I have received a PCN too I am surprised at the number of people who have received ticket. Clearly, there is something at fault here.... Are there ground for objection?

caguser wrote:- How many of you have actually faced bailifs for the previous tenant? I had to face such a wretched thing - the bailifs were demanding to enter my home to do a walking possession order. I had to hold the door tightly, because they were pushing in. These guys were pretty aggresive. Even though you protest you are not the previous tenant all they say "well you would say that!". I wanted to dial 999 was intimated and threatened, but was worried the baillifs would rip the mobile out of my hands and use that for the debts. Plus, the embarassement of neighbours of the fiasco going on. As a law abiding citizen I had to face such a disgraceful ordeal. The matter got sorted out eventually... but I am still bitter about the experience and am still waiting for an apology and compensation from the baillifs. Some years back, I was given a gas card, so I assumed I would top it up, only to find a £96 debt on it. I had to phone British Gas, to get them to come round and reset the meter - they gave me an appointment time of 8am-1pm, so I had to miss a whole day's work, because the previous tenant never cleared the debt. Even though the meter was outside BG insisted that I was at home to do the reset. So who will compensate me time and the aggrevation that I got? And I have seen with my own eyes British Gas men take meters away!!! On another occassion I was being shown a house and the estate agent could not get into the property with the keys he had. He said he had been there only yesterday to do a viewing. He was worried squatters had taken on the place as the locks looked changed and there were drill marks on the door. It turned out the electricity company had broken in and removed the electric meter and replace the lock. With the problems I have faced, I support Landlords who demand to see the final electricity, gas, water bills or check that there are no debts on meters. All these are services to the property and in my view part and parcel of the property. I am NOT saying landlords should check credit card bills or any other personal matters which don't affect the property. My position has changed because of all the bad things that I have seen. Are there any other solutions to such problems?

by pass the agent, look for ads by landlords advertising directly e.g. loot.com many Landlords dont want to pay commision to agents hence deal direct. this way you can meet the landlord and see if he/she is a reasonable chap.... plus less likely any fees for you.

Looks like everyone is telling you to leave the property. I agree! However, I do recommend that you get a damp proof report, you did mention that the landlord was trying to get you to stich you up for damp problems by stating it is a washing machines etc.. if you have a damp orof report, it will show the cause of problems relate to the property and not you. And if you get grief to get your deposit back etc... you have the report, plus it might help the landlord figure out the problem and help his next tenant. Also, I think your landlord is trying to come to terms with the fact that his property has damp problems and is trying to look for someone else to pay e.g. insurance etc...

Woolwich customers know that Barclays owns the Woolwich, but I don't know if people are aware that Barclays is going to close down Woolwich banks accounts and replace them with inferior Barclays Bank Accounts. My favourite bank account is Woolwich's OpenPlan account, which is a combined Current and Savings Accounts. And the feature that I like the most about the Open Plan is the Sweeping. It automatically sweeps money in or out of the Current Account. If I have too much money in the Current Account it moves it automatically into your Saving account to get max interest. And vice versa if the money is too short in my Current Account and if you get a direct debit and there are not sufficient funds, it moves money from the Saving Account into the current account. This way you get the best interest rate, plus you are safe in the knowlege that you will not go overdrawn. The Open Plan account is one of the best accounts on the High Street, so I am really confused why Barclays such a great account. Barclays want to close the OpenPlan account and replace it with two separate bank and savings account. It is a headache for me, as in the future, I will have to manage two accounts manually, making sure there is enough money in the Current Account for direct debits or transfering out to the savings if there is too much in the current account. With Woolwich's open plan it is all automatic. The change over date is 22 July 2007. Is there a online petition someone?

Sadly, I got my car insurance cancelled I was with Elephant.co.uk another crap company. I think Bells and Elephant.co.uk are all part of the same group. It meant that I could not someone else's car (e.g. my father's car), so I was stranded.... These people appear cheap, but when you get a claim, you find they are really crap and they are bloddy cheats!! Plus, their claim recovery service is rubbish!. With Elephant.co.uk they could not even be bothered to write to the local authority to get CCTV footage of the accident! Direct Line is another company. with crap clauses in their policy. Norwich Union is better with policy wording.

I would move out of that place..... if you really want to stay, get a report from a damp proofing company. They should give a free estimate and report.... Also, open the windows, many double glazed add to damp problems....

Also, if you get a new contract, if would mean the landlord would have to put the deposit money in to a Tenancy Deposit Scheme. So better for your, but some landlords pass on the costs for putting into the Tenancy Deposit Scheme....

