Renting Issues...

unknown_member

I might of found my fountine of knowledge..

I've been renting a house since nov 07, we've got a six "assured" contract which states that we can't/won't need to move unless damages happen to the house etc. Now, this is a property which has an agent being the "owners" monkey and both are as thick as theifs. (of course given notice we can move out, if we give a months notice <-- we sorta have)

Orginally when we moved in we got to report anything which needed fixing, however big and however small. (so we stuck by this and kept writing up a list) When the list was reasonable for us to approach the agent we would and request that things would be fixed, now we didn't demaned and we didn't expect it to be done straight away. (well least some of things)

Our list fixtures and fittings/conditions stated that the cooker was fully installed (lie) The electricy was mean't to checked and working fully.. (lie) The boiler was mean't to be in excellent condition dispite the fire being useless and damanged (lie) A window was mean't to be fixed with the first week on moving in.. (lie - Fair enough it wasn't done then but the amount of time taken was extreamly annoying) The doors need trimming as they can't be shut and the agent has told us time and time again we cannot do the repairs ourself.

Cooker; A month to resolve
No Hot Water; Well over a month and an half...
Electricity; Three days
Gas; (suddenly went due to the monitor not having a panel) Lets see, it was three weeks without gas and the panel still hasn't been replaced and they refuse to pay for one dispite this being a legal requirement. (or so or tennant worker says)
The window; Two months to fix, double glazing wasn't so bad but still you could feel the cold.

I've missed quite a few small things and I can't recall two major issues, I believe one was a live wire which was unearthed near the bathroom. (my wife dealt with this)

Now our tennat worker has been working very hard to get most of these resolved, all that remains is very little issues. (one which could become big is the gas meter which as told by british gas it'll stop working if rain fulls on it much more)

We find ourselfs being told "i'm sending you eviction papers, you'll need to find somewhere else to live" except when we tried to locate the estate agent we couldn't (even asked to nice community police offers nearby the location, never heard of it) and he hasn't sent them although keeps arrousing us trying to trick my wife into saying we don't want to live here. What can we do about this? we've been told by our tannat worker that we can reclaim some of our rent due to the lack "fixing". (we are moving out regardless)
~Unknown

P.s It's all rather petty, we have a 2 yr old son and a 2 week old baby girl. the agent was arrasing us near my wife due date and then made treats of kicking us out when she was 3 days old. Since I've mentioned I'm contacting my friend who's a lawyer we haven't heard from him except e-mail, which he's putting on a professional attitude. We also have recording of him being a !!!!!! in regards to us not paying rent, when we did and still have prove. £575 a month going down the drain, I feel like an idiot......

P.s.s I've mentioned this elsewhere and although it sounds extreamly hard to believe and probably has someone going.. "bad tennat" I don't expect anything, except for "the must" needed things to of been fixed, we told to pay the rent regardless because of the attitude by our tennant worker and when we viewed the house, it appeared fine.. (we was put on the back for 3 weeks and that was mean't to mean everything was fixed)...

I'm rambling, sorry!

moneysavinmonkey

sounds like you've had a bit of a terrible time of it.
To be honest your house doesn't sound safe for two small kids.
I would just find somewhere else and move out asap...
then file a claim against the landlords/agents.
It's good that you have a tennant worker on your side.
Make sure you document the state of the house before you leave - full inventory + photos ideally.

Did you have a specific question that you wanted advice on??

unknown_member

Yes, I should try to remain on point.. (it's extreamly annoying, so I apologize for going on)

We've been told that we'll loose our deposit because of some of the repairs such as the cooker was meant to be fine. (although as soon as we found out it didn't work, we contacted him) He also bluffed a few other reasons why we won't be reveieving it. Sadly our tennant worker is tied up at the moment, so I haven't been able to ask elsewhere. (ciz/advice is always busy)

The garden isn't in fit state either, very un-level and I've been told I must mow it even though it wasn't cut when we moved in and it hasn't grown.. (well nothing noticable) to be honest, I work full-time and when I do have free time I carer for my disabled mother.. my wife can't do it and we're also having issues with violent and abusive neighbours which I wouldn't trust, so nobody else could be asked to do it. (unless the council could) *ponders... mind you I am inclined to just leave it.

Last Question; We've been told recently since "requesting him to send the papers/we're moving" we'd have to move out a week before our contract ends, although the contract states we'd need to move out before the 16th which is the final day.

I'm just curious how much of this is actual "true" or likely to be true?
~Unknown

moneysavinmonkey

your deposit should be protected under the rules of the tenancy deposit scheme so you can query any deductions made from the deposit and the money won't be released to him until the dispute is resolved.

You landlord should of provided your with details of how your deposit is protected. If you haven't had these details by now then you are entitled to claim compensation of 3x the amount of your deposit.

You say that your landlord is trying to deduct money from you to repair the cooker - but you say that the cooker wasn't working when you moved in. What does you check-in inventory say. Did you check the inventory and sign a copy at the start of your tenancy? When did you first inform the lettings agents of the problems with the cooker, electricity etc. Have you kept copies of your correspondence with the lettings agents?

Have you received a copy of the gas safety certificate. Gas appliances should be checked every year + a safety certificate made availble to the tenants. This is a criminal offence not to do this.

If you have damaged the property at all or not left it in a clean and proper state when you move out then your landlord can make legitimate deductions from your deposit but he can not claim for fixing things which you did not break.


As for the garden, I would try and cut the grass before you move - it will have grown since now and november! Otherwise you are giving your landlord an easy way to keep some of your money.

unknown_member

Thanks for that.

I can't wait to get out of this place, although the thought of on-going issues is somewhat daunting even though I feel I have enough prove.

---

your deposit should be protected under the rules of the tenancy deposit scheme so you can query any deductions made from the deposit and the money won't be released to him until the dispute is resolved.

You landlord should of provided your with details of how your deposit is protected. If you haven't had these details by now then you are entitled to claim compensation of 3x the amount of your deposit.

This is news to me, we didn't even recieve the keys to the useless windows which state "perfect"... mmmmmm,

You say that your landlord is trying to deduct money from you to repair the cooker - but you say that the cooker wasn't working when you moved in. What does you check-in inventory say. Did you check the inventory and sign a copy at the start of your tenancy? When did you first inform the lettings agents of the problems with the cooker, electricity etc. Have you kept copies of your correspondence with the lettings agents?

The check-inventory states it's in perfect working order, although hadn't been fitted. We've got at least three people who can back this up, plus a fourth if the actual repairman doesn't side with the agency. (one being a police officer) although we did contact the agent on the day of the move in, with the electricty and cooker, the gas appeared fine until we actually tried to have a bath a three days later. (the water came out slowly down stair and upstairs, I assumed it was blocked from the taps)

Have you received a copy of the gas safety certificate. Gas appliances should be checked every year + a safety certificate made availble to the tenants. This is a criminal offence not to do this.

The Safety certificate came last month, although recently a repair man for the gas stated that the gas fire needs replacing. (due to the fact the front is falling apart etc)

If you have damaged the property at all or not left it in a clean and proper state when you move out then your landlord can make legitimate deductions from your deposit but he can not claim for fixing things which you did not break.

Okay, our tennat worker has helped us since day one and has written everything down. It appears to me like they'll do anything to rob us, would they be able argue at all? (even though our tennant worker as worked along side and we have a fair amount of prove)

As for the garden, I would try and cut the grass before you move - it will have grown since now and november! Otherwise you are giving your landlord an easy way to keep some of your money.

Fair enough, although if it has grown it's the slightest as none of those around us have either and some look clean cut... :P