Can my landlord change the locks and bill me for it without my concent?

BitterAndTwisted

He's a business-person so he's entitled to be focussed on the money.

But that has nothing to do with him deciding to incur a cost without any reference to you when there were remedies other than to incur them and expect you to reimburse him.


Write that letter I previously suggested in precisely the words I have helpfully provided you with. He's almost certainly going to attempt to make a deduction from your deposit, so you should put everything in train now to prevent that.

inklove

I understand that renting the house is a investment/about the money.
But when I have had issues he seems pretty uninterested.

For instance, my kitchen window doesn't close properly, the handle/closing mechanism is half missing. The only way to keep the window shut is with the two latches that have been added (obviously as a 'solution' so the problem) except they don't really work as they don't hold the window fully closed, there is still a gap and when it rains water pores in the gap and in winter it made the kitchen freezing.

I reported it to the landlord when I moved in, and he has yet to do anything about it, despite dozens of reminders.

thesaint

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Your landlord does not have an automatic right of entry whether he has a copy of the key or not

Yes he does. The law gives him this right even if the contract is silent.

benjus

inklove wrote: »

I reported it to the landlord when I moved in, and he has yet to do anything about it, despite dozens of reminders.

Have you reported this in writing to the address on your tenancy agreement? If not, he may well deny all knowledge of it if you challenge him.

Niv

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

OP: in order to cover your backside when he attempts to make you pay for the lock-change I would WRITE to him now (A letter. No text-messages, no pm's on face-book and most certainly not any emails either) telling him you haven't changed the locks although you could have without any reference to him if you decided to. That he has declined a copy of the key which you have willingly offered and that you do not accept liability for a cost that he is choosing to incur without any discussion with you.

Is your relationship with your landlord this poor? What's the back-story?

I understand the other methods but out of genuine interest, Why is an e-mail not acceptable?

RAS

Because the OP needs evidence that the message was sent to the LL.

E-mails can be faked and there is no proof that the LL has "visited" the e-mail account during the relevant period.

BitterAndTwisted

Mainly because you could prove that the correspondence was sent but not that it was received or actually read. Have you ever tried to wave around a "read receipt" in court or forwarding it to a deposit-protection scheme's arbitrators? I have a feeling that the OP will have need of that letter when disputing a deduction from his deposit when the tenancy ends. In a court a letter is generally accepted as delivered two days after it was posted. Of course it could always go astray as such things often do, so if it's something critically important/legal the general advice is to send two copies from two different post offices on the same day, retaining proof-of-postage.

Guest101

thesaint wrote: »

Yes he does. The law gives him this right even if the contract is silent.

no he doesn't, he might think he does, but the tenant has a right to peaceful living, and can refuse entry at any point whilst he is a tenant, no matter whar

chanz4

Only in the event of an emergency can he gain access

ValHaller

thesaint wrote: »

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Your landlord does not have an automatic right of entry whether he has a copy of the key or not.

Yes he does. The law gives him this right even if the contract is silent.

You are mistaken. The key word is ' automatic'. About the only unchallenged right of entry a Landlord has is in the case of an emergency. I don't call that 'automatic'.