How & When To Sue Your Landlord

Hi,

Can you please advice me with my problem.

I am living in my flat for over one year now. From the first month that I moved into my flat there was problem with mould. I am living in this flat with my husband an two children. My youngest daughter has Bronchitis. I have complain to the agency I rent my property from that its getting worse and worse but they keep telling me that the freeholder of the building doesn't want to fix the problem. They have seen the problem and a lot of pictures. The problem started in my living room, but now its every where. Its on the walls, sealing, closet's, clothes, shoes, sofa even by my neighbours downstairs. Long story short" next to all the mould problem every where in the house with a percentages of 87% of mould, we found out when the gas company came to do a 1 year check up that my gas pipe wasn't a gas pipe but an water flexible tap connector. The engineer that came to change the pipe with urgent said that we were lucky that my gas pipe never exploded.

So my question to you is; I have the water pipe as proof and the engineer that can testified what he has seen an change. As well the council has given them an notice because they don't find it normal that we have to live in a house with that amount of mould. So please I need your advice!!

Thanks in advance for reading my comment.

Nathasha

Hello,

I have looked everywhere and cannot find anything on Private Landlords who don't conduct themselves professionally and when challenged take it personally to the point that when there is a disagreement he then decides he won't let me move in after taking £1500 of my money.

Here is the story

I visited the property and the landlord and found out that 1 of the 4 rooms he was renting was going to be occupied by the landlord although he advertised the property with a 'live out landlord' message.

The landlord had two rooms of which he was charging the same rare for although one was clearly bigger than the other. When I paid the deposit I realised that what he was advertising was misleading because it stated that if you had a bed the room would be £50 cheaper but even with a bed it was somehow the same price?

He had promised to send me a contract a number of times but failed to do so. When I had receive the first copy it was incomplete and did not include what I had already paid, the inclusive bills and the terms and conditions.I challenged him on this and he got upset and wrote 'I know what to include in a contract' and to my mind i thought well why didnt you but apologised for upsetting him.

It was then agreed I would receive it on a specific date by which time I had only 4 days left and wanted the contract before I booked a removal van. I didnt receive anything then got a text message from the landlord asking if I had received it.

As this point I was getting frustrated as I have had bad experiences in the past even when doing the right thing (ill explain that in more detail) I had 4 days left to move and considering everything this 'live in landlord could not be trusted. So irrationally i said found another place and wanted a refund. I hadnt found a place but it was wishful thinking on my part that this would have provoked a reasonable reaction from him.

He then called me on private number whilst at work raising his voice on the phone telling me I had trust issues. He also said that he had sent the contract via an internet cafe and instead of resending the contract and apologising or atleast try to resolve the issue he just sent a screen shot of a pc screen with a typo on the email address but there was no date or time and i no real proof that there was a contract attached to this email.

I then realised that i didn't want to have to go through more trouble of looking for another place so I said to him to resend the contract. I did this straight away and txted him and called him but he ignored me until later on. He sent me an email saying as you said youve have found another place, I cant have you keep changing your mind (which I thought was a tad dramatic since I had reasons to) and then he said he will not have me move in and that the holding deposit is non refundable and he will not refund the advance rent until he finds another tenant.

After this I kept reassuring the landlord that I had not found anywhere else and i asked him to reconsider but we would not have any of it.

Now I have made a claim against him via the online small claims court because although I am aware of my mistakes in this situation he has not admitted his and used the situation to his advantage and kept my money. He is now saying it took him a month to replace me etc...and therefore wants to be compensated...but my point is he would not have had to go through the trouble if he didnt let his pride and ego get the better of him by refusing my offer when I asked for him to resend the contract....

Please I am dying to hear your thoughts on this good or bad!

Do you think I will have a strong case to get all my money back if/when it goes to court?

Hi Max,

Absolutely (assuming you are UK).

https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/overview

So yes - you will get it back. You may then want to sue the greedy, leeching, lying little git for wasting your time. :oD

@RS,

What has tenancy deposit protection got to do with it?

That is the thing,

I would say that I had paid a tenancy deposit as a verbal agreement was made but as a tenancy contract was not signed and he is claiming half of the money is a holding deposit and the other half is advance rent (which he should have only received once i signed the contract)

and because of this I was advised that I couldn't make a claim in relation to a tenancy deposit but had to make a claim in relation to money matter - money owed to me.

So it is a bit confusing as where the laws/rules apply or dont apply.

He is now saying he will give me half of the money back but i feel that is him taking the easy way out now that he is being forced to do something about it

So any advice about court and what they will want to understand and penalise us both for to see whether or not it is worth going through the process

would be much appreciated:-)

@ Max,

Only you can decide whether it's worth it or not, but I think you should go and see a solicitor (initial consultations are generally FOC).

Sounds like he's already backing down so a letter from your solicitor (approx £30) will probably be enough to make him give up his little game and repay you in full.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

@Max,

Firstly (taken from RS's link;

Once you become a tenant, the holding deposit becomes a deposit, which they must protect.

