please please give me advice

[ann deloup]

hi
iam two months in arrears with my rent i owe £910
I also owe this month
the reason i have not paid is because my flat is so so damp there is mould up the walls in my bedroom and my babys room .
There is moss growing underneath my carpet
i have been telling him for 17 months now and nothing has been done .
He changed one square of the carpet (my carpet is cream , he replaced it withone that is bright orange )
He is now taking me to court is there anything i an do ?

[rbrears]

Report the situation to the local authority and ask them to get involved. Speak to the housing department - they can insopect the premises and serve a notice on the landlord requiring him to put the propertyy into a habitable condition.

Defend any proceedings on the basis that tyou are claiming compensation for the living conditions you have put up with for 17 months. Go straight to the CAB about this. As soon as you can.

[Bookworm]

Pay up. You can not withhold rent because he hasn't done anything to the flat.

Once you have the threat of homelessness or a CCJ removed from your head, get the health and housing people from your local authority involved, and see what they have to say.

Also get a quote for all the work that has to be done, just in case.

[ann deloup]

hi thsnks for your advice i am going to go to my solicitor today . what is the CAB?

[demon_x_slash]

As rbrears says, get this sorted NOW - as you are two months in arrears he can start court proceedings BUT you have the mitigation of the mould. There is a Housing Officer attached to your local council; try and get down there today, make an appointment for them to come round asap, and they'll decide whether it's fit for human habitation - and if it's got so bad that you have moss on the carpet, it doesn't sound as if it is.

Have you any record in writing of anything the LL's done to rectify the problem? Did he give you a receipt or any sort of paperwork when he replaced that bit of carpet? Have you written to him, or has it all been done on the telephone so far? I only ask because it would make things a lot easier on you if you have written proof that you asked him to fix things 17 months ago. Don't worry too much if you don't; if it's in a bad state, the Housing Officer can probably judge how long it's been going on for.

How much rent are you paying on the place at the moment? You are entitled to withold part of it as a LAST RESORT in these sorts of situations; the reason it's a last resort is because of the above, two months in arrears = court actioned eviction - however, you seem to have a genuine reason for doing so and with the Housing Officer's report as evidence you may even be entitled to a partial refund of rent you've paid while the problems were ongoing.

Try very hard not to discuss things over the phone with your landlord now - sending letters makes it much easier to track what everyone's said and promised. You can advise him that, as he has threatened court action, you now wish all communication until the matter is resolved to be in writing.

So, get down the Council, get the Housing Officer down to make a report (play up that you've got a baby in there, they'll be round quicker in theory) and let us know what he/she says. Ask specifically during the appointment about the court action and your 'right of offset' - this is the partial refund you may be entitled to that I mentioned above.

Good luck.

EDIT: Bookie posted while I was typing You may wish to pay the arrears to get the threat of court action withdrawn, yes - this will take a lot of pressure off you. However, it is worth pursuing the offset and claiming back part of the rent - see what the Housing Officer says. The CAB is the Consumer Advisory Board, you can probably find your local one in the Yellow Pages. They're like this website, but in the flesh with an advisor sitting right there in front of you, going through everything with you.

[orfoster]

Citizens Advice corporate website - Home is the best place to get advice on the matter. I would go here before the solicitors unless you really do understand what you are doing. I understand why you are witholding the rent but you will come out worse off if you do that. You need to pay the rent and then deal with the health issue as they are two seperate things.

[rbrears]

You can set off your claim against the landlord's claim for rent unless your tenancy agreement states that you will pay rent without any right of set off. Again take advice on this straightaway. The interaction with this right and any section 8 notice served by your landlord is complicated and you will need to get things on a formal footing straightaway.

[ann deloup]

right then i am starting to understand .
plan of action for today:-
GO TO CITIZENS ADVICE
GO TO LOCAL COUNCIL


I have lived in my flat for over two years at first it was with a letting agency and i complained to them all the time again only on the telephone they did get people round to look but nothing happened
if it does go to court can i get a statement from them ?

[demon_x_slash]

If they are willing to admit that there was a mould problem while they were dealing with you then that could help, yes. It may be a long shot asking them but it doesn't hurt to try. So you were with an agency first, and then...? Did they sell it to a private landlord, or are they still managing the property but you're dealing direct with the LL at the moment? If they're not managing the property now they may be more willing to help - if they're willing, you need them to attest to the problem, put down what date they were made aware of it, and any attempt they made to correct it before they sold the property on.

So yes, get down to the council and CAB and just lay it all out for them. It's their job to help you out.

[ann deloup]

i waswith the agency forabout a year then my lanlord just came round one dayand gave a new tenancyto sign saying that we are no longer with the agency.
my friend told meto go to environmental health .

[ann deloup]

also he sent me a letter that if im not outby 4th jan he will start court proceedings hoe longwill it take to actually evict me
i havnt got enough money for a bond and the wait onthe council is huge

[demon_x_slash]

So the agency aren't dealing with the property any more - this may make them more willing to give you a statement saying that you reported problems with damp over a year ago.

The Housing Officer will be part of the environmental health team - did you go to the council or the CAB today as advised?

I'm not sure how long it will take to get an eviction awarded, someone else may be able to let you know. However, it seems you have until at least 4th Jan. I'm fairly sure it'll take him a fortnight at least to obtain a possession...again, someone else needs to advise you on that specifically. The CAB office adviser should be able to do that too, but, hopefully, this won't get to the court stage as the CAB and Housing Officer can attest that you have a fair reason for complaint. You really need to get down there asap to begin gathering evidence. Do you have pictures of the damp and damage? Start taking some if not.