How To Sue Your Landlord
28 Sep 2007It occurred to me that I haven’t really given much support to tenants, but I’ve written a lot of articles for landlords. I guess that’s because I’m a landlord and have never experienced life as a tenant. However, I’m about to broaden my horizons. Here’s how to sue your mean little landlord…
Most ‘tenant Vs landlord’ issues are resolved through small claims courts. Claimants (tenants) can use the procedure to recover unpaid bills, rents or refunds of rental deposits for property for a sum under £5000.
What the court expects
The court expects the parties to have explored all other avenues of settlement.
You must try and settle a claim before taking court action and only use the court if you cannot get the problem solved by negotiation. The court will expect you to make your claim in writing, giving the other person a reasonable time to reply- a month is ample. You should also warn them that you will take court action if they fail to reply within the given time.
As a claimant, you must be able to prove that court action was taken as a last resort and that you’ve given the defendant every opportunity to resolve the dispute. Make sure you document all your contact with the Landlord.
Having failed the rational route, as so:
(for those that aren’t “street” or “with it”, that translate into, “hey babydoll, it’s in your best interest for my boss not to have any problems with you. So please, handover the money you owe him or….I will kill you”)
You do the following…
Locate your nearest small claims court
Locate your nearest small claims court and get a claims form. You can download it from the HM Courts website or for your super convenience, make a claim online.
Fees
Fees are reasonable, but vary depending on the amount you are claiming. Costs usually vary between £30-£120. You can claim the fees back from the defendant if you win your case. However, if you lose, you may have additional expenses to pay to the defendant, to cover his or her costs.
Preparing the Case
It is important to prepare the case carefully- you need to convince the court you are in the right- the best way to do that is by making your case as strong as possible. Ensure you research how to prepare for it and all documents, evidence and witnesses required are available. Ensure that the defendant has been sent copies of all the evidence, which you want to use in your claim. If you fail to do so, you may be stopped from using this evidence in the hearing.
- notes about the case should be set out in date order. It is very useful to note down what your case is, for example, the points to make, the documents which are relevant, and what they prove. A list of all documents, and other evidence is useful to make sure nothing is forgotten
- evidence of expenses should be prepared and any receipts you may need to support your case
- all letters (and any other relevant documents including photographs) about the case should be ready for the hearing
- in most cases the claimant and the defendant may be the only witnesses. If the court has agreed that other witnesses can attend, they must attend. If a witness has difficulty getting time off work, it may be helpful to serve a witness summons. The court can explain how to do this.
What happens if they lose but still won’t pay?
As the claimant, if you win the case and the defendant doesn’t pay, you will have to go back to the same court to apply for an order to get the money. This is called enforcing the judgment.
However, before enforcing a judgement you should request that the property is sold or goods seized from the Landlord’s home or business to pay you the money you are owed or instruct their employer to pay you from their salary.
If you need a judgement to be enforced you should consult an experienced adviser for example, at a Citizens Advice Bureau. To search for details of your nearest CAB, including those that can give advice by email.
Key Points
- You do not need a solicitor as it is set up on a simple basis for claimants to represent themselves.
- Judges are very patient, knowing that the parties are nervous and new to the process. A friend (lay person) can help you.
- If you feel the case is complicated, you should speak to your local Citizens advice bureau for advice
- The judge makes an immediate decision and the parties can get a full and final result on the day of the hearing if it is not settled prior to court.
- If you win your case, the Judge will order the defendant to pay either immediately, by instalments or in full by a certain date
- If you lose your case, the defendant may be able to claim limited expenses from you
Have you had experience with taking a tenant or landlord to a small claims court? I’d love to hear your story. Thankfully I haven’t had to go down that route, but it could be only a matter of time…
It would be kind of ironic if one of my tenant’s came onto my site, took my advice and tried to sue me 
Attention! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed so you're notified of all new blog entries.
Talk / 29 Comments left so far
The Landlord wrote this on 2009-01-21 17:56:16
Hey Candice,
Did your landlord get all the heating/water issues fixed in good time? Because I think that's your only angle. But if she did, I don't think you can claim compensation on that front.
As far as I'm aware, she didn't break any laws by informing people you made late payments as long as it's true, otherwise it would be libel.
In the contract does it stipulate that you are responsible for all bills? I mean, one could argue that your landlord should have informed you about all the utility bills, but on the other hand, one could argue that you should have asked about all utility bills.
To be honest, I think, unless your landlord didn't keep the property in good working order, you'll have a tough time making a claim.
But if she didn't keep it in good working order, refer to this article:
My Landlord doesn't fix anything
Kind regards
Did your landlord get all the heating/water issues fixed in good time? Because I think that's your only angle. But if she did, I don't think you can claim compensation on that front.
As far as I'm aware, she didn't break any laws by informing people you made late payments as long as it's true, otherwise it would be libel.
In the contract does it stipulate that you are responsible for all bills? I mean, one could argue that your landlord should have informed you about all the utility bills, but on the other hand, one could argue that you should have asked about all utility bills.
To be honest, I think, unless your landlord didn't keep the property in good working order, you'll have a tough time making a claim.
But if she didn't keep it in good working order, refer to this article:
My Landlord doesn't fix anything
Kind regards
2
petya wrote this on 2009-02-13 22:21:56
hey i just like to know if i can sue my landlady?i have a contract with her for 6 months but since my 3rd month i'm not staying in the flat and i told her that..i got terrible roommates....so i don't have any documents to prove i was paying my rent every month i got just the tenant contract...i want to sue her because she didn't give my deposit back...can u give me some idea what i can do about it??/i'm living in Scotland :(
3
Andrew Atkinson wrote this on 2009-02-28 22:44:01
Hello - I do hope yu can advise me. I have quit my tenancy early for the reasons outlined below (copied and pasted from a letter to the landlord)
-------------------------
Last year, as we discussed when we first met, I lived with 29 undergraduate Erasmus (foreign exchange) students only one of whom helped me out with the cleaning/dishes etc. She and I both lost the battle and I ended up retreating into my box room for half the remaining year while neighbours complained about the noise and the communal areas descended into squalor. She ended up going down the lines of ‘if you can’t beat then join them’- and failed her first year at Uni. It was because of this experience that I jumped at your advertisement for a room which specified that it was self-contained. That to me meant ‘self-contained’ as in ‘don’t have to worry about other tenants’ way of life affecting one’s own’. Maybe self-contained means something different because it clearly isn’t in the sense that I took it.
Some things written to me in emails suggest that my complaints were unjustifiable and in turn resolved since the other tenants did eventually manage to clean the communal areas around the 20th of February roughly 6.5 months after I had moved in - areas that were only ever cleaned by myself. I am very much puzzled by this. So, I will restate these concerns. Forgive the number point listing…
1. It is not fair to have the contractual obligation to keep communal areas free, tidy, and clean, delegated to only one tenant.
2. The other two tenants were not at all looking after the communal areas as was I. When I moved in, I informed you of things like bathtub sealant being missing, thus saving you, potentially, a great deal of expense in damp repairs – the water from the shower was literally running straight down the wall adjoining the bath. There was indeed, a heck of a lot of mould all over the bathroom. You did fix this. A few months after I made you aware, the information I provided you about the faulty hot water supply was then acted on – so I could then have a bath. After waiting, waiting and waiting some more – no one else there lifted a finger to clean any communal areas when I had made a beautiful job of it several times on my own to try and set an example. So I wrote to you. You visited, inspected, and then nothing happened. I wrote again. A letter arrived requesting a clean-up. But, nothing happened. So the other two tenants were not living up to their contractual obligations. For this reason, I began to stop cooking there, washing, and eventually – living.