It could well be argued you were never a tenant, so there is no deposit to protect.

There could be a long tedious legal argument about contracts being created with exchange of money etc.

But (it seems) you were never going to be a tenant anyway;

1 of the 4 rooms he was renting was going to be occupied by the landlord

With a live-in landlord, you would have only been a lodger, tenancy deposit protection laws don't apply.

Moving on to this statement;

Private Landlords who don't conduct themselves professionally

He is not a professional private landlord (CPA if interested). He is just some schmuck renting out a spare room for pocket money. You are two equals coming to a freely negotiated agreement.

I am dying to hear your thoughts on this good or bad!

You had an agreement, you broke it.

The 'landlord' was out of pocket because of this.

It is reasonable to assume some of the money you paid was a form of holding deposit.

Keeping £1500 was unreasonable and taking the piss.

He has backed down and offered to return half (a win!). That now seems more reasonable (although worth trying negotiating for more).

All IMHO.

I living in this house for nearly two years the house whom I rent is horrible house 5 tenants no leaving room no conditions for living at all but things getting worse after I got sick under tretement medication and the hidgena in the house is total unacceptable complimlining to landlord time by time but nothing changed ok still ok !!!!

But PLEASE READ THIS ONE AND IS ANYONE IN THIS COUNTRY WHOM CAN HELP ME ????????

At 15/11/2014 after heavy rain outside flooding came throug from thë ceiling on to my bedroom for allmast 25 minutes the water on my room came up to 5 cm and damaged all my staff computer Piano clothes bedding documents my TV so due to this I called emergency services but they asked me to call landlord I tried but he didn't open a phone I was enforced to go to hotel I paied by my self for 7 days I stayed in hotel because he responded me by phone and says I will tray to sought it out problems but he didn't do anything just brought in my bedroom one electricity heater and left it for 7 days on to dray the room but I leave in second flor and due to this flooding ang the room under me got flooded from my bedroom water and I'm seriously ill I got during a year two operations and under medication everyday
Since that time my Landlord didn't do any repairing on my bedroom same staff I bought my staff and he don't want to pay for my staff damages I got video record from flooding water covered everywhere my staff
In one conversation I recorded my landlord shouting me with misbehaviour I send to him video via email
IS ANYONE WHOM CAN HELP ME?????????

Rasim,

Unfortunately your landlord is not responsible for insuring nor replacing your personal possessions. They should have been insured by YOU. Your landlord cannot insure something that is not his/hers. The law/insurance industry in the UK does not allow this.

You should really be talking to your local councils private housing office or the citizens advice office as it is all dependent on your tenancy agreement what is and isn't claimable.

You may be able to recover your hotel costs because the landlord is responsible for rehousing you in the event the property becomes uninhabitable and if he is insured his insurers should cover him for that cost, however if he is not insured then you will have to claim through the civil courts to recover any REASONABLE expenses but these will not include your personal posessions.

Take advice straight away.

@ Benji

Thank you for your response.

I am aware that the tenancy rules/regs won't apply, which is why I have to escalate the issue via the money claim online.

As you mentioned:
1 of the 4 rooms he was renting was going to be occupied by the landlord

The thing here is that he did initially advertise on spare room as a live out landlord it wasn't until I visited the property he said he will be living there a few days in the week.
Moving on to this statement;

Following on from this:
I am dying to hear your thoughts on this good or bad!
You had an agreement, you broke it.
The 'landlord' was out of pocket because of this.

The reason why I broke it was because i had 4 days left to move in and the landlord had never sent me the contract in order to become a tenant.

Straight after I had asked for a refund, I asked him to send the contract to review and move in as planned. He ignore all my efforts to resolve this and he waited 4 hours to tell me that he will be keeping my money because I cant keep changing my mind? As though I had kept changing my mind throughout the time. When it was him who was inconsistent with his information and promises of sending the contract after having to ask for it more than three times.

In relation to your comment below I have sent him this response:
He has backed down and offered to return half (a win!). That now seems more reasonable (although worth trying negotiating for more).

I appreciate we both have had our own parts to play in this matter so therefore I am willing negotiate the amount, however if we both agree to this I would like to settle for £1100 as it was I who tried to resolve this matter before any further costs were inflicted upon either us. I believe I have been very flexible considering everything that has happened. But I am struggling with the fact that you didn't want to resolve it there and then but now we are in a position where we have to resolve it either way, you still seem to not understand my point of view or or take any responsibility for the fact you waited till now to resolve the issue.

For me to accept £750 - the small claims fee £105, minus the early bird fees I had paid on spare room £60*, minus the postal fees and 3 x £100 rent plus 3x30* bills I had to pay- plus the agency admin fee paid of £150 I am not left with much.

And overall it would work out that I have lost £1250 out of the total loss of £2000* if I was to accept £750.

Taking into consideration the fact you didn't resolve the issue prior to this and the amount I have lost in total, do you think £750 is a reasonable amount to offer especially as I don't feel I have been malicious in anyway for you to feel that I deserve to lose so much.

