Unreasonable landlord/agent

KILL_BILL

i really question as to wether some agents know what they are doing

i had a burglary last night and they damaged the door and surrounding wood frame too which subsequently has made it unsafe.

the police came round and said that it needs replacing and that the landlord is responsible for this.

i have reiterated to the agents of this but they are stating its down to the tenant as the landlord does not live in the property.

all the people ive spoken to include insurance and repair people concur that LL responsible.

the cost of this is going to cost circa £950 which im going to have to pay and claim back from the landlord.

ive been ringing round for quotes over the phone to try and get this dealt with asap but question as to as this is over the weekend just get it done. my mum as said she will help with cost and then pursue it against the ll or deduct it froom the rent ?

any ideas ?

theartfullodger

You are right, Landlord must repair door - organise, pay for it unless you are feeling helpful. I'd want to be cooperative between LL/T/agent simply to get it orgaised in everyone's best interests..

However if LL thinks T somehow responsible (unlikely with burglary & presumably you've got a crime ref number??) he can then try & recover ££ from T. But, yes, it is up to LL to fix.

Yet again an agent who doesn't understand the law.. Sigh!!

If you need confirmation 'phone Shelter 0808 800 4444

Cheers!

Artful; (LL since 2000)

poppysarah

Ring the agents again.

KILL_BILL

yeah rang the agents they say that tenant reposnible

and another thing is that the trademen/workmen that they use are really not that competent. this guy has still not contacted me to tell me when he is coming round to inspect the damages to the door.........

not just that the last time they came round and did work they left rubbish all over the place, had the nerve to sit on my sofa and eat their dinner and left it in the bin for me to clear up and worst of all they left my front door open for anyone to walk in....... i was furious when that happened they admited watching tv but denied leaving the door open.... the tooth fairy must have done it then

poppysarah

KILL_BILL wrote: »

yeah rang the agents they say that tenant reposnible

Ring shelter. Write down their advice.

Ring agent.
Read out advice.
Say "I am putting this in writing to you now and CCing it to the private tenancy support officer at the council too"

Biddy

Ring the agent and ask for them to contact the insurance company the landlord has for the property. I definitely would not expect to have to pay for replacing the door as a tenant.

theartfullodger

Insurance?? Doesn't matter if Landlord has insurance or not, it's his problem

Turnbull2000

Ultimately, there's nothing you can do about if the LA/Landlord insist it's your problem. Complaining further could simply result in an eviction notice. Be careful.

KILL_BILL

Turnbull2000 wrote: »

Ultimately, there's nothing you can do about if the LA/Landlord insist it's your problem. Complaining further could simply result in an eviction notice. Be careful.

an eviction notice for what........ pray do tell..... that a first

Yorkie1

Refer the LL to s.11 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985:

11 Repairing obligations in short leases.

(1)In a lease to which this section applies ... there is implied a covenant by the lessor—
(a)to keep in repair the structure and exterior of the dwelling-house (including drains, gutters and external pipes), ...

The law says that the LL must keep it in repair. There are certain exceptions in the Act but they do not apply here on the facts you've given.

theartfullodger

Turnbull2000 wrote: »

Ultimately, there's nothing you can do about if the LA/Landlord insist it's your problem. Complaining further could simply result in an eviction notice. Be careful.

Sigh!!! Tenant can, counter S21, pursue this route...

“Protection from Eviction Act 1977”
Section 1

• • Unlawful eviction and harassment
  • s.1(3A) (as was amended by the Housing Act 1988) which states:
    "the landlord of a residential occupier or an agent of the landlord shall be guilty of an offence if he does acts likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of the residential occupier or members of his household."
  • The individual carrying out any inspection will be personally criminally liable, and could face arrest by the police on the above charge. Likewise the agency as a corporate entity may face criminal investigation.

- which, if he's really keen (=gets seriously good legal help..) may in theory result in LL getting criminal conviction (if he fails to respond, insults advisers, utters rude emails/messages to tenant via.agent etc etc..).

I'd really (no, really really..) like to see a test case challenging an S21 notice on the grounds of harassement (no agro, no bother, just the uttering of S21..) in similar circumstances...

A good barrister should be able to make a case...

Cheers!!