be fitted following advice from the local Crime Prevention Officer, in which you offered to supply them with a key. Tell them that you are surprised at their attitude and are confident that your landlord would most probably not welcome a reliable and responsible tenant being threatened with eviction for such a trivial reason and possibly without their knowledge or consent.

Send a copy of this communication to your landlord by post together with a printout of the agent's most disagreeable email and a copy of your original email to the agent informing them about the new lock.

Don't be intimidated by these a-holes and don't take any !!!!!! from them either!

rodent

QuantumSuccess wrote: »

I see your point!


I have another question. If they go forward with this bizarre Section 8 claim that they have now said they are issuing on Monday - how long would it take for me to kicked out of the building? I've no idea how these things work. Clearly I will file a defense.

I can move if necessary but I will need time to get it together to find a new flat. Presuming the Section 8 nonsense comes to nothing, and I was just to sit tight for now.....what happens come beginning of August when my current AST expires? No Section 21 has been served at any point. So, how soon could they get me out at the end of the tenancy? I have waded through loads of posts on this section this evening but I am still not clear on how this would work in my situation....

S21 needs to give 2 full months notice starting from the next rent due date (which may not be when you actually pay the rent)

if this is all down to the lock - it is a serious over reaction by LA to say the least ! A quick chat with LA could and probably will clear all of this up immediately. I can't see a section 8 being successful on the grounds of changing a lock - which you are perfectly entitled to do!

I would stick with plan A and speak to them explaining the position - if they are unreasonable come back for more direction & advice.

A s21 will get LA/LL possession granted and if they really want you out they are more likely to issue this (S21)

LA would be extremely foolsh to send a locksmith round - if they do call CAB or shelter immediatley.

BitterAndTwisted

QuantumSuccess wrote: »

I see your point!


I have another question. If they go forward with this bizarre Section 8 claim that they have now said they are issuing on Monday - how long would it take for me to kicked out of the building? I've no idea how these things work. Clearly I will file a defense.

First they have to go to court to have this S8 enforced. This would depend on how busy the courts are. And there's no absolute certainty that they would win. I can't see the point in them doing this as it would deprive the landlord of a reliable tenant. If you wanted to play hard-ball with them you could refuse to allow them any viewings with prospective new tenant which would cost their landlord a void. They could just as easily issue a S21 to end your tenancy at the end of the fixed-term.

I can move if necessary but I will need time to get it together to find a new flat. Presuming the Section 8 nonsense comes to nothing, and I was just to sit tight for now.....what happens come beginning of August when my current AST expires? No Section 21 has been served at any point. So, how soon could they get me out at the end of the tenancy? I have waded through loads of posts on this section this evening but I am still not clear on how this would work in my situation....

They could issue you with a S21 quite soon if the landlord sanctioned it but I can't see that happening, really. Still, even if they do they'd have to go to court to have it enforced, which takes time and costs money. Which I can't see the landlord relishing when they already have a reliable, long-term tenant in situ.

This is why you MUST send that letter to the agents and copy in your landlord asap.

QuantumSuccess

I'm strongly getting the impression that they are reading my new lock as something sinister or some sign that I will be up to no good.

Also, the building I live in has a main entry door which is only accessible with a special key. Then it has a second main door, which again needs a special key. Then you come up in a lift several floors before you actually get to my individual front door. So..... for the letting agent to even NOTICE that I have a new lock on my door he is already wandering around INSIDE the building. (Normally a visitor would need to buzz my video intercom and they could not gain access to the building until I let them in. To get through the second entry door I actually physically have to go downstairs and open it as it can't be "buzzed" open). The letting agent's actions are really quite intrusive.

QuantumSuccess

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

They could issue you with a S21 quite soon if the landlord sanctioned it but I can't see that happening, really. Still, even if they do they'd have to go to court to have it enforced, which takes time and costs money. Which I can't see the landlord relishing when they already have a reliable, long-term tenant in situ.

This is why you MUST send that letter to the agents and copy in your landlord asap.

Brilliant advice. Thanks. It seems that this Section 8 thing really is an idle threat. Since even if the letting agents want me out for whatever reason my AST expires so soon that it wouldn't be worth the bother of pursuing a Section 8. There's only about 10 weeks left of my AST. We have a handful of "hard cases" in our building (tenants who never pay the rent/who keep dogs in breach of their leases/anti-social tenants who cuss at and threaten the letting agents). It seems the letting agents are taking the same hard-line approach with normal polite people like me as they take with the minority of problem tenants in the building. That is a real shame and they are shooting themselves in the foot really.

BitterAndTwisted

If they are the agents for a number of flats in this building there's no reason why they shouldn't be in and around the property. I wouldn't necessarily be seeing anything particularly sinister in that.

What could be sinister is that they have ignored your previous email offering them a copy of the key to the new, additional lock. This could be down to plain inefficiency on their part. But their email to you is undoubtedly sinister but this just shows what bullying idiots they are.

In your shoes I would compose that letter I advised you to write earlier and hand-deliver it to the agents on Monday morning.

rodent

QuantumSuccess wrote: »

Brilliant advice. Thanks. It seems that this Section 8 thing really is an idle threat. Since even if the letting agents want me out for whatever reason my AST expires so soon that it wouldn't be worth the bother of pursuing a Section 8. There's only about 10 weeks left of my AST. We have a handful of "hard cases" in our building (tenants who never pay the rent/who keep dogs in breach of their leases/anti-social tenants who cuss at and threaten the letting agents). It seems the letting agents are taking the same hard-line approach with normal polite people like me as they take with the minority of problem tenants in the building. That is a real shame and they are shooting themselves in the foot really.

The AST doesn't "expire" until such time as notice is given to the other party by either the LL or the T. The tenancy will run as a periodic tenancy rather than the (initial) FIXED TERM (12mths in your case)
i have a T who is running on a 6mth AST where the fixed term ended nearly 6 years ago - AST is still in place and will require 2mths notice(min) from LL or 1 mth from T (min) to terminate AST until then it is "evergreen" and will continue to be in place along with both parties contractural obligations.