Please consider this and refund £1100 of the total amount of £2000 and I will leave it as that.

*Estimate of amount due to the variations in cost.

All IMHO.

But then again when you read the following from CAB should i then be treating this as a tenancy deposit issue...

Oral tenancy agreements

A tenancy agreement exists even if there is only an oral agreement between you and your landlord. For example, you and your landlord may have agreed at the start of the tenancy how much the rent would be and when it is payable, whether it includes fuel and bills such as water rates or whether your landlord can decide who else can live in the accommodation.

Oral agreements can be difficult to enforce because there is often no proof of what has been agreed, or a particular problem may have arisen which the agreement did not cover.

Me: I have proof of what was agreed based on the discussions that we had (which has been recorded, however as he was acting dodgy I was worried to sign the incomplete tenancy agreement he had sent over to me. He had then promised to send me a complete version within 4days of moving in but he didn't!

And I am just wondering what areas the court will focus on and what they deem as relevant in supporting/defending ones case.

I found this also....

Before applying to the court

You must try and settle a claim before taking court action. If you do not try to settle first, the court may penalise you.

Therefore shouldn't he be penalised for ignoring me when i tried to resolve the matter straight away?

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/housing_e/housing_renting_a_home_e/tenancy_agreements.htm

I rented a private property by the letting agents. The poison was down in the living room inside the cupboard but I never thought that I'd a family until I saw a mice in my bedroom. Since I've moved I could hear something scratching on the walls and running but I never believed. Last week I had one little mice under my fridge and we killed one in my bedroom. In conclusion I was mislead by the agency when I rented this property. I've a 4 years old and I don't know what to do. Pest control was here, just left few traps blocked one hole and half and he was
ready to go. Found droppings under the bath and holes on the wall where probably they're coming from and run
all over the house. I don't have gas certificate, no hand rails on the stair and any place to go. Citizens advice said that I signed one year fixed term contract and gave
me a phone number to ring.I rang Private sector housing wich they'll send another pest control. Please any advise

hi let me run my story by you and see what you think
i sold my house several years ago to a buy and rent back company
i sold it to mr x for a percentage of what it was worth with a promise of money back after so many years these so many years have passed so i decided to confront the landlord and i was told the contract that we and he signed was now void and after numerous emails and conversations he revealed he didn't buy my house he let another person mr y buy the house for the same terms without informing us the land registry form we signed at the time of sale was for mr x we now know that it is in the name of mr y part of the tr1 was replaced to accomodate mr y the tenancy agreement we have is signed by mr y and mr y has also signed our names aswell i.e forged now i believe that mr x owes me several thousand pounds as agreed for agreed contract which he says is void or mr y owes me the rest of the value of the properrty which is almost £40000 pounds as mr x and mr y decieved and lied to me to obtain my property for their own personal gain

I'm suing my landlord for breach of agreement,as I was told that repairs would be fixed before I moved in. They weren't. And she nor the letting agent supplied a gas safety certificate. The was a gas leak and if I had switched anything on the whole house would have been blown up. They admit there was a fault with the hob but say that they had informed me of this prior to my moving in. They never did. I have now managed to find an email from the gas engineer to say that the hob had failed the safety check. In the contract it says that all electrical and gas appliances must be in working order.
I have been told that I can only sue my landlord and not the agent. But surely as he is acting on her behalf then he is responsible as well?
I would appreciate an answer as soon as possible as the court hearing is on Tuesday next.

I have not had any legal advice as there are no solicitors who do legal aid And the C.A B are not helpful.
Thank you for any advice that you can give me.

Hey are you crying that your lover has left you and the kids for another woman, you don't have to cry anymore because i was in the same position till i heard about Dr. Ekpen of Ekpen Temple how he has help so many people in there are relationship, today i can boldly recommend Dr. Ekpen Of Ekpen Temple to someone for help. He did not fail me i also believe he can not fail you too contact him at ((((ekpentemple at gmail .com)))) goodluck.

Hi, need some advice please. I moved out of a property aug 2014. I was in the property for 6 years. Since moving, I have been trying to contact my former landlord to return my £550 deposit. My emails, calls and letters are being ignored. I paid all utility bills up to date of moving out and closed the accounts. Rent was also paid up to date with no arrears. I left the property in good repair. The place had a very thorough clean and no damages. (I have pictures to prove this)

I noticed the other day that my contract states that my deposit has been protected with Deposit Protection Service and details on the scheme is written in the contract. I contacted them and it turns out my deposit was never registered. I proceeded to contact the other 2 government backed schemes to check and there is no record anywhere of my deposit being protected. My deposit was paid in 2008, after the new law came about landlords have to register deposits in protection schemes in 2007. I have checked all schemes several times in case there was a mistake.

I have all paperwork relating to the tenancy, including my contract and receipt for the deposit. The contract is an assured shorthold tenancy agreement.

