Sick to death of novice, difficult landlord

top_drawer_2

hello again,

Please could people remember that I am seeking advice here, if you wish to discuss things please feel free to create your own thread.

As I have said I had (emailed) replies from two of the three deposit schemes - would this acceptable to prove that my deposit is not protected with their scheme, should it come to it?

Can I give my notice and then request she protects my deposit?

Jenny

Maestro.

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

I'd find somewhere else, give notice and then leave.

and if there is even a small hint that they will take your deposit, just don't pay your last month's rent and tell them they can keep the deposit. that way you essentially keep your deposit.

top_drawer_2

Maestro. wrote: »

and if there is even a small hint that they will take your deposit, just don't pay your last month's rent and tell them they can keep the deposit. that way you essentially keep your deposit.

Do you not think she wil be at the house like a shot demanding it, as I said it been written into the deposit that I am not not pay the last months rent and use the deposit as the final months payment. There is also something along the lines re: overdue payments - 10 days.

Also do I have to make my room available for viewings, once I have given notice. What can I do if she decides to let herself in my room? Its been an issue in the past (although I was in the house and the door was unlocked - she thought it would be ok to let a potential tenant view the "beautiful" fireplace in my room).

This is a shared house and she lets herself in as and when it suits as it is.

Yorkie1

1. Deposit. No need for written response from the 3 deposit schemes; email response will suffice I think. See B&T's post above; it answers your questions.

2. You appear only to have exclusive occupation of your room so, whilst you can't stop the LL coming into the shared areas, you are entitled to refuse permission to access your room. When you give your written notice (make sure you give the right amount / dates), and deal with the deposit issues from B&T's post, you can also inform the LL that you do not consent to her entering your room at any point. Change the lock if you think she will ignore you and you can do so without causing any damage to the property (change it back before you leave). It is always advised to try to be reasonable by e.g. offering specific times when you will be present for accompanied viewings.

Be prepared for a bad reference though.

top_drawer_2

Yorkie1 wrote: »

1. Deposit. No need for written response from the 3 deposit schemes; email response will suffice I think. See B&T's post above; it answers your questions.

2. You appear only to have exclusive occupation of your room so, whilst you can't stop the LL coming into the shared areas, you are entitled to refuse permission to access your room. When you give your written notice (make sure you give the right amount / dates), and deal with the deposit issues from B&T's post, you can also inform the LL that you do not consent to her entering your room at any point. Change the lock if you think she will ignore you and you can do so without causing any damage to the property (change it back before you leave). It is always advised to try to be reasonable by e.g. offering specific times when you will be present for accompanied viewings.

Be prepared for a bad reference though.

I'm already expecting that due to the issue that developed on Sunday. I'm not an unreasonable person (in fact i'm soft) but she has taken things too far this time.

Callie22

ognum wrote: »

This is a really interesting thread. The OP has allowed and enabled the landlord to behave badly for many years. You have know the deposit wasn't protected, you have allowed he to come in and pick up her mail etc.

Having created this environment you now want to get your own back and create problems for your landlord.

I agree she needs sorting out the whole relationship is wrong but why suddenly the need for vengeance.

I can't help feeling you helped create this awful situation.

I don't think that's quite fair. I'm not commenting on the 'vengeance' side of it, but blaming the tenant for a bad landlord is a little heartless, to say the least.

Like a lot of tenants, I've been in a similar situation. My last landlady didn't have permission to let, would come round for her post, didn't do repairs or protect the depost. I'll admit that I let things slide - like the OP, I asked for the deposit to be protected on a regular basis but got the same excuses - 'oh, I don't know anything about that'. I could have taken the LL to court, I could have got the council involved with the repair issues, I could have reported the LA to the Ombudsman. Ultimately however, I had to weigh up the desire to exercise my rights with the reality that I could have been evicted at any point - 'justice' is great but my main concern is having somewhere to live, so that I can do my job and earn money. It also costs a great deal of money to move, and like a lot of people, I can't always find a few grand within a couple of months.

