How common is it to encounter a bad LL.

BitterAndTwisted

In over forty years of renting I've yet to deal with a bad landlord. There must be millions of people in this country renting and I expect most of them are quite content.

shortdog

I've been private renting for almost 15 years, and, apart from one very bizarre landlord (he was fine, she used to come round and tell me all her problems, but she'd been born in the house, and used to tell me all sorts of interesting stuff about the history of the house and area, and the photos she showed me once were fab, I think she was just lonely TBH), every landlord I've ever dealt with has been brilliant. Fast at fixing things, easy to get hold of, polite, helpful, etc. My last landlord even laughed when I called apologetically to let him know that my daughter and a friend had painted the bedroom carpet a delightful colour of orange, then he hired me a carpet cleaner, and bought the kids some washable felt tips to use instead!

princeofpounds

9 landlords over 5 student properties and 4 'young professional' properties.

6 were good, 2 were bad (trying to steal deposits, one of these episodes was what started me off on learning about tenancy rights), 1 was ugly (no water to kitchen for 2 months because he couldn't be bothered to hire a plumber; turned out to be a small piece of grit blocking a pipe which was removed in ten minutes, he also got repossessed and was deceptive about the whole process).

From talking to my peers that seems to be quite a typical experience, although not everyone has had an 'ugly' landlord most have had several 'bad' landlords, particularly over deposit-stealing. And yes, they were genuine cases of stealing although some were based on highly inflated disputes rather than total fabrications.

That was all from a fairly 'decent' standard of accommodation. It does seem to be worse for young people than family housing, but I suspect it's even worse for poor people. Thankfully deposit protection cleaned up a lot of the problems.

Oh, and the agents beat the landlords (8 agents, 4 bad).

RobertoMoir

shadow47 wrote: »

Honest question.

Obviously the majority of LL are OK guys just trying to make some cash.

How often does one encounter a bad LL?

By bad I mean, just stealing money from you, not complying with laws, treating tenants like scum etc.

Not really bothered about repairs because it's only 6 month tenancy and I might move elsewhere when it ends depending on how I like the area etc, also depends whether I like the LL or not.

I know a few people (family of my ex-gf) who have terrible LLs, they never deal with repairs, they're excuse laden and not willing to spend money on their properties (which seems counter productive to me, I suppose they feel that if the tenant doesn't like it, they can move out, and they'll just find another mug to take their place).

Suppose I'm just wondering how common this is. Because I'll be renting for the next 3/4 years as I'm a student. (Think I waffled on a bit haha).

Don't forget that people generally only talk about bad experiences, both here and face to face. They won't mention the 100 times their LL was helpful, they'll mention the one time they were not (I'm talking generally here, I've got no idea what happened to the people you know, of course!). Same applies to the lurid stories of bad tenants here, too.

I'd suggest that you should look for someone who seems to conduct themselves in a reasonably professional manner and seems aware of their own rights and obligations as a LL and your rights and obligations as a tenant rather than someone who seems a bit vague on it all.

shadow47

Yeah my last agency/LL stole my deposit.

Sharks didn't even send me out a letter telling what they stole it for, it was only a small deposit however so I never bothered chasing it.

Most of them just think they can do what they want, this is especially true when the people are young and they know they are highly unlikely to know anything about their rights.

Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

NOT going to happen again. And if they try anything they'll be sorry they messed with me.

shadow47

RobertoMoir wrote: »

Don't forget that people generally only talk about bad experiences, both here and face to face. They won't mention the 100 times their LL was helpful, they'll mention the one time they were not (I'm talking generally here, I've got no idea what happened to the people you know, of course!). Same applies to the lurid stories of bad tenants here, too.

I'd suggest that you should look for someone who seems to conduct themselves in a reasonably professional manner and seems aware of their own rights and obligations as a LL and your rights and obligations as a tenant rather than someone who seems a bit vague on it all.

Yeah, an excellent point.

Thanks.



Bit of a tangent...

Used to make some cash playing online poker, it was well known in the winning poker players community that when you lose it feels twice as bad as the good feeling you get from when you won.

Even though I was up a few thousand (lifetime), losing $100 still hurt like hell.

You kinda get desensitised to it after a while, all part of the investment/gambling lifestyle I guess.

Was a roller-coaster ride, I loved it, can't wait to play the stock market when I have some cash

Kinda waffled on a bit there, I guess what I was trying to say was... When your LL screws you over, you feel twice as bad as the good feeling you would have gotten from him being kind. (something along those lines anyway).

poppysarah

re: repairs - speak to the council. They will have someone who can chase this up and inspect and fine landlords.

One on our street can't be relet until the council are satisfied the repairs are done.

jimpix12

Agree with the Letting Agent observation, I have rented 5 different properties and 4 of the LAs were awful. Like a lazy Estate Agent who doesn't give a toss.

shadow47

spunko2010 wrote: »

Agree with the Letting Agent observation, I have rented 5 different properties and 4 of the LAs were awful. Like a lazy Estate Agent who doesn't give a toss.

Most of them are only interested in money.

They don't make a lot of money from tenants, and they know they're not going to make any money from helping you out/being nice.

I believe all they've got out of me so far is the 150 fees they charged, and then a percentage of the rent each month.

Oh and they also charge for late payment of rent, copies of my tenancy agreement etc etc the list goes on.

Luckily I never signed the agreement with the list of fees on it and they never noticed. hahaha

If I'm a few days late paying (probably due to me forgetting due to my terrible organisational skills). I'll tell them to shove their late fees and take me to court over it.

Bring it on chumps!!!

Werdnal

Shadow, you state in your OP that you are "not bothered about repairs", and as a LL I would be very concerned to hear you say that. Whether the LL bothers with repairs is a totally separate issue, but you as a tenant MUST report them, even if they seem minor or insignificant to you.

For instance, a minor leak under the kitchen sink, may not bother you, but even a small amount of water escaping into the kitchen units over a long period of time, will cause rot and damp. If you decide not to report it because you suspect your LL will not bother with it, YOU can then become liable for that damage through YOUR negligence in reporting it.

It is expected that all tenants report all problems promptly, and if you ignore something your deposit that you are so worried about in your other post here, will rapidly disappear as the LL claims back the cost of repairing things you have ignored!

Report all problems in writing to the Letting Agent. If LL then chooses not to address them, and you are happy to live with that, then atleast you have written proof at the end of 6 months, that you attempted to get the problem resolved.