Landlord Issues

Wrighty87

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for some advice on my current situation with a private landlord.

We have been private renting a house through a direct agreement with the owner (no letting agents involved) for a year and a half now. The landlords own several properties in the town, all of which are leased under the same circumstances.

A few recurring issues have irritated me but I have avoided raising the issue for fear of complicating the relationship. Perhaps in hindsight this was a bad move. These include:

- Coming to the property frequently and unannounced.

- Entering the property when they know we are not home and without notice (they know our working schedules).

- Leaving repairs untouched for long time periods, some of which were brought to their attention on day one and are still not repaired.

- Being very pushy regarding us buying the property from them (my financial situation simply wouldn't allow this. I'll admit I expressed an interest when it was first brought up and since then they have raised the subject at every possible opportunity. Going as far as giving us mortgage documentation they've picked up and making absurd propositions like borrowing us the deposit money and adding it into the value of the house... I declined this for many reasons).

- They never did a formal inventory between our tenancy and the last. I know this because the last tenants were my partners parents and we moved in/out same day. No inventory has been done since that day. Also they are not family friends. My partners parents rented the property for six months, we liked the property so when they decided to move out we proposed us moving in their place.

- They only put our deposit in a protection scheme two months ago. I know this because they asked for my email address and then a few days later I received a confirmation from the protection agency that my deposit has been entered into a scheme.

Yesterday they came unannounced again. This was in the afternoon when we would both usually be working. As it happen we had a joint hospital appointment in the morning and arranged to work from home in the afternoon.

They seemed immediately annoyed at us and vented this via several issues they have with our maintenance of the house. I feel it's important to note here that we are by no means untidy people. The house is kept to a good standard because that is how we like to live. I will list their issues below.

- Around six months ago we had strong winds which caused one the fence panels at the back to snap in half. As we back onto a field I was concerned about security so I replaced the fence panel myself and at my expense. I also informed them of this and was not offered any refund. I have never gotten around to painting this fence panel and this was one of their issues. Almost demanding that we get it done immediately to prevent it from rotting. Fair comment... but I own the fence panel...

- The rear garden has decking and paving. The decking has not been painted for what I assume to be years. It was covered with moss and had gotten very slippy. Whilst giving the paving a pressure wash I did the decking as well to remedy this and remove the hazard. Again, I have not got around to painting it / didn't think it was my responsibility. They are now demanding we get this done as well as paint the masonry fencing.

- They previously lived in this house (five years a go) and as a result we still get some post for them. For the full tenancy I have just put it to one side and give them the post when they would visit. This has never been a problem and we've never been asked to do otherwise. It turns out that the ground rent on the property was way overdue and they were unaware of this due to it coming to our address. They then made a point about it being our fault for not informing them (I wouldn't have known unless I opened their mail). They then made some point about the possibility of them receiving an eviction notice because of it and started scouring the letter for such notice (trying to find it even in the small print on the back of the letter in front of me - trying to make a point I assume).

That was all yesterday. I am back in work today but my wife was at home. They have come back again today (unannounced) and proceeded to do a surprise inspection and yelling at my wife for cooking without the kitchen window open and the painting not being done yet (we won't get a chance to even think about doing it until the weekend).

So really I'm just looking for some outside perspective on this. We've never paid rent late and not caused any damage to the property that wouldn't be considered general wear and tear. We are looking to move ASAP now but will have to deal with them for at least a couple more months. What are my rights here? Is there any legal documentation I can present to them that clearly states what our responsibilities are and vice versa.

Sorry for the long post! and thanks for reading

poppy10_2

• Inform the landlord that he has no legal right to enter your property without giving you written notice, and that if he does, you will be calling the police and pursuing charges for trespass
• Change the locks in the house (keep the old barrels, you can replace them at the end of your tenancy)
• Mark all mail that arrives for the LL as "not at this address, return to sender" and pop it back in the postbox; point the landlord towards Royal Mail Redirections who will forward the post to him for a fee, and state you are no longer willing to provide this service for him for free
• The lack of an inventory when you moved in actually works in your favour - with no record of the condition of the property when you moved in, he will find it very difficult to make any deductions from your deposit held in the deposit scheme, as he will not be able to prove that any damage was not already present at the start of the tenancy

DVardysShadow

Conventional advice is to change the lock barrels. In your case, I wouldn't. I would just wait until they let themselves in again and eject them by the scruff of the neck, using reasonable force. Which can be quite a lot if they do not go immediately. This is what would happen to you if you went around theirs and yelled at them about how they used their kitchen.

