No-deposit Entering property illegally

SORN

macman said:

Why didn't you simply change the lock barrel to prevent the LL from entering the property without prior agreement? It is a five minute DIY job, cost about a tenner.

you can't change the lock in on the tenancy agreement, otherwise I would have done it

SORN

silvercar said:

“They said they entered the flat for a viewing, but I had told them I was on holiday I could not give access to the property, they did not care they entered without my permission.”

That could be read as you replying that you couldn’t let them in (as you were on holiday), rather than you didn’t give permission.

Yes I did not give a permission

SORN

What about if I tell them: if they do not give me the deposit back I will take legal action against them for entering my property illegally and leaving the tenant without essentials

deannagone

Where does the deposit come from if you used a no deposit scheme?  

elsien

deannagone said:

Where does the deposit come from if you used a no deposit scheme?  

Third time of asking, but he seems determined not to answer. 

Annisele

I wonder if OP paid a monthly cost for some sort of insurance scheme (in place of a deposit), and wants a refund of those premiums? If so, I think it's unlikely that he'd succeed; the insurance scheme would have been separate to the landlord.

ayupmeduck

SORN said:

macman said:

Why didn't you simply change the lock barrel to prevent the LL from entering the property without prior agreement? It is a five minute DIY job, cost about a tenner.

you can't change the lock in on the tenancy agreement, otherwise I would have done it

Yes you can, it is talked about on here loads of times. Just keep the old lock to change back when you leave.

user1977

SORN said:

macman said:

Why didn't you simply change the lock barrel to prevent the LL from entering the property without prior agreement? It is a five minute DIY job, cost about a tenner.

you can't change the lock in on the tenancy agreement, otherwise I would have done it

How are they going to find out? (other than when they try to enter the property when they shouldn't...)

Besides, that alone would be a fairly flimsy justification for evicting you.

saajan_12

What outcome are you looking for at this stage? Comments in line below, but if you didn't pay an actual deposit then you wouldn't get one back. If the LL or no-deposit scheme actually claims further money then come back here to help you defend those as appropriate, but otherwise maybe time to move on. 

SORN said:

I had a dreadful experience with my previous agency. I did enter a no-deposit option which was a truly scam, I did agree about it after they sent me a link with all the info and benefits, and they told me it was interest free, I thought I knew enough about it, when I got inside the agency office I did just sign the contract without reading it, and they never gave me a copy of the signed contract during the check in. - unfortunately you're now bound by what you signed, and it was up to you to read / demand a copy at the time. 
Then I had so many problems with both agency and landlord that 6 months later I decided to leave the flat (even though my contract was 12 months) mutually agreed with agency without paying any reletting agency fee. - what exactly was agreed, and was that in writing? If you and the LL/Agent are assuming different things about the damages or deposit, then there may be a chance the early termination agreement isn't complete?
After I did communicate my intention to leave the property and asking about the deposit back, I did find out that I was never going to get the deposit back and only after that, by email, they sent me a singed copy of my no-deposit contract. I have never got any benefits I read on the link, they were all scam. - 'scam' as in its likely not good value for money, but if they're sticking to the agreement you signed then its not actually fraudulent or illegal.. again just something to learn from. 

I can read so many other people got scammed with the no-deposit contract. It was my bad not to read the contract. - unfortunately, yes

With both agency and landlord I had the following issues:

·        The landlord entered my property using his own keys multiple times without my permission breaching the tenancy agreement, they need to enter the tenant’s property illegally hoping to find something inside the property to use against the tenant. The only way to stop them entering my property without permission was: I had to tell them that I was going to call the police, and take a legal action against them, only after telling that they never did it again. - "illegally" is a broad term.. If they did no harm then at worst its tresspass (ie civil) and more likely you already agreed to some access in the tenancy agreement. They may have stopped to avoid the escalation, but not necessarily illegal to access for legitimate reasons. However if the tenancy has now ended, then irrelevant. 

 

·        One day while I was on holiday they entered my property illegally they broke the boiler pipe, they did flood my flat, they did remove the carpet because it was all soaking wet and they did
try to blame me saying that: there was a massive leak and I did not report it and they wanted to charge me for the damage. This happed during my last week of tenancy. Then with my cleaner company, who did the end tenancy cleaning, did investigated the matter and we did find out that they were trying to remove the boiler in the flat and caused the leak. - not sure how a carpet cleaner can figure out the LL's intentions or what caused the flood much earlier. was any of your property damaged or is the LL actually claiming costs from you? If not, then irrelevant.  

 

 

·        In addition to that I did not have heating for more then 2 weeks while temperature was zero degrees, extremely cold to be without heating in the house. - Properties can develop issues, and should be remedied in a reasonable time and your remedy is to push for a timely fix by reporting in writing and following the Shelter process, there's rarely compensation due. However now that the tenancy has ended, that's irrelevant. 

 

·        I was left without hot water at all in the all flat for 7 days, while it was 35 degrees outside impossible to live without shower, and my landlord over the phone told me to go to live at my girlfriend house if I could not have a shower there because he could not help me. I had to contact my local Housing Department authority to get them doing the repairs. - as above, your remedy is to push for a fix which you did pretty quickly via the Housing Department if it was fixed in 7 days. If you had costs to shower etc then the LL *might* be responsible but since you did that at your gf's, there's nothing out of pocket. However now that the tenancy has ended, that's irrelevant. 

 

I talked with a tenant who lived in the same flat before me and they’ve been treated even worse. Both agency and landlord enjoy bulling tenants for no reason. 

 

I did fill in the Dispute Notification Claim Form with all the details mentioned above and sent it to the agency. - what exactly is this, and what are you disputing? 

I am not intended to take them to court for now, unless I will be forced to do it. - what would you be claiming at court? The deposit is unfortunate but you signed up for it and the issues during the tenancy are now moot. So its for the LL to take you to court for damages if any. 

 

I want to tell them if they do not give the deposit back I will take them to the court for entering the property illegally and for leaving the tenant without essentials for a period of time mentioned above. - if you didn't pay a deposit, then nothing is due back. As for the property entry and no heat / hot water, there's no court action for that.. 

 

Ay suggestions will be very appreciative

 Thank you in advance for your support

 

sheramber

okay, put it another way.

How much deposit did you pay?