Major problems with LL

vic1987

Thanks for all the replies, i managed to get a a Tenancy relations officer round this morning, and he is returning tommorrow with someone from building regultations. he is only dealing with the lack of access to part of the house and harrassment from the landlord and he does seem quite positive about our result. He doesnt deal with much of the other things though just part of it, so seeking legal advice may be neccesary for the rest.

Will let everyone know hat happens when building regs come back round tommorrow, the problem is that environmental health have asked him ot do certain things to keep up with their guidelines, which conflicts with our interests. however moving the back door and blocking off access was not part of this. He also mentioned that some fire regulations were not in place.

Thanks again for all the responses.

Guy_Montag

kathleenryd wrote: »

He may have power of attorney - his son may be a minor

K

Minors cannot make contracts so the contract would still be void. He would also need to provide evidence of the PoA.

Doozergirl

The building regs issue - if he was in breach, they would issue him with a notice to rectify whatever it was and give him a timeframe within which to finish the work.

Not very exciting.

kathleenryd

This LL is desperate to rectify the mess made in not complying with building regs and health and safety in the first place. He is trying to sell the property - he will probably then disappear with the deposits and leave the whole mess with the new owner. Just my opinion.
K

sanita

I believe that there is no contract between you whatsoever. His son if he is at school can not be a party of a contact. Stop paying

vic1987

Finally I think we may have this sorted, although I am reluctant to speak so soon...

The tenancy relations officer has asked us to decide what sort of compensation we want from all of this, and asked us to produce a list of things that need doing, eg leaking windows etc.

We are unsure as to what compensation though, maybe no rent for may and june? As we don't know what would be cheeky to ask for he just said we need tod ecide what we would be happy with. Although this would be good, it isn't really about the money at the moment as whether we get the rent off or not makes little difference as we would have had to pay it anyway.

We have since discovered that the room my friend stays in has no planning permission, and the landlord is still constantly coming round begging us to let him do the work he has been asked to do by his buyer. Not quite sure where this leaves her but I dont think she should have had to pay any if there isn't even planning for it.

The council are back round again tommorrow with the landlord to hopefully settle all these issues

rheme

I work for a commercial managing agents and had a situation some years ago where a lease had been signed not by the person named on the contract but another family member. It was not picked up at the time and when the managing agents came to try and invoke a clause within the lease they did not have a leg to stand on as it had not been signed by the named person.

The tenant took legal advice and was advised that no contract existed because of this.

The principle would appear to be the same in this case - therefore no contract is in existence.

Good Luck

Caz_87

Hi, just about the signing the contract thing...he didn't actually sign it in front of us.

There are 3 people...1.the landlord we deal with, 2.his brother who sorted te contract with us, and 3.the landlord named on the contract which is the son of 1.

All of us tenants signed the contract and no.2 signed to say he was a witness. Then they took the contract away and someone signed in no.3s name (could have been him or someone else we're not sure) and a witness signed it.

I think that's what they did anyway. Should they have signed it in front of us or does that not matter as they did have a witness?

kunekune

Another point to consider, but not relating to the legal side of things. If there is any possibility this whole mess will result in impaired performance in your exams, take action about this now. Most universities have a mitigating circumstances system and the disruption, noise and stress during the run-up to exams may well be relevant if you do not do as well as expected. However, you have to have documentation (including, if relevant, a note from your doctor about the stress/depression you have suffered), and it is likely that the application has to go in before the exam period. Have a look on your uni website and/or have a chat with your personal tutor: this is one of the worst bad tenancy stories I've come across for a long time.

vic1987

thanks thats true as we are spending alot of time trying to sort this out when we should be revising, and i would be lying if i said it wasnt stressful.

the council officer has stated he needed to give us a schedule of works by friday everning, we were given this on saturday and it hasnt been followed noone if here today fixing a leaking skylight which it says in the schedule, and we cant use the bathroom as we are worried someone will come round and start fixing it which means they will see into the bathroom!
also he has suggest we get £68 each off the rent this month which refers to the "substantial" compensation outlined by the tenancy relations officer, which we are not satisfied with.

so now, i have to spend one of my days i am supposed to be revising, going to see a mawyer about it, i have 4 exams over the next 2 weeks and i really cant afford to miss a day of revision, but i dont really have a choice now as we want this sorted too. in a way i just want to leave it all but then all this effort will have gone to waste!