Damage Outwith My Control

[difbear]

Someone has damaged my door from the outside. My landlord says that we need to pay for that. Someone has kicked the door and it's affected it's fittings.

Now considering there were 5 of us living in a flat with no Multiple Occupancy License plus the fact the landlord has asked us to call the police and report an attempted break in and invent a story this has given me some leverage.

What's your thoughts guys and who's liable for damage I could not have prevented?

[cheddar]

You DO need to contact the Police not necessarily make up a story or anything but just say that someone has damaged the property in which you live. I live in social housing and if someone damaged my property I would need to provide the Council with a Crime Reference Number so they could ge the repair done as it would be covered under their insurance.

A malicious act has been carried out and that is a crime of vandalism or similar and your lanlord would be the same as my council, he needs a CRN to be able to claim for the damage. I wouldn't invent a story though.

As for having no license well that is a matter you may want to take up with your local Housing Rights dept.

[difbear]

He's the one claiming it has been kicked. Either by us or someone outwith.

To be honest, the door wasn't great when we moved in and it has just got worse in time.

He said if we get a crime report we only need to pay £50? Why us and not him?

[cheddar]

You don't pay anything, contact your local Housing or Welfare Right dept, he is talking rubbish about you having to pay. You haven't done it but it should have been reported to the Police as damage to your property. There is usually something in your tenancy agreement that says you should contact your LL or the police is any damage has been caused.

It sounds like your landlord isn't very co operative anyway. Contact your local cpuncil and if they have welfare or housing rights dept or go to the CAB for some advice.

[difbear]

Thanks. Some more dialogue with our landlord and then I'll take your advice. Would you recommend reporting it to the police even though it's now been fixed?

[difbear]

Right.

Landlord has deducted £148 to fix this door. He's charged this from our deposit. I need advice on what to do now.

[Nightmare4banks]

Hi all!

Sorry to hear about your problem,difbear.

As far as the law is concerned you should have reported the incident to the police.
You would have been given a crime reference number with time and date etc of the incident.

Your landlord is liable for the repair of the door.

He should be able to claim for it against his building insurance but does not want to for fear of increased premiums.

By the way,what type of tenancy do you have - shorthold or are you a sitting tenant?

The answer to this question will enable me to help you with getting your deposit back hopefully!

[difbear]

It's a Short Assured Tenancy.

One more point. Our original lease expired on 31/03/06. He drew up a new lease in the name of a third flatmate to cover the fortnight the flat was empty while we looked for a new place. He only mentioned the door after this new lease was signed but has deducted the door money from our original deposit relating to the lease that expired as detailed above. Am I making sense here?

Any help appreciated.

[cheddar]

Okay what you need to do is keep a diary of everything that is going on and being said with dates/times/people involved etc

And go to the CAB or Housing Rights dept ASAP. You need some official help with this one I think.

[Nightmare4banks]

Hi all again!

difbear,please clarify:

1.Have you/your flatmates reported the damaged door to the police or not?

In my view this should have been done asap.If you have not done so yet,just say someone tried to break into your home - wilful damage.You should have the date,time and brief details of the damage done.You will be given a crime ref no and receive a standard letter from your local police station after it has been logged on their system.

Your landlord would need this number to make a claim against the building insurance company as they will either contact the police or he would send a copy of the letter received from the police.

You could then contact your landlord and tell him what I have just said in order that he could make a claim etc.However,bear in mind that because you have a shorthold tenancy he could evict you fairly easily but he would still need a court order and 100000% get a possession order due the shorthold tenancy clause.

2.The details regarding each tenancy - old and new together with their setup i.e. How many tenants are on each tenancy or has there been a tenancy issued for each tenant? or in one tenant's name only?

3.Details of the rents and deposits charged.

I hope you find this information useful.

Answers to these questions will enable me to help you further hopefully!

[cheddar]

Originally Posted by difbear

Some more dialogue with our landlord and then I'll take your advice. Would you recommend reporting it to the police even though it's now been fixed?

Nightmare4banks difbear didn't report it and the door has since been fixed by Landlord.

[Nightmare4banks]

Hi all!