3. As I’m sure you will understand, the resentment and stress that this can cause eventually becomes intolerable, so, as said, I have done not much more than visit the house to pick up mail. I have spent about 5 night s there since November, purely to have a bit of space on my own as I entered into a new relationship with my current partner.
4. The other two tenants were ‘nice guys’. This is to say that, as ‘mates’ they are probably quite fun and genuine. This does not however entail that they are considerate in the ways they keep a home – or hygienic, or tidy. So these factors put one in a very difficult situation. If I complain, I am held as a whinge and resented by the housemates. If I do nothing I have to live in filth. If I complain to Sable, I am held as ‘a grass’ so to speak. If I persist in complaining to Sable, I am held as a difficult tenant. Either way, I can’t win – and I do not think it is fair to put someone in that position.
5. The hygiene issues were as follows – 1. food stuffs and spills all over the kitchen floor built up over months. 2. Cooker top perpetually encrusted with grease and other burnt offerings. 3. Bin bags accumulating to three at a time. 4. some of these open bin bags were stacked against my bedroom door. 5. Excuses from the other two tenants on this were that ‘they’ve only been there a few days’ (!) – whereas I think that for them to be there 1 hour is not acceptable. 6. I don’t know how they managed it, but the other two tenants managed to get hair all over the bath and floor – the latter place to a rather drastic state (they are both tall lads – maybe they can’t see the floor). I think most of the hair came from the fact that they from time to time cut their own hair over the bath thus getting it all over the floor but never hoovering it up as one would naturally assume one would. 7. The toilet was never cleaned by anyone other than me. 8. On moving in I had to ask that around 15 pairs of trainers be removed from the kitchen. 9. On wondering why there were 15 or so pairs of trainers in the living room, I eventually found out that one tenant was running an ebay business from the flat selling clothes and shoes. 10. As this business grew, boxes of ‘stock’ delivered by the van load were being stored in the bathroom to the point where I have had to squat between them to go to the toilet and the cardboard boxes used as packaging were being left in the hallways up and down the stairs – again against contractual obligations. 11. Also on entry, I was asked to pay far too many bills than would normally be expected given our use of electricity (I have lived in rented accommodation far longer than the average undergraduate and am better aware of the typical billing rates). On sorting that out, with your being notified, again under the stress and bother of having to contact you, I found that the other tenants had built up arrears that they, wittingly or unwittingly, expected me to pay off. 13. This creates distrust and further uneasy living and is not something one should be subjected to within the idea of self-contained accommodation. 14. I don’t know how many times that myself, or those visiting me tripped over that weightlifting equipment and dumbbells left in the hallway – again against contractual obligation and continued regardless of the acknowledgement of Sable’s knowledge of that breach. 13. I did inform you of all this and nothing was really done.
6. It was clear that I would have to be stressed by these scenarios repetitively. That was the prospect that made me quit on trying to settle there. I was going to have to kick up a fuss each time which would range from, my doing the cleaning, to waiting while the dirt built up again, to politely asking, to seeing nothing done, to leaving a note out for them, to having to contact you, to having to deal with the obvious aggravation it caused you (I could hear your irritated sighs on the phone when I called), to having to feel rather crap about it all.
7. My request at living in this uncomfortable, and as I’m sure you will agree unacceptable, state of affairs was to ask that I only be released! I could have persisted with my complaints and made things more complicated for all concerned. I do believe you would indeed have had to call in cleaners or give notice to some. But I would not have had you give notice to anyone, as, in the end, I had somewhere else to go. I wished to cause the least amount of aggravation – stop bothering Sable with contractual obligations they could not possibly live up to despite that fact that they were written in to their own contractual commitment, stop pressing cleanliness on the habits of those who do not care for it, and stop having myself upset by simply accepting it. So I left – not planned – but at the last straw which was the rubbish stacked against my door.
8. As a business, I believe, that it is the business of this business to suffer the losses if said business does not function as it professes to.
9. It also seems to be clear from emails to me from Sable that Sable think the real truth is that I have ‘just found’ a better place to stay and am so seeking disingenuous ways of binning you off. I assure you this is not the case. I really have not been very able to cohabit at Walsingham Road for months.
I am still open to the idea of giving you another 70 pounds to go along with my deposit as another month’s rent – or some other arrangement. If I have to sign anything to assist you with this so you can get the deposit back easily then I am happy to do so. I feel that since I have not been able to ‘live’ there for some months now, that I have already paid three months rent for nothing really. Sable’s offer of my paying another two months rent without prejudice was a little unclear. Does that mean that I would get my deposit back after those two months? If that’s the case, does that mean I could pay a month plus an extra 70 and leave it at that while you keep my deposit? And if that, why not just call it one months more rent – plus the deposit. I believe we should meet half way between our offers if we aren’t to lose sleep over the ethics. I can also very much help you find another tenant via the University’s student bulletin. This course of action would probably show result in less than a week. I really am not a whinge, or a git, or any sort of person who would wish real relative loss on anyone – and I will feel rotten if I have to move on, leaving behind people who think I’m a ‘pain in the ar*e’ who complains for no reason. I have only become cross with Sable about this because the situation at Walsingham Road was causing me a great deal of stress but I felt that I wasn’t being heard and that my very truthful experiences were being dismissed in a very non-compassionate way - dispassionately. If my flatmate had beaten me up instead of making my stay there miserable in other ways, would you still pursue me for rent?
--------------
So what do you think? It seems I am to be pursued for the rent up to the end of the contract. THe break cluase is two onths notice - but I feel, tht given the circumstances, I am justified in quitting immediately. I have photos of the mess and the landlord is aware of all the other areas of concern yet does nothing...
Best
Andrew
-------------------------
Last year, as we discussed when we first met, I lived with 29 undergraduate Erasmus (foreign exchange) students only one of whom helped me out with the cleaning/dishes etc. She and I both lost the battle and I ended up retreating into my box room for half the remaining year while neighbours complained about the noise and the communal areas descended into squalor. She ended up going down the lines of ‘if you can’t beat then join them’- and failed her first year at Uni. It was because of this experience that I jumped at your advertisement for a room which specified that it was self-contained. That to me meant ‘self-contained’ as in ‘don’t have to worry about other tenants’ way of life affecting one’s own’. Maybe self-contained means something different because it clearly isn’t in the sense that I took it.
Some things written to me in emails suggest that my complaints were unjustifiable and in turn resolved since the other tenants did eventually manage to clean the communal areas around the 20th of February roughly 6.5 months after I had moved in - areas that were only ever cleaned by myself. I am very much puzzled by this. So, I will restate these concerns. Forgive the number point listing…
1. It is not fair to have the contractual obligation to keep communal areas free, tidy, and clean, delegated to only one tenant.
2. The other two tenants were not at all looking after the communal areas as was I. When I moved in, I informed you of things like bathtub sealant being missing, thus saving you, potentially, a great deal of expense in damp repairs – the water from the shower was literally running straight down the wall adjoining the bath. There was indeed, a heck of a lot of mould all over the bathroom. You did fix this. A few months after I made you aware, the information I provided you about the faulty hot water supply was then acted on – so I could then have a bath. After waiting, waiting and waiting some more – no one else there lifted a finger to clean any communal areas when I had made a beautiful job of it several times on my own to try and set an example. So I wrote to you. You visited, inspected, and then nothing happened. I wrote again. A letter arrived requesting a clean-up. But, nothing happened. So the other two tenants were not living up to their contractual obligations. For this reason, I began to stop cooking there, washing, and eventually – living.
3. As I’m sure you will understand, the resentment and stress that this can cause eventually becomes intolerable, so, as said, I have done not much more than visit the house to pick up mail. I have spent about 5 night s there since November, purely to have a bit of space on my own as I entered into a new relationship with my current partner.