There are 2 issues here- my contract has been broken as they have failed to protect my deposit as they have said they did and the law has been broken because my deposit was not registered and protected within 30 days of paying.

I am in need of some advice on how to best proceed in order to get my deposit returned.

Hi, just wondered if anyone could give me a bit of advice. We moved into our current property 10th July 2015 through a housing agency. Yesterday my partner went into the gas and electric cupboard to top the electric up and he moved a wire that was left in there. As he did so the wire touched the gas pipe and burst the pipe as the wire was still live and attached to the electric box. There was flames coming from the gas pipe and if my partner hadn't of blown the fire out and turned the gas off when he did then who knows the consequences. Just as he blew the fire out and turned the gas off the hole in the pipe expanded and gas was pissing out the pipe. We've got a two year old daughter who was in the property at the time. And although the housing agency sent a surveyor out ten minutes after the incident, that live wire shouldn't have been left there before we moved in. We have the gas certificates but no electric certificates which clearly states they haven't done a complete inspection of the electrics and the property before they let it out to us. Just wondered if anyone could give me some advice on where I stand legally with this as, if my partner didn't act like he did, the gas man said it would have blown our house and the neighbours either side. Thanks in advance.

hi everybody i need help on this case.

King Kong lets a flat to Joe Boy for a year at a monthly rental of $4000. In terms of the agreement, King Kong agrees to paint the premises before Joe Boy takes occupation. With reference to relevant decided cases, consider and discuss the following situations:

(a) Joe Boy is given the keys to the flat. When he arrives to take occupation, he finds that someone else is in occupation and that the flat has not been painted. Joe Boy does not want to cancel the contract. Advise him of his rights.

(b) During the lease, Joe Boy throws a wild birthday party. A vicious fight breaks out by some of the men over the ladies and one of the guests kicks in a door. When Joe Boy vacates the premises at the end of the lease, the door is damaged. Advise King Kong of his remedies.

(c) During the lease, a structural defect manifests itself, which interferes with Joe Boy’s use and enjoyment of the premises. The defect also causes damage to his expensive Samsung UHD Curved colour television set equipment. Joe Boy wants to cancel the lease and claim damages. Advise Joe Boy.

(d) Joe Boy discovers that the tenant in the flat next door is apparently a drug dealer and there are many strange looking people visiting him at all hours. Advise Joe Boy.

(e) Another one of Joe Boy’s neighbours (Cinderella), three flats down the passage, is a religious fundamentalist, and objects to Joe Boy being gay (homosexual). Joe Boy comes home one day to find the door of his flat has been painted with obscene messages in red paint. Advise Joe Boy.

Hey :) I'm so glad I found this site. Thank you. The best way to explain is by pasting on the email I wrote this morning. Bare with.

To whom it may concern

I am living at one of your property' I fought tooth and nail for our home as myself and my three children fled domestic violence three years ago. We went from a one room refuge sharing beds, to a flat where I slept on the floor, to a house where I was on a sofa.
When this property came up I was over joyed. After a long and tough journey we had made it. The place needs so much work. Being on my own I was still grateful that we could start again.
It's extremely isolated with one immediate neighbour. On looking at the property I asked about the neighbours. As being a vulnerable family on our own it was a concern.

I was reassured there was no issues.in front of three other people. ( Can I day at this point magna knew about my past. I'd emailed them enough )
I specifically asked if there was any problems as 'having nightmare neighbours would be hell on earth to us.

Three months in we are living next door to an extreme case of domestic violence. The man has severe mental issues. Two suicide attempts in two months. We listen to the screaming and shouting and it wakes my kids up. I'm on edge constantly. I think it's absolutely appalling that you have moved us here. After everything we have been through. Police records could have been checked. We all sleep with our lights on. I'm frightened to death again and living on my nerves. Three police cars and and ambulance were outside just last night. Their dogs are vicious. Two weeks ago the wife approached me beaten black and blue. Apologising for the smashing and noise.
She has left him
Good for her I'm glad but now the man next door is alone and drinking. I am not sleeping. I am back to sleeping with a knife. My dog won't leave my side.

Oh I've been told to keep a log.. A log? As if. There is only me living next door. The man will know exactly who's making the complaints and I will be even more on edge and worried.

I'm devastated. Your organisation has completely let us down. The man has Alot of previous. A simple check could have been carried out to protect vulnerable families like us.

I'm having to sell my photography equipment that I have worked for two long years to obtain so I can go private as this system has done nothing for us. Absolutely nothing.
I'm not staying here.
I know you won't lift a finger. But for future reference this is not ok. It's not acceptable.

