Unhappy With Landlord

steeeb

Hi,

Looking for a bit of advice as to what to do as I am unhappy with my landlord.

When I originally moved in, the landlord wasn't availible (It was an estate agent we dealt with up to this point). She didn't have a contact number and was apparently out of the country for a week.

We had a number of issues we wanted resolving:
- The fridge didn't work.
- The landing light didn't work.
- The place was a mess (grimey), we asked for the house to be professionally cleaned in order for us to proceed with the renting of the house. The estate agent dealt with the landlord and she agreed. This clearly hadn't been done. Me and 8 others spent the best part of two days cleaning the place top to bottom and cleaning her appliances.
- The electic metre didn't work, there as no reading on the LCD screen, so no idea what it was when I moved in.
- There were no lightblubs when we moved in (except for one in the living room (out of 10), some in the kitchen and some in the bathroom. Not major but showed the type of landlord she was. The toilet seat was broke, back door didn't lock - there was no key. Bath was filthy - having a bath let out loads of old dead skin due to it being a jacuzzi bath (which was broken).

The above issues we lived with for the week whilst she was away. We had to go out and buy a small fridge to do us whilst she was away as we couldn't live without one.

After being told about the issues when we finally got a number for her after a week she said she would resolve them. Someone came round and fixed the landing light - none of the other issues have been resolved. Her reply with the fridge/freezer was to try and defrost the fridge and see what happens. To which I asked about what could be done about all my frozen food that we had, to which she said "what do you want me to do about it".

We had to live with an insure property due to the back sliding door, and after a week once she was back, she sent her mum round a few times with odd keys and we finally got a working key about 3-4 weeks after we moved in!

Anyway - the freezer part of the fridge is now broken and I told the landlord. The fridge/freezer is a big American fridge/freezer which was one of the points that made us want to rent the property in the first place. She has got us an old grimey tiny fridge/freezer which doesn't fit the massive hole of the old one (which hasn't been collected yet) and we really aren't happy about it.

Her reply was that she is only legally obliged to provide a fridge and that we are lucky it is a fridge/freezer she has gotten us.

Anyway - it's sort of the last staw with her, we've lost loads of money from food spoiling and having to buy our own fridge whilst we couldn't even contact her. Is there anything I can do, am I in the right, or is she legally correct and I should just move out once my tenancy is over and go somewhere with a landlord that can actually manage the property (she lives miles away).

sailerboy

1) i hope you took photos before cleaning?
2) I trust you've put all your issues in writing (to the correct address)?
3) Did you have written agreement that these issues would be resolved? If not, there is no obligation to resolve them. Of course, you can leave the property as you found it (ie, take out all the lightbulbs)
4) I assume that if you have signed an inventory it correctly describes the condition of the property and contents?

Werdnal

And has the landlord protected your deposit, and sent you the prescribed information from the scheme used?

steeeb

1) Yep. Took about 100.
2) Her address is actually her mothers address pretty much round the corner. The agency that found me noted down all of the issues I had (since I couldn't get in touch with her) but obviously couldn't solve them, but they at least advised me. The issues have been told to her via text message.
3) There wasn't written agreement that the issues would be resolved. The ones that have really bothered me I've dealt with her via text - the rest weren't massive - so was planning on just leaving them and not kicking up a fuss - but this fridge/freezer thing is to me unacceptable.
4) Inventory? There wasn't one. The agency assured me that if an inventory was not taken then it would have no affect on me - but would just stop her proving what condition anything was in if she then tried to take anything out of the deposit.

steeeb

Werdnal wrote: »

And has the landlord protected your deposit, and sent you the prescribed information from the scheme used?

She has - from mydeposits. The agency has this written into the agreement that was signed, I also recieved something via post from them. (That she clearly didn't sign until a week later, since she wasn't in the country!).

Werdnal

steeeb wrote: »

She has - from mydeposits. The agency has this written into the agreement that was signed, I also recieved something via post from them. (That she clearly didn't sign until a week later, since she wasn't in the country!).

Then that is a good start, as there is little chance of a LL being able to make deductions if they have nothing to prove the start and end condition. It comes down to your word against hers, and your photo evidence will be taken into account.

Stop texting, phoning, emailing - All reports requesting repair must be made in good old fashioned writing - text messages and emails can be deleted or never arrive, but if you have a letter with proof of postage you have a record that you have reported any issues.

As for the fridge, what does your tenancy agreement state about repairs to appliances. It is not a "given" that the LL has to repair or replace!

steeeb

Werdnal wrote: »

Then that is a good start, as there is little chance of a LL being able to make deductions if they have nothing to prove the start and end condition. It comes down to your word against hers, and your photo evidence will be taken into account.

Stop texting, phoning, emailing - All reports requesting repair must be made in good old fashioned writing - text messages and emails can be deleted or never arrive, but if you have a letter with proof of postage you have a record that you have reported any issues.

