Unreasonable landlady

adamscybot

Im a student renting a £325 each a month property (4 people). Recently my landlady has begun interfering with how we live in the house (we resigned recently). I just need to know if anything i list here is wrong or simply where I stand on the matter.

Its a good idea to keep in mind that we are decent students and treat the place well, Im pretty sure any landlord wouldn't mind us at all. In my conversations with her, I have gathered she is a very nasty person indeed, and seems to flip between calm and agressive at the push of a button. She has already called one tenant a !!!!!!!. When conducting her communications with us, she also tries her best to avoid me in particular (im the lead tenant), as she believes it will start an argument, ie. she has figured that I will stand up for my rights and not let her get her way.

1. There is a time each year where those who are moving need a place to put there stuff for a couple of nights (to avoid having to go 100's of miles to home or whatever). We allowed a friend to use our front room for this. The landlady visited to put in a new bed and clearly saw this and left a note saying to call her about a gas inspection (in the ensuing conversation, this was never mentioned so was clearly a ploy). These items took up about, say, 1.5x1m floor space and were placed neatly near the window. In the phone call, she said it was a "disgrace" and that she has "never seen anything like it" and that she wants it gone by Monday (i *think* it was friday). She said that if I did not do this she move the items onto the street herself. When I argued that this was illegal she said they are not my possessions they are someone elses so she can. I didnt give up on this and she whipped out the "fire hazard" card. We removed the items just to avoid any conflict.

2. When coming to inspect the electrics (I wasnt in, so I suspect this was another lie), she said the surfaces in the kitchen were "disgusting" and "scummy." Keeping in mind I had blitzed the place with anti bacterial spray the night before, I think this is wildly unreasonable. Her main complaint was that there were weeds in the garden and she *demanded* that I pull them up and she will spray it down. She said if we dont do this, she will charge us and we will have to pay. How much power does she have to demand how we keep the property DURING the tenancy and not at the end?

Im sure I can think of more situations she has put us in but this will do for now. It is causing me a lot of stress, from my perspective we have done absolutely nothing wrong - its as if she doesn't want us to live there, she wants us to just look at the house through 8 layers of steel reinforced glass.

thegirlintheattic

As for the garden, check your tenancy. There is often a clause about maintaining the garden which means that she can ask you to sort out the weeds and can also charge you if you do not do it.

Riq

I'll tell her some of the things me and housemates got upto in our uni house!

Then we'll see if she thinks you're that bad!

ViolaLass

She has no powers to demand that you do anything to the property while you are staying there, she can only require it to be returned to her in the condition that it was in at the beginning of the tenancy minus reasonable wear and tear.

In other words, it's none of her business if you choose to have all your friends leave all their belongings at your place for the entire year, provided it's all gone when you move out. The tidiness of otherwise of the kitchen during your tenancy is none of her business.

(All this, except for the garden. Check your tenancy agreement, as pointed out by thegirlintheattic.)

crazyguy

I think she fancies you and also may have some deep routed issues, buy her a nice buch of flowers and ask her out on a date I bet she will lighten up then !

adamscybot

ViolaLass wrote: »

She has no powers to demand that you do anything to the property while you are staying there, she can only require it to be returned to her in the condition that it was in at the beginning of the tenancy minus reasonable wear and tear.

In other words, it's none of her business if you choose to have all your friends leave all their belongings at your place for the entire year, provided it's all gone when you move out. The tidiness of otherwise of the kitchen during your tenancy is none of her business.

(All this, except for the garden. Check your tenancy agreement, as pointed out by thegirlintheattic.)

What is the legitimacy of a fire hazard claim?

G_M

What kind of tenancy is this? A single 'joint and several' AST which you all signed? Or do you each have separate agreements? Is this an HMO (House of Multiple Occupation)?

If its a single AST, you have EXCLUSIVE use of the property and she can not even come in without your permission. Change the lock.

If it's an HMO then. yes, she can enter the common shared parts.

How you live is your business, not hers. It is your home. Your obligation is to return it at the end of the tenancy how you found it at the start. So if it was clean when you moved in, clean it at the end! Meanwhile, (within reason - you DO have a duty to act in a 'tenant-like' manner!) live how you like.

You need to write to her, pointing out your right to 'quiet enjoyment' of the property (ie non interference). And ask her to contact you in advance, in writing, if she wants to come in for any reason.

as I said above - change the lock (£5).

If she complains about you changing the lock, ask her how she knows. When she (inevitably) says she tried to come in, tell her she had no right as you had written to her asking her to request permission before coming in.

Piggywig75

This woman sounds EXACTLY like the landlord I have just finished my 12 month lease with. Completely unreasonable and a bit nuts to boot, changing her mood and being generally aggressive.
It sounds like she is popping in and out of your house on a regular basis and this is actually going against your rights to live peaceably and without harassment during your tenancy?

G_M

Unless you answer the questions, you cannot be properly advised:

What kind of tenancy is this? A single 'joint and several' AST which you all signed? Or do you each have separate agreements? Is this an HMO (House of Multiple Occupation)?

And also more specifically :
is this in Eng/Wales? or Scotland?
does the LL live there too (I guess not but best to confirm)?
You say

(we resigned recently).

do you mean 're-signed' a new tenancy? or handed in your notice?
When did your tenancy start? What period is it for and/or does it have an end date?

poppysarah

adamscybot wrote: »

What is the legitimacy of a fire hazard claim?

Ask the fire brigade to pop round.

They like visiting HMO to make sure they comply with ALL the fire safety laws. A few things in a downstairs room shouldn't be a problem.

MissMoneypenny

You could phone up your local council and ask for Private Lettings, as many councils are now employing people to deal with the bad landlords and letting agents in their areas. They will write to the landlady and remind her of the law of quiet enjoyment that all tenants have, which should stop her doing this again to anyone else, or she will risk legal action from the council. You also need to tell your university about this landlady, so they too have a record of her behaviour. Both councils and universities, keep records of their bad landlords.

If you feel there is anything unsafe at all in the house, you can always ask the council to do a safety inspection of the property. They will then do a thorough check of the property to ensure it conforms to saftey standards. If it doesn't, they will issue the landlady with a list of her repairs. I've read a post on this site before, where students complained to the council for the repairs the landlord was slow to fix and an inspection by the council revealed 18k worth of repairs the landlord had to do.