BitterAndTwisted

Wrighty87 wrote: »

- Coming to the property frequently and unannounced.

They are not entitled you do this.

- Entering the property when they know we are not home and without notice (they know our working schedules).

They are not entitled you do that either.

- Leaving repairs untouched for long time periods, some of which were brought to their attention on day one and are still not repaired.

You should have put this in writing and continued to follow it up on a regular bsis.

- Being very pushy regarding us buying the property from them (my financial situation simply wouldn't allow this. I'll admit I expressed an interest when it was first brought up and since then they have raised the subject at every possible opportunity. Going as far as giving us mortgage documentation they've picked up and making absurd propositions like borrowing us the deposit money and adding it into the value of the house... I declined this for many reasons).

Ignore.

- They never did a formal inventory between our tenancy and the last. I know this because the last tenants were my partners parents and we moved in/out same day. No inventory has been done since that day. Also they are not family friends. My partners parents rented the property for six months, we liked the property so when they decided to move out we proposed us moving in their place.

That's to your benefit.

- They only put our deposit in a protection scheme two months ago. I know this because they asked for my email address and then a few days later I received a confirmation from the protection agency that my deposit has been entered into a scheme.

That's also to your benefit.

Yesterday they came unannounced again. This was in the afternoon when we would both usually be working. As it happen we had a joint hospital appointment in the morning and arranged to work from home in the afternoon.

Why havent you changed the locks yet?

They seemed immediately annoyed at us and vented this via several issues they have with our maintenance of the house.

Your obligation is to return the property in the same condition it was in at the start of your tenancy. Repairs and maintenance are theirs.

- Around six months ago we had strong winds which caused one the fence panels at the back to snap in half. As we back onto a field I was concerned about security so I replaced the fence panel myself and at my expense. I also informed them of this and was not offered any refund. I have never gotten around to painting this fence panel and this was one of their issues. Almost demanding that we get it done immediately to prevent it from rotting. Fair comment... but I own the fence panel...

Ignore them.

- The rear garden has decking and paving. The decking has not been painted for what I assume to be years. It was covered with moss and had gotten very slippy. Whilst giving the paving a pressure wash I did the decking as well to remedy this and remove the hazard. Again, I have not got around to painting it / didn't think it was my responsibility. They are now demanding we get this done as well as paint the masonry fencing.

It's not your responsibility to maintain or repair either the decking or the fencing.

- They previously lived in this house (five years a go) and as a result we still get some post for them. For the full tenancy I have just put it to one side and give them the post when they would visit. This has never been a problem and we've never been asked to do otherwise. It turns out that the ground rent on the property was way overdue and they were unaware of this due to it coming to our address. They then made a point about it being our fault for not informing them (I wouldn't have known unless I opened their mail). They then made some point about the possibility of them receiving an eviction notice because of it and started scouring the letter for such notice (trying to find it even in the small print on the back of the letter in front of me - trying to make a point I assume).

The point they are trying to make is that it is their responsibility to arrangge mail-redirection if they want to be certain that all mail finds its way to where they live. They don't live in your home.

That was all yesterday. I am back in work today but my wife was at home. They have come back again today (unannounced) and proceeded to do a surprise inspection and yelling at my wife for cooking without the kitchen window open and the painting not being done yet (we won't get a chance to even think about doing it until the weekend).

They should have been shown the door as soon as they showed up. That is harassment.

So really I'm just looking for some outside perspective on this. We've never paid rent late and not caused any damage to the property that wouldn't be considered general wear and tear. We are looking to move ASAP now but will have to deal with them for at least a couple more months. What are my rights here? Is there any legal documentation I can present to them that clearly states what our responsibilities are and vice versa.

