Need some advice please, sorry for the rambling post but its a long story.

I stood guarantor for my daughter and to put it bluntly, the landlord has been nothing but a bloodsucker.

I have cleared several lots of arrears as he has been charging £25 each for a letter to me and my daughter each time he notifies us of arrears.

On this notice, he states that there is a £1 daily charge every day there are arrears but makes no reference to these other charges...(they are in the small print apparently)...so they mount up un-noticed until they put her back in arrears again and another letter appears adding £50 in total to his bill.

My daughter complained about the thermostat not working 2 months ago and nothing was done, they rang me the week before christmas to clear yet more arrears and ask if there were any jobs before the christmas shutdown....I told them again about the thermostat. No visit came for repairs but 4 days after that conversation he issued a S21 notice giving her only months notice.

To be honest,she has found somewhere else and is glad to be going but he then claimed an inspection had been arranged for which she had not been in and charged her another £50 for a missed visit. Have now received another letter claiming over £250 of arrears again despite me clearing them as mentioned above.

We have now received a monstrous list of repairs, many of which are bogus but how can we prove it.

He claims the carpets are damaged and need cleaning/replacing but it was his workmen who caused the problem 3 months ago when they did something in the loft and caused the mess and despite repeated calls he has failed to send anyone around to sort it which he said he would. He claims the cooker is damaged and will need replacing with a new one...the old one is exactly that..very old.

He says the bathroom has deteriorated due to mildew but to be honest,there has been no damned heating to dry it out due to the unrepaired fault.

He also says he wants rent for the future as he will be unable to rent out the house immediately.

Looking at his demands,I am going to be hit with a bill for thousands as he intends to take me to Court if I dont settle his demands.

She is leaving this coming Friday with her notice period ending the following Monday.

Do I have any chance whatsoever of challenging any of these excessive demands as I do not have the cash. I am a home owner which they insist upon for a guarantor and its becoming obvious why now.

Since asking around on local facebook pages etc, he has a terrible reputation for this sort of stuff and although I have to accept my responsibilities as a guarantor, I would at least expect him to be fair and honest about this.

Help please.

Hello there.

Do you have any photos that might prove your case? It could be helpful.

HB

No unfortunately....I wish I did.

The Cooker for example is just covered in rust...he says its due to not being cleaned...it was like it at the start of the tenancy.

The thermostat and lack of heating,well....how can we prove we notified him..we did it by phone.

He knew about the carpets and was supposed to send someone round but now claims its damage caused by my daughter...

I want to argue that the house will not be lettable when she goes anyway because of the heating fault....

There are no end of people with similar horror stories in this area with him...I wish I had checked earlier.

He uses the legal process to make money.....Banks had to cut down their letter and overdraft charges but he gets away with his exorbitant fees....

I just need to know if there are any legal arguments I can use to reduce his demands.....I will settle fair demands but am seething at his bully boy tactics.

first note

Section 21 must be a minimum of TWO MONTHS or it is not valid.

As for the charges, after she finds herself a new place they could in theory be reclaimed via small claims as they constitute a penalty clause and is unenforceable.

His late payment and letter charges are unlawful. They are excessive and bear no relation to their actual cost. You can recover these by bringing your own action – or if he sues you then you can counterclaim for them.

I would go round and get pictures of everything and start keeping a detailed log of everything that is said and the reasons for rejecting any claims that he makes.

Frankly I would welcome him taking me to court. It is much easier for you to defend the claim then to bring it.

Therefore I would tell him to do his worst. I suppose that he is holding a deposit and so maybe you should consider suing him for the return of the deposit and also for the charges that he has levied and also any trouble and inconvenience from the poor maintenance of the property.

Have there been proper gas safety checks, electric checks and also smoke alarms etc. fitted? I would suggest getting hold of the local authority because the landlord has certain duties in respect of his property before he is entitled to rent it out.

If you find that he has broken rules then make sure you documented all and if you decide to sue him – or if he sues you and you have to defend and counterclaim then if you can show that he has acted unlawfully even in respect of the basic regulatory rules for running private tenancies – you will lose all credibility before the judge.

My own view is that you should go for him and show no mercy. He seems to have you worried and this seems to have encourage you to consider paying him something.

Go through the Internet and anything you find about him and his poor reputation, take screenshots of everything so that you have got a good file that shows that his whole pattern of the treatment of his tenants is extremely poor.