4. The other two tenants were ‘nice guys’. This is to say that, as ‘mates’ they are probably quite fun and genuine. This does not however entail that they are considerate in the ways they keep a home – or hygienic, or tidy. So these factors put one in a very difficult situation. If I complain, I am held as a whinge and resented by the housemates. If I do nothing I have to live in filth. If I complain to Sable, I am held as ‘a grass’ so to speak. If I persist in complaining to Sable, I am held as a difficult tenant. Either way, I can’t win – and I do not think it is fair to put someone in that position.
5. The hygiene issues were as follows – 1. food stuffs and spills all over the kitchen floor built up over months. 2. Cooker top perpetually encrusted with grease and other burnt offerings. 3. Bin bags accumulating to three at a time. 4. some of these open bin bags were stacked against my bedroom door. 5. Excuses from the other two tenants on this were that ‘they’ve only been there a few days’ (!) – whereas I think that for them to be there 1 hour is not acceptable. 6. I don’t know how they managed it, but the other two tenants managed to get hair all over the bath and floor – the latter place to a rather drastic state (they are both tall lads – maybe they can’t see the floor). I think most of the hair came from the fact that they from time to time cut their own hair over the bath thus getting it all over the floor but never hoovering it up as one would naturally assume one would. 7. The toilet was never cleaned by anyone other than me. 8. On moving in I had to ask that around 15 pairs of trainers be removed from the kitchen. 9. On wondering why there were 15 or so pairs of trainers in the living room, I eventually found out that one tenant was running an ebay business from the flat selling clothes and shoes. 10. As this business grew, boxes of ‘stock’ delivered by the van load were being stored in the bathroom to the point where I have had to squat between them to go to the toilet and the cardboard boxes used as packaging were being left in the hallways up and down the stairs – again against contractual obligations. 11. Also on entry, I was asked to pay far too many bills than would normally be expected given our use of electricity (I have lived in rented accommodation far longer than the average undergraduate and am better aware of the typical billing rates). On sorting that out, with your being notified, again under the stress and bother of having to contact you, I found that the other tenants had built up arrears that they, wittingly or unwittingly, expected me to pay off. 13. This creates distrust and further uneasy living and is not something one should be subjected to within the idea of self-contained accommodation. 14. I don’t know how many times that myself, or those visiting me tripped over that weightlifting equipment and dumbbells left in the hallway – again against contractual obligation and continued regardless of the acknowledgement of Sable’s knowledge of that breach. 13. I did inform you of all this and nothing was really done.
6. It was clear that I would have to be stressed by these scenarios repetitively. That was the prospect that made me quit on trying to settle there. I was going to have to kick up a fuss each time which would range from, my doing the cleaning, to waiting while the dirt built up again, to politely asking, to seeing nothing done, to leaving a note out for them, to having to contact you, to having to deal with the obvious aggravation it caused you (I could hear your irritated sighs on the phone when I called), to having to feel rather crap about it all.
7. My request at living in this uncomfortable, and as I’m sure you will agree unacceptable, state of affairs was to ask that I only be released! I could have persisted with my complaints and made things more complicated for all concerned. I do believe you would indeed have had to call in cleaners or give notice to some. But I would not have had you give notice to anyone, as, in the end, I had somewhere else to go. I wished to cause the least amount of aggravation – stop bothering Sable with contractual obligations they could not possibly live up to despite that fact that they were written in to their own contractual commitment, stop pressing cleanliness on the habits of those who do not care for it, and stop having myself upset by simply accepting it. So I left – not planned – but at the last straw which was the rubbish stacked against my door.
8. As a business, I believe, that it is the business of this business to suffer the losses if said business does not function as it professes to.
9. It also seems to be clear from emails to me from Sable that Sable think the real truth is that I have ‘just found’ a better place to stay and am so seeking disingenuous ways of binning you off. I assure you this is not the case. I really have not been very able to cohabit at Walsingham Road for months.
I am still open to the idea of giving you another 70 pounds to go along with my deposit as another month’s rent – or some other arrangement. If I have to sign anything to assist you with this so you can get the deposit back easily then I am happy to do so. I feel that since I have not been able to ‘live’ there for some months now, that I have already paid three months rent for nothing really. Sable’s offer of my paying another two months rent without prejudice was a little unclear. Does that mean that I would get my deposit back after those two months? If that’s the case, does that mean I could pay a month plus an extra 70 and leave it at that while you keep my deposit? And if that, why not just call it one months more rent – plus the deposit. I believe we should meet half way between our offers if we aren’t to lose sleep over the ethics. I can also very much help you find another tenant via the University’s student bulletin. This course of action would probably show result in less than a week. I really am not a whinge, or a git, or any sort of person who would wish real relative loss on anyone – and I will feel rotten if I have to move on, leaving behind people who think I’m a ‘pain in the ar*e’ who complains for no reason. I have only become cross with Sable about this because the situation at Walsingham Road was causing me a great deal of stress but I felt that I wasn’t being heard and that my very truthful experiences were being dismissed in a very non-compassionate way - dispassionately. If my flatmate had beaten me up instead of making my stay there miserable in other ways, would you still pursue me for rent?
--------------
So what do you think? It seems I am to be pursued for the rent up to the end of the contract. THe break cluase is two onths notice - but I feel, tht given the circumstances, I am justified in quitting immediately. I have photos of the mess and the landlord is aware of all the other areas of concern yet does nothing...
Best
Andrew
4
randy wrote this on 2009-05-19 10:16:58
my landlord agreed to let hud approve the house and then tried to kick us out because she said she smelled pot. we went to court and i tore her up. now she says she wont let hud approve the place and we cannot afford it as is. during our court days she came into my house and shut my hot water off(under pretenses of taking pictures for the security deposit) and then gave us a note saying would we please smoke cigs outside.our water is brown and the water heater leaks. i want to sue her for disturbing our peace.
is that an option?
is that an option?
5
Rupali Mendis wrote this on 2009-08-11 14:10:57
I have problem with my estate agent who is always neglecting and ingnoring.. this is the latter i have sent to him a week ago and he did not did anything yet,
|I have tried contacting him for these issue more than Dozen time via several ways ,phone and email etc and i got proof as well..
mainly i stayed in this property because i like the school in which my son goes and i don't wana disturb his education
Please advise should i go to court or just leave the property quitely.
many thanks
Since the start of tenancy you always ignored and neglect the issues reported to you. Today ABC and DEF Informed me that abccompany no longer deal with this property and in future I should contact “ XYZ company“but for last 2 months you either do not pick the call or voice message… if you pick you promise a call-back and fixing the issue which never happen
Following issues are outstanding on your end and I am listing these for my record and your explanation to me in writing as this cause me a great stress and a lot of failed follow up attempts.
XYZcompany I am listing these issues here as probably you are not aware what sort of services I was getting previously as ABC was the key contact always and I paid the rent to his account.
• Sewerage/Gutter water problem is worst now and is not fixed since two months ( my little son slipped in this filthy water while entering into house 2 times. Kindly could you please explain to me even after reporting this issue on all level why it was not resolved and ignored for last 2 months I spoke to you more than two occasions plus 3 of your colleagues about this?
1. Water seeps into Kitchen and under flooring sheet
2. Carpet is getting worst as we can not avoid contact with sewerage water while entering into the property
3. We can’t use the Garden area due water staying there all the time
4. I have to clear/unblock the Gutter every time when its raining as water remain in whole garden
• Never received my Tenancy despite scheme information
• Also I need the updated tenancy Agreement as my contract starts from 06th Feb 2008..(I did signed 2 contracts 1st time on 19st December 2008 and 2nd time 22th January 2008 but house was not ready according to promises made by you at that time i.e I moved in and temporarily moved back to my previous landlord as there was no heating, water leakage and few other problems
1. on many occasions I requested to you these and you promise to fulfil but you never did.
