dodgy landlord

para_seb

hi,

first post here. Im not going to disclose any information as i dont know if my landlord would visit this site but here is my situation:

I have lived in my property for almost three years and have never seen a gas saftey certificate, or an energy performance certificate

I live in a three bed house but am only paying for two of the bedrooms and the rest of the house. The landlord keeps the other bedroom locked and has some furnature and junk in there (it also has the loft hatch in that room)

This didnt seem an issue at first (first time renting and nieve) He said anytime i needed the room for guests to let him know and he would come and open it (although he never did leaving my parents on an air bed downstairs)

He has lots of post comming here for him and other members of his family (again, did not seem and issue at first)

A while ago there was some damage to the property and I heard him say to the insurance loss adjuster that he "found the damage when he came home from work" (even though he dosnt live here) and that it was a "part tenancy" (which as from my research does not exist)

now this got my thinking and doing alot of research.

I have searched the land registry and his name is on this address, so he does not have permission from his mortgage provider to rent out the property.

but then he is saying he is living here (which he is not)

also he lent me some money and is charging interest. According to my research he should not have as he is not a lisenced money lender (so legaly i have no obligation to pay him back)

I am a month in areas and he has given me writen 28 days notice to pay it plus late charges or go to small claims court (which is fair enough i guess)

but is our tenancy aggrement actually legal if he does not have permission to rent the property?

So to sum it all up...

No gas saftey certificate for either the hobs or boiler (apon entering or anual checks)

No energy performance certificate

Mortgate company do not know property is being rented

Unlawfull lending of money

Insurance fraud (by lying to them)

oh and also the other day recieved a blank envolope and it was a parking fine for his car so that means his car is registered with the dvla at this address (is that legal because he owns the property?)

and also he did some electrical work himself (he is not a qualified electrition)



I think thats everything, sorry for being so long winded. Hope it makes sence and sorry for any spelling errors (not my strong point)

Please can someone advise on where he is breaking the law and what can be done about it

BitterAndTwisted

Do not strive for any legal traps and complaints here. The reason why your landlord has retained exclusive use of one of the rooms is to justify why you are a lodger ane not a tenant. If he can get away with it is anyone's guess but if he can you are out Out, OUT!

He's not "breaking the law" by having you as a lodger if you are one.

My advice to you is to make other suitable arrangement asap

What the eff are you doing borrowing money form your landlord? Are you unwell?

Tiddlywinks

para_seb wrote: »

hi,
Please can someone advise on where he is breaking the law and what can be done about it

Your research seems to already have confirmed that things are now quite right - so what do you want to know?

Will knowing the actual piece of legislation help?

You are in arrears with rent and have borrowed money from an unregistered source - what did you think would happen about that?

Did you put down a deposit? Is it in a protected scheme?

tbs624

Welcome as a newbie. Below is for Eng and Wales tenancies.

A T is *usually* granted exclusive occupancy of a property unless specifically agreed otherwise.

Do you have a written tenancy agreement?

Are you still within a Fixed Term - have you signed any new agreement since you first moved in ?

Do you have an address on there (if yes) or anywhere else (if no) for the LL at which Notices relating to the property may be served? If the answer is no then LL cannot lawfully request rent from you until such time as he does give you an address ( in writing) You would then have to oay up backdated rent so don't spend it.

If there is such an address and he can collect rent under the tenancy then he cannot simply whack on late payment charges as he sees fit. They have to be reasonable and they have to have been laid out in the tenancy agreement.

Criminal offence for LL to fail to (a) get annual check & certification done on boiler & any other gas appliances (b) give T a copy of cert (c) retain each of certs for two year period -HSE and local Council EHO can prosecute

Lack of EPC can mean Trading Standards Office can pursue - 200 quid penalty

Money lending (edit: commercial) without the appropriate licence is a crim offence & can result in a fine and or imprisonment - see OFT or report to police

Have you paid a tenancy deposit and if yes, has LL scheme registered it and provided you with the prescribed info from the scheme - check direct TDS, DPS and mydeposits?

