Hi, i've just moved out of a rented property. To cut a long story shot we have had a very hard 2 years with both the estate agents and the landlord. I was without heating for 8 months and even when we did have it all the heat was gone by 3pm and so we were freezing in the evening (we had storage heaters and there was no gas in the property). The house was riddled with damp and we would have to clean the mould on a regular basis. We couldn't have a bath as the water tank in the loft didn't hold enough water, luckily we had a shower though!. There are a million other things that went wrong with the property and the the estate agent nor the landlord sorted things out, it used to take months to get anything done (including when the cooker hob went off and I couldn't cook on it, this took them around 2.5 months to sort it out). Upon giving our last months notice I knew the landlord would be awkward so I said they could take the bond as the last months rent. The landlord agreed to this and everything was fine. Nobody came out to the property to inspect it, not the landlord or the estate agents. We have never ever had a rent book and our tenancy ended on the 23rd of Jan 2012, we wanted to stop in the property as we were buying our own in over the next few months so we didn't see the point in moving twice. (I wish we had now!) I asked the landlord to get another month by month contract signed up but he didn't bother himself to do so. We handed the keys back a week gone wednesday and then I received an abusive phone call from the landlords wife on monday, then they went around to my parents house on the wednesday and harrassed them claiming its costing £600 to clean the house. After I found out that they had been around my parents house I rang the landlord up and told him not to go back there again. He then went on to tell me how he has already got the carpets cleaned, the garden sorted and other bits and bobs. I did forget to clean the oven which I then offered to do and remove some rubbish I forgot to take away. He agreed and said he would ring me back later on that day. He never rang me so I rang him around 5pm. The landlord then went on to tell me he has already got a company out to clean the oven so I couldn't do it. But he still wanted the rubbish removing, I went around that night and removed the rubbish (there wasn't much!). Nothing was said / heard from him until Thursday when he rang demanding the money for the cleaning of the house. Made threats down the phone stating he was going to send 'someone' round to my parents house to get my address from them, or he was going to follow my partner home from work etc. The landlord said the tenancy agreement runs onto a month by month contract after the tenancy end date. However this doesn't state that anywhere in the agreement and we never once had any rent book from either the estate agent or the landlord. I've had nothing but bother from day one with the Estate Agents, i've got letters and photographic evidence of the house we were staying in, nothing ever got done, the landlord took the property off the estate agents half way through the tenancy and then they were just as bad at getting things done. I had put a fence and a gate up (which I left), I also had got blinds up at the windows which I told him he could have when I said that they can take the bond as the last months rent. Which again he did agree to and as far as I'm aware he took it. Nobody came to inspect the property at all before we left, it wasn't until a few days later when the phone calls started. Now he claims hes going to take me to court if I don't pay up. Thanks in advance! Regards Scott

Well i rent a room last month the rent was £170 per month and i paid and £170 more for deposit in a 5 months contract The think is that i didnt stay not even a day in that room cause the house has a mouce problem and i was waiting from him to get me a new bed as he promised!! -during that month i moved to my girl. i got in contact with the landlord at the 22/5 to let him know that i am moving out at the end of the month. I know i didnt gave to him a month notice although the landlord said, ok! Now i have move out and he says that he wont give me my deposit back because i broke the contract! He didnt mention anything like that before.. What can i do now?I have lost so many times deposit money but this time i really need them! Please help me if you have any advice!

hi, i am currently renting privately, the landlord is taking us to court for rent arrears and tomorrow is the court hearing, however my landlord has produced 2 rent statements to the court but neither of them add up or make sense (my math isnt brilliant but even i can see it doesnt add up right) , i paid my landlord 500 pound cash in to in his bank account on 3rd of december but i have lost the reciept? would the court ask to see his bank statement? to prove i paid this money? the dates he is claiming on the rent the statements do not match my reciepts and do not add up to the rent statements i am currently under the two months rent arrears, my partner was made redundant but has currently got another job and housing had been paying the rent? please help!!!

Hi, To start, I appreciate any feedback from some experienced people, I know from my work that it can be very taxing to hear people panicking with new problems. So thanks in advance. I'm a student recently graduated in Scotland who was in my current flat for nearly 2 years with a 500£ deposit. I issued my months notice on the final rent payment this month by post, i met my landlord 5 days later who said he received no such letter and was shocked. He was quick to point out ' was it registered mail?' - it wasnt. I told him verbally and personally posted in a photocopy of the letter a few days later. Yesterday he inspected the flat and I respect that he wanted it cleaner, openly taking notes so I could get it right. He quickly mentioned, then basically took charge that it would need 'professional cleaning' of 150£. The oven also needs 150£ cleaning. I got a bit nervous and said give me a few days ( the tenancy ends on the 7th of june) and he gave me till tomorrow. He pointed out things including - dust on the telephone, dust on the loo roll holder and some lint behind a couch. That was 300£, then he said ' and you didnt give me a full months notice... it could have been registered mail ( he claims he still never received it and i cant prove he didnt) and now wants to deduct a weeks rent ( almost 100£). What do I do here? When he told me he never received the letter I told him I would be out and hand the keys back by tomorrow, a week early, to balance the week ' he didnt know' about my leaving. He acted like I never said that before and ' i will think about it' - which no doubt means he wont accept it. I am going with a friend to do a deeper clean tomorrow, then calling him to finally inspect it. we are going to take detailed photos and record the state of the flat. My deposit was paid well before any of this ' deposit protection scheme' stuff that i hear is coming to scotland - i entered the flat in august 2010. I have no idea who i can speak to. He just took charge speaking about ' i want to be fair' and suddenly 400£ was gone. He even said ' i've never given a full deposit back'. I dont know what justifys ' clean' and simply rediculous things like a bit of dust on a loo roll holder. I have no idea how I can oppose him other than small claims court and finally, when he browbeats me tomorrow, I dont know what to say to challenge him other than '' i dont consent to that'' - but how do I appeal? I appreciate any guidance.

