landlord problem need urgent help

[Conniff]

Housing benefits are talking rubbish. You don't get charged for contacting a solicitor, you only get charged by the solicitor that you engage.

 

The police are being their lazy self. The fact that it is about arrears has nothing to do with the report of harrassment, it is not the cause it is the actual crime that they should be investigating.

 

Write a letter and address it to the chief constanstable and drop it in the police station yourself. Don't take the word of some dumb bloke on the desk who only know how to issue parking tickets.

 

Have you been in touch with Shelter? if not then do it now.

[phat256]

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Edited June 23, 2008 by phat256

[Conniff]

i will still go with a complaint as one of their "lovely" police women told us that a landlord can do as they wish!

 

She might have been lovely looking but she obviously didn't have a clue what she was on about.

Landlords cannot do as they wish, there are guidlines and laws which govern them.

[waterbottle]

Phat, sorry to be so slow in getting back to you about this matter.

 

I have been in a similar situation and I realised that the council and the police and most other organisations will try to do as little as possible. The police will simply lie and the council probably will as well. It took me a long time to come to terms with this and it still makes my blood boil.

 

I am trying to think of the best way forward for you. Which part of the country do you live in? Maybe post the first 3 digits of your postcode. There may be a charity that will be able to sort out some of this. I will try and find out some of the law concerned. Then we can work on a letter.

 

Most of what the Landlord(s?) are saying seems to be nonense; maybe designed to tie you in knots. They may even be lying about who is the Landlord. Landlord means owner of the property; not whoever comes to your house to harass you.

 

I will try and post something more concrete tomorrow so we can move forward. Try not to stress too much though!

[waterbottle]

One more thing tonight....

 

When you get a chance, try and make a written diary of what has happened from the beginning. Include names and times and what people on the phone told you. Try and put it in MS Word format so it can be emailed and made into a 'schedule' more easily. It will be very useful later!

[phat256]

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Edited June 23, 2008 by phat256
typo once more lol ...

[Conniff]

phat, are you actioning any of the things that have been suggested to you in here, like recording her calls, asking her agent for her name and address as the regulations require ?

[waterbottle]

The police will lie and lie and lie about harassment. But it is a criminal offence. I would suggest that you write a letter to the police and keep a copy. Something along these lines...

 

Dear Chief Constable (try to find his name if you can)I have repeatedly tried to report harassment to your officers and they have repeatedly told me that this is only a civil matter. (insert examples if you like)As I am sure you are aware, harassment is in fact both a civil and a criminal matter.

 

The Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PHA) creates a criminal offence of harassment.

 

S1(1) states:A person must not pursue a course of conduct which:

 

amounts to harassment of another

 

he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of another

 

(This person) has sent threatening text messages and pursued a course of action which we have found extremely distressing. The harassment has occured on numerous ocasions. Both my wife and I are feeling extremely intimiated by this. (If you have any other evidence i.e letters etc, or details of visits you can include it). My local council has also stated that it feels this is a case of criminal harassment.

 

I am sure that you will now investigate this matter thoroughly and take appropriate measures with a view to prosecution.

 

Sincerely,

 

Phat256

 

cc. Local MP

 

You should also send a copy to your MP and make it plain that you have done this in your letter. The MP letter should say

 

Dear (MP's name),

 

Please find enclosed a letter which I have sent to the police.

 

They have mistakenly refused to investigate harassment against my wife and I as a crime.

 

I hope you will encourage them to deal with the matter in the proper way.

 

Sincerely,

 

Phat 256

 

 

If you tell me roughly where you live. i.e. East London; Liverpool etc. I can try and find some sort of organisation that may be able to help you. Like a welfare rights charity.

 

Anyway, keep going phat! Your Landlady sounds AWFUL.PM me the final copy of the letter if you like and I will do my best to check it for you.

 

If you want you can PM me any details so I can find somewhere close to home that will help you.

[phat256]

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Edited June 23, 2008 by phat256

[phat256]

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Edited June 23, 2008 by phat256

[waterbottle]

You can't really do any harm by sending a letter. Have you sent the 2 letters I suggested to the police and your MP? I would suggest you send the one to the police by Recorded delivery. It will cost about £1 but without that they may well just bin it.

[389shell]

This is for any legal body that may read this thread, can phat not send a S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) to the solicitor to be forwarded to her, obviously they will not respond to this, then take them to court to comply?

 

You have all my sympathies Phat, indeed, she is a right bi*ch!