As for the fridge, what does your tenancy agreement state about repairs to appliances. It is not a "given" that the LL has to repair or replace!

Regarding texting, phoning and e-mailing - It is a convient way of contacting her. What is to stop her throwing the letter away - all I'd have is proof that *something* was posted. But I will make requests in writing if that is the thing I should be doing - is there a way I can prove what requests were made and when?

I'll check the tenancy agreement - it probably won't mention they have to repair or replace them but I could be wrong. I thought it was a 'given' though - since the white goods were part of the property in the way the bedrooms were, and everything else. What is to stop me renting out a property with top of the range appliances to 'entice' people, which turn out not working and replaced with tiny appliances in comparison. Surely that would be wrong?

Thanks for your reply, and I will contact her in writing from now on (unless in an emergency of course).

If the tenancy agreement doens't explicitly state that she has to repair or replace them, then do I have to simply put up with her replacement even though it isn't even comparible to the old fridge/freezer. (In that I'll have to wait a week or two to eat what survived in the freezer before it'll even fit in the replacement freezer).

sailerboy

By law, you must be provided with an address "for the serving of notices". This is usually on the tenancy agreement. It can be her address, her mum's, the agents, it does not matter - but THAT is how you contact the landlady formally. By all means use text etc for speed/convenience, but anything important should be followed up by a letter to THAT address.

Write there, summing up all issues, dates previously reported and how, which are outstanding, and requesting a date for resolution.

Send from a post office and ask for free 'proof of posting' (not recorded delivery). Keep a copy.

steeeb

From the tenancy agreement, under Landlords obligations there is a following:

To maintain the Property and the Contents therein good repair during the tenancy, except in respect of damage or through negligence or misuse caused by the tentant, his invited guests or visitors, not including maintenance or repair is liable under Clause 2 herein.

To compy with the requirements of Section 11 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 which imposes obligations on the Landlord -
a) to repair the structure and exterior (including drains, gutters and external pipes) of the Property.
b) to keep in repair and peoper working order the installations in the property for the supply of water, gas, electricity and sanitations, but not other fixings and appliances for making use of water, gas or electricity.
c) to keep in repair and proper working order the installations in the property for space heating and heating water.

So, according to that, it doesn't look like she has to?

Also - I've not recieved any gas safety certicate - the agency said the tenant would give me this. And there were no batteries in any of the smoke detectors when I moved in (first thing I checked!). I should I arranged to view the property again to confirm it had been cleaned and double checked these things before signing!

steeeb

sailerboy wrote: »

By law, you must be provided with an address "for the serving of notices". This is usually on the tenancy agreement. It can be her address, her mum's, the agents, it does not matter - but THAT is how you contact the landlady formally. By all means use text etc for speed/convenience, but anything important should be followed up by a letter to THAT address.

Write there, summing up all issues, dates previously reported and how, which are outstanding, and requesting a date for resolution.

Send from a post office and ask for free 'proof of posting' (not recorded delivery). Keep a copy.

I will do that, thanks very much for the advice. Anything else you can offer as to where I stand specifically regarding the fridge/freezer or do I just live with it and look to move when the tenancy leaves (since I'm clearly not happy here due to these issues and how they're being "resolved").

Werdnal

Regarding writing, you have proof you posted it. In law - if you had to take her to court for any reason - you have proof you safely delivered the said letter into the Royal Mail's care, and it is their duty to deliver it. First class post is deemed delivered 2 working days after posting - and if you can produce the free proof of posting that the PO will supply you when you post the letter at the counter, this is all you need to prove you reported the issues to the LL. So she might throw the letter away, but you have proof you posted it and that is all you need!

Unless you live in an HMO, there is no obligation to provide smoke detectors, never mind the batteries to go in them.

Just re-read you OP, and the electricity meter is the property of the supply company, so they should be informed if it is not working.

It seems from your TA, that the LL does not have an obligation to repair or replace the fridge. You can carry on using is as it is and buy you own stand-alone freezer which you can take with you when you go, or you can buy a replacement fridge/freezer, which will also be yours to take at the end, but you must not dispose of the LL's fridge without her agreement. When you write reminding her that by law you need a copy of the current GSC, you could ask her permission to dispose of the fridge, or for her to arrange to come and take it away. Do not get rid of it until she confirms, otherwise you could have deductions from your deposit for the "missing" fridge at the end, whether it was working or not!

And by the way, for future reference, you should actually read a tenancy agreement thoroughly before you sign it. If you had, you might have been aware of the clause about non-repairing appliances, and either queried or accepted it at the time. Once signed, you are bound by it. TBH, if I had new tenants who had problems with the appliance so early in the tenancy, I would have made more of an effort to repair or replace, but as the TA states it is not included, then your LL is doing nothing wrong.