In future take pictures of everything when you move in – and then when you move out. If there are any complaints during the tenancy, document everything and take pictures again. It is the only way to defend yourself against unpleasant disreputable landlords

Thanks for the replies so far but as yet I am struggling to find any legislation that points to these charges being illegal.

They may exceed OFT guidelines but proving them illegal is a different matter going by what I have gleaned so far.

Does anyone have a link to any legislation I may refer to should push come to shove ?

Am I in a difficult position being a guarantor as opposed to the tenant, ie, how could I counter claim if these charges were illegal ?

Thanks in advance.

http://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/blog/late-rent-payment-fees/

http://www.tcyoung.co.uk/blog/2013/private-landlord/penalty-clauses-in-tenancy-agreements-are-they-legal

Thanks for the replies so far but as yet I am struggling to find any legislation that points to these charges being illegal.

They may exceed OFT guidelines but proving them illegal is a different matter going by what I have gleaned so far.

 

Does anyone have a link to any legislation I may refer to should push come to shove ?

 

Am I in a difficult position being a guarantor as opposed to the tenant, ie, how could I counter claim if these charges were illegal ?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

http://www.propertyinvestmentproject.co.uk/blog/late-rent-payment-fees/

http://www.tcyoung.co.uk/blog/2013/private-landlord/penalty-clauses-in-tenancy-agreements-are-they-legal

look at credit card reclaim won threads. Law used is the same

keywords to look for. Genuine prestimate of loss

penalty

unfair terms

Was a deposit paid and was it protected?

They cant charge for missed visit, or late payments unless excessive, i.e. very late say +14 days, or letters asking for payment.

Did you sign a guarantor form, and given all the contract information.

Usually any guarantor form has to witnessed ( notarised ) possibly under seal ( up to judge ) as you have no benefit from the contract.

LL can only claim for damage and remedial work taking into account fair wear ant tear.

There was no deposit, just rent up front and a guarantor agreement.

He charges £25 per letter sent to me and my daughter....so £50 on her account and this letter warns that a £1 a day charge is being applied, does not mention the letter charges though.

I did sign a form but don't have a copy...obviously will be requesting it if the worst happens.

I will also contest the charges against fair wear and tear but he also says he wants future rent if he cannot rent out the house immediately it is vacated.

Since the heating still does not work and he has made no attempt to remedy that, I will throw that at him plus he has been advertising the house since 6th Jan but had no interest.

He is just a money grabber.....a post on face book about him tonight attracted dozens of disgruntled commenters who have been done by him but it was quickly pulled.....

he cant charge anything for advertising or future rent! The LL is the one that has ended the contract by issuing S21.

Has she replied in writing that she will be leaving on agreed date?

Also any complaints about heating etc should be writing so you have a record of when it was made any action if any taken.

You can of course counter claim for lack of heating etc. and other defects.

Suggest you write to LL with above points and then wait to see if he wants to take anybody to court and leave it at that.

Not worth arguing the points any further.

Is this the same issue as this thread, but from a different perspective?

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?439518-Guarator-Liable

If so, it would be useful to see what advice they are asking for and have been getting.

The advice is as the thread!

If the protection scheme is satisfied with the claim and tenant has not disputed it; the LL will get to keep deposit.

He will have to claim anything over that from the tenant and/or guarantor, possibly having to take them to court.

Again it would depend on the terms and guarantor form, if G would be held liable by the judge.

I am currently redecorating parts of the house which my daughter changed to a different colour with the LL agreement as long as she agreed to restore upon exit. Not a problem.

House has cheap contract cord carpet down which was not new when tenancy started and a small hole has appeared near the foot of the stairs...fair wear and tear as far as I am concerned, however, he wants the carpet replacing with new and the rest of the carpets deep cleaning or replacing.

He claims the bathroom needs repainting and mould spots have appeared...bathroom is as it was when tenancy started and the mould has appeared since the heating packed up. He has been notified but done nothing.

Cooker is damaged he claims and he wants a brand new one as a replacement.

The annoying part is he has sent me a letter as guarantor stating that if he cannot let out the property from the day the tenancy ends, he will continue charging rent.

I don't believe he has kept to his part of the deal as he has failed to maintain the property when faults were reported.

He has added £50 bill to the account every time he sends a letter out to me and my daughter plus a £1 a day late payment charge until any arrears are cleared.

It seems like he uses this ploy to get the house done up ready for re letting at the guarantors expense every time and tries to get ongoing rent too....he is just a conman with the reputation as the worst landlord in town. (I find out too late)

He has no new tenant lined up as no viewings have taken place so I don't believe he will be out of pocket on that score.

