landlord is dillusional and acting illegally
Discussion
Hi everyone,
I'm after some practical advice please.
I recently (4 months ago) moved to a shared house in Birmingham. All the tennants of the house movied in around the same time as it was new on the market.
The house is huge - 13 bedrooms, 7 on suites.
On the surface, it looks great. But once we moved in we all realised it was like Fawlty Towers. Baths and Showers leak, sinks leak, things don't work properly, don't have keys to the letterbox, living room was taken of us so it oculd be let as a room(later given back when we kicked off because we needed it!), mouse in one of the girls rooms, tempramental heating, no cleaner, no furniture in the lounge, missing furniture in the rooms etc etc. You get the picture.
Anyway, most of these issues we have all lost energy with and we are living with them because he wont do anyhting (through stupidity mainly).
Last week things took a turn for the nasty though.
The landlord let hiself into the house. The doorbell was ringing outside. He demanded that nobody answer the door. At this point another house mate came home and obviosly let the bloke in - he was from the Council and was here to inspect the property. He had an anominous tip off that the house had been turned to Flats without planning permission.
To cut a long story short, it turns out the landlord does not have the correct licence for the property. None of the correct health and saftery eqpt is installed (fire escapes etc). The landlord tried to (pathetically by all accounts) explain that he still lived here. The inspector saw right through him.
Becasue some people got involved with the inspector and helped him out with finding the truth they have been served eviction notices demanding they move out within the month or he will move them out (note: all of us still well within 6 month contracts).
What rights do we have and how to do we sort this problem?
Assumptions:
1. that the council will get in touch with us to help at some point?
2. that the letting agent who put his here has acted unlawfully in someway and should have done the relevant checks (we have lodging agreements)
3. that we can claim the money back that the letting agent took as a admin fee for doing the checks
4. that we can move out whenever we want as contracts are void
Problems:
1. landlord holds all the depoists in a personal account, not via the deposit protection agency as advised. we pay one month in advance
2. that there is no where for us all to move to
Any adivce gratefully received.
Thanks,
Ian
I'm after some practical advice please.
I recently (4 months ago) moved to a shared house in Birmingham. All the tennants of the house movied in around the same time as it was new on the market.
The house is huge - 13 bedrooms, 7 on suites.
On the surface, it looks great. But once we moved in we all realised it was like Fawlty Towers. Baths and Showers leak, sinks leak, things don't work properly, don't have keys to the letterbox, living room was taken of us so it oculd be let as a room(later given back when we kicked off because we needed it!), mouse in one of the girls rooms, tempramental heating, no cleaner, no furniture in the lounge, missing furniture in the rooms etc etc. You get the picture.
Anyway, most of these issues we have all lost energy with and we are living with them because he wont do anyhting (through stupidity mainly).
Last week things took a turn for the nasty though.
The landlord let hiself into the house. The doorbell was ringing outside. He demanded that nobody answer the door. At this point another house mate came home and obviosly let the bloke in - he was from the Council and was here to inspect the property. He had an anominous tip off that the house had been turned to Flats without planning permission.
To cut a long story short, it turns out the landlord does not have the correct licence for the property. None of the correct health and saftery eqpt is installed (fire escapes etc). The landlord tried to (pathetically by all accounts) explain that he still lived here. The inspector saw right through him.
Becasue some people got involved with the inspector and helped him out with finding the truth they have been served eviction notices demanding they move out within the month or he will move them out (note: all of us still well within 6 month contracts).
What rights do we have and how to do we sort this problem?
Assumptions:
1. that the council will get in touch with us to help at some point?
2. that the letting agent who put his here has acted unlawfully in someway and should have done the relevant checks (we have lodging agreements)
3. that we can claim the money back that the letting agent took as a admin fee for doing the checks
4. that we can move out whenever we want as contracts are void
Problems:
1. landlord holds all the depoists in a personal account, not via the deposit protection agency as advised. we pay one month in advance
2. that there is no where for us all to move to
Any adivce gratefully received.
Thanks,
Ian
JnrJnr said:
Hi everyone,
Assumptions:
1. that the council will get in touch with us to help at some point?
Assumptions:
1. that the council will get in touch with us to help at some point?
In that respect, you're on your own.
I hope you've gone to the estate agent to demand your fees back - stand in the office with some of your fellow tenants and ask loud questions. Preferably when it's busy
He can boot people out subject to the terms in the tenancy, only you and they know what that is but if it says something like a fixed term of no less than 6 months and 2 months notice thereafter then that is what it is - for him to break it earlier he will need to prove that they have broken the terms of the tenancy themselves, even then he's likely to have to give 2 months notice to evict under Section 21. Speak to the letting agent and explain you are not happy and want them to sort something out and earn their money - also raise the issue over the tenant deposit scheme, failure to adhere to this can get you 3 times your deposit back if you take him to court over it. He's been a feckwit as needs to have set up as the property as an HMO (House of Multiple Occupation) and gained the licence proving he and the property were suitable (sounds like neither are). Best of luck.
As occupants you have some rights and protection as the occupiers. The landlord can serve notice on you which you can ignore. He will have to go to court to get a court order ordering you to leave. If you still fail to move out he will need to go back to court and apply for bailiffs who will remove you.
If the landlord illegally evicts you he commits a criminal offence and can be arrested for this. You will be classed as displaced residential occupiers. The CAB will have more info in this.
If the landlord illegally evicts you he commits a criminal offence and can be arrested for this. You will be classed as displaced residential occupiers. The CAB will have more info in this.