Sorry for the long post! and thanks for reading

Please, PLEASE change the barrel of the lock on the front door until you can hand the property back once you've found somewhere more suitable. These people are idiots of the worst kind.

Turnbull2000

I suggest you move. Kicking up a fuss over these issue will probably result in an eviction notice anyway.

BitterAndTwisted

The OP has already stated they they are looking to move asap. I don't blame them. Meanwhile I'd be down at B&Q looking for a new lock-barrel

Yorkie1

As for poppy10 and B&T's posts; make sure you put everything in writing to them and change the locks. If they continue to persist, there are criminal offences in the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and the Protection from Eviction Act 1977... bet the LL didn't know that ...

Wrighty87

Thanks for all the responses guys. We have had a long conversation on how best to take control of the situation and get out of here ASAP.

Below is our plan of action and I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

- Get down to B&Q and pick up the necessary locks that will make unauthorised entry impossible for them. We can achieve is by fitting x2 Slide Bolts to the front door and a padlock on the rear entry. I know this isn't as secure as changing the barrels but it still leaves forced entry as their only option.

- Avoid all direct contact with them and communicate only by letter. With our working schedules it shouldn't be difficult. Due to the layout of the house it would be very easy to appear as not being home when we actually are. We plan to just not answer the door if we catch them arriving unnanounced. All of our planned visitors call ahead first so we will know when there is an unexpected knock on the door.

Also we will be bolting down the front door / padlocking the rear entry before work every day so unauthorised entry should be impossible without forcing.

- We are none-stop house hunting. My Wife has viewed two properties today already and we have several more planned for the evenings / weekend. We have the money in the bank to get the ball rolling immediatley on the new house, when we find it.

- When we have a new house confirmed we will send the landlords our notice via recorded delivery. In this I will include every detail (sticking to the facts and keeping it formal) why we are vacting the property and I will also include and highlight the relevant segments of the 'Protection from Harassment Act 1997' and 'Eviction Act 1977' for their reference (as pointed out by Yorkie1, thank you!). I will be going through it myself but if anyone knows any applicable sections that I need to highlight, I would be grateful!

- I have been told that we are currently on a month-rolling contract. We initially signed and agreed a 12 month contract. We have seen this through and not signed anything since. I heard under these circumstances they go to month-rolling by default? Also the Landlord told me it was month-rolling a few months ago.

I have a couple more quieries and if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.

- Is the necessary notice period on a month-rolling contract just one month? We fully intend to pay what we owe and leave no wrong-doings on our part. Unfortunatly (despite asking) they have never produced our copy of this contract. The 12 month is the only one I possess.

- Whilst our payments dates run monthly (6th of each month) if I was to hand our notice in on say the 25th, could I then calculate what I would owe to the 25th of the following month and only pay that as the last months rent? We pay rent in advance.

- By handing the notice in on this place the day we pick up the keys for the new place we will end up holding the keys for a month that we don't live here. Although this isn't ideal financially, we can manage it and it illiminates any risk of not having a new property by the deadline. I intend to include in the notice that the property will remain locked up for this time and I will hand back the keys on the required day.

I'm hoping I have everything covered here. The deposit issues will be sorted out when our notice is complete. Thanks for pointing out that the lack of an inventory and deposit protection will serve as ammunition for us should they attempt any absurb deposit deductions.

Apologies for the wall of text! Thanks again and we really apprecaite the advice.

suited-aces

Do not secure the doors in that way, they can charge you the cost of returning the doors to the original condition. Simply change the barrel, and keep the old one. Then change them back again when you leave the house, so it's returned as is.

suited-aces

Oh, and if you give notice on the 25th, with a payment date of the 6th, the month's notice begins on the 6th, up to the 5th of the next month.

sonastin

Check if there is anything in your tenancy agreement about leaving the house unoccupied for any length of time. If there is, either comply with the requirements or spend a night there every so often during the cross-over period so you don't breach this term. The terms of your original 12 month tenancy still apply now that you are on a periodic tenancy - the only terms that change at the end of the fixed term are the ones in relation to notice periods and ending the tenancy. You need to give notice on or before the 6th and your tenancy will end on the 5th of the following month. Any other arrangement would have to be by agreement with your LL.