Want to check before tenancy agreement signed

Tumbledown_Tammy

Hi asking this on behalf of a friend who was in the same domestic violence hostel as myself, Ive been very very lucky and found a lovley place with a brilliant landlord just wish the same for her.

She has found a 2 bed dormer bungalow through a Letting Agent ad, said LA has taken a £200 credit check fee and she has passed the credit check and been offered the tenancy.
First visit to view the property was made whilst the buider/plumber was renewing the bathroom, so things were kind of dusty but LA said this was to be cleaned up before check in etc.
Second visit was requested and myself and friend went with LA to measure for curtains etc, and when I asked about a well few things her helpful tune changed, to well there were lots of folk after this place so I backed of from enquiring etc as it isnt my rental place.
Third visit with Landlord, there is a car on the driveway that has obviously been there a while, tax disc run out Oct 2010 and is parked in front of the garage and thee garage cant be used for anything but storage as the door is rotten there is a side door access yet the garage was clearly advertised in the original advert as a garage.

I have googled the property on google streetview where the pic of the rental property and the car is on the drive and in the exact same position and the google pic was taken January 2011:eek:.
Whilst on this third visit with the Landlord my friend pointed out the mess and dust everywhere and he said this would be done by the check in time and that vinyl would be laid in the bathroom. One of the double glazed units in the main bedroom window is misted and the seal gone.

Small front porch carpet is filthy, on checking the kitchen the oven is greasy and not been cleaned by previous tenant.
There is a water stain on the main bedroom ceiling amd this was dry and Landlord said he had this fixed,by now my alarm bells are ringing slightly.

The bungalow is in reasonable condition nothing that a bit of TLC time and a couple buckets of soapy water wont fix. The area is very well sought after and my friend wants it for the school, and its near her family.

She is due to do the check in inventory on the 1st May with this LA , I did a check on the LA she is not in ARLA, and we did check on all 3 main credit reference agencies and there is no recent searches been carried out by anyone, though LA did contact friends employer for reference and confirmation of how long she has worked there.
I have a camera that takes dated pics and am wondering if we can take pics of the state of the place on check in inventory as a precaution.

Also friend is worried that landlord wont move the car on driveway before she signs tenancy agreement and hands over £1100 in deposit and one months advance rent, I say make your mark before signing agreement that you wont take any hash about the car bieng moved, no movey car no signey the agreement but this place is ideal for her so dont wish to push her to force Landlord/LAs hand.

Tenancy is for 6months tenancy initially then goes to periodic tenancy but this LA has inserted a Section 21? into the tenancy which I know is a protection thing incase my friend turned out to be tenant from hell and means the Landlord can get property back quickly if that was the case
Maybe Im bieng paranoid here, but I know how hard she worked to get the deposit etc together, any advice on how to tackle Landlord/LA about the car and general mucky state of the interior.

Wish all Landlords were like mine.. her potential new Landlord is generally well thought of, maybe its me but i just want to make sure they do things right by her.

Any advice appreciated even if its just to tell me Im bieng an over cautious twit:D

Tammy

G_M

The S21 is invalid if served as part of the tenancy. Also if served before security deposit is registered, so ignore that. Don't mention it though, just remember it cannot be used by the LL.

Check the inventory carefully and amend it if necessary before signing. Add comments about rotten garage door and any other faults,, dirty floors/walls, damage etc. Yes, dated photos are a good idea.

You can ask the LL to agree (in writing!) to fix various things as a condition of taking the tenancy, but there is a risk that being too awkward could lose you the property - your call.

If the car is not taxed, you could (later) report it to DVLA. If it is not SORNED (registered as off the road) it is illegal - they (or council?) could remove it. Or you get a few mates round with a rolling jack or tow truck, push it onto the street, then call the local community bobby round...... May be better to deal with issues after securing the tenancy.