[waterbottle]

I can't find any references for this and am reciting from memory. If no one can confirm or deny this then I will try to get hold of thebooks in which I read it.

 

1) For any rent to be due the tenancy agreement must have an address on it, at which the tenant can serve notices to the landlord.

 

In your case Phat, if there is nothing else, this may mean one of two things.

i) Any notices served to the address (of the solicitors I assume) on the tenancy agreement counts as served on the landlord.

OR

ii) There is no valid address for the Landlord and therefore it might be the case that no rent is due. If this is the case then it may be backdated. You may even get rent back from the past.

 

2)It is, I think, a criminal offence to refuse to supply details of a landlords address if you are asking for rent. Here I have cut and pasted something useful...........

 

(1) If the tenant of premises occupied as a dwelling makes a written request for the landlord’s name and address to—

(a) any person who demands, or the last person who received, rent payable under the tenancy, or any other person for the time being acting as agent for the landlord, in relation to the tenancy,

that person shall supply the tenant with a written statement of the landlord’s name and address within the period of 21 days beginning with the day on which he receives the request.

(2) A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with subsection (1) commits a summary offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.

(3) In this section and section 2—

(a) "tenant" includes a statutory tenant; and (b) "landlord" means the immediate landlord.

 

Two slight problems here:

1. You actually have to give written notice that you require an address before it becomes a criminal offense. A bit difficult when you don't have an address - but have a simple letter written out for the next time you see her. Obviously sign and date the letter, and in an ideal world get her to sign a copy acknowledging receipt or at least have a witness.

2.. It is for the authority to enforce this by laying complaint to the magistrates but you might have a bit bother finding which section of your council deals with this. Might be Trading Standards or something like Tenancy Liason Officer. Ask for the person who deals with complaints against landlords, and be ready to quote this Act.

It will start the wheels moving anyway.

 

So Phat,you will need to quote the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985

Section 1 Disclosure of Landlords Identity.

 

I wouldn't mention any of this to them yet. Try and get a situation in which you have a witness and then let the witness see you serve this letter on them.

 

Realistically, I think you're going to need a solicitor because they're fighting all the way. The landlord is clearly a bully and a terrible person. Might you qualify for legal aid? You can always call the CLS to find out.

 

Perhaps most importantly, what did the solicitors say in reply to the letter that was sent to them? I would suggest that you send all correspondence, by recorded delivery, to them. If they return it to you it dort of proves that you never had a serving address for the landlord and then, perhaps, no rent is due. It's not like the landlord is going to do anything even if you do get her address.

 

If you can't get legal aid then I would advise paying a solicitor (for a bit of their time as they should be able to cut through all of the nonsense a lot quicker. Make sure you get a housing expert!

 

Lastly, did you sent the letter I recommended to the police. It will be useful when things escalate.

 

Let us know and keep fighting!

[phat256]

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Edited June 23, 2008 by phat256

[waterbottle]

Let me clear something up phat. The CAB do not provide legal aid. They provide help with legal matters but they're, in my experience, largely useless.

 

Legal aid is help to pay some or all of the bill for a solicitor. I think that you may need to get a solictor involved if you want to get these problems resolved.

 

The CAB lady is right that the landlord can evict you. But it will take her time and money and once she does this you would have little reason to refrain from involving a solicitor. You may get money from her and she doesn't seem to want that! If she moves to evict you she will have to give you her address or the notice won't be valid!

 

Eviction is nothing to do with anything that is going on now. In most cases, any landlord can evict any tenant at some point.

 

Your question now may be how long are you prepared to tolerate her behaviour. How much are you willing to tolerate before you leave the flat? How much will you gain from her if you do leave? You can either keep fighting or try and come to an agreement.

 

I am still puzzled by 'her'. If the person you are talking to is not the landlord, who is it? Is she an agent? You need to serve that letter to 'her' ,preferably with a witness. It will then be a criminal offence for her to refuse to supply the information on the landlord.

 

I cannot fathom exactly what they're up to. The best way to continue is to try and get proof of everything they say. If it's not in writing then it doesn't really have any basis for you to act upon.

 

My advice again; speak to a solicitor. Try and get a free half hour. Take everything and have it neatly presented and type up you 'diary' of events so it is clear and unambiguous. The CAB are useless and I can't find any suitable welfare rights organisations nearby.

 

Good luck and keep us posted. And call the Community Legal Service to see if you can qualify for any professional legal help.

 

Their number is: 0845 345 4 345

[phat256]

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Edited June 23, 2008 by phat256

[waterbottle]

How's it going Phat? Thanks for your message of support. