Problem with private landlord - Advice please

TwinMummy2be

The reason that I am communicating with him via telephone is that I do not have a contact address or email address for him. I have a mobile phone number and this is it. I have asked him for his home address but he refuses to provide it so I am totally stuck. The address for him on the contract is the address of the house that we rent from him............

real1314

Advice:-

1. It wasn't unreasonable to attempt a conversation, but the outcome is that there is now no point.

2. Write a letter.

Confirm the following:-

That you are giving notice, based on the statutory periodic tenancy requirements, which are 1 months notice from the next rental period, notice being served from --/--/-- to --/--/--. (insert the relevant dates)

That you require your deposit to be returned in full at the expiration of your tenancy.

Ask for:-

The details of the deposit registration scheme

Query:-

Whether the copy of the tenancy he has provided is a full and un-amended copy of the original agreement, and whether he has an original signed copy.

State:-

That you dispute that you agreed to replace the bathroom and refute any charge relating to this.

Also note in the letter that in the event that he does not refund your deposit you will be taking legal action to recover the relevant sum and that if he wishes to proffer any documents, including the tenancy agreement to defend his action you would expect the original copy to be presented.

Others might add some other points too.

Personally I'd suggest that if a tenant were agreeing to replace a bathroom suite at their own expense, I'd expect to see clear signatures alongside the relevant paragraphs of the contract, or at the very least on the same page.

Is it possible that this clause was in fact included in the original, given that you don't seem to have checked it thoroughly at the time, and haven't had a copy?
Or is it possible that he has inserted this clause at a later date?
:cool:

wrightk

You have a couple of options

-give formal notice to you LL and wait all the other stuff out until you have left the property

-give formal notice and open a county court case against the LL for not protecting the deposit and giving you prescribed information. This could be provocative though.

If it were me id wait it out, make sure i had given the correct notice and open a case after i had vacated the property. In the meantime do your research, gather any documentation. contact the three deposit scheme and get written confirmation that your deposit is not protected.
Then be ready and armed when you open a small claims case at https://www.gov.uk/make-money-claim-online if you get any issues with the deposit/contract

real1314

TwinMummy2be wrote: »

The reason that I am communicating with him via telephone is that I do not have a contact address or email address for him. I have a mobile phone number and this is it. I have asked him for his home address but he refuses to provide it so I am totally stuck. The address for him on the contract is the address of the house that we rent from him............

Have you never had any contact address for him at all?

If so, the tenancy is completely invalid as you have not been provided with an address for the serving of notices.

So, I'd suggest that you need his address. The only way to get this is to phone him, and so that you don't mis-hear or get the details wrong, it might be an idea to record a call to him, purely for your own records.
call him tomorrow, and ask for his address. And let us know what he says.

Also, get on to the Land Registry website and check if that holds any other parties - might have his address, might have a lender's details.

Other contacts that might be interested would include:-

1. Your local council's private lettings officer
2. HMRC
3. Any lender listed in the Land Reg details

:cool:

wrightk

just to add to my post, keep it simple. dont go in all guns blazing. A simple threat of court action by letter might be enough for him to think again. if you do take action when your tenancy has ended and he is witholding deposit it will be up to your LL to disprove any points you have raised. and if by the time you take court action the deposit is still not protected the judge will not care about any petty squabbles about bathroom suites, redecoration. The judge will just throw the whole case out and order your deposit to be paid in full

Fire_Fox

Pretty sure you don't have to pay rent without an address at which to serve notices and he can't easily evict you with a section 21 (no fault notice to quit) since he has not lodged the deposit! :doh:

"Under the requirements of section 48 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1987 rent is not lawfully due unless the tenant has been given, in writing, an address in England and Wales at which notices can be served.

It is usual that the tenancy agreement clearly states the landlord's address for service of notices.

Where the tenancy agreement clearly states the landlord's address, then there is no need for the serving of a separate notice containing these details and therefore eliminates future problems with proof of service.

The address supplied need not necessarily be the landlord's residence. The address can be that of the landlord's agent, for example: a solicitor, an accountant or a managing agent."
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/landlord's_address.htm

How did you find the place, privately or through an agency? You need an address to take any legal action, it is possible you could use the rental property's address tho.