• I never get my Tenancy deposit scheme details I paid for this TDS fees and legally i should received this right after my tenancy start date
• I am trying my level best to help out beauty shop neighbours as our living room is on one of their beauty room but the flooring is not sound proof and proper therefore whenever we Hoover it or kids move around it disturb their business could you please save us from this every day hassle
1. we are trying not to use living room as minimum as possible
2. we moved our TV from living room
3. during their peak and important assignment we try to take kids out in the playground
4. we cannot use
But please note that this is very difficult and as you can’t restrain kid so that they do not move and make no noise
• Electricity meter was without cover even before moving into property but after so many attempts to remind you never provide one(even I contacted at the EON energy and they also told me that they do not provide these which I communicated to you
• In the property walls are painted on wallpapers and during raining and due to humidity there are molds growth I did informed this to your office between may 2008 and sep 2008 many times(ms nancy) plus recently to you
1. I personally clean and repainted these areas as I have small kids and you did not fix this after contacting many attempts
|I have tried contacting him for these issue more than Dozen time via several ways ,phone and email etc and i got proof as well..
mainly i stayed in this property because i like the school in which my son goes and i don't wana disturb his education
Please advise should i go to court or just leave the property quitely.
many thanks
Since the start of tenancy you always ignored and neglect the issues reported to you. Today ABC and DEF Informed me that abccompany no longer deal with this property and in future I should contact “ XYZ company“but for last 2 months you either do not pick the call or voice message… if you pick you promise a call-back and fixing the issue which never happen
Following issues are outstanding on your end and I am listing these for my record and your explanation to me in writing as this cause me a great stress and a lot of failed follow up attempts.
XYZcompany I am listing these issues here as probably you are not aware what sort of services I was getting previously as ABC was the key contact always and I paid the rent to his account.
• Sewerage/Gutter water problem is worst now and is not fixed since two months ( my little son slipped in this filthy water while entering into house 2 times. Kindly could you please explain to me even after reporting this issue on all level why it was not resolved and ignored for last 2 months I spoke to you more than two occasions plus 3 of your colleagues about this?
1. Water seeps into Kitchen and under flooring sheet
2. Carpet is getting worst as we can not avoid contact with sewerage water while entering into the property
3. We can’t use the Garden area due water staying there all the time
4. I have to clear/unblock the Gutter every time when its raining as water remain in whole garden
• Never received my Tenancy despite scheme information
• Also I need the updated tenancy Agreement as my contract starts from 06th Feb 2008..(I did signed 2 contracts 1st time on 19st December 2008 and 2nd time 22th January 2008 but house was not ready according to promises made by you at that time i.e I moved in and temporarily moved back to my previous landlord as there was no heating, water leakage and few other problems
1. on many occasions I requested to you these and you promise to fulfil but you never did.
• I never get my Tenancy deposit scheme details I paid for this TDS fees and legally i should received this right after my tenancy start date
• I am trying my level best to help out beauty shop neighbours as our living room is on one of their beauty room but the flooring is not sound proof and proper therefore whenever we Hoover it or kids move around it disturb their business could you please save us from this every day hassle
1. we are trying not to use living room as minimum as possible
2. we moved our TV from living room
3. during their peak and important assignment we try to take kids out in the playground
4. we cannot use
But please note that this is very difficult and as you can’t restrain kid so that they do not move and make no noise
• Electricity meter was without cover even before moving into property but after so many attempts to remind you never provide one(even I contacted at the EON energy and they also told me that they do not provide these which I communicated to you
• In the property walls are painted on wallpapers and during raining and due to humidity there are molds growth I did informed this to your office between may 2008 and sep 2008 many times(ms nancy) plus recently to you
1. I personally clean and repainted these areas as I have small kids and you did not fix this after contacting many attempts
6
chris wrote this on 2009-09-27 20:55:44
Hi
My landlord lived in the house before me and had an ongoing noise problem with neighbours. They described the situation as 'unbearable' . They decided to move and let the house . I answered the ad through an agency and took on a 12 month contract , from day 1 the noise has indeed been 'unbearable', have I got any redress living here is making me ill and very anxious. I have contacted the neighbours and they have letters from my landlords about the noise problem.
My landlord lived in the house before me and had an ongoing noise problem with neighbours. They described the situation as 'unbearable' . They decided to move and let the house . I answered the ad through an agency and took on a 12 month contract , from day 1 the noise has indeed been 'unbearable', have I got any redress living here is making me ill and very anxious. I have contacted the neighbours and they have letters from my landlords about the noise problem.
7
Jayne wrote this on 2009-11-24 12:53:43
Hi I was wondering if I have sufficient grounds to sue my landlord. I rented a house from a letting agency on a 6 month contract with my partner in August. When we viewed the property in July it was really nice and newly decorated. When we moved in and the bad weather started it became clear the house had been decorated to mask a number of problems.
There was a hole in the chimney breast in the attic causing a leak through the bedroom ceiling when it rains. The letting agency have known about this for 8 weeks now and still nothing has been done. It was getting worse each time it rained and we were genuinely concerned the roof might fall in on us. The hole was fixed yesterday 16 weeks after we first reported the leak.
In the kitchen there is a huge patch of damp covering half of one wall, with mould at the top getting worse by the day resulting (we think) from the bath not being sealed properly, again the letting agency have been notified about this since the problem started. The same wall has rising damp at the bottom. There are 2 large damp patches, yellowy brown in colour in the living room, one around a light switch. Both patches are on outside facing walls.
The entrance porch is bare brick and when it rains water seeps through and runs down the wall. The door to the living room has swollen so much it won't close The whole house stinks of damp.
Me and my partner haven't had a good nights sleep since we moved in. We both have suffered from itchy eyes, nose and throat and have been to see the doctor and I feel that my asthma which has been under control for years is getting worse. I have also had 2 week off work due to an allergic reaction to something (which my doctor says may be damp).
My sofa is covered in mould as is other furniture which is against an outside facing wall (wardrobe, drawers etc) however a bookshelf which is not aginst an ouside facing wall has no mould on it. Clothes too have got mould on them. When we pointed this out to the letting agency they told us it was our fault as we should know not to put anything against an outside facing wall, as the house is semi detatched in most rooms two walls out of 4 are ouside facing.
She then suggested that it was condensation and that we should put the heating on. The heating is always on when we are in the house, it has to be as it's freezing but it never seems to get really warm. The windows are always clear from steam and there is no mildew on any of them. There is no mould in the bathroom and we always shut the door when in the shower and open the window. The windows are always open at night to try and let some fresh air to try to help with the itchy eyes etc. I dont do any washing or drying in the house as I dont have a washer, it instead goes to my parents. When I cook on the stove I use the extractor fan. If it is condensation i think it is due to inadequate ventalation or the constant moisture coming in through the roof.
The mould itself is very dry and powdery not like mildew we also have yellowy and furry white mould growing in patches.
Something has recently burrowed its way through the rotten back door, when I told the letting agency they fobbed me off saying we would be fine as we've got a dog and they weren't going to call pest control unless we paid for it. (my dog was out with us when the hole was done so it couldnt have been her). We felt we had no choice but to contact them ourselves and they confirmed it was possible it was rat activity, most likely from an open drain in an old outside toilet in the garden, but no droppings were found so this couldn't be confirmed.
