Letting agent doing viewings without warning us, can i refuse?

jjlandlord

somethingcorporate wrote: »

Cheapest and quickest (and most effective) is change the barrel in the lock as has been suggested above.

First step is to tell the agent in writing that visits will only be allowed with correct notice and only on a given set of days of the week.
Then change barrel of lock is necessary.

As mentioned above, OP wants to have a paper trail that she behaved reasonably, and within agreement, at all times to protect herself against claims of loss of earnings, etc. from landlord.

somethingcorporate

jjlandlord wrote: »

First step is to tell the agent in writing that visits will only be allowed with correct notice and only on a given set of days of the week.
Then change barrel of lock is necessary.

As mentioned above, OP wants to have a paper trail that she behaved reasonably, and within agreement, at all times to protect herself against claims of loss of earnings, etc. from landlord.

All the letter would say is "in accordance with our contract, please do not come around without warning..." or words to that effect.

They don't need a paper trail saying that as they already have a contract which says it - hence moving to the more effective method of taking some action.

jjlandlord

somethingcorporate wrote: »

All the letter would say is "in accordance with our contract, please do not come around without warning..." or words to that effect.

They don't need a paper trail saying that as they already have a contract which says it - hence moving to the more effective method of taking some action.

You do not know what's in their contract...

They do need a paper trail:
If their contract has a clause stating that they must allow viewing and they bluntly refuse and change the locks they are obviously in breach. This could lead to the landlord claiming against them for losses, seeking an injunction (unlikely), etc.
But if they tell the agent in writing that they are happy to allow visit on given days of the week providing notice is given but the agent ignores that, then the agent is acting unreasonably and OP can change the lock having proof that they were reasonable.

pmlindyloo

jjlandlord wrote: »

You do not know what's in their contract...

They do need a paper trail:
If their contract has a clause stating that they must allow viewing and they bluntly refuse and change the locks they are obviously in breach. This could lead to the landlord claiming against them for losses, seeking an injunction (unlikely), etc.
But if they tell the agent in writing that they are happy to allow visit on given days of the week providing notice is given but the agent ignores that, then the agent is acting unreasonably and OP can change the lock having proof that they were reasonable.

I think the confusion lies in the belief that tenants have a statutory right to the quiet enjoyment of their home and this overides any clause written in their contract.

Now I have done a great deal of reading on this subject and my understanding of this (feel free to correct me!) is that although the above is right, (entitlement to quiet enjoyment) the LL could go to court to get access to the property and it could be found that the tenant having signed the agreement to allow reasonable (?) access he would be in breach of the contract. Again, it is my understanding that most LLs do not take legal action as it takes a long time and the 'problem' would have gone 'away'.

However, the suggestion of a paper trail makes sense in the small chance that the LL would take court action.

Hope I've explained myself and, as I said, feel free to disagree!

ps There is so much written about this!

MissMoneypenny

As said, change the barrel of the lock and then change it back again when you leave. They cannot enter without your consent. If you really want to be kind, just tell them they can have viewings once a week and give a timeslot i.e. Saturdays between 2pm and 4pm, but you must have their wrtitten notice at least 24 hours before and that they must wait for your consent to that time, in writing/email.

Please contact your council's private letting officer to stop this letting agent breaking the law with other tenants. Most councils are now active in taking letting agents and landlords to court when they break the law and harrass the tenant. Entering the property without the tenants consent (unless it is a real emergency) is harrassment and harrassment is a criminal offence.

If your council are too laid back about doing their job, then contact your MP. With all these cutbacks in the public sector, you find some council workers get better at their jobs (if they weren't good at them before).

Remember that letting agents and landlords aren't required to have any qualifications.

MissMoneypenny

Tessa's Ten Top Tips for tenants on dealing with harassment

from the Landlord Law site, can be found here:-
http://www.landlordlaw.co.uk/tenants/tips/tessas-ten-top-tips-tenants-dealing-harassment

Number 6 is:-
If your landlord (or his agents) continue to enter the property without your consent after you have asked him to stop, consider changing the locks, particularly if you are a woman living alone and are frightened. Many tenancy agreements will prohibit this, however it will be difficult for your landlord to complain about it (eg in court proceedings) if the locks have been changed because of his conduct.

My top tip would be to ensure that you have household contents insurance and that you have the optional extra of Legal Cover (which costs about £20.00 per year extra). Just make sure that the legal cover doesn't have an exclusion for legal action against landlords. If the insurers take a case on, they will pay all legal costs. If you lose, they pay: if you win, the loser pays.

When I was reading these contracts back in March, the legal cover contracts from ARAG and DAS didn't excude action against landlords as far as I could see or according to them (I phoned them). One of the brokers that uses this legal cover fromthese firms, is Insure and they were giving cashback on the cashback sites like www.topcashback.co.uk.

In this case though (Letting Agent or landlord entering the tenants home without consent) the local council should be able to stop that; or take them to court if they continue after they have been warned.

jjlandlord

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

If your landlord (or his agents) continue to enter the property without your consent after you have asked him to stop, consider changing the locks, particularly if you are a woman living alone and are frightened. Many tenancy agreements will prohibit this, however it will be difficult for your landlord to complain about it (eg in court proceedings) if the locks have been changed because of his conduct.

The important point is this "because of his conduct" and tenant should be able to prove that.
Hence the advice to always act reasonably and to keep a paper trail...

MissMoneypenny

pmlindyloo wrote: »

I think the confusion lies in the belief that tenants have a statutory right to the quiet enjoyment of their home and this overides any clause written in their contract.

I think the confusion lies in the belief that landlords think they can take away a tenants legal rights, in a contract.

Remember that case where someone signed a contract saying that the other person could kill and then eat them? Did that contract override the law? Of course it didn't.

In the UK, murder is Common law and the right to quiet enjoyment is Common law too. Why do you think you can take one common law away in a contract, but not another?

jjlandlord

MissMoneypenny wrote: »

I think the confusion lies in the belief that landlords think they can take away a tenants legal rights, in a contract.

A clause stating that T should allow visits at the end of the tenancy does not take away T's legal rights as long as it is enforced reasonably.

ViolaLass

Oliver_Green wrote: »

Hi Nubsj

I can understand that you are cross.

The tenancy agreement is where you will find your answer.

There will be a clause in your agreement which deals with notice for visits. Have a look at that. If your letting agent is managing the property then you should ask them if they are breaching the terms of the tenancy.

If the answer is yes, then you should ask them nicely to sort it out and if they don’t help then raise a complaint with them and if this does not work tell them you will report the matter to the Ombudsman!

Hopefully it won’t come to that as most letting agents will do the job they are contracted to do.

Contacting the ombudsman, should only be a last resort.

Hope this helps, Oliver

I don't see the point in wasting time raising complaints etc, that will all take far too long.

Just change the barrel of the lock. You're entirely entitled to do it provided you change it back when you leave and it will solve the problem. Your LL can't complain because they shouldn't be trying to get in when you're not there, should they?