Sorry that sent to quick.
I'm here. The 5th night of not sleeping
Researching law like my bloody erin Brokovitch. Someone please help me.
Any advice would be so gratefully received.
Thanks

Hi, My parents entered into what they thought was a shorthold tenancy agreement in June 2007. Eight & half yrs later, my mother sadly passed away. My father has dementia & Parkinsons so sadly we had to put him in a home. I hold Power of Attorney for him. The flat was left empty & spotless. I have asked the landlord several times for the deposit but he said he was in the process of inspecting the flat! After asking him the 4th time he said there was damage. (cigarette burns in the bedroom carpet. My Dad hasnt smoked for years), and a couple of other minor things. I can't prove the burns weren't from my Dad & so I asked for details of the DPS to liase with them. After several attempts, he said he couldnt find it? I am now part way to taking him to the small claims court. It's not a route I wanted to take, we have been through a stressful time as it is. I can't deny the carpet damage, which incidentally has not been replaced in the 8.5 yrs. I just don't believe it warrants keeping all of the £850 deposit. Has anyone been through this process?? I feel worried that I may lose and have to pay the landlords fees. Many thanks

Hi can someone help me on this please
Basically i moved into a property in manchester and the property was taken from an agent and the agent pass the key and the landlord contact to me, i got the house but it wasnt cleaned out or painted out before i moved in,I Clean the house and tell the landlord what need doing in the property, he assured me that he will do it but he didnt do nothing, after few month i notice my landlord is a criminal has a police guy came looking for him, had to tell the police i do not know him as am the new tenant.
later on after 3 month i received letter from the mortgage company that he is not paying that court order for eviction has been taken, i have to phone the company and send out some document to prove am a tenant and this was closed down for few months.
later on i have issue with the electric shower i phone the landlord and he send a guy out to change it, but he refuse to pay the guy , the guy came back banging on the door that landlord hasnt pay him and he want to take the shower do, i beg him to speak to the landlord,later in November i received a letter from the mortgage company for eviction again , i called my landlord as usual he was making mouth saying that the company didnt take the money on time that such thing will not happen. i point it out that am moving out of the house as soon as i got a new one.
In January i told him am moving out in feb that can he use my deposit as my last rent in feb, he refuse and i told him i will pay but he has to refund me back he agreed.
Now comes feb, 2 weeks before i moved out the agency called me saying if i can moved out early that he will refund me back as the new tenant need to start bring the family and painting of the house, i Said as long am refunded that not a problem.
2 Days after the new tenant moved all its stuff in and started painting the house, am like this is wrong thou , you should let me moved out first.
i eventually moved out 9 days before the end of my contract and now for me to get my security deposit back the agent been passing me to the landlord and the landlord passing me to agent and they all saying i damage stuff in the house that they will not refund me back for the full deposit of 475, they will refund me 250.
i told the agent that the house was like that before i moved in? can they provide me a picture of the house before i moved in he said no.
I agreed to take the 250 , now the agent refund the landlord but the landlord is refusing to give me back,i found out my landlord never protect my security deposit either , i ask him for my refund he is telling me he is waiting for the current tenant to send the expenses and all that, but i know he was lying cos the current tenant told me he was doing the painting and all stuff from its own money not for the landlord to refund him back,
now i feel like they cheating me out both landlord and the agent?
does any one think i can win a case if i charge them to court?
Thanks
richard

If the landlord failed to protect your deposit, he has no defence: you are entitled to have your deposit returned in full, plus 1 to 3 times the amount as compensation, so in your case you'd be awarded somewhere between £950 and £1,900.

Hello Everyone
I'm A Disabled Male And My Landlord Just To Me Too Stop Smoking In My Own Apartment And I Do Not Mess With Anyone So What Should I Do About This?

Hi, don't know really where to start. Me and my family lived in a property for 8 years which was very mouldy and damp( the ceiling in most rooms where completely black with mould). My boys slept in a bedroom that dripped.most of the heating didn't work so it was always very cold, told the landlord through out the years about it but never fixed it and blamed us for it. I kept cleaning the mould of, but it kept coming back, we painted and it kept coming back, the skirting boards were all cracked and rotten. We couldn't afford to move so we had to stay there. My husband now has copd and is quite ill from it. I was wandering if we could sue him for my husband's condition? We have moved now in the last month and the old landlord won't leave is alone.

I need help I'm currently out of work due to medical problems and my landlord trying to evict me they saying I owe $800 dollars but I only been out of work 3 weeks she is the secretary at my job and she was taking the money out of my check every week my rent is $500 dollars she was taking $125 dollars a week sometimes $150 and she knows about my back problem can I sue cause my check stubs proves I can't be behind that much

If the landlord returns your security deposit in full can the landlord sue you for damages 4weeks later after you moved out

My landlord has let people enter my flat for reasons that have been uneccessary I have since moved out and he is threatening to sue me if I don't pay the rent until the end of the contract. And says that i am liable for the rent until the end of the contract could I take him to small claims court as he has been in clear breach of contract.

Hi i was wondering if someone could help, my student contract ended on the 30th of July I am still waiting for my deposit back from the estate agents we have agreed on how much deposit the landlord wanted to take it have been calling up every day and going in and seeing them and they keep telling me that it is done and it will be in my account by the end of the day this has happened at least 4 times now I'm not sure what to do?

