Have you met your Landlord?

LEJC

Just after opinions really...

Rented out my house 3 months ago via a letting agent and have had no contact with the tenants since...not unsual in my opinion,I believe in leaving them to contact if there is a problem etc...but it got me wondering...as a tenant would you like regular contact with the LL...and as the LL what do you see as acceptable contact with the tenant to afford them "quiet enjoyment"?

I guess the letting agent has has no problems as we asked forall problems to be "run though" us before taking action

Rent is arriving on time so I'm quite happy but I just wonder perhaps whats acceptable as contact?
The only thing I know about the tenants are their names...and I guess I wonder should I be able to put a name to a face and visa versa for them!

I did wonder about a 3 or 6 month check up but again if all is going well why bother and to be honest if its not perhaps I'd rather live in blissfull ignorance until the contract is up for review....am I just being too lax?

theartfullodger

Brothel downstairs, cannabis farm upstairs, both run by letting agent's toy-boy.

You - yes YOU - the landlord remain legally liable for everything.. eg being sued for up to 3x deposit if it wasn't protected in time.

Cheers!

[Deleted User]

I lived in a flatshare in London for a year and never met my landlord once

ceh209

4 different rented places over 5 years (some managed by the agents, some not) and never met my landlord once. Wish I had though at times, much easier to deal with maintenance issues face to face.

LEJC

theartfullodger wrote: »

Brothel downstairs, cannabis farm upstairs, both run by letting agent's toy-boy.

You - yes YOU - the landlord remain legally liable for everything.. eg being sued for up to 3x deposit if it wasn't protected in time.

Cheers!

A little confused by your post...
the deposit is protected...and ive no reason to believe the tenants are anything but respectable...

I was after opinions from both tenants and Landlords over whether they should meet and if so whats acceptable

but thanks fot taking the time to respond

Serendipitious

All three places I have rented have had agents for the formalities prior to the take up of the tenancy and throughout the tenure.

The first landlord came round within a few days to make sure I was ok and had everything I needed.

The second did the same, he made sure I had his landline number and said just to ring him if there were any problems, he also took down the agents letting board for them as he said it looked unsightly when someone was actually living there!

The third made a point of saying hello when he was walking by one day and I was in the garden.

I found it all very reassuring and would recommend all three as landlords.

LEJC

The letting agency did a "cuddle call" to the tenants after a week of moving in and they said they were fine....this was reported back to us,and really since then its all ticked along!

I didnt really expect there to be any problems...the house was newly renovated and all appliances brand new,we left an instruction wallet containg useful information about the area and things like bin/recycling days ....so in some ways theres no need on the face of it for them to contact unless an unforseen problem occurs.

I just really wondered if as tenants you like to put names to faces or whether actually youre just quite happy getting on with life without knowing too much about the landlord.

clark24

I have not yet met the landlady for my current rental, although we have talked on the phone, texted and emailed on a regular basis ( previous tenants were a total nightmare so we have been working together to repair the cottage and deal with police etc. She does live quite a distance away and works full time so it's not that she isn't bothered, it's location and time constraints). We are happy with that though, and she would come if necessary. In the meantime we can decorate how we like (the place desperately needs it!) and she refers to the cottage as our home and that she trusts us to look after it and knows we love it as much as she did when she lived here, so doesn't feel the need to monitor us closely.

Our previous landlord was a total pain, randomly appearing at all times unannounced and unwanted, he wanted to be very 'hands on' with the rental to the point where we felt we were being stalked. He even got random people in the town to pop round regularly to remind us it wasn't our home but it was his home and we didn't belong there! We were treated like squatters (albeit ones with a tenancy agreement who paid a lot of rent!)

So essentially as long as you deal with any of the LL based requirements as they happen, and your tenants uphold their end of the agreement then keeping a polite and respectful distance is preferable.

theartfullodger

LEJC wrote: »

A little confused by your post...
the deposit is protected...and ive no reason to believe the tenants are anything but respectable...

I was after opinions from both tenants and Landlords over whether they should meet and if so whats acceptable

but thanks fot taking the time to respond

My point is you don;t ACTUALLY know what the tenants are up to.. probably innocent but.. and, more importantly, you don't know if the tenants are very unhappy having complained many times to agent but the agent has done nothing...

So, either write a calm polite letter giving contact details for you if tenant needs them or pop round or in some other way protect your interests against the "agent from hell". Your shout...

theartfullodger

Brothel downstairs, cannabis farm upstairs, both run by letting agent's toy-boy.

You - yes YOU - the landlord remain legally liable for everything.. eg being sued for up to 3x deposit if it wasn't protected in time.

Cheers!

dancingfairy

I'm not overly fussed on meeting my landlord but it is always helpful to have their details if the letting agents start playing silly.
If you're in the area, why not pop in and say hello, introduce yourself adn give your contact details. If they are not there then just pop them through the letterbox.
As long as you don't make it a regular thing then I can't see it would hurt.
df
Edit: in answer to your question I think I've met 3 of my previous landlords - either at checkout or due to various repair issues. One I don't think I met at all.
My current landlord I've met 3 times but that is because there is no agency and it's a HMO and we seem to keep getting new tenants so he pops around then. Oh, and I've had emails from him for bills etc and texts regarding repairs etc, so quite a lot of contact but he is not hassling us and we have his details for if we need him.