Hey guys, To cut a long story short, I rent a flat, which is a nightmare to live in. It has no central heating, the cooker trips the electric if you tunr more than one ring on and has given me more than one electric shock. The shower is broken. The sink is leaking. The fire alarm doenst work. and I'm struggling for money - so four month ago i decided, its either keep paying him for this pig sty, or feed me and my wife. So i stopped paying. Then on the 10th may i recieved this letter from him, Mr (spelt my name wrong right away_ Re: NOTICE TO QUIT As you are aware, your rental has fallen considerably in arrears in breach of your tenancy agreement, and I am therefore giving you notice to quit. If I do not receive a response from you within the next seven days, with your payment in respect of the outstanding rents, I will assume that you are no longer a tenant and please let me have a forwarding address in addition to you vacating the flat I will also need you to make arrangements to pay off the arrears. I will also need you to make arrangements for the return of the keys. Yours sincerely --- I straight away phoned the council, they told me that its illeagal to evict without 8 weeks notice - so I sent the landlord a letter telling him this - May 10, 2012 – REF:PR/BB NOTICE TO QUIT To Mr , As you aware I have not been able to make rent, however, you are required by law to give me two months notice prior to eviction. I have confirmed this with Gwynedd Council. If any attempt to evict myself prior to the lawful timeframe is made the police will be called, and I will take this to court. Please note the relevant statue below. Housing Act 1988. SECTION 21 POSSESSION. Where the tenancy is an Assured Shorthold Tenancy (informally just called a Shorthold tenancy) the landlord can evict the tenant under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988. The landlord must comply with each of the following requirements, and the tenant has a valid defense to the claim if the landlord does not do so. Firstly, the landlord must give the tenant written notice under section 21 of the Act, ending the tenancy. If the rent is paid weekly or monthly, which is the usual arrangement, the tenant must be given not less than *two months* notice to leave. You could be charged with Criminal Offenses if you don’t follow this statute. Without Prejudice, **** His reply, Dear Mr I was very disappointing to receive your letter and note its contents, and i am disappointed indeed that you are making no effort whatsoever to pay your rent. This being the case, please note that I have immediately entered my claim in respect to your outstanding rent. and you should hear from them very shortly. Rest assured, in view of your attitude, that I will do my utmost to collect the outstanding rent. In accordance with the Housing Act 1988, section 21 you refer to, I formally give you two months written notice terminating your tenancy. I note that you contacted the Council, and I also have been in touch with them, and I will be able to establish if you have been receiving housing benefit in respect of your rental and not passing the monies over to myself. Yours truly, ---- So now i have received papers from the court which are very confusing saying i have to pay the 1250 rent plus court fees. Im really struggling here, please advice ! thankyou I have removed personal identity for you own safety. Conniff

27/5/2012 Hi. Can anyone help me out here? My tenants advised me 3 months ago that they would be leaving, as they were buying a property. Due to work commitments and timescales, we worked out that the 17th June would give them enough time to complete on their property purchase, whilst also, admittedly, fitting in with my commitments. Within a couple of days they came back to me and asked to make it 17th July, as they thought it may not be long enough. I agreed to this and sent them notice to quit- by recorded delivery- at the beginning of May stating the 17th July. I made contact with them last week and asked if all was on track for the 17th July and was told 'yes'. I wished them well. However, today I received an email stating that the house purchase went through quicker than expected and now wish to leave on the 17 June instead. This will result in 3 weeks lost revenue for me. What I would like to know is if they can counteract my notice with less than 1 months notice, so to speak? They have been tenants for 4 years, on a rolling tenancy, following on after the initial 6 month AST. Many thanks in advance.

I am having some issues with an ex-landlord who, after disagreements over deductions to our deposit, stopped communicating and did not return any of it. As the deposit turned out not to be protected, I started a claim with MCOL to get the money back. The claim was issued on 6 January, and as the landlord did not make any reply, a default judgment was filed on 1 February. The landlord then applied to have this judgment set aside on 28 February - this was heard on 30 May, and his application was struck out. Just as we were about to enforce, I received a letter from the court stating that the landlord has made a second application to have the judgment set aside. The details on the application form are identical to those on the initial set-aside application. I'm pretty sure he's just trying to waste time here so we can't enforce - the hearing for this application is in August. This seems to be a completely spurious application given that it's the same as his previous one that was struck out. If I write to the court, is it feasible that they would spend a few minutes looking at this and immediately strike out this application too, or is waiting until August my only realistic approach? (And if writing is a good idea, are there any decent templates on how one would address the court in this type of letter?) As a small separate issue, the address that the landlord put on his set-aside form is a PO Box, which to my knowledge is not an acceptable address for serving legal documents. Would it be in my interests to point this out to the court and ask them to obtain a "real" address from him - or will this just add even more delay to the process while he resubmits his application? Many thanks in advance.

I was wondering if anyone could help with a problem I am having with my ex landlord. I am a student and last year i rented a house with 3 others, we all paid a deposit and as far as any of us can remember we had no written contract (so we don't know for what reasons the landlord can legally deduct from the deposit), no inventory and no notification of the deposits ever being paid into an authorised deposit scheme. we left the house in June 2011 and have not received any our deposits back. the landlord is claiming that there were unpaid bills (some of which is admitted, but some of this amount is currently in dispute), damage and cleaning for the property (we admit the house was not spotless but it was almost as unclean when we moved in really and we accept there is some minor, accidental damage) - but he has produced no evidence for how much has been spent rectifying these problems and we really do not think it would come to the amount he is withholding from us. basically i was wondering a) can he withhold the deposit at all if we never had a written contract or inventory? b) can he withhold it even though he did not pay it into an authorised deposit scheme (or at least did not tell us if he did) c) in the letter to him i really want to make sure i'm clear on the law and what is being threatened - are we threatening to take him to small claims court to get back the entirety of the deposit for these breaches or would we be claiming to just get back some of it (if the court determine how much should reasonably be withheld by the landlord) can anyone help? thanks

Hi, I am new to this forum and I hope I got the right forum. I have a question about the deposit (which is made in TDS - Tenancy Deposit Scheme) - a substantial amount is in this service and from what I have read in forums the agency/landlord can not withhold money from the deposit in order to pay outstanding utility bills. However in our contract with the letting agency there is a point stating that the deposit could be well used to pay the outstanding bills. I am not quite sure if they have the right to do this? Aren't utility companies supposed to look for the money owed to them with me personally, not file claims against the landlord/agency for them to pay them off??? I want to dispute the amounts from United Utilities, for example, but I want to receive my deposit back after vacating the property. What would you advise?

Hello, I am new to this forum and this is my first post. So Hello Everyone! I am a student and I have been living in a 1 bedroom flat for a year and a half. I am now moving out but my landlord wants proofs that I paid all the required bills before releasing my deposit. I have the electricity,gas,internet and water bill receipts. Since I am a full time university student, I have not been paying the council tax and did not inform the council I was living there. I never received a letter from the council requesting tax payments during this period. Is it too late to inform the council that I have been living there? Will I be penalised for not informing them although I am exempt from paying the council tax? Thank you Vinni

Firstly, I have to say that this community is invaluable and I have come back for advice so many times over the years. So thank you in advance. My problem - I recently moved out of a property that I shared with a flatmate. We had a joint tenancy agreement that expired and I found someone to move in immediately after. We paid seperate deposits. In my last couple of weeks at the property there was an issue - we noticed black mould appeared in the lounge. At first we wiped it off as it's an outside wall, it had been raining and I have asthma, but quickly within about a week or so, it became apparent this was not normal and contacted the landlady in the usual manner to inform her. She sent in men and it transpired that the tiling upstairs in the bathroom had come away and it had been a sustained period which resulted in water running down the wall. I moved out while they were still examining and making repairs. But since it was a structural issue not caused by us, I didn't think anything of it. It's now a month later and no deposit. I chase and get a reply that due to the fact that I neglected to inform the landlady quick enough about the situation, she would be keeping my deposit. She claims that we *concealed* the fact that there was problem in the bathroom and as a result caused her to have a far bigger problem than if we'd let her know earlier. Serioiusly, this is such bull. When I moved in, the tiling and grouting was already in disrepair. I didn't notice any difference at all. If I had, I would have let her know. It's no skin off my nose and I hated the bathroom anyway because it was so unkept compared to the rest of the property. I am no decorator or builder - I genuinely had no idea there was a problem until we examined it when the mould came back. She quoted section 11 of the tenancy agreement at me: “Tell us about any repairs or faults that we are responsible for in the structure or outside of the property, in any installation or in the shared areas.” Clearly I did tell them about the problem when I realised there was one. I will be disputing her claim with the DPS because I honeslty don't think it's fair that I be held responsible for something I informed her of as soon as I was aware of it, but I just wanted people's opinions/advice about whether she is right or not here? It's quite upsetting. Also, you should know, that in the time I was there, I did inform her of any problems. There was even a time when water dripped into the living room on the other side and we told her straight away, but since it didn't happen again, it was just an FYI thing. We were very good with stuff like that. Thanks in advance. Claire

My wife and I are UK citizens, living in China. We left the UK nearly two and a half years ago, have never returned, and are considered non-resident by HMRC. We're not in debt yet but this could lead to debt. I apologise if this is the wrong forum but it was the only one I spotted that covered non-residence. We have two rental properties in the UK. One of those was vacated recently and was left in poor condition. After obtaining quotes for repairs of £2300 we disputed the tenants' reclaim on the £1500 deposit and agreed to allow the Alternate Dispute Resolution service to handle our dispute. Our ex-tenants have indicated that they do not agree to use the ADR service and intend to take us to County Court for the full return of the deposit. We are confident that we have enough evidence (before and after photos, corroboration by estate agents, tenancy contract) that we can defend this claim, however, we're not in the UK and didn't plan on the expense of a trip to the UK just to deal with this claim. So, my questions: I know that, if the tenants deliberately use the wrong address, we might miss the deadlines and could lose the case without even having a chance to defend or counter claim. Is there any way to notify the courts service independently so that we are certain to receive documents and they don't just go to the address supplied by the claimants? Must we attend any County Court Hearing, can we send a representative instead? In the event of our losing the case, can a CCJ be made against non-residents? Can a CCJ be enforced against non-residents? If so, what method is likely? Can bailiffs be sent to a property that is let to new tenants? We're hoping that our ex-tenants will be open and honest in their dealings, but, we're also concerned that they are deliberately choosing the County Court route because we're overseas. Thanks for any help or suggestions, even if it's just a pointer to a more relevant forum.

Can my landlord charge for administration on my ground rent demand ... I have a set ground rent of £25 per year .. I have a demand for £28.75 .. I dont mind paying the extra .. but is this within his rights? The demand is just for the ground rent .. also does he have to include a legal statement of my rights as a leaseholder, im sure what he has added is outdated, it reads 'for the purpose of the landlord & tenant act 1987 section 47/48 etc...

Last month we received notification from the receivers that our landlords company has gone in to receivership and that the house was now in their hands and that they were in effect our new landlords. They had not served notice on us, but we decided we would find somewhere else rather than live with the risk of suddenly landing 2 months notice. We are now due to move out 3rd Dec. Our concern now is with the £575 deposit that we paid in 2004 and who we should try to get it back from! We have been renting the house since Jan 2004, so the deposit is not with TDS. The receivers say we should get advice from CAB, CAB say we should notify the receivers The original LL say that they will repay us when the house is sold, however the receivers have said that the proceeds would probably not cover their debts. We seem to be going round in circles Can I make a claim for the deposit if the company is in receivership? Any help or advice would be gladly accepted Cheers

Back in May I entered upon a tenancy agreement with my landlord of 12 months, on this day he told me that he was rushing to much so i had to skim through it and sign without being given time to read the agreement thoroughly. A month later people whom i have had mutual contact with moved into the property. I asked the landlord to make a new tenancy for said tenants but he failed to do so. This resulted in all the debt falling on me. The people i shared the property; one owes me over £1000 and the other two owe me over £500, this is the first problem I have as i do not know how to get them to pay the money that they owe me. My landlord gave us three weeks notice without a written notice and said that because the tenancy wasn't valid as other people moved in there was nothing i could do. He also took a full months rent £780 (even though the property is valued to be let for £500 a month) as deposit which he will not return as there is general ware and tear of the property, which was listed in the initial contract. It is well known that a landlord must serve a written notice and give the tenants 2 month to find a new property, I told him about this and he replied that the contract wasn't valid anyway as other tenants had moved into the property. He got the majority of his mail to my address and wouldn't let me put the rent money into his bank account and insisted upon cash in hand. His reason for kicking me out and three others out with three weeks notice was upon the grounds that we didnt get the council tax changed into our name, even though we needed a tenancy agreement before doing so.He also threatened me by saying "Make sure you get all the bills paid as I would hate to call someone to go visit your mothers" Would i be able to have a case against him for improper treatment as this has caused me alot of debt and distress, thankyou.

Hello everybody, Basically when I moved into my flat with my fiancee, we had an independent inventory done, where they documented the state of the flat in photos as well as writing. I have a copy of this inventory, which verifies that the place wasn't in a very good state when we moved in (it basically hadn't been cleaned). Our tenancy contract basically said that we needed to leave the flat as we found it. Instead, we left it in better condition (not spotless, but clean at least). When we moved out, we couldn't find a time to meet with the landlady, so we just left the keys inside for her to collect. we didn't think of taking pictures as we'd had a good relationship with the landlady and were basically just totally confident that she would be happy with the state of the flat given how unclean it was when we moved in. Instead, we received an email saying how disappointing that the flat was not spotless, and that she'd ordered a team of professional cleaners to go wild on the place, making it look like new all over again. She now wants to charge us for that service. Again, we have the original inventory which clearly shows in photographs how bad it was when we got there, but we don't have any evidence of how we left it, since she called the cleaners as soon as she showed up. My question is: would she need evidence of how we left it to withhold our deposit? Basically, it seems to me like it would be impossible for her to produce evidence that we left it in a worse state than we found it, because we didn't, but since nobody took pictures or anything before she started cleaning, it would be our word against hers. So in this situation, could she just say that we left it in a worse state and then withhold our deposit, or would she need to provide evidence (like pictures of how she found it before the cleaners) before making such a claim? thanks so much for reading my post! -starwhal

I moved into a property on the 24th June 2011 that was previously occupied by four people, one of whom moved out and whose place I took. The landlord promised that he would update the tenancy agreement to include my name instead of that of the previous tenant, but this never transpired. The other tenants never paid a deposit when they first moved in, as they had each paid four months’ rent up front and the landlord thus decided to waive the deposit. When I moved in, as the landlord requested, I transferred a sum of £550 via internet banking to an account in his name (£275 for the first month’s rent and £275 as a deposit). However, a month after I had moved in, a variety of issues combined to make me want to leave the house and I sent my landlord a text message to say I would be moving out in a month’s time (23rd/24th August 2011). He said we would have to meet up to discuss this and arranged a time and place but did not show up. I told him I would find a replacement tenant and when this happened, he said that it was fine by him as long as the other tenants were happy with the new person. I was worried I would not get my deposit back as there was no written agreement and no formal acknowledgement of receipt from him so I decided to hold back on my second rent payment, saying he could use my deposit money to cover the sum (as it hadn’t been secured – I checked) but received messages threatening forced eviction so I made a payment. I have now moved out, having found a tenant to take my place and move in on the 24th August 2011, but have had no contact from the landlord regarding return of my deposit. I have called several times but he has not answered, and I have left several voice messages and sent several texts but heard nothing back. Is there anything you can do to advise/help me?

Hi all, New user just wanting some clarification on recent gas bills off landlord before I can re contact them. I have recently had two quarterly gas bills off landlord for my gas usage, below is a shot of the first one: The bill is shared between 3 people, my usage for that quarter was 71 units the landlord said there was a total of 275 units used so has worked out my share is £121.32 (£469.92 / 275 * 71). On the bill its says the total units used is 331 so my calculation that I owe is £100.79 (£469.92 / 331 * 71) Can anyone confirm my calculation is correct so I can dispute it again and also below is the next quarter of the bill: The gas is supplied by British gas business, does the 20p per kw price increase look correct as its made the price per unit increase by 60p so just over £2 a unit. Thanks for any info

(Sorry, I posted this in the Legal Issues forum, before realising this was more appropriate). Hi, I really need some advice quick, if I'm to stave off a possession order - would appreciate anybody's input! Two years ago, due to the recession, my business collapsed, and I got into rent arrears. Eventually, things began to pick up slightly, and in addition I took a part-time job to guarantee that I could at least pay the rent. Although my income is now stable, it wasn't enough to clear the arrears, just pay the actual rent from month to month, with a little bit extra added towards the arrears. Six months ago, the landlord (a property management company) gave me notice and sought a possession order, but agreed to stay the proceedings if I agreed to a schedule to clear the arrears by six months. The deadline was 1st April 2011. The landlord set a figure they wanted me to pay back every month, which consisted of the rent for the month ongoing, plus an extra £300. I have kept to this agreement, but I find that, at the end of the six months, I am left owing exactly £2000. The landlord's solicitor has informed me that they are applying for the stay to be lifted if the full amount is not repaid by the 1st May. I can't afford to pay £2000 out in one go by the end of this month: I only bring home around £1800 a month, and that has to cover my ongoing rent as well as all other bills, food etc. I have none left over for savings. However, on re-reading through the original consent order and schedule, I see that £1740 of the £2000 I still owe is actually my landlord's legal costs (i.e. the bill of their solicitor). This means that only £260 of the amount owed is actually still rent arrears. I can pay that tomorrow, which would then bring all my rent completely up to date. It seems they (my landlord and/or their solicitor) have confused and compounded the issue by conflating the rent arrears and their legal costs. So my questions are: if (after tomorrow) I'm completely up to date with my rent, does the landlord still have legal grounds to seek possession? From my limited research, rent arrears is grounds for possession, but failure (note: failure, not refusal) to pay legal costs are not mentioned at all. Also, am I legally bound to pay my landlord's legal costs at all? As the matter never actually went to court, no order was made as to costs. It was just something they tagged onto the agreement. What I fear is that, even if I am not legally bound to pay their legal costs, if I do not do so, they will still seek possession. Do they have the right to do this? I've never had any other dispute with the landlord, and there really was no need to take the matter this far at all: they've been very heavy-handed about the whole thing. I never disputed I owed rent, and I've always done my utmost to clear the arrears, paying more on those occasions when I was able to. I have lived here for several years, and am settled here. I do not have the finances to afford a move, let alone the disruption this would cause to my personal life and work. The area where I live has become very expensive over the last few years, and I could not afford to stay in this area if I had to move out of my current home. I really would like to settle this and just live in peace with my landlord. For that reason, I am prepared to pay their legal costs if it means there is no further bad feeling between us, and they will not evict me, but I cannot do it before the 1st May. Where do I stand? After tomorrow, when I clear the actual rent arrears, can I ask for a separate agreement concerning the legal costs, on the understanding that it does not affect my tenancy? Many thanks for any advice!

Hi guys, Really hope we can get some advice, we are having real problems with our landlord. First of all there are repairs that have been outstanding nearly a year that are getting worse, damp that is shorting electrics, half the electrics in the house are out, the plumbing both in and out, rotting walls the list is endless. I have been promised time and time again it will be fixed and normally he sends round an unskilled worker to botch it over, even important thingsnow as my daughter seems to be getting ill from the damp i contacted him again, he came round with his same 2 workers and said they would be back on Monday, he was also stating it is my fault and he will be holding the deposit (there is no TDS for it that I am aware of) he also stated he would be charging my guarantor for the repairs. This is all nothing new, this is exactly how he behaved last year, we would move however we cant afford to. I know for a fact he has lost the tenancy agreement and also it was my mum and dad that signed the gurantor, he thinks it was someone else. Sounding a bit crazy? he really is, he always comes round with no notice shouting and bawling making my wife feel unsafe, and sends letters demanding money for things that never happened. Our issue is that we are behind with the rent, by 2 months, he says we are witholding it due to repairs and that is dangerous, but in truth we are really struggling, however we have just had a claim for housing benefit approved so will be able to start paying again. My question is, can I make a claim under the TDS (Tenancy Deposit Scheme) as I know that he has not set it up and we have not received any information. I know it is a long post and perhaps a bit rambling, but we are under a lot of pressure due to this situation and really need some help please

I have posted previously on here for help with my LL from hell, and have had some excellent and much appreciated advice. However, as is with the case when delaing with such LLs, I would again appreciate some guidance. I have an AST for 6 months (ends 19 Sep) for which I pay £525.00 pcm direct to my LL. I used to pay this via a LA, but in March the LA ceased trading and my LL insisted on me signing a new TA, even though the previous TA was on a rolling contract. I was told to sign the new one, or she would serve a section 21. Since signing, this woman has been obstinate, bullying, unreasonable and intimidating (to be fair; always in writing, never in person). She has attempted to make claim for previous rent payments she says were never made to her from me, and has been very vindictive in her chasing of this money. She has attempted all number of ways to intimidate me into making payments I do not have to make by threats of legal action, threats of a claim for misrepresentation, continual references to 'criminal matters' and lying in regards to the Liquidators of the LA, whom she has offered many lies to be about so called meetings and demands from me from the liquidators. The woman is a nightmare. I dread the sound of droppage from the postbox after 12pm, as I know it will be her with one of her new harrassment letters. Whilst I have many issues with this LL, I would specifically like advice on interest charges and late fees. I have done some hunting, but there is quite a lot of conflicting advice around. In March 2011, I noticed an error on my Tax Credit award notice, which had my partners earnings at 3 times the actual amount he had earned. Despite phoning them immediately, my WTC payments stopped in April. They promised they would have the issues sorted by 20 June, but I am now being told there is a backlog and they still have not processed my backpayment due from them. When these WTC stopped, my household fell into financial hardship. Our budgets were already tight, and so I was struggling without the extra WTC payments. I am still in the same financial position. I explained all of the above to my LL, before the first late rental payment, and informed her of exact dates when payments would be made. Where I offered her such dates, I have always paid the amount promised on these dates. I initially told her 'I am hopeful that all arrears will be cleared by (but hopefully before) 20 June 2011, as this is the date that HMRC Tax Credits has given as the latest the claim should be rectified.' I have since updated her regularly on the Tax Credit situation, informing her of what has been said over the telephone, as well as letting her know when I will call Tax Credits again to offer her another update. As well as this, I have been making payments wherever possible in order that I do not fall two months into arrears and risk a PO being granted (I have a 2yr old boy, and no money to move at present). The TA states that 'any late payments will be subject to a fixed penalty of £35.00 payable immediately'. This is stated on a seperate sheet from the tenancy agreement, which lists a number of other T&Cs not included in the main agreement/small print. The small print has the usual 'to pay the LL reasonable costs as reasonably incurred.....etc'. There is also a clause in the contract to pay 'an interest charge of 4% above the BOE base rate from time to time prevailing on any rent or other money lawfully due from the T under this TA which remains unpaid for more than 14 days, interest to be charged daily from the date the payment fell due until payment'. Being the kind hearted soul that she is, when I fell 14 days late with my May rent, she activated this clause. There was a total outstanding of £265.00; to the date the rent was paid (33 days) she has added £431.46 in interest charges, a total charge of 164% of the original arrears. Whilst I have managed through begging, stealing and borrowing to clear May's rent, I am now in arrears on June's full rent of £525.00 (it was due 21 June). In a statement sent yesterday she has added interest of £496.12 on these arrears, which will continue to accrue until the arrears are paid. That's a charge of 94% of the original arrears to date, and this will only get higher. At 4.5% per day, I am accruing interest of £23.63 per day. Whilst I understand that a 4% above BOE base rate interest charge is fair, surely this is annually and not daily?! I have no hope of ever clearing this debt at this rate. She has also stipulated ion her last letter that any payments made by me will be credited to the arrears and interest in date order, meaning that even if I make a payment of the full £525.00 now (which I have no way of doing), this would actually be used to clear the £430.00+ interest charge from May, and not clear any rent. Surely this is unfair, as I will be forced to go into arrears every month as monies will be used to pay the interest and not the rental payments. Any help or guidance you can offer would be much appreciated; I am very stressed with having to deal with a restricted income at the moment through no fault of my own, and this is making a bad situation unbearable. I would also pint out that I am an advocate for paying rent; it is my first priority and it would never be my wish not to pay. The only reason I am falling late is because I do not have the money to pay. As soon as Tax Credits get their behinds into gear and make the backpayment, the arrears and late penalty fees will be paid. Many thanks in advance!

