Landlord took lock out of door without permission, now wants payment for damage!!

CATS

Hi Everyone,

Please bear with me whilst I try to explain. My godparents live in a rented property. The landlord asked them to leave, however they did not find anything suitable at the price they could afford to pay. Seeked advice from council, council told landlord to seek an S21 order/process etc. Anyway he did this but he lied in the court papers saying that they didnt give him a deposit. Godparents have proof and submitted to the court. Judge came back saying he was not satisfied that landlord deserves a possession order and has set a court date for March.

All ok until here. Now last week out of the blue, landlord approaches Godfather and tells him that he knows they have changed the locks and he wants a key to his property. Now how would you know this, unless you tried to enter the property. Anyway, the locks have NOT been changed and we told him this a number of times. He insists that they have. Sends message saying he wants to come on Monday to put in new locks, Goddfather says ok am here from 8 am to 12 pm tell me what time you are coming. Sends message saying "or you can just give me a key" anyway Godfather made copy but did not see landlord this week. He leaves this morning but forgets something and comes back to find landlord taking the locks out so he can go and get a key copy made!!!!:eek: he did not tell them and waited until there was no one in the house!!

Godfather calls me furious not knowing what to do, I say leave it this time if he doesn it again we will call police. Now landlord just sent text saying "sir are you coming back? the bill for the repair of the door will be bought up in court sir"

The cheek!! now question is, can we get the police involved? can he seriously expect them to pay for what he has done without telling anyone and are they under obligation to give him a key? they have no rent arrears and are even paying a rent increase he did.

Be grateful for any advice

tbs624

Your godfather should contact the private sector tenancy relations officer at the local Council pronto. They are always busy so he will need to be persistent.

He could also seek guidance from the Housing Charity Shelter - their advice helpline is 0808 800 4444

He should retain text messages from the LL.

RAS

CATS wrote: »

The cheek!! now question is, can we get the police involved? can he seriously expect them to pay for what he has done without telling anyone and are they under obligation to give him a key? they have no rent arrears and are even paying a rent increase he did.

Be grateful for any advice

The landlord is on a hiding to nothing. When the tenancy ends, as long as your parents put back the lock that they took out, the LL is not entitled to anything.

You need to get the LA Private tenacy Officer

CATS

When the tenancy ends, as long as your parents put back the lock that they took out, the LL is not entitled to anything.

You need to get the LA Private tenacy Officer[/QUOTE]

But they really didnt change the locks, I dont understand where he got this idea!! I will look into the tenancy officer . So far I have just told them to ignore him

jamesd

Also inform the court of the events and ask them to consider assisting with the right to peaceful enjoyment of the property without harassment from the landlord doing things like that.

If the court doesn't know about the rent increase also mention that since it can be used as a harassment technique.

CATS

jamesd wrote: »

Also inform the court of the events and ask them to consider assisting with the right to peaceful enjoyment of the property without harassment from the landlord doing things like that.

If the court doesn't know about the rent increase also mention that since it can be used as a harassment technique.

Hi jamesd, on the day of the hearing I will tell them, however how do I go about telling them now? should I just call and give the reference number and tell them? what can they do?
thanks

jamesd

Give them a call today, let the people you speak with know what happened and ask them for suggestions. They will recognise it as unreasonable behaviour by a landlord trying to get a tenant out and probably offer good suggestions. They can do things like ordering the landlord not to visit the property except in an emergency and to stop harassing the tenants and perhaps fine the landlord for the harassment. The landlord seems to have given no reason for requiring access so it seems to be just harassment.

G_M

You can also report this to the police.

Protection from Eviction Act 1977 makes illegal eviction a criminal offence. It also makes harassment a criminal offence. (" fine not exceeding £400 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both;")

A LL changing the lock while the tenant is out is clearly an illegal eviction. Report it.


The police generally do not like interferring in LL/tenant disputes, and are often unfamiliar with the law, so you may need to be persistant/ask to speak to a more senior officer.

It may well be that a visist and chat from the police will be enough to get the LL to back off.


Does the Tenant now have acess? Key to current lock? Does the LL now also have a key?

Personally, I would now change the lock again to
a) ensure no unauthorised access by landlord
b) no further attempt to illegally evict by landlord
c) maintain security

Keep the old lock - you can replace it when youleave the property eventually.

CATS

Does the Tenant now have acess? Key to current lock? Does the LL now also have a key?

Personally, I would now change the lock again to
a) ensure no unauthorised access by landlord
b) no further attempt to illegally evict by landlord
c) maintain security

Keep the old lock - you can replace it when youleave the property eventually.[/QUOTE]
Yes they have the same key, what the LL did was take the actual lock out to take it to a locksmith I assume to get a key. I think he is just being difficult as the locks were never changed in the first place so he still has a key, or 2 now. He says that he needs a key for emergencies. Do they have to give him a key?

RAS

CATS wrote: »

Yes they have the same key, what the LL did was take the actual lock out to take it to a locksmith I assume to get a key. I think he is just being difficult as the locks were never changed in the first place so he still has a key, or 2 now. He says that he needs a key for emergencies. Do they have to give him a key?

The landlord is a muppet.

Your parents are allowed quiet enjoyment. That means that he is not actually allowed in the house without making a prior appointment which they agree to. He needs to write to them giving at least 24 hours notice and they are perfectly within their rights to say no.

In order to ensure this many tenants change the lock barrel when they move in and change it back when they leave. This is perfectly legal and the LL is not allowed to claim any damages against the deposit if it is done properly. Nor can the LL demand a copy of the key during the tenancy, whatever he has put in the contract.

So as long as they leave the old barrel in the lock when they leave and they return the keys to match that barrel he has no complaint.

olly300

As stated the landlord is an idiot - he can get a criminal conviction for tenant harassment. Get the police involved asap and make sure you get a reference number of them to point this out in the hearing.