We have put our concerns into writing including pictures and nothing was been done. We then contacted the environmental health who sent a letter to the agents to say they had 28 days to fix the repairs. As I write this 21 days have passed and the agency came yesterday to fix the roof yet nothing else has been done. The environmental health are coming to do an inspection next Monday as the agents have told them we are over reacting and the damp is due to condenation. This is clearly not the case as some patches are penetrating damp. we think the agents will arrange for someone to come in the house when we are not there and paint over the damp before next monday. I am glad they have fixed the roof but annoyed that its taken 4 months to do it. They have also told the environmental health that our puppy caused the hole in the back door. I am 200% sure this wasnt the case as she was out with us when it happened. She couldnt have got her mouth or paws deep enough to chew out all the bits anyway.
I am prepared to take this to court because of the awful way we,ve been treated, I just need to know if it would be worth it
There was a hole in the chimney breast in the attic causing a leak through the bedroom ceiling when it rains. The letting agency have known about this for 8 weeks now and still nothing has been done. It was getting worse each time it rained and we were genuinely concerned the roof might fall in on us. The hole was fixed yesterday 16 weeks after we first reported the leak.
In the kitchen there is a huge patch of damp covering half of one wall, with mould at the top getting worse by the day resulting (we think) from the bath not being sealed properly, again the letting agency have been notified about this since the problem started. The same wall has rising damp at the bottom. There are 2 large damp patches, yellowy brown in colour in the living room, one around a light switch. Both patches are on outside facing walls.
The entrance porch is bare brick and when it rains water seeps through and runs down the wall. The door to the living room has swollen so much it won't close The whole house stinks of damp.
Me and my partner haven't had a good nights sleep since we moved in. We both have suffered from itchy eyes, nose and throat and have been to see the doctor and I feel that my asthma which has been under control for years is getting worse. I have also had 2 week off work due to an allergic reaction to something (which my doctor says may be damp).
My sofa is covered in mould as is other furniture which is against an outside facing wall (wardrobe, drawers etc) however a bookshelf which is not aginst an ouside facing wall has no mould on it. Clothes too have got mould on them. When we pointed this out to the letting agency they told us it was our fault as we should know not to put anything against an outside facing wall, as the house is semi detatched in most rooms two walls out of 4 are ouside facing.
She then suggested that it was condensation and that we should put the heating on. The heating is always on when we are in the house, it has to be as it's freezing but it never seems to get really warm. The windows are always clear from steam and there is no mildew on any of them. There is no mould in the bathroom and we always shut the door when in the shower and open the window. The windows are always open at night to try and let some fresh air to try to help with the itchy eyes etc. I dont do any washing or drying in the house as I dont have a washer, it instead goes to my parents. When I cook on the stove I use the extractor fan. If it is condensation i think it is due to inadequate ventalation or the constant moisture coming in through the roof.
The mould itself is very dry and powdery not like mildew we also have yellowy and furry white mould growing in patches.
Something has recently burrowed its way through the rotten back door, when I told the letting agency they fobbed me off saying we would be fine as we've got a dog and they weren't going to call pest control unless we paid for it. (my dog was out with us when the hole was done so it couldnt have been her). We felt we had no choice but to contact them ourselves and they confirmed it was possible it was rat activity, most likely from an open drain in an old outside toilet in the garden, but no droppings were found so this couldn't be confirmed.
We have put our concerns into writing including pictures and nothing was been done. We then contacted the environmental health who sent a letter to the agents to say they had 28 days to fix the repairs. As I write this 21 days have passed and the agency came yesterday to fix the roof yet nothing else has been done. The environmental health are coming to do an inspection next Monday as the agents have told them we are over reacting and the damp is due to condenation. This is clearly not the case as some patches are penetrating damp. we think the agents will arrange for someone to come in the house when we are not there and paint over the damp before next monday. I am glad they have fixed the roof but annoyed that its taken 4 months to do it. They have also told the environmental health that our puppy caused the hole in the back door. I am 200% sure this wasnt the case as she was out with us when it happened. She couldnt have got her mouth or paws deep enough to chew out all the bits anyway.
I am prepared to take this to court because of the awful way we,ve been treated, I just need to know if it would be worth it
8
laura wrote this on 2009-12-16 16:00:08
Hi im renting an apartment 8 months now i have a 5 month old baby were on rent allowence the lease is 1 year and its like a box im not aloud put any pictures or noting of the sort up on the walls its like looking at 4 blank walls each and every day which has made be very depressed and now i finally looked up a house that i want to rent but me land lady said i might not get my 1000 deposit back why is this i gave her 6 weeks notice is there anything i can do ? thank you laura.
9
The Landlord wrote this on 2009-12-16 16:08:12
Hey Laura,
Ask your landlord "why" you might not get your deposit back. Furthermore, the deposit should be secured in a deposit scheme, so it's not really up to her on whether or not you get your deposit back. If she hasn't secured your deposit, you can potentially be compensated. More details here My Landlord Won’t Give My Deposit Back
Kind regards
Ask your landlord "why" you might not get your deposit back. Furthermore, the deposit should be secured in a deposit scheme, so it's not really up to her on whether or not you get your deposit back. If she hasn't secured your deposit, you can potentially be compensated. More details here My Landlord Won’t Give My Deposit Back
Kind regards
10
Jools wrote this on 2009-12-16 18:28:26
Laura - you should be allowed to put some thing up on the walls. The normal clause is that you can use one nail or picture hanger - its to stop people covering their walls using blu tack which is a bugger to decorate over as it's greasy. It's your house not the landlords and he does not have the right to unreasonably withhold permission to to allow you have a picture on the wall.
If they are reusing you could have a claim under unfair contract law.
Jools
If they are reusing you could have a claim under unfair contract law.
Jools
11
candy wrote this on 2009-12-18 18:42:12
hi there,
i am a lone parent with two young children, i moved into this property over a year ago and resigned the contract back in july. the contract is due to come to an end in january so i have very little time left. i am currently on benefits while going through college. back in july, when i signed the contract i told my landlord of a problem with the kitchen ceiling, there was a small hole above the sink, he did nothing about it and when the ceiling fell through last month i contacted him to tell him and he said he said i had to deal with it. after trying for several weeks to sort this out with him i finally got fed up and witheld his rent until he fixed it, instead of getting off of his backside and doing something about it heposted an eviction notice through my door on the grounds that i was three months in arrears which isn't true at the time i was only 1 week and at present 3 weeks in arrears. he harassed me by phone and by bagging on the door for his money on a daily basis, he has now contacted the benefits agency and told them i'm over 8 weeks in arrears so they are paying him directly instead and he is trying to take me to court for the money he says i owe £1800 when in total i actually only owe him £342. which is a hell of a big difference. the other issues i have is a) he refused to give me a copy of the contract after my asking for several months and i still have not recieved one. b) he refused to sign a rent book so i have no proof that i've been paying him other than the fact that a friend of mine gives me a lift to his house to pay him in person as he would not allow me to pay by direct debit.
i don't know what to do, i'm more than certain he is in the wrong on this but i dont' know if i can sue him for anything.
please help
candy
i am a lone parent with two young children, i moved into this property over a year ago and resigned the contract back in july. the contract is due to come to an end in january so i have very little time left. i am currently on benefits while going through college. back in july, when i signed the contract i told my landlord of a problem with the kitchen ceiling, there was a small hole above the sink, he did nothing about it and when the ceiling fell through last month i contacted him to tell him and he said he said i had to deal with it. after trying for several weeks to sort this out with him i finally got fed up and witheld his rent until he fixed it, instead of getting off of his backside and doing something about it heposted an eviction notice through my door on the grounds that i was three months in arrears which isn't true at the time i was only 1 week and at present 3 weeks in arrears. he harassed me by phone and by bagging on the door for his money on a daily basis, he has now contacted the benefits agency and told them i'm over 8 weeks in arrears so they are paying him directly instead and he is trying to take me to court for the money he says i owe £1800 when in total i actually only owe him £342. which is a hell of a big difference. the other issues i have is a) he refused to give me a copy of the contract after my asking for several months and i still have not recieved one. b) he refused to sign a rent book so i have no proof that i've been paying him other than the fact that a friend of mine gives me a lift to his house to pay him in person as he would not allow me to pay by direct debit.