Now,cheddar I still would report the incident to the police.

Once you get the particulars of the incident from the police through the post,make a copy(certify it at a local solicitor's office as "TRUE COPY OF THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT".As far as I know you could get the County Court to do the same free of charge.Then give your landlord the original.Now he has fixed the door he may not bother to claim against his building insurance.However,in my view that should not be your concerns.
The main thing by providing this info to your landlord,this would mean to him that you/any flatmate or anyone associated with you has not damaged the property.

Then when you come to vacate the property and if he does not return your deposit in full you would have legal redress through the Small Claims Court using the certified copy of the letter from the police.

You should always try to resolve a dispute without court action and have evidence that you have done so - similar to approaching the banks to reclaim the unlawful charges.If you do not get your money back within the adequate time scale sue!

It is as simple as that!

I hope you find this info useful.

Anymore questions,please feel free to ask.

All the best!

Kepp us posted.

[difbear]

Originally Posted by Nightmare4banks

Hi all again!

difbear,please clarify:

1.Have you/your flatmates reported the damaged door to the police or not?

In my view this should have been done asap.If you have not done so yet,just say someone tried to break into your home - wilful damage.You should have the date,time and brief details of the damage done.You will be given a crime ref no and receive a standard letter from your local police station after it has been logged on their system.

Your landlord would need this number to make a claim against the building insurance company as they will either contact the police or he would send a copy of the letter received from the police.

You could then contact your landlord and tell him what I have just said in order that he could make a claim etc.However,bear in mind that because you have a shorthold tenancy he could evict you fairly easily but he would still need a court order and 100000% get a possession order due the shorthold tenancy clause.

2.The details regarding each tenancy - old and new together with their setup i.e. How many tenants are on each tenancy or has there been a tenancy issued for each tenant? or in one tenant's name only?

3.Details of the rents and deposits charged.

I hope you find this information useful.

Answers to these questions will enable me to help you further hopefully!

1. The damage has not been reported. The door was stiff when we moved in and it's deteriorated as time has gone on. I don't believe the door has been kicked. It certainly never went from good one day to bad the next.

2/3. Originally there were 5 of us. Two couples and a single. Deposit of £750 and rent of £75o p/m. This lease was in the name of two folk I live with. We were due to move out on 31/03/06 but as landlord couldn't find someone to take the flat until the middle of this month we negotiated a short stay of 2 weeks for the reduced sum of £200. The two people on the original lease are not here anymore so it's a new lease in a 3rd persons name.

We're due to move out this Saturday. All advice appreciated.

[cheddar]

Nightmare4banks, I cannot possibly see what the police could do with a door that has been fixed but someone thinks was in poor condition, I really really don't.

Anyway difbear I still think you need to get some professional advice, have you contacted the CAB or your local authority to see if they have a Housing Rights office?

[difbear]

Originally Posted by cheddar

Nightmare4banks, I cannot possibly see what the police could do with a door that has been fixed but someone thinks was in poor condition, I really really don't.

Anyway difbear I still think you need to get some professional advice, have you contacted the CAB or your local authority to see if they have a Housing Rights office?

I really don't know where to start. Do CAB deal with stuff over the phone?

Also would they be able to help me considering I wasn't on any of the two leases.

[Nightmare4banks]

Hi all!

In comment to your latest posts.

Cheddar,The Police are not going to do anything about the door.Unless,of course you give a description of the potential intruder and he/she is then arrested.

The objective is to log the "wilful damage" incident with the Police and obtain the CRN - Crime Reference Number.Then pass it on to the landlord.

Now,difbear what evidence to have to show of your rent payments for the duration of the tenancy?

Were you paying the rent directly to your landlord by cash/cheque or Standing Order through the bank?If yes,how frequently?

Or to the folks that were on the Assured Shorthold Agreement?

Please clarify.

The answers to these questions should enable me to hopefully assistance you further.

[cheddar]

The CAB can give some limited advice over the phone but I would arrange an appt with one of their advisors so they can give you some one to one advice, support and information. They can also contact your landlord on your behalf. Hope you get it sorted out.