Ok, so I 'enabled' my LLs bad behaviour, but my motives were purely selfish - fighting one bad landlord isn't going to change the world and would just have made my life very, very uncomfortable (and would probably have cost me my deposit, which still took me nearly three months to get back). Yes, bad LLs and bad LAs get away with some terrible stuff, but until tenants get more security and protection from spite and ineptitude most of us aren't going to fight. We just have to put up with it until we can afford to leave, and then we move on.

mancitychick

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

I'd find somewhere else, give notice and then leave.

As above but in addition I would not pay my last months rent in lieu of the deposit, regardless of what the landlady/contract says.

top_drawer_2

Well I've been looking at properties all this week - I'm really struggling to find ones which are not let by letting agents as as after reading everything I have on here I didnt want to deal with them.

There was nothing decent (and in my budget) to speak of in the Lancashire Evening Post so Ive had to use Rightmove and findaproperty - I've found a few good ones but they are all very small (like a room with tiny kitchen and mezziane level) or have strange set ups etc.

By any fluke does anyone on know someone who rents out one bed flats or studio apartments in the Preston area?

sonastin

This landlady is truly awful and deserves everything that she gets. But I have to confess that the need for vengence, the desire to be pettily vindictive, the chastisement of posters who aren't totally on message all lead me to react badly to the OP as well - not the sort of person I would particularly want to deal with.

To give the benefit of the doubt, because things aren't always as they seem when written on a forum...

The best was to "get your own back" on this landlady is to do everything by the book. Totally. The advice that is often given to Landlords on this forum is make sure you understand LL&T law and the obligations that puts on you. Well the same goes for the OP. If you have a complete understanding of a) what the LL is obliged to do and b) the correct legal path to forcing her to do it, you can make her life absolute hell without ever putting a foot wrong yourself. Start by writing to her rather than communicating in person. Include in your letters that you do not wish to deal with her face-to-face and you consider her behaviour to be harrassment. Report her for harrassment if that is what she has been doing. Follow correct procedure to carry out the repairs to the property yourself at her expense. Insist that she register your deposit or you'll be taking her to court, etc.

She has no comeback on you because your actions are completely legal. If she tries to make your life harder while you are in the property, she is breaking the law. If she witholds your deposit, take her to court to get it back. About the only legal remedy she has is to serve notice (which she can't do until the deposit is registered) and give you a bad reference.

Oh, and it is worth bearing in mind that it doesn't matter that you believe you couldn't leave the house in a worse state than you remember it being in. What actually matters is whether she has any documented "proof" that it was in a better state than you actually leave it. If there is an inventory that she can trot out which suggests the place was immaculate and you don't have anything to show the true state of the place, it makes your job harder. The best way to win this sort of argument is to put yourself in her shoes so you can plan a defence to anything she might say.

top_drawer_2

Thanks Sonastin - believe me I am not a nasty person by an measure but for the first time in my life I actually feel something close to hate for this women. She has spent the last two and half years hanging over my shoulder dictating my time, my homelife and being an all round pain in the bum. I have looked previously to move but found that it was just inpossible with LA's wanting blood (i.e £100+ for "checks" x2 references including a work reference, a full-time permanent employment contract) and HA having quite a low level of quality available in the area. Plus LA's dont seem to have a good reputation

This house used to be her home then she decided to move in with her boyfriend about 30 miles away; she is very particular about the house, although not about doing repairs, more about how we arrange furniture and not changing her (dreadful) garish decor. She has no intention of ever moving back into this house since they have booked a day for the wedding and often tells us how they have just spent £3000 on a new kitchen in their house and they are extending into the loft etc - but I think she likes to be able to control and dictate over us. She is in a profession that in my opinion that is strongly based on this premise. She also has our next door neighbour "keeping watch over the house" everything we do and say gets reported back. We often say (my housemates and I) we are just a cash machine; gives out but you never put back in.

Most frustratingly she has interfered with my plans for the future; I was supposed to start on a intense full-time course next week something I will have to put off for awhile because I just cant continue tolerating her behavior and I cant do both.

TD