It is obviously not worth staying there with that hanging over you.
I would find somewhere else and go through the small claims to get back your deposit (you can bet he wont be returning that in a hurry).
Dont be surprised if you have difficulty in finding/communicating with said landlord fairly soon.
I would find somewhere else and go through the small claims to get back your deposit (you can bet he wont be returning that in a hurry).
Dont be surprised if you have difficulty in finding/communicating with said landlord fairly soon.
Sounds like he's renting in an unlicensed HMO (House of Multiple Occupation).
There are lots of rules and regulations around this sector that came in a couple of years ago. Do a search on Google (UK - HMO means something else in the States I think) and you should get the picture.
In terms of getting deposits back, get legal and quickly.
andygo said:
I have met the landlord - he's an Asian version of Del Boy
Why doesn't that shock me? I have an awful lot of close Asian friends (Pakistani, Indian, Bengali) and one ex from Bangladesh, so I'm not seeking to stereotype the race - However, almost everyone I know has, at some stage, gathered a story about a landlord of theirs acting illegally/being completely dodgy. Guess what, they are almost all Asian... Why is this?Edited by Dave200 on Tuesday 9th December 20:56
MentalSarcasm said:
IIRC it takes a lot of effort involving courts and stuff to actually evict people, you can't just send them a letter saying "get out or else", at least that's what I have understood from reading about people's problems with tenants on here.
Not so if the Council shut the premises down.Dave200 said:
... almost everyone I know has, at some stage, gathered a story about a landlord of theirs acting illegally/being completely dodgy. Guess what, they are almost all Asian... Why is this?
Because there's more Asian people investing in property due to not sitting back and expecting a living to be handed to them on a plate?Law of averages, therefore.
Dave200 said:
andygo said:
I have met the landlord - he's an Asian version of Del Boy
Why doesn't that shock me? I have an awful lot of close Asian friends (Pakistani, Indian, Bengali) and one ex from Bangladesh, so I'm not seeking to stereotype the race - However, almost everyone I know has, at some stage, gathered a story about a landlord of theirs acting illegally/being completely dodgy. Guess what, they are almost all Asian... Why is this?Edited by Dave200 on Tuesday 9th December 20:56
Especially in Birmingham.
V8Mate is quite right about the Council being able to kick people out at very very short notice. He's running a House of Multiple Occupancy without any regard to the legalities, and therefore there is no more house.
Very doubtful if the Council will give a rat's behind that they are kicking you out - you wont get further up the ladder, but it cant hurt to ask, can it?
As far as the deposit goes, this is a reasonably easy one to answer. You're slightly screwed, but will end up up on the deal, assuming the landlord listens to the County Court. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TenancyDeposit/DG_0663... should help. Effectively, he owes you 3 * the deposit, but you'll have to fight for it. See moneyclaim.gov.uk for how to go about it.
End of story - get yourself onto the houseshare sites, have words with the people you like in the house, see if they'll go in with you on a more straightforward houseshare.
Oh, and be really really nice to your Dad - you'll be asking nicely to see if he can help with the next deposit in the short term
Very doubtful if the Council will give a rat's behind that they are kicking you out - you wont get further up the ladder, but it cant hurt to ask, can it?
As far as the deposit goes, this is a reasonably easy one to answer. You're slightly screwed, but will end up up on the deal, assuming the landlord listens to the County Court. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TenancyDeposit/DG_0663... should help. Effectively, he owes you 3 * the deposit, but you'll have to fight for it. See moneyclaim.gov.uk for how to go about it.
End of story - get yourself onto the houseshare sites, have words with the people you like in the house, see if they'll go in with you on a more straightforward houseshare.
Oh, and be really really nice to your Dad - you'll be asking nicely to see if he can help with the next deposit in the short term
Nolar Dog said:
Dave200 said:
... almost everyone I know has, at some stage, gathered a story about a landlord of theirs acting illegally/being completely dodgy. Guess what, they are almost all Asian... Why is this?
Because there's more Asian people investing in property due to not sitting back and expecting a living to be handed to them on a plate?Law of averages, therefore.
mate rented off some asian who gave him lots of grief, so he moved all his kit into a new flat and took delivery of a car load of porno mags that some guy did not want, these mostly ended up in the water tank in the loft, seem it was 3/4 full...
cress seeds into the already damp carpet as the landlord could not be bothered to pay for repairs....
Citizens Advice Bureau is worth a chat with
cress seeds into the already damp carpet as the landlord could not be bothered to pay for repairs....
Citizens Advice Bureau is worth a chat with
Right first things first has the LL issued an official notice called a section 21 on the afore mentioned tenants? this is part of all tenancy agreements and is a notice of vacant postion and the notice period is 2months for this wether in fixed term or periodic, your landlord stands to be fined trather alot for not gaining relevant HMO license he should also be fined rather alot for not registering your seopsits you may also have recourse though the letting agents as they have certain responsibilitys regarding the HMO - I would seriously be speaking to them as a matter of urgency. As to the council, if you have a job or are a student and have no kids im afraid that they will do foook all!!! sorry but thats the world we live in, Now the council may try and liase with the LL but ths sees unlikely, chances are there will be a follow up inspection within X number of weeks by which time he will/should have sorted all HSE things and any environmental issues like infestations of any kind, if they were noted by the council, if he fufills this they 'may'let him continue on the proviso he pays some TAX and applies for HMO ASAP. hope this is of some help, please feel free to pm me and ill speak with my legal team for you tomorrow.
Matt
Matt
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