Renting, Rat/Maggot/Fly infestation HELP ASAP

ninasimone_2

Update...

Have now moved from the property... THANK GOD!!!

Going to put in a formal complaint to the OEA ( Ombusman of estate agents)
after sending a letter to EA as a internal complaint.

REPLY
"I am very surprised and disapointed with your letter, firstly thin information I gave you was purely a gesture of good will as I do not manage the property. We are only emplyed on a Let only basis. Any additional assistant required by LA is purely through his instruction, not the tenants.

To be quite honest I could have said that I had nothing to do with the rat problems and that you had to sort it out yourself. Instead i listened, spoke tp LA and gave you information on free pest control.

As I have previously stated many times, I do not manage the property, hold your deposit or have any authority to instruct contractors. I have you your behalf spoken to LA and discussed the problems you have been experiencing and he has contacted you, laid down bait and done his upmost to resolve the problem."

What a load of RUBBISH... I informed them we were getting in the council. The council didn't come as they told us it was the LA responsible to sort out the problem. The LA has not done ANYTHING to resolve the problem apart from putting bait in the adjoining barn!!!



We are still awaiting deposit, :mad:

ADVICE...

We had to pay to the private pest control to remove 9 dead rats from loft & maggots falling through ceiling!!!

We have recieved our water bill from LA which is a private water mains..
we want to deduct the price it cost us to call in pest control.

Where do you stand legally?

Advice i have been given
"I don't think it is unreasonable at all ! If any thing, the matter of compensating you for your troubles - removing maggots, taping up the ceiling, and arranging the pest control call out- should have been addressed by LA long time!

It would be decent to send him a copy of the invoice for his records and tax purposes and as proof of the expense.

If he gets nasty about it, remind him of the numerous times you have complained about the problem and his failure to act upon the pest controller's recommendation and the evidence you are still holding. Plus your kindly abstaining from getting the Environment Health department to come and look, which could have gotten him into quite alot of hot water entailing much higher costs rectifying, etc.

Icey77

Goodness, what a load of garbage.

I rent out a flat which, as it turned out, had a wasps nest in the loft and my tenants kept having wasps appear in their bedroom.

My LA advised me that it was my responsibility to ensure that the property was habitable (they only rent collect etc rather than manage) so I called up a local pest controller, found out the costs and arranged for the invoice to come directly to me. I then asked the tenants to arrange with the pest controller a convinent time for the appointment.

Either I appear to have letting agents who know what the boundarys are for landlords and tenants or I'm just lucky

Let us know how it works out

Benefits_Blagger

this is deffo LL's problem. had a simliar situation last year, i found some useful advice on shelters website.

essentially you can withhold your rent if he wont do the work, although you have do to do things properly, i.e. give in writing either he sorts out the problem within a certain time frame or you will use your rent money.

also if the property is so bad, you can withold and keep the rent (on top of the cleanup charges) as the LL is not entitled to rent on a property that is unihabitable.

i sent a letter to my LL pointing out a) i would pay for the work myself and b) i would be persuing them in court for a refund of my rent for the period my home was unihabitable, while pointing them in the direction of the relevant parts of the law.

result: within 24 hours the problem sorted and LL didnt even do a patch-up job, but spent a fair bit replacing things to ensure the problem didn't reocur.

the threat of withholding rent (iespecially if the law is on your side) works miracles with LL's

clutton_2

"" the threat of withholding rent"" - but she has ALREADY MOVED OUT and does not have her deposit back ............................... what kind of advice was that ???

tbs624

I saw that you have (understandably ) given your notice on this property but for anyone else who is having similar problems, some of the following may be of help.

Under The Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949 Council’s have a duty to keep their district clear of rats and mice: [FONT=&quot][/FONT]
"If in the case of any land it appears to the local authority . . . that steps should be taken for the destruction of rats or mice on the land or otherwise for keeping the land free from rats and mice, they may serve on the owner or occupier of the land a notice requiring him to take, within such reasonable period as may be specified in the notice, such reasonable steps for the purpose aforesaid as may be so specified; and where the owner of any land is not also the occupier thereof separate notices may be served under this section on the owner and on the occupier.”
The Council is required to carry out inspections but, in reality, most Councils do tend to use complaints as their basis for action. Put plenty of pressure on your Council, involve your local Councillor, and I bet they’ll start leaning on the LL/LA.Make sure that you are doing what you can to not attract vermin to your home, ie keep food in containers and keep rubbish under control. Take photos of rats, holes in the building, rat droppings etc and keep copies of all letters and detailed notes on any telephone conversations.

I think you could also argue that the LL's land falls under the category of S79 (1) (a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and so they may be able to use a S80 action for statutory nuisance? See here: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1990/ukpga_19900043_en_10

What about the LLs lliability insurance? A LL is responsible for the safety of the property that his/her tenants are living in, and should a tenant suffer harm due to something dangerous in the property they can make a claim against the LL for damages. A LL can hardly be said to be keeping those who occupy/visit the property safe from harm if s/he know that there is an ever increasing rat population, & has done nothing to deal with the problem, given that rats bring with them health risk to humans of leptospiros, ( a notifiable disease) typhus, salmonella etc?

If you’re getting nowhere with this, go and book a Fixed Fee appointment with a local solicitor and get them to send a strongly worded letter to the LA/LL and the Council.

littlesos

Something isn't right here. The council will come out for free to deal with a rat infestation, so I'm not sure why a private pest control officer was needed.

In rural areas, if food is left lying around, you will be prone to rat/mice infestations, so if you didn't clear up food waste overnight, then I would think you would be liable. If food has been left out then I struggle to see how the landlord is liable. (No I'm not a landlord, but I have lived in a house on a canal and would regularly get rats/mice sneaking in)

Benefits_Blagger

clutton wrote: »

"" the threat of withholding rent"" - but she has ALREADY MOVED OUT and does not have her deposit back ............................... what kind of advice was that ???

missed her post, where she said she has moved out.

i hope she has the evidence of the problem and that she took the rights steps, as she should be able to still claim

a) cost of calling pest control out herself
b) her deposit back
c) hopefully a refund on the rent she has paid.

BobProperty

Icey77 wrote: »

Goodness, what a load of garbage.

I rent out a flat which, as it turned out, had a wasps nest in the loft and my tenants kept having wasps appear in their bedroom.....

At least you didn't just refer them to the "no pets" clause in the tenancy agreement.

sarah_elton

Local paper - absolutely!! :mad:

ninasimone_2

Local enviromental peeps said they didn't need to come out as we had lready got a pest control out. And his reccomadations are just as valid as theres if they came.

I have pictures from the loft.. with put a link of the photos online tomorrow.

In regards to rubbish/food. I have a compost bin and my general bin its kept 1/4 mile away from the property.

Previous tenants problem was worst actual rats were actually burrowing through the ceiling into the house. It was only when they mentioned it i notice all the filled holes in the ceiling were i initial thought lights were.


SO>>>>> Even though i moved out. & maggots came through in NOVEMBER 2007
1) is it possible to some how reclaim rent for the time we lived in the property?? If so how?
2) how does one go to newpapers :-) can he sue us??

once getting full deposit back i want to get the ball roling hopfully next week!!!

Watch this space :rotfl: :beer: