I've had a look through the huge contract that we have and have found a PO box address for him. I've also fired off another email stating that if he hasn't been in touch within 5 working days we will seek legal advice. It's the gas check thats the main problem - I have an 8 year child and after already losing 1 child this year, I'm not about to risk losing this one. Do you think if we sent him quotes for this we would then be within our rights to deduct it from the rent? I don't want to lose the roof over our heads but the only time I've ever spoken to him face to face was when we had squirrels in the attic and surprise surprise he was out the same day to do something about it so it didn't damage his property. Feel like telling him they're back just to get him out!!!

Hi All, I'm looking for a little help and advice. Our landlord seems to be avoiding us. We only have an email address to contact him on as when we took the house it was dealt with through a letting agency. They have since left the picture and we deal directly with him now. When we first moved in, we sent an email to the letting agents telling them things that needed sorting (the garden was a mess, garage and shed full of junk left from previous tenant, rubbish tip at back of shed etc) and they just passed this to him. Now we have been in over a year now and nothing has been sorted. The washing machine provided for us sounds like the ball bearings are going and this has been passed to him also. We have told him that we have a machine we can replace it with but we need someone to do it as it would mean removing units and we don't want to be liable for any damage caused. We have also contacted him about the annual gas safety check. Provided in the house is a gas fire - gas central heating and a gas cook top. When we moved in we weren't given a copy of the last check but we assumed this was because the letting agents forgot to give us it. We have emailed him twice over the past two months asking when this will be done as its a legal requirement but we've heard nothing back. The only time he came out and sorted something was when we got squirrels in the attic, he paid for rentokil to come out and left a sonar alarm up there running off OUR electic bill. Rentokil came out, caught one and then the others ran off because of the alarm. We have since turned this off as we're not paying for it anymore and he hasn't sent anyone out to fix the hole they were getting in. Can we withhold the rent until it's sorted? We pay £725 each month and he's not doing what is needed. Thanks 7th

Anybody any ideas please?

Hi, Needing a little advice on what seems to be a Landlord that forgets there are things that need doing at this house. When I first came to look around the house - a letting agent showed me around and pointed out a small leak in the bathroom. He said he had mentioned this to the landlord and that it would be fixed before we moved in. We moved in 2 months later and the leak was still there. It took another month and half to get it fixed but it was done eventually. We were told the property had a dishwasher which it does - only problem is, it's not plumbed in! The garden when we moved in looked like a jungle and this and many other little problems were noted down at the beginning of the tenancy and sent to the landlord. He had said many times that someone will come and sort the garden but no-one ever has. We have also had people round to give us quotes and we passed these onto the landlord. There is also a shed in the garden full of junk left by the previous tenant and rubbish behind the shed that could become a home for rats that we have asked to be moved - surprise - it's still there. We have now been here over 9 months and still nothing has been done. Is there anything that I can do about this? We recently have aquired squirrels in the attic, as soon as I notified him about this, he was round having a look and getting someone in to sort it out. They caught a baby squirrel but then thanks to a sonar alarm - the rest have stayed away. We told the landlord this and asked him to come and seal the hole and chop down the tree they were climbing up but it's still there!! Squirrels were back this morning too and I have just about had enough! Is there anything at all that we can do? I'm being told by family to withhold rent until it's done but I don't want to do this as I don't want to give the landlord any excuse to evict us. All help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

That's what I thought. Right, will get hubby on the phone to his IP first thing Tuesday morning. Thank you 7th

Hi there, My husband has recently entered into an IVA. Although not all of his creditors agreed to it - the majority did. Am I right in assuming that if there is a majority rule, the others have to follow suit? The reason I am asking this is because before the IVA went through, we got daily phone calls from Mercer on behalf of Barclaycard. We didn't answer them as we have caller ID and don't answer calls from 0845 numbers. Barclaycard were one of the two companies that voted against and this afternoon there has been a message left on our answering machine asking my husband to call Calder Financial (trading as Mercer I have found out) saying that it is very important that he returns the call. We have no intention of doing this as we haven't spoken to them since it all began and aren't going to start now. Besides it's me that pays the phone bill and no-one is calling 0844 numbers from this house lol. Is there anything that we can do about them? I thought that as the IVA had gone through, they could no longer hassle us with phone calls and correspondance? I assumed it all had to go through the Insolvency Practitioner. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated as this is coming at a time of personal loss and we have enough to be dealing with right now. Thanks