What recourse do I have against bad landlords

solventblackbird

Hi

I want to know what I can do about a bad landlord. The landlord has come into my house without my permission and without giving me notice. This is clearly a breach of my contract with him - as well as the law. I have informed him of this and he shrugged, and clearly does not care.

What can I do about this? It seems if I break my end of the contract I can be evicted (I realise this isn't an easy process or a short one for a landlord, but it is there), loose my deposit and be given a bad reference. If he breaks his side of the contract there doesn't seem to be anything I can do at all. It is making me really angry.

What options does a tenant have when faced with a landlord who disregards a contract? I do not want to with-hold my rent. is there anyone I can report him to? If he breaks our contract does that make it void - and so can I just walk away from it?

These questions are more theoretical than practical as I will be moving out as soon as I can. I have no doubt I'll need the answers for my next landlord though, as I have never had one who has not been beneath contempt and have never been able to do anything about it.

Best

Blackbird - saving up for a house deposit as fast as she can

Reneerana

Hi solventblackbird,
You could report this behaviour to your local council's Tenancy Relations Officer or Housing Advisor. They will be able to advise you and also write on your behalf to the landlord. Entering your home without permission and notice is disruption of your quiet enjoyment of the house and if repeatedly done, can be classed as harassment too. Good luck!

sooz

solventblackbird wrote: »

Hi

I want to know what I can do about a bad landlord. The landlord has come into my house without my permission and without giving me notice. This is clearly a breach of my contract with him - as well as the law. I have informed him of this and he shrugged, and clearly does not care.

What can I do about this?

Change the locks.
Make sure you keep the old ones to replace at the end of your tenancy, so you don't get charged for damage/replacement etc.
Write to your landlord, & tell him that he entered without your permission, breached your quiet enjoyment of the property, & as such you have changed the locks. You will, of course, return the original locks to the door when you leave. In the meantime, if he wishes to enter the property, he will have to make appropriate arrangements with you.

mustrum_ridcully

If he doesn't care about your rights then he might not care about paying your deposit into a TDS and paying taxes on his rental income... If the deposit isn't in a TDS then you could get x3 the deposit back from him. If you suspect he isn't paying tax then HMRC would be interested to hear about it.

solventblackbird

Thank you for this. I will be onto the tenancy relations officer first thing in the morning.

How exactly would I report him for tax? I have his last name, but no address for him (it goes through a letting agent who are as bad as he is - lying weasels).

I also know who his mortgage company is, because there were (open) letters addressed to him in the house when I moved in, which I put into envelopes and sent to the LA. I might let the mortgage company know he is renting his house out too.

I'm not going to bother changing the locks, but I will keep the inside of the front door bolted from now on, and only go out of the back. They won't be able to get in that way because they don't have a key for the alley door and I do.

Anything else I can do?

moneysavinmonkey

Hi. I have had this happen to me and I know how disruptive and upsetting it can be so I really feel for you.. There are a number of things you can do....

Change the locks. - but keep the originals to put back at the end of your tenancy

Inform the local council - private tenancy officer, make sure you mention any other misdeamenors.. e.g. if you haven't been given a property tenancy agreement, or your deposit hasn't been lodged with a tenancy deposit scheme or you do have current gas safety certificates for all gas appliances etc.

Phone local police station/community support police for friendly chat about what you should do if it happens again. We found they were very accommodating and offered to attend if landlord entered property again - although unlikely they would make it in time! If they can catch the landlord in the act then potentially they could charge her/him. The difficultly with harrassment/entering without permission is proving it.

brightonman123

can you fix an extra lock?

moneysavinmonkey

As I understand you should still be given your landlords address even if the property is managed by a letting agents. If it isn't in your paperwork already then you are within your rights to make a written request for it from the letting agents. Have you talked to the letting agents about your landlords behaviour?

moneysavinmonkey

oh and you can report non-payment of tax here...
http://www.taxevasionhotline.co.uk/index.html

Tozer

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

oh and you can report non-payment of tax here...
http://www.taxevasionhotline.co.uk/index.html

Who says he is not paying taxes?

Get a tax investigation into the landlord. That will create good relations!

Tozer

moneysavinmonkey wrote: »

As I understand you should still be given your landlords address even if the property is managed by a letting agents. If it isn't in your paperwork already then you are within your rights to make a written request for it from the letting agents. Have you talked to the letting agents about your landlords behaviour?

Not correct. The only requirement is for the name of the landlord to be provided. Proceedings and notices can be served on the agent.