Hello,

I have a situation that is developing where I live. I rent a room in an HMO in Bournemouth and when my husband and I moved into the property in Feb, 2 years 8 months ago, we were told that it was a small double but that the letting agent would let us know when the bigger doubles were available and then we could have first choice. This never happened. Rooms became available and by the time we knew about them they were already gone.

A few months ago now our HMO property was inspected because the license was up for renewal. Nothing was said to us, but I saw the old license on the noticeboard in the hallway and there in black and white is our room number, and it clearly states that it's only allowed to have one person living in it.

A week ago I got an email from the letting agent telling me there was nothing to worry about, but he was sending me an email about my room. Of course alarm bells immediately began to ring! The landlady didn't make any reference to knowing that she should never have allowed our room to be rented out to two people, but instead offered us to change to a room at the front of the house which is becoming available due to that tenant wanting to switch to a room that is becoming available at the end of this month, and she'd let us move into that room for an extra £25 pcm. She thinks that's fair because we've lived here all this time without having a rent increase.

Here is where the plot thickens!

Whilst I was scouring through the license agreement I noticed that the guy in the room next door to me, was not supposed to be. The license agreement doesn't even have the room listed. It's like a box room/cot room/single sized room.

I contacted the HMO team at my local council and they informed me that she shouldn't have anybody in that room, and that perhaps we could let that extra space from her, which would then mean that we had a bigger floor space, just split into two areas. The council said that they might be happy with that.

If she doesn't want to go with any of our suggestions, which I'm thinking she will not, could I sue her to get back the extra rent that she has been taking from us for nearly the last 3 years? Even though this room is licensed for one person, she has been charging us the couples rate every month, which equates to £1,600-ish.

So frustrated, and it's getting near to Christmas too!

Anyone else had a similar situation?

M

Hello! Here's my story, which isn't funny! I was harassed and bullied by my landlord, who claims to be the best landlord on earth! First, I'm being asked to hold on to her money, not small money £10k, which I did, as I thought it's no biggie. Then, I'm being told, she will write a contract for the whole property into my name, let me add, she get's £7.5k a month in rent from this house and she wants me to pretend I'm paying for the whole property! I refused, which didn't make her happy. Then before Christmas, she kept on asking how long will I be gone during Christmas and told me to leave my room key, because she's got someone coming for house evaluation, I messaged my housemate saying, she will want to stay in my room while I'm gone, to which my housemate said no way, she wouldn't do that. In the morning on the day when I was travelling to my home country for Christmas, I get a call from my landlord saying she wants to stay in my room while I'm gone, because someone broke into her house and she's scared, let me add, it's landlady, her daughter and her sister. I said I don't feel comfortable with that, I agreed to one night. The next day while home with family, I get a call from my landlady saying I have 4 weeks to move out, because she wants my room... I was like wow! How can you be so horrible?! My Christmas got ruined, but we found solution which invloved one of male tenats moving to landlady's house, she stayed in his room till I'm back and once I came back, I had to move from my beautuful room to this small room, because she needed more space... I won't mention the times when she went into my room while I was gone, to take my bed out and bring hers in, or to have her new sofa delivered... When I came back, I get a message the next morning that she wants to swap rooms ASAP, I had no chance to plan it or anything, it took a whole day to sort out, which was a pain. That's done, the next thing is, parking.... She came and runied our parking arrangements, we had 5 cars in the drive, hers was 6th and huge. She claimed she's the landlady so she needs best spot, she can't drive, so of course she damaged her car, after which I was told I was the last person to buy a car so I can't park in the drive. I refused, which she also didn't like. She kept on being rude and disrespectful. Now, we have heating situation, I understand it's not winter anymore, but mornings and evenings are chilly, she claims she's always warm and turns the heating off, despite the fact, there are 10 other people living in the property. I feel so violated, so stressed by her behaviour, that I have nightmares which involve her, going into my room and searching through my things. In one dream she actually found spare key to my car and drove away smiling and waving at me. No one has the right to treat other people like this. She's not fit to be a landlord and she caused a lot of stress and worries, I'm wondering is there any action I can take against her?

Hi, i’m trying to end my contract with my landlord due to a medical condition of artrithis. My Gp wrote to the landlord about that but he has refused to let me go bc there is no breakclause in my contract.i mostly spend time at my cousin’s bc my own place has cold walls and floors. I’m an international student on scholarship and i am beginning to face financial problems because the government hasn't sent my grants for the next few months. My dad is trying to send my upkeep allowance but i can’t afford to continue to stay here. Now i can't write to my landlord saying i have financial problems and won't be able to pay my rent without him thinking i just want to end the contract.

Hi,
My landlord did not protect my deposit, and i only realized when i gave them my notice after having it checked at the letting agents. After speaking to them they said they had already deposited it and i should have had an email, when i rang all three deposit schemes, they had not had any bond paid in., but the next day they paid it straight in. i have since left the property and they are now trying to say i didnt pay a bond, i didnt pay my rent and i smashed the house up... I have proof of all payments, pictures and witness statements when leaving the house,it is now possibly going to mediation.. help... where do i stand....

