Complaints about Landlord

RHemmings

How were you introduced to the property? If through some sort of student accommodation service? If so, then tell them about the problems that you had. If the student accommodation service is any good, then they would probably drop that landlord, potentially protecting future students from the same problem. If an estate agents, you could still complain, though I don't know if it would do any good with most agents.

Edit: I see someone got in with the same comment as I was writing the above.

Stu_Dent

Thank you for your responses but I know that the letting company would do nothing about it. They gain a lot of money from him and I know for a fact that he has been unfairly poisoning them against us (from an email he "mistakingly" sent us instead of them)so they arent big fans of us.

We kept the house in abnormally pristine condition all year but this particular landlord is hell bent on causing us as much frustration and stress as possible, and hes just going to do the same to the next set of tenants who arrive which I feel would be unfair to them..

clutton_2

sadly - there is no Ombudsman you can complain to. If a landlord has breached his duty of care to you as a tenant, you may like to complain - but as i said before - there is no legal course available to you except if he keeps your deposit - in which case as i advised earlier - read Eager Learners thread - you will learn a lot - and take him to the small claims court to recover your financial loss. This is what court cases are about - financial loss. You cannot go to court simply to "gumble".

Being a landlord/letting agent is something that any Tom. !!!!!!. Harry or Claire can do - it is largely unregulated in terms of behaviour standards- and there is little recourse in law for you unless he has broken the law - eg not provided you with a CORGI gas safety certificat.e.

as a landlady i think you have been treated badly, and i agree with an earlier poster that your best course of action is to get him removed from the university register of landlords.

if the property is a HMO then you could talk to the HMO officer of the council to see if he has breached any of the 2004 Housing Act - if he has this could cause him a great deal of grief.

Stu_Dent

clutton wrote: »

sadly - there is no Ombudsman you can complain to. If a landlord has breached his duty of care to you as a tenant, you may like to complain - but as i said before - there is no legal course available to you except if he keeps your deposit - in which case as i advised earlier - read Eager Learners thread - you will learn a lot - and take him to the small claims court to recover your financial loss. This is what court cases are about - financial loss. You cannot go to court simply to "gumble".

Being a landlord/letting agent is something that any Tom. !!!!!!. Harry or Claire can do - it is largely unregulated in terms of behaviour standards- and there is little recourse in law for you unless he has broken the law - eg not provided you with a CORGI gas safety certificat.e.

as a landlady i think you have been treated badly, and i agree with an earlier poster that your best course of action is to get him removed from the university register of landlords.

if the property is a HMO then you could talk to the HMO officer of the council to see if he has breached any of the 2004 Housing Act - if he has this could cause him a great deal of grief.

Yeh, this is a possible method of action but he does things very systematically and tries to have every corner covered.. He always acts extremely aggressively and in my opinion is a very evil human being. I know someone who is going into one of his houses next year and hes already giving them grief.

I realise that you're only getting one side of the story but believe me, with the evidence that I could provide you'd see what I mean..

I'll try and get my deposit back and see what happens after, im not sure if the university have a list of registered landlords but I'll write to them and check it out..

Just a quick extra question.. We had a bathroom cabinet, and a crack appeared in the corner where a screw had been screwed in too tightly..our landlord has now charged us for the replacement of the entire cabinet, not just the panel (there were two doors each with a mirror on) . Is this correct? I don't really intend on disputing it as its only costing each tenant £4 but I'd be interested to know..



Thanks again for all your comments..

Stu:)

olly300

Stu_Dent wrote: »

Just a quick extra question.. We had a bathroom cabinet, and a crack appeared in the corner where a screw had been screwed in too tightly..our landlord has now charged us for the replacement of the entire cabinet, not just the panel (there were two doors each with a mirror on) . Is this correct? I don't really intend on disputing it as its only costing each tenant £4 but I'd be interested to know..



Thanks again for all your comments..

Stu:)

Most bathroom cabinets are unfortunately made so that if there is a crack or more commonly the door drops off, you have to buy a completely new cabinet.