i don't know what to do, i'm more than certain he is in the wrong on this but i dont' know if i can sue him for anything.
please help
candy
12
Melissa wrote this on 2010-01-15 18:43:37
Hey, I was wondering if you could help me. Basically I have been living in the same studio for one and a half year, i always pay 6 months in advance as i dont have a guarantor. My house has a huge problem with humidity, the first six months i noticed the smell but i figured it would go away if i leave the windows open, and it did, but i am a student and sometimes i leave for a month to go back to my home country, so when i come back i find mold everywhere, I told the landlords when the six months were almost over ' I will stay in the house if the problem gets fixed' so my landlords repainted the walls but the problem came back again after a few months. I contacted them again and they said they will see what they will do.. In the meantime I started getting some pains in near my spline.. I thought it was nothing.. When my other six months were over the landlord told me that if I stay she will bring an air purifier and put some fans, so i stayed. I went back home this christmas and went to the doctor he said i had problems because of the humidity. I came back to my house in the uk and my furniture was damaged, all my clothes were wet with a horrible smell, the walls turned yellow and my mirrow was covered in mold behind.. I have photos for proof and different emails I Sent to them. Could i sue them? I pay 475 per month, what compensation could I get?
13
Tony V wrote this on 2010-02-10 17:57:28
Hi there,
Just a quick one. My family and i started renting our current house last May. Our landlady has not had her Gas / Electric safety checks done (she claims they were done before we moved in but expired last year - still won't show us the certs) and has never had the energy efficiency tests done (out of curiosity when did it become law to have these done in a rented house?). Can i sue her? we pay £585 per month and i can't stand her.
Just a quick one. My family and i started renting our current house last May. Our landlady has not had her Gas / Electric safety checks done (she claims they were done before we moved in but expired last year - still won't show us the certs) and has never had the energy efficiency tests done (out of curiosity when did it become law to have these done in a rented house?). Can i sue her? we pay £585 per month and i can't stand her.
14
loulou wrote this on 2010-02-12 23:27:22
Hi Tony,
She has already broken the law by not providing you with a copy of the gas safety certificate. Before suing you need to establish if your Landlady has a valid certificate or not,write to her and ask for a copy of it. Send her a letter using the template from the HSE website
http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/faqtenant.htm#faq4
Post 2 identical letters on consecutive days via recorded delivery. If she chooses to ignore, report her to the HSE, they will then deal with her. If she has a valid certificate, then you are safe. If she doesn't, you may want to sue her but seek legal advice first. Most solicitors will offer a free half hour to an hour consultancy, alternatively go to CAB.
Hope this helps
She has already broken the law by not providing you with a copy of the gas safety certificate. Before suing you need to establish if your Landlady has a valid certificate or not,write to her and ask for a copy of it. Send her a letter using the template from the HSE website
http://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/faqtenant.htm#faq4
Post 2 identical letters on consecutive days via recorded delivery. If she chooses to ignore, report her to the HSE, they will then deal with her. If she has a valid certificate, then you are safe. If she doesn't, you may want to sue her but seek legal advice first. Most solicitors will offer a free half hour to an hour consultancy, alternatively go to CAB.
Hope this helps
15
Tony V wrote this on 2010-02-14 13:52:25
Thats great thanks. I have spoken to her in relation to this already and she has admitted not having any of the three required certificates.
I have drafted a second letter to her today (as we have written and requested the certs once already) and i'll send it recorded delivery. If she does not respond i will report her as per ypur advice and seek legal advice.
thanks again.
Tony
I have drafted a second letter to her today (as we have written and requested the certs once already) and i'll send it recorded delivery. If she does not respond i will report her as per ypur advice and seek legal advice.
thanks again.
Tony
16
kerry Rigby wrote this on 2010-03-06 12:05:34
I have a landlord that i think may evict me and my 3 young children from our home as i have been pestering him about our boiler which was condemed because it was dangerously unsafe, before this happened my landlord came out several times to ''fix'' it, he never did tho, then he got his unregestered friend to put a blow tourch to it in another attempt to fix it, his friend is is regesterd in the old gas licence not gas safe! i now have the enviromental health coming out next week and i want to sue my landlord for this. is this possible????
17
Michelle wrote this on 2010-03-07 17:26:56
Hi
I have had a problem with my landlord. Upon renewal of my tenancy agreement, both myself and my ex housemate decided to renew the tenancy agreement.
Around 3 weeks later i found out my brother had cancer so explained to my landlord that i wanted to go home to be with my brother and drop off my university course.
Now she was extremely unreasonable and said she is well within her rights to pursue me for the full 6 months rent. We came to the agreement that she could keep my deposit which was £750 and the rent was only £650, which i sent an email to her which was forwarded on to the Deposit Protection Service outlining that i was happy for her to keep the deposit providing that it covers all the costs and that no further money was to be asked.
She then got the deposit back from DPS then demanded that i pay her another £140 pounds for cleaning, she would not allow me to clean the property myself and demanded for a professional cleaning company to do that, even though i offered to do it myself.
I paid that to her and handed her the keys back 2 weeks early and said that i am now nothing more to do with the property now.
She did not do an inspection on the flat that day and had been in to the flat prior to do viewings for new tenants and did not mention that the chest of drawers and blinds were broken on the day when the keys were handed over and took the money for the cleaning in cash.
I moved out Mid November and handed the keys back and she did not mention that anything was damaged and i left the flat in good order. She today 07 March 2010 is demanding that i pay her another £130 I for a damaged chest of drawers and a blind and says she has sent me a letter demanding for the money and is now going to go to the small claims court if i dont pay in 7 days.
To date i have paid her £750 plus a further £140 for cleaning and now wants another £130 now.
I said to the DPS that i am happy to relase the deposit as long as no futher action or money is expected.
Does she have a strong case to take me to the small claims??
I dont know where i stand and i dont really have the money to keep handing out money to her when i am a student.
Any advice please???
I have had a problem with my landlord. Upon renewal of my tenancy agreement, both myself and my ex housemate decided to renew the tenancy agreement.
Around 3 weeks later i found out my brother had cancer so explained to my landlord that i wanted to go home to be with my brother and drop off my university course.
Now she was extremely unreasonable and said she is well within her rights to pursue me for the full 6 months rent. We came to the agreement that she could keep my deposit which was £750 and the rent was only £650, which i sent an email to her which was forwarded on to the Deposit Protection Service outlining that i was happy for her to keep the deposit providing that it covers all the costs and that no further money was to be asked.
She then got the deposit back from DPS then demanded that i pay her another £140 pounds for cleaning, she would not allow me to clean the property myself and demanded for a professional cleaning company to do that, even though i offered to do it myself.
I paid that to her and handed her the keys back 2 weeks early and said that i am now nothing more to do with the property now.
She did not do an inspection on the flat that day and had been in to the flat prior to do viewings for new tenants and did not mention that the chest of drawers and blinds were broken on the day when the keys were handed over and took the money for the cleaning in cash.
I moved out Mid November and handed the keys back and she did not mention that anything was damaged and i left the flat in good order. She today 07 March 2010 is demanding that i pay her another £130 I for a damaged chest of drawers and a blind and says she has sent me a letter demanding for the money and is now going to go to the small claims court if i dont pay in 7 days.