Hi ,if I can how would I go about recouping wages from my landlord for time loss from work due to there engineer not turning up, bearing in mind if it was my fault they could not access the property I would receive a fine ?

My ex landlord was taking my £1000 housing benefit every month and not paying his mortgage eventually the house we were renting got repossessed by the landlords mortgage co leaving us homeless and put in emergency accommodation I’m a single parent to 7 children 2 being special needs this whole experience was so devastating to us all as a family can I sue him for compensation?

My daughter lives in a rented flat on her behalf (she has health problems) I reported a water leak from the cistern into the toilet bowl 3 September 2018 after many emails and phone calls to let agency they kept on trying to get landlord to come out, after 3 weeks he came to look and said it wasnt worth taking tiles off the wall(enclosed cistern in wall) as it wasnt much of a leak. 15 March 19 reported it was getting worse after 2 emails I rang the let agency to get update after no response but he refuses to fix it.The water bill is on a meter and just got the bill in that was automated reading not estimated and instead of it being around £45 its £316. My daughter is hoping to move out cause of the stress by 10 May (has to give 1 months notice day before rent due which is 10 April). Can he be taken to small claims court to get him to pay the excess bill? On the tenancy agreement it states the landlord has to keep sanitation in good working order,do I have a case I have tried everything to get this resolved and so has the let agency.

hope you can advise.

Hello. I really hope you could help me.

We signed an agreement for a property on the 14th of Feb and was told we could move in on the 16th. There were repairs to be done and the agents wanted to do that. We waited till the 16th and then we're called to be informed the property wasn't ready. The thing dragged on till the 20th of Feb around 6pm and then we were given the keys. That night we had the virgin services fix their equipment In The property. We also noticed that no repairs have been done and the property was unclean and unhygenic. We let the agents know and went back to the hotel we were staying at. Next morning there was much confusion. The agency is run by 2 brothers who were completely disorganised. One said yes it wasn't cleaned or repaired but will get it sorted and the other said it was all done and that we were just making a fuss. I jave pictured to prove the broken banister, the rat infested and rubbish strewn garden, vomit stained carpets and the dirty bathroom. Then the elder brother who has been saying everything was done suddenly changes track and asks for the key back as he has no spare o as for the builder and the contract as well so he can change the date of move in.

I hand it to him but retai. Copies of the contract. He take the trouble to come to my hotel at 10pm to retrieve these. Next day I am I for.ed that the agents do not wish to continue the contract and had weasels the key and contracts from me by deceit and lies.

I paid a £20 For a temporary parking permit as I signed the contract and I have also bee. Hit by a £135 charge for unreturned virgin equipment. Nit to mention the stress and suffering we endured over the week packing and unpacking with 5 kids, I being disabled, with 2 toddlers and with a severly disabled son in tow. We travelled back and forth 40 miles eaxh time they called.

Can I get the above payments back and can I also claim damages for my suffering?

Thanks
Zeenath

Hello
I am seeking some advice as to the health dangers of a leaking oil pipe that has been leaking into soil for over a year and the really bad smell of the fume especially in the warm weather.

The area is close to a ground floor bedroom and the fumes have been overpowering at times.
The person living in the bedroom has a Cpap machine and has lung disease and was told by a respiratory assistant at the hospital that the fumes may not have affected them per se but the fact that the Cpap machine pumps air from the room straight into the lungs it would have had an impact since the fumes from the room were being pumped directly inas the whole place stinks of Parasene.

Also can you tell me is it legal to have an oil tank up against a wooden fence with no fire boarding in place.

There has also been a boiler discharging straight into our houses air bricks and the fumes from that have been so bad that the air bricks inside have had to be packed with packing tape to alleviate the smell in the front room. We have had sore throats, runny sore eyes, coughs, feeling nauseous and just generally muzzy headed. The oil leak has been going on for a year the discharging boiler for the whole of the 10 years we’ve been here. We are tenants next door is owned and rented out. We have contacted our landlord many many times and he fobs us off saying he can’t find the owner of the property etc. We found him in one day on the internet. Also our landlord sent council round who said ‘never seen anything like this not passing the buck but go back to your landlord’.

Our landlord has shown no duty of care to his tenants even though he has been aware. He just kept saying he couldn’t contact the owner of the other house to get anything done. We said ok we will take it to law after finding out how dangerous the fumes can be. Suddenly within 5 days everything is sorted. We think it’s because we were prepared to force the landlords hand. But our landlord a well known housing association left us to suffer for 10 years with this boiler and nigh on 13 months with the oil leak and did nothing even though we provided photos, videos and wrote regularly to them.
We feel we have a case for compensation as we have really suffered.
Please can you advise?

Just wondering if this is still live?

My partner is in a private rented flat, The landlord never does repairs and never does anything when he says he’s going too, He takes £512 a month off of him , The boiler is so faulty that he needs a whole new system which is about £1500 all together but the landlord refuses too pay it and every now and again will come around and bodge the job. I basically just wanted too know how and where I go about getting him into a different property, The landlord seems too not do anything we ask of him, The neighbour upstairs is the loudest person I know too walk around, She stays up until all hours banging around and having her washing machine on at either stupid o’clock in the morning or really really late at night but the landlord won’t seem too do anything about it and everyone I seem too go too is just telling him too look for a new property I understand we do need too do that but I really don’t think what the landlord has been doing is very fair at all

Please can someone help, I live with my husband in a council block of flats and the tenant downstairs keeps reporting us for all sorts of things so I kept getting letters from the council about breach of tenancy. Everything is false but he is racist as my husband is a Arab and he has shouted at us saying he wont stop until we are gone. I have been here 16yrs and he has been here 2years. He has now made false accusations saying my husband is a terrorist and he will cut his throat. My husband is the quietest nicest person and we just want to be left alone but the council just accept his allegations without justification and I am afraid I am going to lose my home

Hello Sir/Madam,I move to Birmingham City Council temporary Accomodation on the 24th of November 2020,the provider give me all the keys of the doors of the house,but he don’t give me the key for the basement door.I I tell him to give me the key and he said after he will give me the key.ok And the house is smelling something bad and my family and I are worried where these bad smell comes from?So on the 3rd of December 2020 the manager comes and drop me the key of the basement.When he open the door,if you’re not strong enough,you can disappear physically,smelly smelly and very strong bad smell.He quickly close the door and he said he’ll send send someone to fix it on the 4th of December,really someone as a contractor comes and start pumping out the ponds of smelly worms/bacteria water and I’m filming everything as evidence on my camera,we find out a secret where all the poo/shit(sorry)from the toilet goes straightaway in the basement.And it makes a massive river of poo along with the water with worms,bacteria and I have 5 kids have asthma and 3 kids is alright.what advice can somebody give me to sue them and where I can make a complaint about health environmental&safety.can you provide me a phone contact number as I live in Birmingham Uk.Thank you.No Hygiene/No good for health.

My girlfriend is getting evicted for Renovations, she was only told a week ago, she's lost her job and was told she could get her deposit, she's paid May's rent and now the landlord is asking for this months rent(June) and isn't giving her the deposit(as they are taking more money)even tho she is being told to leave tomorrow(the 10th). She has nowhere to go(I live in Scotland with my family and she's in England) she is also high risk for covid-19 (asthma) and also suffers from fainting/dizzyness. Is there anything we can do?

I rent a property in a hmo and today is the 13th day with no electric the landlord says that there will be no electric until another resident is evicted as there is a situation going on with that. Tomorrow the council are meant to be coming and serving a prohibition notice. What i want to know is should i take the landlord to court and how can i go about this?.

Hi,
My landlord is changing my tenancy agreement without discussing with me . And it is a loss for me in that.
Is that legal?
I have not signed it . As I have told him I will not sign till he agrees to old tenancy agreement.

So for a year and a half we have been dealing with mold. my partner is now being effected so bad that she has mold spores on her body. We left for 2 weeks to visit my fiance's mother in Mass. They were supposed to fix it all by the time we got back. We called while we were gone they said they were taking care of it. The person that was watching our animals told us how they trashed our apartment. I called Jade Gemstone Diamond reality which is my apartment complex. I told them what was said and they said everything was clean. We get home at 1:17 in the morning and our apartment was trashed. Cigarette butts was everywhere. They used our pots and pans to catch water under our sink. So much more that I can even explain. We have pictures and video as well. We are on a month to month with no new lease due Covid. We are trying to find out if we can sue or what exactly our rights are. They sent a email to my partner basically saying the apartment is uninhabitable and they are sorry the couldn't fix the issues per our request but basically we have to move. They are not offering to help us move. They claim they don't have any other apartments to move us to. So now we are stuck trying find a place which is hard because no one is renting right now. HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP HELP PLEASE!!!!

In November i had kitchen fire which completely destroyed my cooker hood .y housing providers say i will hav to replace this at my cost. I had been onto these pple about faulty smoke alarms for 3 weeks prior to fire. The emergency call outs of housing didnt see it as an emergency to replace smoke alarm thus a fire broke out. The day after fire an electrician came out and replaced it. Who would b held responsible here. I have trail of fone umbers i foned to hav alarms replaced .Bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Hi, thanks for all your advice, could I please ask for some more...
When we moved in to our rented house, there was no Hive box, so we couldn't control the gas heating and had to use electric heaters for a month. Also there was no hot water, so ahd to use kettles to wash up, eventually after 35 days it was fixed. We were promised in an email from the agent that the alarm and sheds would be fixed but they never were. We reported the faults many times, made an official complaint (that was brushed aside). So paid to leave the contract early. We intend to claim a partial rent refund and compensation though the small claims court.
Is it the landlord we claim against? Or the agent? or jointly? Or do we make two separate claims?
Any advice appreciated