Continuing saga of my spiteful landlord

sussexchick

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's only 150 miles

You've not seen my driving !! :eek:

Soubrette

sussexchick wrote: »

I totally agree with everything you have said. I've already gone down this route with him, explained my finances, even give him quotes from the benefits department etc ! - he simply says, tough, or words to that effect, you can see from his email, he is a well-educated man (posh chap that lives in London). I've even thought of driving to his house and throwing myself at his mercy ! but don't hold out any hope

Stop paying the rent and let him take you to court then. Get all mail forwarded to your new place, if a court date comes through, get it changed to a local court near you and if you do have to pay him back, if what you say is true - offer £20 per month or something.

Basically call his bluff and if what you say is true, then, if the case is found in his favour then offer to pay him back a pittance a month - it means that at least in the short term you don't have to live on bread and beans.

What do you have to lose?

sussexchick

tim123456789 wrote: »

He may have a clause to try, but he can't stop you from taking in lodgers.

and in the short term he can't stop you from sub-letting.

He would have to go to court to enforce this and if the remedy that he requires is the sub-tenant out then he would have to show that he is materially disadvantaged because they are there - something he is unlikely to be able to do.

wow ! - that's very interesting - you've just restored my frazzled brain

I'm going to give this some serious consideration Tim - thank you for your advice x

sussexchick

Soubrette wrote: »

Stop paying the rent and let him take you to court then. Get all mail forwarded to your new place, if a court date comes through, get it changed to a local court near you and if you do have to pay him back, if what you say is true - offer £20 per month or something.

Basically call his bluff and if what you say is true, then, if the case is found in his favour then offer to pay him back a pittance a month - it means that at least in the short term you don't have to live on bread and beans.

What do you have to lose?

Would a CCJ be issued against me though ?

Soubrette

Also if you stop paying rent, find out if there's a local squatters right movement near you - you wouldn't want them finding out there was an empty house in the location. Express these concerns to the landlord when you point out that court proceedings will be as difficult for him as for you.

nathand_2

Soubrette wrote: »

Stop paying the rent and let him take you to court then. Get all mail forwarded to your new place, if a court date comes through, get it changed to a local court near you and if you do have to pay him back, if what you say is true - offer £20 per month or something.

Basically call his bluff and if what you say is true, then, if the case is found in his favour then offer to pay him back a pittance a month - it means that at least in the short term you don't have to live on bread and beans.

What do you have to lose?

I'd suggest that route but present it as a choice. He can either take your best offer or see you in court and be paid back at next to nothing.

Soubrette

sussexchick wrote: »

Would a CCJ be issued against me though ?

I thought not if the court imposed an agreed amount to be repaid but you'd have to check that.

Also you are only subletting or taking in lodgers if they pay you - if you are going to bite the bullet and pay until Oct anyway then you may as well just try and find someone to stay for free in return for covering the gardening and house unattended clause. I'd definitely take my name off the utilities though before anyone else moving in though.

[Deleted User]

He refused your offer? That is insane... does he not understand that he would be getting free money? The only possible answer is that he is insane, well that or he doesn't understand what you're offering, or maybe he thinks the house is never going to find a new tenant.

I was convinced telling him that you are leaving and offering money would be a no-brainer for him, apparently not... maybe he's drunk on power! I'm out of ideas, good luck with what the others have suggested!

SternMusik

Soubrette wrote: »

That's personall what I would do. See a solicitor as soon as possible while paying rent and see what they say. Take in all correspondence and a list of questions. 1) Is this a fair contract or does it contain unfair clauses and how does this affect the AST 2) What are the consequences of being taken to court and what losses would you be liable for - say the landlord has specifically mentioned you are liable for his insurance if you leave the property unattended for more than 14 days.

Do you also have another place to rent yet near where you work or will be working? I'm thinking that another option might be to contact someone like the CAB with your costs and income and how much you have left over each month. You could then contact your current landlord and explain that you do not have the finances to maintain two places of residence, that unfortunately, despite all your efforts, he will indeed have to take you to court and that you have it on authority that in the unlikely event that you lose (actually it's probable you will lose unless his contract is deemed unfair and unenforceable imo but why give him the satisfaction), as the CAB have looked through your budget and it is probable you would have to pay off any arrears to him at the rate of £5, £10 per week (or whatever the CAB have suggested).

^this.

Your landlord has to understand that court isn't a particularly good option for him. The process is slow, and since you have shown willingness to resolve the situation I would not deem it likely that a judge will issue you with terms of repayment that you cannot afford (but I am no lawyer!).

Get the advice of a solicitor, and spell this out in a letter (snail mail) to your landlord. If it's not too expensive get the solicitor to write the letter. It might just kick your LL into action.

Beware though - in the one instance when I did seek legal advice on a tenancy agreement (as a tenant) I found it incredibly difficult to find a solicitor to deal with it. Most of them said that they only act for landlords! How very helpful. The one solicitor willing to take a look thought that I (a lay person not born in this country) might well know more about tenancy law than she does! (I am an economist by the way. I am also unfamiliar with case law.)

sussexchick

citricsquid wrote: »

He refused your offer? That is insane... does he not understand that he would be getting free money? The only possible answer is that he is insane, well that or he doesn't understand what you're offering, or maybe he thinks the house is never going to find a new tenant.

I was convinced telling him that you are leaving and offering money would be a no-brainer for him, apparently not... maybe he's drunk on power! I'm out of ideas, good luck with what the others have suggested!

Personally I think he is very well off, (googled his address, approx. £850k :eek:) and you are spot on with regards to finding another tenant ! (no one in their right mind would take this on as a tenant) (I vaguely remember taking leave of my senses when I signed)

My big next question, is how to reply to his email !!!! (should be fun) !