New Flat - New Phone Line - New Landlord

[creamz]

Hello all and thanks for reading,

So i moved into a brand new flat with my partner and the flat is perfect, or at least it seemed it was. I have a few problems and woundered if anyone could shed any light on were i stand with them.

First problem is phone line, I currently hold a 6 month contract with the flat and i would idealy like to move into a house with a garden in time for summer. As the flat is new it has no phone line included, BT will charge me £124 for a line to be fitted whcih i will pay over 12 months, I dont feel i should pay £124 to connect HIS phone line as I will no longer be living there in 5 months but he will hold the flat untill he decides to sell. Does the landlord have no obligation to set up a phoneline? is it simply in my hands?

Second is we are recieving alot of his post, on advice i opened a few to see what they were and found denied loan applications, what worried us was His name was in differant orders on each letters.

Anty advice would be great cheers.

[blacksheep1979]

Well you could give the post to the police as it sounds like fraud - but you are commiting a fairly large crime in opening others post.

As to the phone line - have you asked him to get it installed? Point out it will make the flat far more marketable ie phone/internet in the future. If he says he will reimburse you for getting it done, make sure you get this in writing as he sounds a little dodgy.

[Nightmare4banks]

creamz,in reply to your post and in my view:

1.You are the person who has decided to want to install a telephone line in the property and thus you should be TOTALLY liable for the costs of this plus the associated bills as per what would be written in your tenancy agreement.

2.However,there is nothing wrong with approching your landlord regarding sharing the expense say on a 50/50 basis and see what he says.

3.Regarding the post,I personally think that you are "skating on very thin ice" and you should not intercept your landlord's post regardless of what he is getting up to.This is a criminal offence as Blacksheep1979 has also stated under The Post Office Act 1953 and you could also be liable for a prison sentence/fine.
What would happen if you did get involved and contacted the police and he turned out to be innocent in the end?

4.I want to stress that your landlord is possibly(going by what you have mentioned) a bit dodgy but what you are doing yourself could be classed as really bad as well - do not take my comments personally in any shape or form but you have posted with the objective of obtaining some advice and I am replying accordingly.

My advice/suggestion is:ALWAYS LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP!

I hope you find this information useful.

[creamz]

Thank you very much for your help.

First off, I have attempted some kind of negotiation about the phone line but he is not intrested, he promised us blinds on the windows but after numerous requests for them to be done he still hasnt done anything about it, so looks like I will be paying for phone line.

The post, I have packaged up the post that we opend into a new large envelope and have forwarded them onto his personal address, I know its a white lie but i explained that our two year old had opened them.

Would you recomend me returning the unopend post to senders telling them that he dosnt live here and give them his real address??

Many thanks for your advice guys.

[spunkeyrich]

just general observations, you say the flat is brand new, hence no telephone line, i wonder why there is alot of post coming to the property if noone has lived in it before.
Do you need BT for internet purposes or phone purposes as you could get a cheap mobile to last you the six months, unless you are a heavey user.

If you rented via an agent then let them know your getting post. If not mark on the envolope 'not known at this address' and send back. do not inform anyone of the forwarding address as the landlord may not asppreciate it. As long as you want to live in the flat and you pay for the flat, any disputes or dodgy dealing from the landlord isnt of interest to you. Unless it affects your credit rating.

cheers

rich

[creamz]

Thanks for that spunkeyrich,

Yer the BT is for internet as i do alot of work form home, The flat we moved into wasnt supposed to be ready untill after xmas but it was finnished early because we had to move out, when we moved in none of the other flats were ocupied so i can only assume as soon as he took ownership of the property he started using it as a mailing address.

As i mentioned before the thing that really worries me is the fact on the mail his name is in differant orders, for example

first name, second name, third name
second name, third name, first name
third name, first name, second name

If this makes any sense, he effectivly using his actual name in differant orders, maybe im just the susposious type!

Another thing that concerns me is the fact he holds over a £1000 deposit on the flat and the dealings we have had with him so far dont make me overly confident i will ever see that deposit again.

I shall simply return the post as you recomend with out his forwarding address.

Regards Ryan

[spunkeyrich]

take some photoes of the property asap as you have only just moved in. also, as its new there are items that may be at fault like cracks arrearing, damp, and weird electrical faults. make sure you report these thinks as soon as possible, then if damage occures because of those faults then its not your fault. (if you see what i mean)

Strangely enough, a new property can have more problems than an established home.

If you are well prepared at the start of your agreement, then at the end of the agreement to landlord will not have any option but to pay your deposit back

rich

[creamz]

Many thanks again Rich,

I shall become a mini detective tonite and complie a report on the flat and the problems we have had since moving in.

Cheers for ya advice
Ryan