To date i have paid her £750 plus a further £140 for cleaning and now wants another £130 now.
I said to the DPS that i am happy to relase the deposit as long as no futher action or money is expected.
Does she have a strong case to take me to the small claims??
I dont know where i stand and i dont really have the money to keep handing out money to her when i am a student.
Any advice please???
18
saira chowdhury wrote this on 2010-03-21 19:24:58
I am a single mum with tow children actually two boys.One is disable,so I am acarer.The thing is when I took the hose for rent then my Landlord told me he needs to repair his two toilets,changing carpets,there is nothing to put carten in the bedroom.At the begainning he told me dont worry I will fix every thing as soon as possible.But from then one and half years is passed he didnot do any of his repair.His wife all most every week come to visit and tonting me,she told me 28th february that they will about to start their home repairing.But now my Landlady is telling me they have no intension to do any repair in this house.This summer will be my 2nd summer without bedroom cartain,what a shame??I cannot sleep for the sunshine.My sons were cring.They gave me a freeze&freezer it wasnot working well.I canot put my children's milk and food more than 2days.This year I have got a family fund credit bor buy a freeze and freezer.And I bought it,at the begainning landlady wanted to took her old one but yesterday she is telling she will not.In this house there is no place to keep that freezer for my landlord.They already left lot of stuff here.They told me they will move them away but they didn't.Thats why i cann't put my children's stuff in my rooms.I never late to pay my rent.Even I didnot get housing benefit on time i have to pay my house rent on time,even one day/twoday earlier.There is more problem with my landlord.I donot understand what I need to do???
19
nics wrote this on 2010-03-26 22:24:31
around 4 years ago i was renting from a housing association who specifically rented out to young mothers my daughter at the time was a very young baby and obviously very vulnerable. i had damp in both bedrooms and the house always seemed cold even with heating on. my daughter got bronchilitis which i was told by gp prob from damp i moved a year later. as years passed i always noticed she seemed to cough alot at night especially in winter seasons,its now getting very bad so took her to doctors and theyve said she has asthma. this was prob linked with her bronchilitis as has scarred the lungs..!i would just like advise on what i need to do i dont think they have sorted the damp even after so many years as funnily enough i made friends with someone who lived in the same flat after me and she was saying how dreadful the damp was.
20
Dominique wrote this on 2010-04-08 17:33:35
I have a real issue,i need to know how i can sue my landlord.I gave first ,last and security.Four days later i was served wit a forclosure notice.I am a disabled mother of 6 ,wo lives on a fixed income.However,i recieve sec8 and repairs should have been made months ago,now im gonna lose my help with rent.The landlord defrauded me,he knowningly took my money knowing he was about to lose the properity,on top of now my family will go thru massive hardship.He lives in 2millon dollar house and own 40 propeties,i feel i have action to personally sue,someone pleaseeeeeeee tell me how i can make this happen.
21
Ashley wrote this on 2010-05-13 00:45:07
Hi, i was wondering if any body could help. I have a small child and currently not working, so my rent is paid for by housing benefit. When i moved into my property i was told the rent was £495.00, I informed the council and they were happy to pay.
Currently i am having some trouble with an "overpayment" From the council, they are not very helpful in the slightest. So my landlord came round to ask about it, But he said the rent was £475 a month and he ends up with £430 after paying charges to the estate agents, I heard twice from the landlord himself that the rent was £475, yet my contract says £495. He has given me a 14 days notice, and also barged straight into the property today, without 24 hours notice and even after i had asked him to leave due to scaring my child.
I dont want to get in trouble with the council, but should i tell them about the fact they have been paying extra? I have heard that they will pay £495 a month and they give the tennant what ever is extra after paying rent. Yet i have not seen any of this, So where has the extra £20 a month been going?! and if this is the case could i claim that to be used as my arrears if it is supposed to have been mine?!
Any help at all would be Brilliant as i am panicking me and my child will be homeless.
Regards
Currently i am having some trouble with an "overpayment" From the council, they are not very helpful in the slightest. So my landlord came round to ask about it, But he said the rent was £475 a month and he ends up with £430 after paying charges to the estate agents, I heard twice from the landlord himself that the rent was £475, yet my contract says £495. He has given me a 14 days notice, and also barged straight into the property today, without 24 hours notice and even after i had asked him to leave due to scaring my child.
I dont want to get in trouble with the council, but should i tell them about the fact they have been paying extra? I have heard that they will pay £495 a month and they give the tennant what ever is extra after paying rent. Yet i have not seen any of this, So where has the extra £20 a month been going?! and if this is the case could i claim that to be used as my arrears if it is supposed to have been mine?!
Any help at all would be Brilliant as i am panicking me and my child will be homeless.
Regards
22
loulou wrote this on 2010-05-13 02:08:31
Hi,
Go to the Citizens Advice Bureaux ASAP!!!
Firstly , your Landlord cannot just barge into your house unannounced, he is breaking the law, if he does it again you have every right to call the police to have him removed. He is bullying and harrassing you in order to get you to leave his property, this is also illegal, tell him this. He must give you 24hours notice to enter and if that is unsuitable to you, you can refuse him entry. Whilst you are the tenant of the property it is your home and the Landlord can only be allowed access with your permission.
Secondly, he cannot give you 14 days notice to get out! A Landlord usually has to go to court to evict you!
Thirdly,the amount on the Tenancy agreement is the amount of rent payable.You have stated £495 per month to the Council, what are the council saying about an overpayment and do they pay Housing Benefit to you or directly to your Landlord?
Go to the Citizens Advice Bureaux ASAP!!!
Firstly , your Landlord cannot just barge into your house unannounced, he is breaking the law, if he does it again you have every right to call the police to have him removed. He is bullying and harrassing you in order to get you to leave his property, this is also illegal, tell him this. He must give you 24hours notice to enter and if that is unsuitable to you, you can refuse him entry. Whilst you are the tenant of the property it is your home and the Landlord can only be allowed access with your permission.
Secondly, he cannot give you 14 days notice to get out! A Landlord usually has to go to court to evict you!
Thirdly,the amount on the Tenancy agreement is the amount of rent payable.You have stated £495 per month to the Council, what are the council saying about an overpayment and do they pay Housing Benefit to you or directly to your Landlord?
23
stacie wrote this on 2010-06-05 04:55:43
Wondering if i can sue my landlord. We moved in here after her mother died. The landlord left all her mothers belongings in our basement, garage, driveway. Not to mention two of her mother's cats which she agreed to pay for that she didn't and infested our home with fleas, and also urinated, deficated all over our things. I have contacted her severl times asking to get her unsightly belongings out of here, so we finally contacted the police. My neighbor complains of this also. She comes over here today telling/screaming at me saying i am rude and a constant complainer and that she hopes my mother dies. And that if i don't stop complaining she will put me and my family out on the street. I recorded this conversation. I have taken pictures of everything. Water damage, the cat, cracking paint, windows with no screens, pictures of all her things. I want to sue her for all the rent i've paid, plus expenses of having to move/court costs. I recorded her screaming at me. She finally said i'll move the stuff out of the driveway tomorrow, but you are no longer allowed to use it. It is in my lease that i am renting the premises at this address and nothing more. She tried to say the garage wasn't included, just the house, so what about all your things in the basement and driveway? She told me the stuff would be moved last fall, she didn't. She said she'd pay for food/litter for the cats, she didn't. now the problems go beyond the cats and the fact that i've bombed 3 times and they are still here. She has never complained about me before. She's just mad I finally took action.
24
loulou wrote this on 2010-06-05 11:02:45
Hi Stacie,
Before you do anything else, it is important to seek advice first to establish your rights as a tenant.
