We started privately renting our current property Aug 2009, we noticed a musty smell in our ensuite bathroom immediately. we tried to contact landlord to no avail. We wrote to her and the letter was returned, this was late 2009. We have still not heard from her so 6 weeks ago our washing machine broke which was her property so we tried calling her again but could not get hold of her. The outsides drains were also blocked so we took action and got environmental health to track her down and get it fixed. The outside drains were fixed immediately by her 2 weeks ago, and she said she would get "her" plumber in to fix washing machine, the musty smell in the ensuite and also our gas boiler needs to be serviced because its been over 18 months since its last service. We are still trying to get her to fix these problems but still to no avail. We finally spoke to her this evening and she has tried to say that it is our responsibility to fix the washing machine, and that we should be grateful that we are paying the cheapest amount of rent in our street.........Tis made me a little mad!!!!!! We have read our contract and it states that all electrical and mechanical goods, fittings and fixtures are the landlords responsibility to maintain and repair. I see this as her breaking our tenancy agreement, and breaking the law by not have our boiler serviced because the certificate has ran out. Where do we go from here? Please HELP!!!!!!!! Tenants are always seemed to be the ones that are unfairly treated!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My son has recently completed his HND studies and has gone on to study at Sussex Uni as part of a continious process. My local council (Crawley) has so far refused to allow the Students discount for the period between June - Sept (The summer recess) as they say he changed courses and was not therefore in continous full time education. Looking at the "The Council Tax (Discount Disregards) Order 1992 3. A person is to be regarded as undertaking a full time course of education on a particular day if— (a)on the day he is enrolled for the purpose of attending such a course with a prescribed educational establishment within Part I of Schedule 2 to this Order, and (b)the day falls within the relevant period for that course." It therefore appears that under the terms of the law Student discount is only available at a daily rate when attending the couse. This can not possibly be correct, can any one give me direction as to why Students are not liable to council tax during the holiday periods and is it correct that my local council levy Tax as a result of the course title changing during a period of continious education. Any advise much appreicated Neil

Hi all. I have just bought a motorhome. Year 2002 for £15,000. To clarify, the vendor does work at a garage, so does have mechanical knowledge. He advertised this motorhome as being in perfect condition. We went to view it, he started it up, put the radio on, drove it for a bit, then let me drive. He agreed to take my old campervan in PX as he wanted a smaller older campervan to work on. He said he was selling this one as he needed to release capital to do up his kitchen. I had a bankers draft drawn. A week later he drove the camper to my house. He said that he had noticed that the speedo cable wasn't working, so had bought a new one, fitted it that morning but it still wasn't working. He said that I probably only needed the speedo gear cog thing. He spoke to my garage to explain what the problem was. Then he agreed to pay the bill to fix it. The camper is at the garage as we speak. I have been told he didn't change the speedo cable and it isn't the external speedo gear, it is internal, in the gearbox, so will cost about £500 to repair. I have emailed the vendor to ask if he wants the bill sending to him or if he is going to reimburse me. I am awaiting an answer but in the meantime I thought I would post on here. Where do I stand legally if he refuses to pay. I have evidence that he knew of the problem ( him speaking to my mechanic). Also, he said he wasn't a car dealer, yet I am led to believe he has already sold on my old motorhome. I might come back to you with good news. I might find that he agrees to pay the bill but in case he doesn't .... Any advice would be appreciated.

The ECHR in September gave a final decision on a case that has been running through national and European courts for 10 years - Kay v United Kingdom, originally Lambeth Borough v Kay and others. The ECHR was asked to decide whether occupiers of land should have an opportunity to contest possession orders made against them on the ground that such orders were disproportionate, taking into account the personal circumstances of the occupiers. The challenge was made under Article 8 of the Convention. In finding for Kay the court said that "the loss of one's home is the most extreme form of interference with the right to respect for the home. Any person at risk of an interference of this magnitude should in principle be able to have the proportionality of the measure determined by an independent tribunal in light of the relevant principles under Article 8 of the Convention, notwithstanding that, under domestic law, his right to occupation has come to an end." The ECHR concluded that the decision by British courts to strike out the defence meant that the procedural safeguards for the assessment of the proportionality of the interference were not observed. As a result, the applicants were dispossessed of their homes without any possibility to have the proportionality of the measure determined by an independent tribunal. Although this case was to do with Social Housing tenants, the above paragraphs must apply to any claim for possession including those against private tenants and mortgagors. In fact only this week I used it in assisting a friend to appeal a possession and eviction order gained by Northern Rock. There were other grounds and the decision was made without a hearing, so I cannot tell how much weight the judge gave to this particular ground, but it seems to me that this must now become an essential consideration in all possession proceedings.

Hi everyone! Looking for some friendly and accurate advice, there doesnt seem to be much about this on the internet. So around 4 months ago my online account was hacked and a large sum of money was stolen from my account in three different transactions. My bank immedietly refunded this, stating that their fraud team would find the money which would go back to them. So the money was refunded by my bank. Then when they chased the money it was put into my account and taken out immedietly. About a month later, one of the transactions for around 5000 was put into my account again. Please note that this transaction was from a normal account, not the actual bank. This was about 3 months ago. I have left the money in my account and not touched it. Can I (and if so when?) claim this money as mine? Also I need to get a mortgage soon, would it be unsafe to do so because of the 5000? Would they question it? Many questions but I want to be safe. Thank you.

Hi. I really need some good advice on this employment law issue. I need to know what to do. Basically. I was working at a place on a 3 month contract. I was given a verbal conformation of a full time contract but this got changed at te last minute. However this is not the major issue. The issue is that my boss went away for a week and made me take holiday. And because I had already had my entitlement he has not paid me for this week. The fact of the matter is that I was willing to work this week and nothing in my contract states about forced holiday. Before he left he promised me he would sub the money and give me a bonus scheme in my new contract but obviously I never got one. My questions are: is he allowed to do this? What action should I take? Thanks.

I have been selected for an interview on the 23 September 2010, the company cancelled this for another date which I was not able to attend. The company told me it would get back to me with another to fit in all the managers. How long do I have to wait for them to get back to me? They have actually finished all interviews as I saw the dates, and would be implementing someone soon, do I have any rights, such as legitimate expectation?? or any rights within employment rights and The HRA 1998.