Major problems with LL

vic1987

Hi,

From the word go, pretty much after signing the contract with our landlord nearly a year ago me have been having prolems, any help here will be greatly apreciated...

Ok, so myself and 4 friends live in a student house. We found the house last feb/ march and gave our deposits and signed the contract just before the deposit scheme came into place.

The contract was signed by the LL, or supposed LL and we stated we needed to move in by 01 July 2007 and were paying half rent for July and August, which was in the contract as agreed by him. We later found out that the name on the contract was his son who is at school in another country although our LL signed this in front of us. First problem...
Around June time he said he wanted to put in a new kitchen and when our due to move in date would come we may only have use of a microwave, which we agreed to thinking anew kitchen would be nice.

The first of July came and we turned up at the house the back was all knocked down exposed to the elements with no roof. There was no way we could have lived in the property, so he gave us alternative accomodation whilst he promised the work to be done by aug 1st. I refused this accomodation, but one friend did move in, although we were all still paying rent.
August came and went and the house wasnt ready, and as we were due to be back at University in September we made him promise it would be ready by then. Which it pretty much was, just a few minor things to finish which was an inconvenience however we werejust glad to finally be moved in after 2 months of trouble and time off work for moving etc.

The September rent was agreed to have £90 deducted for the troubles and we were then able to 'quietly enjoy the property'. However we were to discover many problems, leaking windows which were 'fixed' 3 times lack of fire doors which have only just been put in last month, no extinguishers after months of demanding, builders constatly round to fit double glazing and fix things.

We were not happy about this but the landlord is so much trouble to contact as he has been away since july and only came back shortly over Christmas, when we were not at the property. The only contact we have had is one son who has passed on messages with no response.

The landlord is finally back in the country now, however is selling the house to someone who wants to rent it out again. This meant more people coming round, including a surveyor, which then led to building regs failing the property, electrics, no insulation, unsufficient fire alarms, dangerous switches in bathroom, and currently investigation whether the chimney has been properly supported and the fire door for the back is in a bedroom.

As you can imagine we are feeling rather anxious about the whole thing, and the landlord is constantly at the property, none of us want to spend anymore time in the property and are wondering about the rent we are due to pay, have paid and our deposit.

We also have contantly asked for an invetory which he still hasnt supplied us with and are due to move out on 30th June. Finally buildings regs have given him a list of things to do which we told him to put in insulation but anything else ie. relocating the back fire door, needs to be done after our exams. We turn up at the property today to find builders knocking the back wall down to relocate the door. We all have exams to revise for and this is stress that is not needed especially after we told him no! They have boarded up the room with the back door in (as we use it as a spare room) and we cannot get into it so there is no fire escape apart from the front door.

We are currently wondering, after speaking to building regs, visiting citizens advice etc what to do with regards to paying the rest of rent or withholding, which they all say not to, and if our deposit is supposed to be in a scheme or not as it was givwen before the new laws? Also if we can claim any rent back as and i quote the building regs inspector 'the property should not even be let out'.

Apologies as this is quite long and complicated but any response will be greatly appreciated!!!

Doozergirl

Leave. Find somewhere else to live.

I'd pay not a penny more. He is a thief.

I doubt that your deposit was ever coming back in your direction. If you use the deposit in lieu of your last month's rent then at least you will feel slightly vindicated.

Not the 'right' thing to do, but what your LL has done to you is very wrong indeed.

kathleenryd

bump bump bump

tbs624

If your Tenancy began before April 6th 2007 then unfortunately your deposit does not have to be protected.

My suggestion would be to keep notes of dates, money paid and photographs of everything. Your Uni Accoms officer or Welfare Officer should be able to give you some initial advice and Shelter have a helpline. You could contact the local Law Society and get a solicitor who specialises in L & T law ( help with costs should be available as you are students), or see if your Uni has a community law centre (usually run by 3rd year law students with qualified supervision) There will be a Private Tenancies Officer at the local Council's Housing Department, who should be able to liaise with building regs people and the environmental health department. If you've been advised already not to withhold your rent, then maybe you need to follow that advice. Understandable though it would be for you to want to withhold rent in these circumstances, it could lead to you having problems with your references/credit checks etc for any future tenancies elsewhere. Being able to show that you have observed your part of the contract will work in your favour if things need to process to a court hearing. I would make sure that the Accoms office have full details of this LL so that no-one else has to suffer, particularly when it's their first time away from home. Good luck with getting it sorted.

Ring Shelter free on 0808 800 4444 - open seven days a week from 8am to midnight.

Guy_Montag

I'm with Doozer, stop paying rent, let the deposit cover the last month's rent & find somewhere else.

I know you circumstances are a little different, but NEVER, EVER, NOT ONCE , NOT EVEN IF IT'S YOUR BROTHER & HE'S A PRIEST believe a landlord who promises "I'll get this done before you move in; just sign the contract now." As soon as he has your name on the contract, he looses all incentive to do the work, & human nature being what it is, it won't get done.

Incidentally, I may be wrong, but I think with the TDS it doesn't matter when you sign the agreement, it's when the agreement starts that's important. But I can't be arsed looking it up.

barnaby-bear

Guy_Montag wrote: »

I'm with Doozer, stop paying rent, let the deposit cover the last month's rent & find somewhere else.

I know you circumstances are a little different, but NEVER, EVER, NOT ONCE , NOT EVEN IF IT'S YOUR BROTHER & HE'S A PRIEST believe a landlord who promises "I'll get this done before you move in; just sign the contract now." As soon as he has your name on the contract, he looses all incentive to do the work, & human nature being what it is, it won't get done.

Incidentally, I may be wrong, but I think with the TDS it doesn't matter when you sign the agreement, it's when the agreement starts that's important. But I can't be arsed looking it up.

How enforcable can a contract signed in someone else's name be anyway - "Mickey Mouse"?

tbs624

tbs624 wrote: »

If your Tenancy began before April 6th 2007 then unfortunately your deposit does not have to be protected.

so check back on the actual Fixed Term dates written into the contract but IMO you need to get some qualified legal advice before you decide what to do because there are clearly several issues involved.

missyp123

My previous job was property management for rentals, i can easily offer advice but as always i would suggest you seek legal advice before any action is taken.

First of all this sounds very doddgy to me, why was a full deposit taken on the property before the date of the TDS? Your tenancy didnt even start untill and to be honest i feel it still should have been put into the scheme BECAUSE your actuall tenanacy date was after April.

When you had to move out due to the works being carried out was the alternantive accomodation the same standard? did you incure any extra cost from having to find somewhere for this time? I am sure that a £90 reduction in rent was not enough. i would have held rent back form this point untill you moved back in and were completly happy. You continuing to pay rent was proberbly why he didnt bother to hurry up with the job!

I know that you say you ares students - hence not allot of money but legal advise and action is needed asap before its to late and he leaves the country again!
Or you can cut your losses and just go, he sounds dodgy enough not to have done any checks on you, did you let through and agent or just via him? I'm sure if you were to dissapear he would know that he couldnt do a thing bacause of all the issues throughout this tenanancy. PLUS if he is not the actul LL and he signed falsly someone elses name the tenancy is INVALID!

Also no inventory at the beginning of the tenancy, means he can not prove anything in terms of damages and what was in the property in the first place.

Let us know the outcome!

vic1987

Thanks for all the advice, I have just sent more builders away from the property and am currently waiting for a response from the LL about the deposit scheme, which I said needed to be presented to me today, if not then he will receive a solicitors letter and will be dealing with him through that from now on, not over the phone or via conversations in person. We tried the university once in the summer, however they said they didn't have legal training so couldn't really help, also tried to get a appointment with citizens advice but didn't have any luck with the office hee, my friend ended up going to one on the other side of the country whilst back with her parents over the summer.
Also spoke to HMO (houses of multiple occupancy) who we were referred to, they passed all the details on environmental health around 3 weeks ago and I still have had no response from them despite being told I would!

It has been hard in the past to try and do anything about this as not everyone I live with agrees we should do anything, which I think is ridiculous!

kathleenryd

Do you know if the landlord had any planning permission and has the work done complied and passed? Do you know if the property is safe?

K

missyp123

Just to add... type in Tenancy Deposit Scheme into google its full of info and i'm sure you can give them a call.