BitterAndTwisted

Yes, take dated photographs and make notes on the inventory if said inventory is not accurate as to the state of the property. I would suggest that your friend asks the landlord about his plans for mooving ther car. It could be placed there to prevent the garage's use. In any case the tenancy agreement should be scrutinised before signing to check whether there is mention of use of the garage or not. Some landlords seem to think that renting a property and not including use of the garage is OK. Most usually because they've lived in the property themselves and the garage is full to bursting with their own stuff.

If everything else about the property is satisfactory and your friend is prepared to knuckle down and give the place a good clean if she has to, she should take it. A tenant's responsibility when handing a property back at the end of the tenancy is to return it in the same state, so if it's dirty on check-in it can be dirty on check-out with no justifiable deductions form her deposit.

Your friend should also acquaint herself with the rules around the protection of her deposit in one of the three approved schemes: those are DPS, TDS and MyDeposits. Information about which scheme the landlord has chosen to use should be given to her shortly after her tenancy starts. Also pay attention to what G_M has said about that S21 Notice: if it has been served before the deposit was protected it is invalid, so the landlord would not be able to rely on it to apply to the court for possession. Deposit protection first, notification of the deposit scheme second, S21 third

G_M

Go to bed Bitter.

(or am I talking to myself....)

[Deleted User]

I didn't know that about the S.21 notice myself. I thought everyone signed one at the time of signing their tenancy agreement (before deposit was protected)? Could be rather useful to know that.

DVardysShadow

deannatrois wrote: »

I didn't know that about the S.21 notice myself. I thought everyone signed one at the time of signing their tenancy agreement (before deposit was protected)? Could be rather useful to know that.

I never had one when I rented. And common practice or not, it really is amateurish. Not only is it invalid if served before the deposit is protected, it is totally unnecessary. If a tenant is turning out to be a bad egg, a competent agent or a less than dozy Landlord will have this sussed by the start of month 4 - plenty of time to issue the S21 before the end of the fixed period

Tumbledown_Tammy

Hi and thank you everyone for the above replies.

After a lot of excuses and delays my friend managed to get a copy of the tenancy agreement that she has to sign on May 1st.

Reading through it, it would appear to be a general 6 month assured shorthold tenancy agreement.

Somethings stick out to me, maybe you could be kind enough to clarify these points..

Under Section 3 Tenants Obligations subsection 3.6.2 "Not to install or change or alter any locks or security codes at the Premises without the Landlords prior written consent and to provide the Landlord with a set of keys or the new codes immediately upon replacement."

Now the Landlord has already said that he has lost a back door key to the property:eek: and the next door neighbour has said that the previous tenant has been coming into the empty property to collect mail lying in the property.
Also as my friend is coming out of a domestic violence hostel she is slightly wary of who has keys to the property, does she indeed have to give the Landlord a set of keys if she changes the locks on taking up the tenancy?

Also under Section 3 Tenants Obligations subsection 3.7.8.
"Not to use or keep on the Premises any type of stove, heater, or lamp burning parraffin (or any type of fuel oil), nor to use, or permit to be used, any electrical apparatus or other equipment of a type or in a condition which might endanger the premises"

Could the above clause together with Clause 3.7.9. Not to obstruct any access to the Premises

be used to ask the Landlord to move a car he has parked in front of the garage, when asked when he was going to remove the car he said" I dont haveanywhere else to put it", it blocks entrance to the garage and under

Section 3.6. Security and Keys ,of Tenants Obligations subsection 3.6.1.
"The Landlords insurance does not cover the Tenants posessions. The tenant is responsible for arranging insurance cover for public liability and for personal belongings and effects brought onto the Premises"

Fair enough re personal belongings etc, but the Public Liability part is what I need to query, does this apply to paths and drives on the whole of the property? as the above mentioned car blocks the driveway making the postman and anyone else have to walk on a very unkempt drive, and also no acces to back door so they have to use front door step that is rocky and loose and if not stood on properly may cause them to fall and injure themselves.
Also in the section above mentioning not to keep on the premises any type of fuel oil on the premises or keep on the Premises any eqipment of a type in a condition which might endanger the Premises, surely an old car full of oil possibly petrol could come under that description. and laughingly Section 3 Tenants Obligations subsection 3.7.9
" Tenant not to obstruct access to the Premises" how can the Tenant obstruct access to the premises if its already obstructed by Landlords car parked on the driveway at the begining of the tenancy.