You should not withhold rent, as it gives ground for the landlord not to carry out repairs. I don't know if this is the right legal advice. But if your really want to stay in the place you are in. I would write to the landlord stating that if the repairs are not carried out within 21 days (or less for say urgent matters) you will do the repairs yourself and deduct from the rent. Send this recorded delivery. Obtain two estimates. Carry out repairs and deduct from the rent. But if a landlord was acting this way with me, I would just say to the landlord that I am moving out (and state why you want to move out)! no need for agrevation! You only need to give one months notice.

Personally, I would look at moving out as this place seems like a dump. You will have to hunt around for a good estate agent (I don't mean the high street ones, but perhaps your local independent ones which deal with DSS). Explain you got no deposit and on DSS. Can they do anything for you?. You might get lucky!? I agree your housing benefit is paying 100% of your rent. I got a figure of £80.75 per week.

I don't know about pubs. For shops the lease is normally on Repair and Renewal - so the shop is responsible. But you said it was like this because you moved in, you should have sought a contribution for costs before signing a new lease. If this was a residential accomodation (or there is residential accomodation), then the Landlord would have a very serious problem and be breaking the law.... Incidently, only CORGI registered engineers can touch a gas system. So if the second engineer came and turned the boiler on without carrying out repairs then you could report both the Engineer to Corgi and the pub company. Also, beware, a friend had British Gas/Transco come round and put a sticker on his boiler because they smelt gas, in the end it turned out to be the hob that was leaking gas. So they wasted 2K on central heating system, only to find it was the gas hob that was leaking!

NO NO NO I am not talking about store cards, loan companies, mail order or tv licensing or phone companies etc... I am simply talking about the Utilities & Council Tax. Okay, image you just moved into your lovely new flat. You turn on the cooker and heating and find there is no gas. You investigate, check the gas box outside to find the gas meter is gone!. You phone up British Gas and they say it was taken because the bill was not paid for the last eight months!!. So who gets the headache of trying to sort the mess out? Who has to take time off work - as British Gas come round and fit a new meter? (but British Gas might only agree to provide a gas card meter not a normal meter and even then British Gas might give you grief because they might think you *are* the previous tenants and pretending to be someone else just to get the gas back and BG might demand a deposit because the property is blacklisted....). And tell what tenant would not be seeking compensation from his/her landlord this? e.g loss of cooking facility, not hot water and no heating? The situation is worse if the gas and electric meter is inside the property, because the landlord has to pay for the door to be replaced etc.... I don't think it is unreasonable for a Landlord to REQUEST the FINAL bills and ONLY if the tenants refuse to provide documentation withhold a portion of deposit until it is paid. I do agree it is the tenants that responsible for the bills, but sadly the world is not as simple as it seems! (with Gas, Electric, Water & Council Tax are special cases!)

Your landlord cannot unreasonably withhold all of the £3k. I don't think it is unreasonable for a landlord to request Electricity, Gas, Water and Council Tax bills. And even if the landlords decides to withdraw it should only be for the 'estimated' bills amounts, so say £250 would be fair. Sadly, people not paying electric bills (say if this has been going on for months), means that the electric company can break the door down and remove the meter and same for gas. Also, the Borough's Council Tax people are 'trying' to make landlords responsible non-payment of their tenants.... So I can understand the concerns of your landlord. However, if the landlords says he/she wants to keep all of the £3k - then GET WORRIED!

£175 is a lot for admin fees. Okay, they can charge you for say doing a tenants reference, but that should cost no more then say £20-£50. But charging you for a AST contract well that is not right - as they would use the same contract 'template' for all their tenants. You can go to a legal stationer's e.g. Oyez and pick it for £2, but letting agents will charge landlords or tenants £70 for this! RIP OFF!!! I know some agencies have a 'check-in' service, but it is a waste of money.... I WOULD ONLY SIGN A CONTRACT AND PAY OVER CASH IN EXCHANGE FOR KEYS!!!!

About any repairs - this should be carried out and paid by the Landlord Deposit - well if your AST started before the Tenancy Deposit scheme came into force, then it does not need to be in a scheme, however if there is any new paperwork e.g Rent increase or new AST contract, then you the money has to be put in a scheme. Also, the way the governement introduced the deposit scheme is not perfect. If the money is put into a Tenancy Deposit Scheme, someone has to be pay for it? In the end the costs gets passed on the consumer e.g. the tenant. The only winners are the big businesses running these Tenancy Deposit Schemes. I have seen tenants run away not paying the rent... never seen a landlord run away (well even if he/she runs, his/her property is still there!).