Advice please, threatening landlord.

looby75

A bit of background.

My sister lives in Scotland, moved there from England so isn't 100% sure about Scottish housing laws.

She moved to escape domestic violence and took the first private let she could find with a landlord that would accept housing benefit. The house was in a pretty bad state of repair but her landlord assured her he was willing to do work on it as he had just bought it and hadn't had chance to do the work on it that was needed.

True to his word he did do some work on it but not everything that needed doing.

A few years down the line my sister met a new partner and their family grew. They informed their landlord that they were looking for a bigger house and asked him if he had anything suitable (he owns lots of properties in the area) He said that he didn't but that he was willing to extend their house up into the loft and finish off the other work that needed doing.

He started the work by knocking down walls and then just left, he also didn't complete the other works he'd started and left the house in a terrible mess holes in walls, black mould in most rooms, rotting windows and a boiler that only works when it feels like it just to name a few problems. This was over a year ago.

My sister and brother in law have been trying to get him to complete the work he started ever since and today after a heated discussion he's told them he wants them out of the house immediately.

He's well known in the area for being a bit of a bully and my sister is now really worried about ending up homeless, she wouldn't put it past him to try and forcibly remove them from the house. Brother in law is seriously ill and the landlord knows this and is trying to use it to his advantage.

What is the eviction process in Scotland, as I said sis spent most of her life in England and doesn't know what rights she has up there.

Any advice very very gratefully received.

G_M

Sorry. I don't know Scottish property law, but artful will be along soon.....

But seems to me you'd be better off out of there anyway, so start house hunting...

(Tenants’ rights) Shelter Scotland

looby75

G_M wrote: »

Sorry. I don't know Scottish property law, but artful will be along soon.....

But seems to me you'd be better off out of there anyway, so start house hunting...

(Tenants’ rights) Shelter Scotland

thanks I'll send her the link. She has been looking for a while now but they have a large family (a combination of biological and step children from both sides) so finding a house large enough is a problem, which was why they were so happy when the landlord initially offered to do a loft conversion for them.

Swan_2

hi Looby,
be assured the landlord can't legally put them out immediately, I know this because I have a close relative currently having problems with a negligent 'accidental' landlord who has no idea about tenant's rights (but I'll say no more about that here) & they have been advised by Shelter Scotland

I'm sure there will be others along soon who can give you more detailed advice

wishing you sister & her family all the best

theartfullodger

Sorry to read your story:

Eviction process in Scotland takes months & requires an order from the Sheriff Court: Landlord to start this needs to serve (by recorded mail or Sheriff officers.. to be valid in court) various notices...

Any other attempt to eviction would be illegal.

As advised she should contact Shelter Scotland

0808 800 4444 - but expect a wait as they are very busy (but good..)

http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/how_we_can_help/_free_housing_advice_helpline

Shelter provides a free, national telephone advice line staffed by trained housing advisers. Lines are open from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Housing problems can affect anyone. But many people can find it hard to go for advice or just don't know what help is available. Through our helpline, we have helped thousands of people solve all kinds of housing related problems, from finding them a place to sleep to suggesting how to handle mortgage arrears.

If you have a housing problem, you can call free on 0808 800 4444 (now free to call from all six of the main UK mobile networks, Virgin, Orange, 3, T-mobile, Vodafone and O2, but charges may apply from any other network). Lines are open between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Our advisers can:

give immediate, practical assistance
tell you your rights
offer advice and guidance
link you in with specialist or local services to help you longer term.

We will answer your call as quickly as we can and treat it confidentially.

When you call, it may help if you have information to hand such as:

your landlord's name and address and any letters you've received from your landlord, if you rent your home
your mortgage lender's details and any letters you've received from your lender, if you have a mortgage
details of any benefits you're claiming.

I think what landlord is doing is harassment, illegal & criminal. She should keep a (probably hand-written, dated..) log of what he does/when/how etc

Best wishes

Artful (Scottish Landlord, 10yrs + )

looby75

Thanks Artfull.

