Urgent Landlord Help...Please Help!!

mountainofdebt

I can't offer much advice I'm afraid but if your landlord does have other properties then other students may be lured into renting off him.....that's why you should tell the uni.

BWZN93

mountainofdebt wrote:

I can't offer much advice I'm afraid but if your landlord does have other properties then other students may be lured into renting off him.....that's why you should tell the uni.

I agree, if more students did tell their uni's of the awfulness that they are having to live in, then other students will hopefully be deterred from living in these places, paying extortionate rent, being screwed over left right and centre particularly where deposit return is concerned, and besides which - we shouldnt be taking this kind of rubbish any more.

Its time shoddy landlords got their bloody act together! And its the TENANTS that should be doing more, instead of leaving and letting some other poor sucker get stuck there. Get on the phone to the Environmental health, the council, The police, and your uni.

Jo xx

odorus

My mum was in a similar situation with her asian landlord. The police told her there was nothing they could do. What she did was threaten him with the Inland Revenue.
It sounds like you are prepared to stick it out, so once you are clear of the place and you have some air between you and him write to the Inland Revenue and state that he was taking rent from you. You can give them all the details in the strictest privacy, as they can't divulge their sources to him. If you really wanted to be malicious you could write to the Home Office and state that you believe there are some Illegal Immigrants living at their house. Even if he is doing it all legitimitly (stop laughing) he will still get a grilling that will cause him stress and aggrovation.
Worth the £200 loss in my books.
You should tell the Uni aswell so they can put him on their blacklist. You don't want others to go through what you went through. Good Luck

Pinkleylandii

Hi give him one month's written notice in front of an independant witness or two. No doubt if he is as bad as you say he will say you took things and will approach the other addresses for compensation. Make sure you have witnesses see you leave with your possessions only, if an inventory was not done he has no real comeback but obviously you are worried about him having your parents address so be as pleasant as possible just say you have obtained a job abroad. Leave on the most pleasant terms as possible (it will be hard). He will not like it but tough don't give him a reason to be nasty. If worried speak to a solicitor. Always remember he might have your parents address but they could have moved. If he rings them or goes to see them they can deny who they are and say that they have only been living there a few months other than that they can change their telephone number or informally the police they know the district and what these sort of people are like they can best advise you.

sooz

oh my god, how awful

....as a landlady [and nowhere near as bad.....actually, i am WONDERFUL, but that is a whole other story] how about you try to get housing benefit. then the council is forced to intervene, and even if you don't get it, it takes at least 3 months for the council to fill in a form...during which time no-one pays any rent.

whatever, please please please report them, at the very least to your uni...to save other people from them. then to anyone else you can think of....

janjan

Go to your local CAB. THey will give you legal advice and practical advice. They will tell you your rights and what the consequences may be. You say you don't want to tell the environmental health officers (EHO) because then you will have nowhere to live but then at least you would be out of that place, and if the council say it unfit they will have to find you a B&B for a while. It may not be ideal given the work you do but could you not find somewhere to work from instead of at home. If the place you live in now is so terrible can you really work from there in safety? The tenancy agreement may not be worth much but you still have statutory rights so don't think just because the tenancy agreement is crap you don't have a leg to stand on. You still have what is likely to be an assured shorthold tenancy which if you say was for 12 months originally is now in its statutory periodic phase anyway as the 12 months have lapsed. This means the landlord can ask you to leave and give two months notice and you would have to go. You can also give notice and leave. I realise I am talking as if this is a normal landlord not a nasty one but surely the landlord does not expect you to stay forever so if you give notice and leave this should not come as too much of a suprise.
On the repairs side landlords have a duty to make things safe and by the sounds of things they are not, so do contact the EHO and maybe they will be aware of this landlord and be able to give you some good advice. They will no doubt have dealt with people like your landlord before and will not do things that will put you in danger.
Good luck whatever you do.
Jan

Need2Save_3

If it helps; your legal position is that you only have to give one months notice to vacate (statutory provision). I'd tend to agree that you have to give-up any hope of ever getting your deposit back. A small sacrafice considering your position at the mo.

With reagrd to the repair bill: It's not legally your responsibility unless you caused a prob. which could not be attributable to normal wear and tear (doesn't sound like this is the case). Again, a statutory provision.

I take on board what you've said r.e. the repucutions of standing up to your landlord, so here's what I'd do in your situation:

My suggestion would be to try and rent for 6mths elsewhere (tell an agent you want only a 6mth contract as you will be buying shortly), which you could then extend if your house purchase doesn't go through on time. Even if this was a bedsit or studio flat it would have better amenities and not be much more expensive (although you'd have to find the deposit).

I know you said you're worried about them seeing you moving things out, but if the house isn't back-to-back could you do it gradually at night and put it into self-storage or leave it at a friends house? Or, if you have a car, put some in the car. This way you could leave inconspicuously without paying some rent and giving a months notice.

You could then commence a small claims action to get some money back (pics v. helpful and friends testimonies help too).

With regard to to your worries about them having parents' addresses: Take out a civil injunction to prevent them from approaching your family (I don't know if you could do this without any form of threats, but ask a solicitor anyway).

You can get an hours free advice from most large solicitors firms and in your case I'd reccomend you take it.

Good-luck!