Sorry if this sounds like nit picking, and silly but my friend is obsessing about some geezer appearing from behind the car as she cant see down the driveway with it in the way plus she and her daughter both have a car and need the two parking spaces on the driveway.
Plus she is aked on her and her daughter motor car insurance is the car parked of the road and in a garage over night, well she cant answer that question till that car is moved.
Would in an ideal world love to invoke the SORN/DVLA advice but its not me moving in to the premises.

The Letting Agent said she "will try" to discuss the car issue with the Landlord:(:( but the garage was advertised along with the house for rent, no mention was made in the letting advert about, the Landlord wanting to leave an old car on the driveway for your pleasure to push past. blocking access to garage which you cant use anyway as the doors rotten and doesnt work, oops maybe thats the Landlords "repair" and security measure to stop garage door falling off. Sorry to sound flippant but she hands over £1100 in a few days that has taken some getting together.

Im trying to sound humourous on her behalf but shes fretting about this and just wants to be settled but she doesnt want to be renting a house along with Landlords boy racer car on the drive:rotfl:

Any advice please..t:rotfl:hanks Ta:rotfl:mmy

DVardysShadow

Tumbledown_Tammy wrote: »

Under Section 3 Tenants Obligations subsection 3.6.2 "Not to install or change or alter any locks or security codes at the Premises without the Landlords prior written consent and to provide the Landlord with a set of keys or the new codes immediately upon replacement."

Now the Landlord has already said that he has lost a back door key to the property:eek: and the next door neighbour has said that the previous tenant has been coming into the empty property to collect mail lying in the property.
Also as my friend is coming out of a domestic violence hostel she is slightly wary of who has keys to the property, does she indeed have to give the Landlord a set of keys if she changes the locks on taking up the tenancy?

Then don't change the locks. Just temporarily substitute them for the duration of the tenancy.

Tumbledown_Tammy

Thanks DVardy but Letting Agent says she comes to check property every 2 months inside and out and gives 24hr notice trying to accommodate tenants working hours but can come in if tenant is not there as she has given notice to enter, plus changing the locks is a breach of the tenancy.

All this is in the tenancy agreement along with the dreaded Section 21 ...

Its the car on the driveway that the main issue with my friend, although Im humorously taking a poke at the new Landlord its not something she wants on the front of the property, oil leaks, cracked windscreens looks like an abandoned vehicle just dumped there.


"" Just need to add the Landlord has confirmed he has also lost the keys to his car, seems he loses lots of things, friend has told him that she would like the car moved, or a reduction in the rent as the garage cant be a part of the tenancy agreement as it cannot be used" she says she has found her backbone.. yippeee so hopefully all will be resolved to each persons hopes.

DVardysShadow

For an inspection, the Agent has no rights to enter without an appointment. This is one to be resolved after the tenancy is established IYSWIM.

Tumbledown_Tammy

Thanks DVardy

To be perfectly fair the Landlord is an approachable decent guy, its the regulation spouting, I decide who gets this tenancy Letting Agent thats the problem, we asked is there anymore fees to be paid other than the deposit and the first months rent, she just spouted admin charges, key money, and other bits and pieces so friend is meeting Landlord at 11.30am, these other fees were never mentioned before ,I rang Landlord and made an appointment for her to speak to him at the property without Letting Agent bieng there, have this horrible scenario where friend pays deposit with Letting Agent swinging the keys off her finger and saying now the rest of the money hunni,,no way, upfront is how I deal with folk, just wish folk were the same

My Landlord says he wouldnt let her arrange any tenancy on a property let alone a brown paper bag, she is known for bieng arguementative and petty, hope Landlord will listen to my friends concerns, shame one bad apple spoils what should be a easy journey into a new tenancy.
Fingers crossed friends meeting goes ok.
T