Start by getting some advice from a helpline in your area, go to the shelter website here.. http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_services_directory
(cut and paste into your browser if necessary)
Explain what the agreement was before you moved in. Did you agree that the cats could continue to live in the property, that you were responsible for them, and that the Landlady could store some of her possessions there? Disregarding mess caused by the cats, is the property itself a health hazard due to disrepair? Is it damp, do you have an up to date gas certificate? You may want to call environmental health and let them assess the state of the house if this is the case but again, get advice first.
Your Landlord is threatening you with eviction for complaining about the state of the property, I think this is illegal.
Write a diary of events, I'm not sure if video or tape recordings can be used. As for suing your Landlord, again, get advice first as it could be very costly and time consuming.
Hope this helps
Before you do anything else, it is important to seek advice first to establish your rights as a tenant.
Start by getting some advice from a helpline in your area, go to the shelter website here.. http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_advice/advice_services_directory
(cut and paste into your browser if necessary)
Explain what the agreement was before you moved in. Did you agree that the cats could continue to live in the property, that you were responsible for them, and that the Landlady could store some of her possessions there? Disregarding mess caused by the cats, is the property itself a health hazard due to disrepair? Is it damp, do you have an up to date gas certificate? You may want to call environmental health and let them assess the state of the house if this is the case but again, get advice first.
Your Landlord is threatening you with eviction for complaining about the state of the property, I think this is illegal.
Write a diary of events, I'm not sure if video or tape recordings can be used. As for suing your Landlord, again, get advice first as it could be very costly and time consuming.
Hope this helps
25
stacie wrote this on 2010-06-05 14:39:43
We did agree at first that the cats could stay here IF she paid for food and litter, which she didn't. Then we asked that they be removed due to them ruining all our things and her not buying food and litter. I've taken pictures of water damage, and everything that is laying around. We did not agree for her belongings to stay here, we were told it would be moved out last fall. Verbal agreement. Yes, the property itself is a health hazard, there are fleas, sharp items in the driveway, chipping paint, which could be lead, no screens on the windows. When i asked for these, she asked me if i had 5,000 dollars for new screens...I have 3 children, just her items alone are a concern for them. Water damage which equals mold, which i can smell when i go upstairs. Oh, and i'm in wisconsin, not sure if there is a differant website i should check out than the one posted. Now she says she'll move the things from the driveway, but i can't use it.
26
stacie wrote this on 2010-06-05 14:42:37
And the electrical is NOT up to date, not to mention having no outlet covers, there is an outlet on the front porch that is torched. It melted and burned and at some point, fire came out of it for this to happen. Most of the outlets are 2 prong. When I turn something on, everything flickers, and the outlet sparks...
27
jools wrote this on 2010-06-06 10:36:07
@LouLou - you are assuming Stacie is in the UK. From what I have read I believe her to be in the USA/Canada.
Perhaps Stacie you could clarify?
Jools
Perhaps Stacie you could clarify?
Jools
28
rick wrote this on 2010-08-21 13:36:59
i have sent this letter to british gas and the are still not paying any attention. i have access to council reports, enviromental health reports, fire safety reoprts, what do i do next wihout having to pay out for a small claims court?
I am writing on behalf of myself, to let you know that for the past twelve months or so, l Richard , has been getting phone calls, text messages, and letters from a debt recovery agency called SRJ. It has been brought to my attention, that no matter what l tell any of your colleagues, over the telephone, no one seems to listen.
The money which is due at the following property 18 Hartington road, Bolton, is as far as l no close to £3000 GBP this amount is distributed over three quarterly bills addressed to 18 Hartington Road.
I would like to bring to your attention that the Address mentioned above is not a single dwelling, but a HMO's dwelling, house of multiple occupations, Rented out to students and local residents. This can be confirmed by the report in which is noted in this letter.
From the dates 1st of September 2008 until the beginning of May 2009 l was a resident at 18 Hartington road, while studying a degree,the mode of study in which l under took was full time, and took place at the university of Bolton, student number .........
There were also five other students living at the address mentioned above who also went to the university of Bolton to study. Including them students, there were a couple living in the HMO’S.
I have tried explaining this over the telephone many times over but the only response l receive is: do you have proof, of the residents occupancy’s while l personally don’t have any proof, but the landlord Mr Edward Brown will hold the copy’s of the tenancy agreements, but since he is arrogant and has broken the law by renting out property registered as single dwelling he is unwilling to communicate with me because l reported him to the Accreditation Officers at Bolton council, which in turn resulted in them doing a full scale investigation into the property mentioned above.
Due to the condition of the property other public service sectors were called in to evaluate and inspect the property.
Reports are available on request and can be obtained by telephoning Tim Layland head of private housing sector on 01204 335461.
I personally have spoken with Bolton council and they are willing to back me all the way. Tim Layland the private housing officer has told me that council tax exception forms are stored on their data base, and with the right authority you can have access to these forms, so if the landlord Mr Edward Brown persists to stop you perusing bill payments by not communicating then maybe he should be the one getting punished and not a helpless student trying to get on in life.
I am willing to communicate 100% l no l am also responsible for some of the bills but constant threats and pestering letters and phone calls from your company is in my eyes classified as bullying.
I hope this letter helps you understand why the bills at 18 Hartington road have not been paid, and l hope that we can come to some sort of arrangement on clearing my name from your database for good.
Kind regards
I am writing on behalf of myself, to let you know that for the past twelve months or so, l Richard , has been getting phone calls, text messages, and letters from a debt recovery agency called SRJ. It has been brought to my attention, that no matter what l tell any of your colleagues, over the telephone, no one seems to listen.
The money which is due at the following property 18 Hartington road, Bolton, is as far as l no close to £3000 GBP this amount is distributed over three quarterly bills addressed to 18 Hartington Road.
I would like to bring to your attention that the Address mentioned above is not a single dwelling, but a HMO's dwelling, house of multiple occupations, Rented out to students and local residents. This can be confirmed by the report in which is noted in this letter.
From the dates 1st of September 2008 until the beginning of May 2009 l was a resident at 18 Hartington road, while studying a degree,the mode of study in which l under took was full time, and took place at the university of Bolton, student number .........
There were also five other students living at the address mentioned above who also went to the university of Bolton to study. Including them students, there were a couple living in the HMO’S.
I have tried explaining this over the telephone many times over but the only response l receive is: do you have proof, of the residents occupancy’s while l personally don’t have any proof, but the landlord Mr Edward Brown will hold the copy’s of the tenancy agreements, but since he is arrogant and has broken the law by renting out property registered as single dwelling he is unwilling to communicate with me because l reported him to the Accreditation Officers at Bolton council, which in turn resulted in them doing a full scale investigation into the property mentioned above.
Due to the condition of the property other public service sectors were called in to evaluate and inspect the property.
Reports are available on request and can be obtained by telephoning Tim Layland head of private housing sector on 01204 335461.
I personally have spoken with Bolton council and they are willing to back me all the way. Tim Layland the private housing officer has told me that council tax exception forms are stored on their data base, and with the right authority you can have access to these forms, so if the landlord Mr Edward Brown persists to stop you perusing bill payments by not communicating then maybe he should be the one getting punished and not a helpless student trying to get on in life.
I am willing to communicate 100% l no l am also responsible for some of the bills but constant threats and pestering letters and phone calls from your company is in my eyes classified as bullying.
I hope this letter helps you understand why the bills at 18 Hartington road have not been paid, and l hope that we can come to some sort of arrangement on clearing my name from your database for good.
Kind regards
29
Please leave a comment
I initially started this website because I wanted to document my every step from property idiot to property landlord,
in hope that people would find my site and help me along the way. I literally didn't have a clue about being a landlord
when I started this website.
1