Hi all,I’m in a bit of a bad situation with my former landlord and need some advice. It’s a bit long but please bear with me. I moved into his property, which is a shared house private accommodation, just under two years ago. I moved out on May 7th 2011 and gave notice on May 21st 2011, but paid him rent for May in lieu of notice. The reason I moved without informing him was because I had just split up with my partner who I shared the room with, meaning that I had to find a place to move pretty much immediately. I know I should have given notice, but I have no written contract with him and no deposit either so just figured I would pay him a months rent. So I no longer live at his address. I owe him £550 for rent arrears which he is chasing me for. This has been going on and on for a while – I have been paying him what I can when I can and approached him via email a few weeks ago with an offer of payment, £50 for June (which I have paid) and £100 each month thereafter. The only reason I have been contacting him via email is that he has consistently refused or ignored my repeated requests to provide me with his address. He has demanded £300 a month until the debt is cleared, which I cannot afford. He has threatened numerous times to take me to court, apply directly to my employer for attachment of earnings (he does not have a court order, in fact he has not even issued a formal written demand for payment!) , sent email regarding my arrears and my sexuality (!!) to other tenants in the house. I find his behaviour towards me very threatening; I am a 20 year old female living in this area with no close family or friends nearby except my boyfriend. At the advice of CAB I did not provide him with my new address, he has found it out anyway and said he will come round to my house and my place of work to chase me about the arrears. I have voicemails, emails and text messages confirming all of this. He has also sent emails to the tenants saying that if I am seen on the premises as a guest that he will raise their rent. Anyway recently he conceded to the £100 a month on the proviso that I would pay him an extra £50 on top of the £50 I paid in June. I cannot afford this! I can pay him £100 a month starting from the end of this month and that’s it. I have stated that I will pay him extra when I can, but all he is doing is going on about attachment of earnings and contacting my employer..Last night he sent me an email saying he was going to start court proceedings tomorrow because I can’t pay him £50, but he is fine with £100 a month thereafter? The state of the house when I lived in it (bathroom door does not close, oven and washing machine both broke twice and it took him months to fix, water tank leaking all over stairs, shower pressure broken) was disgusting, and I have three tenants willing to testify to that if it does go further. He would just turn up at times like 10pm on a Sunday night with no notice whatsoever, just come round the back and let himself into the living room. This combined with the way he has been treating me AND the fact that I have offered him a reasonable payment plan and stuck to it (speaking to CAB they have informed me it is “harassment by a creditor”) makes me think that if it does go to court I stand a good chance of winning, by sticking to my original arrangement or having the debt wiped all together. A solicitor has informed me that I could seek damages for harassment but I just want it over and done with! The only things he has on me is that I owe him money and that I didn’t give notice. (payment of a months rent in lieu of notice is acceptable I think, especially considering that he did not have to find another tenant as my partner continues to inhabit the room) What is your advice? I am very nervous and stressed about this, I work in a high-stress demanding job and have had to take time off due to stress migraines from this situation.Now I have worked previously in debt collection before (sorry guys) so I know that a lot of it is scare tactics (for example the garnishing of my wage without a CCJ) but is still stressing me out! I have contacted legal aid and they have offered to make a formal offer of payment on my behalf BUT it would damage my credit rating which is the one thing I am 100% determined to avoid. I have great credit for someone my age and intend to keep it that way. Apart from this fiasco, I do not owe money anywhere else. I have no other debts. I have contacted the police about this behaviour at the advice of legal aid and have an appointment this weekend to discuss his harassment. Tl;dr – landlord harassing me for money, apparently taking me to court, scared and stressed and just want to get it sorted asap. I want him out of my life! If I could pay more I would. Please help me, CAG! edited to add that he has attemped to evict myself, another tenant and my boyfriend from the property through text message on numerous occasions which i believe is illegal eviction.

Hi there forum I was hoping for your advice/comments on the following: myself and a co-tenant entered into an assured shorthold tenancy with a person that represented that they were the landlord of a property; we paid rent in cash (which was collected from our flat each month as the landlord's agent had other properties to collect rent from also) and we were given a receipt; the term of the tenancy was six months (started in April 2010) and so the fixed term expired in October but there is a clause which says that it will then continue on until either party gives a months notice to the other to terminate; we came back to our flat last Thursday to find a notice from a debt collection/repossion company celotaped to the door saying that we had been occupying the flat without the consent of its client, the purported registered owner; we did a land registry check and this does seem to be the case; we have tried to contact our landlord but all numbers go to voicemail and the agent cannot get in touch with the landlord either; the notice asked that we vacate immediately however after speaking to the debt/recovery company, we managed to agree that we would vacate in the first week in January 2011 (we had paid rent up until the middle of January); we have also been asked to make sure that all utility bills are paid up (our rent was all inclusive and all bills were in the landlord's name) - we replied by stating that we have paid rent which included a proportion for such bills and so if anyoen is to be pursued by the registered owner of the flat then it should be our landlord and not us; we installed a BT line into the property and now will have to pay circa £300.00 to buy out the 12 month contract (as we will have to leave before the 12 months have expired); it appears as though the landlord may well be a rogue and so we have been payign rent to someone who did not allegedly have the authority to rent out the property, although we acted in good faith at all times. ANY COMMENTS AS TO WHAT OUR RIGHTS ARE!?!?!? Thank you in advance and my apologies for the distress call! Yours faithfully Innocent_Tenant

