Been down several avenues, what now?

Soniclord

Hi,

I had another thread about this (maybe more than 1 but that's by the by, lol) anyway I'd like to know what we (me and my partner) can do now regarding the agency not giving us the landlords address as per the landlords and tenants act after we'd requested it and waited the full 21 days.

My local council contacted them about providing the address (waste of time that was) I then contacted NALS who are the National Approved Lettings Scheme who the agency we rent through are a member of, they said they'd spoken to them and sent a letter requesting they provide us with the address (again another waste of time) basically because this particular agency have spoken to their legal department and the landlord of the house where renting and the landlord has told them because he's paying them management fees then he does NOT want them to give us his address.

I know they're breaking and have broken the law by not providing the landlords address, and that they should be liable to a fine, but how would that be enforced? Even then they should still provide us with the landlords address.

I myself spoke to a solicitor and they said they charge £145 per hour! So did I want to think about it.

Is there nothing else we can do regarding the landlords address as obviously £145 per hour is overkill for what we want! I mean can we sue the agency for not providing the landlords address?

Thanks in advance.

pararct

In a nutshell why do you need this?

You may well have provided the reason in one of these other threads you speak of but without have to trawl back, it will give people that respond a clearer picture.
It may be the LL (or his/her agents) are circumventing other rules.

Soniclord

Because the agency have made threats to us and where pretty certain the landlord doesnt have a clue how the agency are treating HIS tenants.

And with respect whether or not we had a reason for wanting the landlords address is irrelevant, if we request it then it should be given to us.

Soniclord

No no no, the agency are not my landlord, the agency are simply the agency, our landlord is the person whose house we are renting. I'm not being funny, i'm being factual.

And HMLR is useless as it only gives (most of the time) the address of the landlord being the address you're renting.. I already went down that route.

End of the day they should give the landlords address, it is the law....

And the fact is how can I write to the agency about the agency!? That would be pointless as the agency simply don't give a sh*t how they treat the landlords tenants, hence why there is a law which 'SHOULD' allow for the provisioning of the landlords address to ALL tenants! That's the landlord address NOT the agencies address. Seems as though agencies are a law to themselves!

Not to worry they'll get there's 1 day.... That's a fact.

princeofpounds

You have a contract with the agency who in this case are your L. Any queries need to be addressed to the agency.

I think the OP knows this based on past threads, but that's not the case. The landlord is the landlord. The agent is merely an agent and has no contractual relationship with the tenant in their own right.

OP, I think you might have to consider a private prosecution. Hard to manage without a solicitor I know...
Did you try the local government ombudsman or councillors about the council's refusal to act?

elvis86

business_man wrote: »

You have a contract with the agency who in this case are your L. Any queries need to be addressed to the agency.

If you are very desperate to know about the owner of the property, spending £4 at HMLR may do the job.

RE your signature, I hope you don't rent any of your houses out, as you're obviously not up to speed on relevant legislation.

There is a legal obligation (set out in the Landlord And Tenant Act) for Letting Agents to provide a tenant with their Landlord's name and address within 21 days of the tenant making a written request.

Unfortunately, in practice, this appears to be toothless legislation that nobody is willing to enforce.:mad:

propertyman

You know the name of the landlord and could trace them via the electoral register search, bt.com, ( hoping they aren't Mr and Mrs Smith, or using a service like findermonkey.

On the HMLR register if they have mortgagee you could write to the lender and ask them to pass the letter on.

Bear in mind if they do not have consent to let it might precipitate and early notice to quit.

Application to the county court is simple, you are asking for a court order for the landlord to provide their name and address under section 3 and have failed to do so, now must. It's not that hard.

Explain who you are the property and your letting, and that you have asked the agent and written to the landlord at the address given in section 47/48 above, and that the LA (council) have done so, but the landlord has declined to do so.

Explain briefly the reasons for asking for the address.

We ask the court to order that the landlord X provide their name and address under (from memory) section 3 LTA 1985

You should have had a notice under section 47/48 of the landlord and tenant act 1987 specifying the address in England and Wales for the service of notice including proceedings, and the claim is served there.

Besides if the Agent is making threats that you do take up with NALS.

The point is that the landlord may not wish to give their address but they are legally obliged to.