Landlord frequently turning up unannounced.....

GDB2222

clark24 wrote: »

I agree he is obviously lonely and bored, why else would he drive 36 miles to tell me the roses might need dead heading soon and ask me if I have swept the path today, and have I been recycling properly, and to ask where I bought my wild bird food and how often did I feed them and have I been polishing the letterbox frequently and ............................... all the time walking round the outside of the house, peering into the windows and commenting on my housekeeping skills.

But after the first few visits poking about in my life I stopped feeling charitable and accommodating and started to wish he would 'do one' and get a life of his own. I am a tenant of a member of his family, I am not his friend and not responsible for giving him something useful to do. I just want to be left alone in peace with my family, but when he turns up so frequently for absolutely no reason apart from he is bored, lonely and he knows he can, I can't relax and that is really getting me angry.

I am just suggesting that it is worthwhile to resolve this amicably if at all possible. He sounds like a well-meaning but misguided guy, and if you can get him on-track without hurting his feelings too much that will help all round.

Mojisola

clark24 wrote: »

I also have to go to a meeting later, which means leaving my daughter alone in the house, so she will bolt everything from the inside and shut all the curtains, he really freaks her out, and I doubt we will get much sleep while my husband is gone.

Having read what you've already put up with, I would get my daughter to phone the non-emergency police number - 101 - and feel free to sounds as upset as she would like to. It sounds like he needs a real shock before he'll stop bothering you.

You're paying for the use of the house and garden. None of the family should have to feel that they need to lock themselves away in order to be safe.

Make sure she has paperwork around showing the LL's name and address so that he can't claim to be your LL.

Elvisia

This sounds like my first landlord, I am even wondering if it's the same person! He'd let himself in, and told me I would know if he'd been in as he likes to sit on my bed pillow as it was the best place to sit in the flat, so I'd see the indentation of his bottom! He came in and dug up the back garden leaving a complete mess, I nearly called the police as I thought we'd been burgled although I couldn't work out why they'd steal soil. He'd come in to "check things were OK" and leave open bottom windows, he'd also pop in to turn on the heating for me so it would be warm when I got home....except sometimes I'd stay at my parents house for three nights to get away from the place and I'd be paying for the heating being on full. I used to do a check list before I left in the morning to make sure I had locked everything and turned everything off so I could work out when he was in there. He'd also drape his work coat on my clean work tops, which infuriated me as I adore cooking and keep a tight ship and didn't want to have to repeatedly do stuff 'just in case'.

The final straw was when I left a pile of icing sugar on the lounge table - I adore baking and had been making icing while watching TV, and cleared it up into a neat little line afterwards and he accused me of taking cocaine. The Tate and Lyle box was next to it so this was the thing that made me decide to move out. The mayor lived over the road and he got her to keep an eye on me, it was just awful. There was an awful lot of mail to the house in various names, all debt collecting, so I can only assume he had got through an awful lot of tenants.

I eventually moved out after 5 months but had to find a new tenant for him, fortunately the local housing officer from the council was looking for a new flat and he'd signed up the paperwork before he asked her what her job was, and when she told him the colour just drained from his face.
You do have a right to quiet and you can change the locks and not give the landlord a new key. It's your home and you have the right to do what you like in it. My landlord seemed to believe I would float above the place and not actually touch the floors or walls. I think too many landlords get emotionally attached to their properties, or can't let go, if the tenant wrecks it that is what the deposit is for.

Elvisia

Oh and my other bit of advice - I spoke to the Law Society and they said (aside from change the locks) that if you see a 'strange man' in the garden or someone lets themselves in call 999, and although they can't charge the LL or whoever your man is, they will caution them and put the wind up them. If it gets really bad I'd pop a call into 999 saying there is someone trying to break in and let them deal with it.

warehouse

OP, from everything written on this thread so far there appears only 1 course of action left, (after writing to the LL). You need to make sure he stays well away, and the only way of doing it is to be absolutely blunt about it to his face. Your Daughter is frightened by this man, you really do need that confrontation with him and the sooner the better.

Mojisola

Elvisia wrote: »

I eventually moved out after 5 months but had to find a new tenant for him, fortunately the local housing officer from the council was looking for a new flat and he'd signed up the paperwork before he asked her what her job was, and when she told him the colour just drained from his face.

Wonderful! Do you know whether he changed his ways?

kazwookie

Send a letter
Change the door locks
Lock the garden gate (a bike combi lock could do)
You do as you want, when you leave and have a check out, that is the time to worry about dead heading roses / dusting etc
Stick up net curtains
Tell this guy in no uncertain terms to do one, and go!! don't panda / p ussy foot around him, and call the police, tell them you think some one is in the garden, looking in the windows and may be about to break in.
Borrow a very large dog to sit in the garden!
Hope your husband's op goes ok.

BettiePage

kazwookie wrote: »

Send a letter
Change the door locks
Lock the garden gate (a bike combi lock could do)
You do as you want, when you leave and have a check out, that is the time to worry about dead heading roses / dusting etc
Stick up net curtains
Tell this guy in no uncertain terms to do one, and go!! don't panda / p ussy foot around him, and call the police, tell them you think some one is in the garden, looking in the windows and may be about to break in.
Borrow a very large dog to sit in the garden!
Hope your husband's op goes ok.

Fully agree with everything said here. :T

propertyman

My assistant says to smile, drawn him in close and scream

"GET THE F**I< OUT OF MY HOUSE":mad:

She adds " "rape" alarm or pepper spray - ebay for £5" :cool:

Wyndham

When people talk about changing the locks, they mean the barrel of the lock, which is easy and cheap to do, you don't have to change the whole thing. Change them both front and back, as if you leave things in the way of the back door, then if there is a fire you've lost an emergency exit (I'm sure there won't be, but you can't be too careful!)