Edit: who is registered as liable for utility bills and CTax? Who appears on the electoral register at your address?

Does the LL call for his post on a regular basis?

tbs624

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Do not strive for any legal traps and complaints here. The reason why your landlord has retained exclusive use of one of the rooms is to justify why you are a lodger ane not a tenant. If he can get away with it is anyone's guess but if he can you are out Out, OUT!

He's not "breaking the law" by having you as a lodger if you are one.

The LL has to be formally classed as living at the property not simply hanging onto a storage room and continuing to get post there - if it is not the LL's main residence then the OP is not his lodger

BitterAndTwisted

If there's nothing written down about this "loan" then it's just a private arrangement between friends or acquaintances. If I lent a mate £100 I'd expect the money back and be bought a pint to say "thanks". That's not illegal money-lending.

Seems this landlord is guilty of some very fancy footwork and everything depends on there being a formal Tenancy Agreement.

BitterAndTwisted

tbs624 wrote: »

The LL has to be formally classed as living at the property not simply hanging onto a storage room and continuing to get post there - if it is not the LL's main residence then the OP is not his lodger

You are absolutely correct but getting the proof is the hard part.

tbs624

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

Will knowing the actual piece of legislation help?

Yes, it probably will although the T will of course end up having to find a new home

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

You are in arrears with rent and have borrowed money from an unregistered source - what did you think would happen about that?

See my first post - no appropriate address for the LL, no rent may be lawfully collected. T would have some breathing space on that one. Not condoning Ts who don't pay rent due under a tenancy (or lodger) agreement just reminding of the law for tenancies.

DVardysShadow

para_seb wrote: »

I have searched the land registry and his name is on this address, so he does not have permission from his mortgage provider to rent out the property.


but is our tenancy aggrement actually legal if he does not have permission to rent the property?

So to sum it all up...

1. No gas saftey certificate for either the hobs or boiler (apon entering or anual checks)
2. No energy performance certificate
3. Mortgate company do not know property is being rented
4. Unlawfull lending of money
5. Insurance fraud (by lying to them)
6. oh and also the other day recieved a blank envolope and it was a parking fine for his car so that means his car is registered with the dvla at this address (is that legal because he owns the property?)
7. and also he did some electrical work himself (he is not a qualified electrition)

.... Please can someone advise on where he is breaking the law and what can be done about it

What do you want out of this????? Because you seem intent on proving all sorts of irrelevant stuff, when your real problem is that you are in arrears and if you don't sort it, he could win against you fair and square in court. The issues that you raise are interesting but will not help you one little bit in court.

The fact that he does not have a different address registered with the Land Registry does not prove that he does not have permission to rent.
As for your other points

1. Not a defence against arrears, but you should get him to sort this
2. I doubt that you are seriously worried about the EPC, otherwise you would not have rented the place
3. Even if you could prove that, the only difference to you is that if the Landlord is repo'd, you would be out of the property possibly more quickly. So nothing in that for you while you live there.
4. If you stop him lending to you, then it adds to your arrears - ie his lending reduces the arrears he can legitimately claim, provided you can show that there is a loan. If you can get him to deny there was a loan in court, it makes it more difficult for him to claim interest off you
5. Lying to whom? Not your problem really
6. This is between him and DVLA, not relevant to you.
7. He may do his own electrical work. Your only concern is whether it is safe. This is judged on whether it is actually safe, not on who did it.

I really don't see any of this going anywhere useful to you.

Werdnal

You owe your landlord money, not only in rent, but what you have borrowed. You now seem to be looking at reasons to throw back at the LL to gain some ground over him in this sorry situation.

Time to move somewhere else me thinks. Whilst is is annoying that you apparently have a LL willing to break the rules, I doubt anything you do will prevent him evicting you anyway, so why not find somewhere else for yourself and get a decent LL, who does things properly and legally.

tbs624

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

What the eff are you doing borrowing money form your landlord? Are you unwell?

don't hold back B&T