I've already send her the link to the shelter Scotland website, but I'll advise her to phone them tomorrow too. I'll tell her about keeping a written diary as well.

If he comes back round and starts trying to bully them out of the house do you know if it would it be worth phoning the police or would the just not be interested? She's really upset and stressed (as well as flaming mad!) at the moment.

tbs624

looby - as Artful has said, the eviction process takes months. LL cannot boot your sister out immediately.

Do you know when your sister last signed a tenancy agreement, or whether the original Fixed Term tenancy agreement was renewed under Tacit Relocation?

Note too that in Scotland

(a) LLs must be registered with their local Council
(b) properties must meet the "repairing standard" ( see link for more info, including how the Private Rented Housing Panel can help)

The police are not always as helpful as they should be but yes, if there is any harassment/bullying by the lL then she should report the LL and insist on being given a crime number.

She should also check at the Council - there should be a Private Sector Tenancy Relations Officer who can help.

Is there a current gas safety certificate to cover the boiler and gas appliances? If not she should get herself an audible Carbon Monoxide detector and then follow this up with either the local Env Health Officer or the HSE ( Health and Safety exec)

Bottom line however is that unfortunately LLs are still able to pursue a retaliatory eviction when Ts have sought to follow up repair and maintenance issues, although proper legal procedure has to be followed.

It sounds as though your sister *will* need to seek a new home in the not too distant future.

looby75

As far as I know she's not signed a tenancy agreement in well over a year, probably closer to 2 years.

Her landlord claims to be corgi (or what ever its call now) registered and does all his own gas safety checks, I will tell her to get a carbon monoxide alarm ASAP.

She's been in touch with the council in the past and tbh they haven't been very helpful, they said they would send him a letter but nothing happened as a result of it, but I'll tell her to specifically ask for Private Sector Tenancy Relations Officer and I've sent her a copy of the link in your post.

Thanks again for taking the time to help

theartfullodger

That no new tenancy has been signed doesn't matter, she still has a valid, current, operating and legal tenancy agreement: On very similar terms to the original... she needs to read it to see how it "rolls on" after the initial term of the earlier tenancy.

It can say, for example, as mine do...

If the agreement is not brought to an end by either party on the end date, it will continue
thereafter on a monthly basis until ended by either party.

- so see what it says: If it says nothing it continues "by tacit relocation" for the same period (eg if 6 months it rolls on 6 months at a time) to a max I think of 12 months-at-a-time..
see
http://scotland.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_topics/renting_rights/renting_from_a_private_landlord/short_assured_tenancies#3

The "rolling on" continues FOREVER unless landlord&tenant end things...

It is possible landlord is corgi registered (now "Gas Safe"). Tenant should be given gas-safe certificate which will have details of registration of tester. Check it with Gas safe to make sure he's telling the truth..
http://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/

looby75

Again thanks for the links, I'm passing them all on to my sister as she knows all the personal details better than I do obviously.

I know she had a few personal appointments today so I'm not sure how much she'll be able to chase things up today but the more info she's got the better I would have thought.

perthperson

looby75 wrote: »

Thanks Artfull.

I've already send her the link to the shelter Scotland website, but I'll advise her to phone them tomorrow too. I'll tell her about keeping a written diary as well.

If he comes back round and starts trying to bully them out of the house do you know if it would it be worth phoning the police or would the just not be interested? She's really upset and stressed (as well as flaming mad!) at the moment.

Shelter Scotland are definitely the right people to call.

If it came to the bit and hopefully will not and the landlord or anyone else came to the house to tell them to get out then they should call the police. The police often don't know the law around this - they should quote to the police RENT198400220100. This is the crime code on the police's SRA2 crime recording system for the offence of unlawful eviction under the Rent (Scotland) Act 1984.

(for property in Scotland obv. don't know what equivalent might be in England and Wales)