His lack of attention to repairs has contributed to the problems in my opinion so again....the house will not be fit to move in regardless of any work we do.

I could also argue that if he had issued a legal section 21 notice with the 2 months required notice he might have got the extra months rent but since he only gave 1 month (illegal I know) he has forfeited any right to it.

I am waiting for him to say its in the small print.

I am going to send a reply just as the tenancy ends as I dont want him to suddenly repair everything.

I am expecting things to turn very sour at that point.

Will keep you all updated as things happen but I am trying to prepare for the worst from now.

Sorry, OP is only G, not T. He cannot initiate deposit non-protection claim, only contest charges applied to G.

Notification of disrepair by tel is not acceptable service, unless confirmed in writing to 'AST address for service of Notices'.

Ts & Gs need to understand LLT Law as much as any LL IMO

Mariner51, thanks for your reply...its actually helpful.

I have been browsing and come across the Landlord and Tenant act 1983 and I believe there is a defence in there against some of his demands as redecoration due to wear and tear is his responsibility not the departing tenant..

OFT guidelines also state any claims must be reasonable or they are unfair and thus illegal.

If he claims unpaid rent, I will contest on that basis, ie..there would be no arrears if he had not applied unlawful charges.

Also..there is no deposit...this landlord lost a case when he tried to keep someones deposit....Piggot V Slaven, 2009 so now does not take deposits but insists on guarantor for every property.

The main concerns to me are his demands to replace carpets and redecorate the bathroom plus further rent because he claims he has lost out as he cannot rent the property out the next day.

Other aspects I am in the process of rectyfying.

Are Landlords supposed to knock of 10%, for every year you have been a tenant in the house, for costs when having to replace things like carpets and white goods? I am sure they cannot ask for the full amount especially if the appliance or carpet is years old, can you find out when the cooker was last made? Gives an idea how old it is?

LL cannot claim new for old, so take into account age and wear and tear.

Anyway, Belaflat, you should not be in the flat as tenancy has ended!!!! by being their and retaining the keys, will allow him to charge rent for the period you are still in ' occupancy ' !

I suggest you cease what you are doing and let LL do what he has to do.

Keep records. photos of everything in case he does take it to court.

Tenancy ends on Tuesday..have got the letters with all the requirements and threats in front of me now.....forewarned is forearmed as they say.

I know it will end up in court...just doing the groundwork now so its not a last minute dash.

Take photos of everything before the keys are handed over so he can't claim any other problems afterwards. Take photos of meters too.

How long has your daughter lived there?

I see this is a on going problem

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?431619-Guarantor-and-threat-of-Court.

The charges are subject to a credit agreement and I bet the LL isnt licenced in that field. He canr just make up a penalty because he feels like it, he cant chage for normal correspondence as that is just a part of busines.

To answer Caro...she has been in for 22 months.

Originally short term assured for 6 months with rolling month after that period.

45002....yes, he is very quick with the threats.

The rest seems to be a suck it and see approach I will have to take.

I have found the Landlords and Tenants Act which states wear and tear is up to him to repair...

OFT guidelines say an unfair term can be deemed illegal but that is a matter for courts to decide.

Just have to wait and see what he throws at me.

Don't know if I'll be able to use the 1 month section 21 notice against him in all this.

He gets the keys back 21st of this month.

The reason I asked how long she was there was to establish if it was likely the cooker would go rusty and carpet get holes in the time she was there. Seems unlikely to me and I hope to a judge.

I agree with eb about the penalty charges.

I wouldn't give him another penny and tell him you and your daughter want all the penalty charges back or you will cheerfully see him in court.

Hi Caro...the cooker was rusty to start with, I have been there tonight to photograph it...its an MFI job which should give an indication of how old it is. Diplomat is the make and the company ceased trading in 2008

Pulled it out of the housing and its brown over with rust inside.

The carpet is not new and has a small hole with loose threads showing from it...the hole in question is about 2 inches long and just follows a seam...not a gaping hole. Inspected the rest of the carpets and a similar type of hole has started to appear in the middle room so as far as im concerned, its wear and tear. In a new carpet I would argue that its not true but in this which is just cheap cord its perfectly feasible.

Belaflat,

Correct . ... Diplomat was MFI rubbish circa 1998 to 2008.

To have rusted it must be old.

BankFodder asked in an early post if there is a current Gas Safety Cert.

Is there ?

With regards the carpet :

If the LL is saying it's nearly new then get him to produce the receipt which will have been "off set against Tax", but records are to be kept for 6 years