In future I suggest when you notice anything slightly wrong in a property you rent while you are renting it you:
1. Take a digital photograph of the problem
2. Email the landlord with the photograph attached making it clear in the email you want the problem looked at within the next 14 days. If the landlord refuses to look at it then sent another email to them asking them why.

Stu_Dent

Can anyone tell me the following..

If I have a set of keys and do not hand them back until a couple of days after the end of my tenancy, is the landlord allowed to charge me for a new set of keys?

This is because my landlord went to inspect the premises on a sunday then i sent them via recorded mail to his house on the monday (at the first available moment)

Thanks for your help,

Stu

boyse7en

I'd have thought he was well within his rights to charge you for the keys. They are part of the property, which you still had access to after you stopped paying rent on it. Depending on the situation, he might have changed the locks and deducted the cost of those out of your deposit, so a couple of keys cut is not too bad.

Guy_Montag

Stu_Dent wrote: »

Can anyone tell me the following..

If I have a set of keys and do not hand them back until a couple of days after the end of my tenancy, is the landlord allowed to charge me for a new set of keys?

This is because my landlord went to inspect the premises on a sunday then i sent them via recorded mail to his house on the monday (at the first available moment)

Thanks for your help,

Stu

Why didn't you pop them through the door when you left?

Stu_Dent

Guy_Montag wrote: »

Why didn't you pop them through the door when you left?

because someone needed to go back to the house and so i kept the keys for him. it turns out he went back using his own keys which he still had and then I couldnt return to drop off the keys in time.

and to boyse7en... what rights are you referring to? If there are genuine rights that Im not aware of please let me know because I'm planning on taking this further otherwise.

Also if anyone knows any of the following please let me know..

a few of the other tenants paid their rent late and the landlord wants to charge a £25 admin fee...I'm just wondering if thats something we could contest and he blatantly hasnt incurred £25 worth of admin fees..

also, another of my friends left a small stain on his mattress(was new a year ago) and the landlord has gone and compeltely replaced it..is this allowed?

thanks!

olly300

Stu_Dent wrote: »

because someone needed to go back to the house and so i kept the keys for him. it turns out he went back using his own keys which he still had and then I couldnt return to drop off the keys in time.

I actually think it's unreasonable and unsafe to drop the keys through the letterbox of your house, and leave them on the floor for a number of reasons including the fact that burglars have been known to fish for keys through letterboxes. (Dropping them through his letterbox is different.) Also was the house immediately occupied after you moved out? If not and you can prove it, then charging you immediately for the keys means he is trying it on.

BTW I was in a similar situation but I could prove that the landlord was being unreasonable as the property was empty for a month and I could prove it.

and to boyse7en... what rights are you referring to? If there are genuine rights that Im not aware of please let me know because I'm planning on taking this further otherwise.

You have rights and responsibilities in law i.e. "quiet enjoyment" which means the landlord cannot enter the property except in case of a real emergency while you are living there, to be able to treat the place like your home within in reason, not to disobey any restricted convenants on the property. Check them on the shelter.org.uk website.

Also if anyone knows any of the following please let me know..

a few of the other tenants paid their rent late and the landlord wants to charge a £25 admin fee...I'm just wondering if thats something we could contest and he blatantly hasnt incurred £25 worth of admin fees..

Did it state in your contract that an admin fee would be charged if your rent was late? If not you can argue that it was not a fair and reasonable charge as you where not warned before hand. If the people who paid late bounced cheques and the landlord can show that the fee covered his banking charges then he can easily argue that it's fair. The OFT has a document http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/reports/unfair_contract_terms/oft356.pdf which you should read.

also, another of my friends left a small stain on his mattress(was new a year ago) and the landlord has gone and compeltely replaced it..is this allowed?

Yes as the stain could be anything :eek: Plus no new tenant will happily sleep on a stained mattress. Landlords I've rented from in the past have either made it clear that if there are any stains on the mattress I would be liable to pay for a new mattress, or the mattress has been covered in a mattress protector when I've moved in.

thanks!

Seriously just take the guy to the small claims court and argue every point. You may not win on everything but like EagerLearner's landlord the time spent fighting you won't be worth it for the landlord, and you will learn something new in the process.