Hi all, I hope someone out there can help me with this. I occupy a small commercial property, and have served my landlord with notice that I would like to take advantage of the break in our lease well within the timescale provided. However, the break clause date is 28 August 2011, and my final rent demand is for the quarter ending 28 Sep 2011. The date on the invoice which they have supplied ends on 28 Sep 2011, and is clearly stated as rent for the quarter. I sent them a cheque for rent owed up to and including the break clause date, which is 28 Aug 2011. They have since written back to me and stated the following "We have today received your part payment against the June rent quarter. We in no way accept this as full and final settlement. Please be advised that when the break has been exercised correctly final figures will only be able to be assessed" I have also been in touch with the company that bill us for the service charge and they have not been informed that our tenancy is due to end on 28 August 2011, and have subsequently billed us for the period up to 28 Sep 2011. I have written to them and requested a revised invoice for the amount owed up to and including the break date. My lease agreement with the landlord states that the break clause will not be actioned if any material breaches of the lease have been made. The building is in a good state of repair and is a fairly new build. I am simply wanting to move my business to a location with less rent per annum than the current location. I have written to the landlord via recorded delivery 5 times now over the past 9 months, and have never received a written reply from them until i sent what i believe i owed them, which was rent up to and including the break clause date. I am a little worried that they will attempt to take me to court over the remaining 1 month outstanding on the original invoice, but we wouldnt have occupied the building for that last month due to the break. Should I stick to my guns and not send them the remaining months rent because we dont owe it? Or should i send them the 1 months rent and hope that after an inspection of the property they will give me it back (doubtful). Since occupying the building they never made an interim schedule of dilapidations, and they havent made a terminal schedule of dilapidations up to date. I dont owe them anything at this point in time. What would any of you advise?

HI This is the first time ive posted but really need to help or understanding my rights. Last December 2010, I had an issue with the boiler in my house breaking, resulting in no hot water or central heating. This was reported to the Letting Agents who in turn reported it to the landlord. After a week of calling every day, and having to heat an old terrace house with electric heaters with extra cost in electricity the landlord authorised the letting agents to send out a plumber who fitted the boiler with a new circuit board. After a while we noticed that we were unable to alter the temperature of the heating as the display flashed constantly at 73 regardless what temp we set it to. We reported this to the letting agents who then sent the plumbers back to check. They advised us that they were meant to take a `Link` off the old circuit board and put it on the new one they installed. They asked us what we had done with the old board, and we told them that it was discarded on the advice of them. They then left and we heard nothing else. Two weeks later we were unable to switch the heating off at all using the control panel, so we are now resorting to switching the boiler off at the mains. Again I called the letting agents to ask when the plumber was returning and about the new problem. They advised me that no plumber was due to come out as they had been advised that the boiler was working! I explained that it wasn’t working and a plumber was sent back out. When the plumber arrived he begin to aggressively tell me that the boiler was working and that there was nothing wrong with the temperature controls and that the problem was the clock on the boiler. When I told him we couldn’t change the temp of the boiler he said that it was working, and that all it needed was a new clock. (Mainly I feel his animosity towards me reflected in the fact that me and my partner are Gay) He said that he would be back either Tuesday or Wednesday to install it. Tuesday and Wednesday passed and we heard nothing. 3 weeks later we called the letting agents complaining that nothing had been done. They advised that they would pass the matter onto their manager, 2 days later we get a call from the plumber to say that he will order the part today and call us when he can fix it. We asked him about the issue with the temperature controls and he said his manager was on holiday so he wasn’t sure. We are worried about the condition of the boiler by constantly having to switch it on and off at the mains when we need hot water for showing, washing up and using the washing machine. It’s also adding more cost to our gas bill as we are running the heating on full while we wash clothes on a weekend, which isn’t good when the weather is warm. We would really like to know where we stand with the way we are being treated as the tenancy agreement states that they are responsible for maintaining a working central heating system which includes the boiler, and that isn’t being done as we have had problems since last November. We are good tenants, never have any problems and the rent is paid in full on time every month, but I feel that the only way to get a satisfactory response would be to hold the rent payments until it is fixed, but know that this then is in breach of our agreement. This situation has caused us additional costs which we cannot afford and various degrees of stress trying to rectify it. I’m not sure on what help you can give us, but I’m at a loss as to where to turn to for advice as I feel we are being treated like fools.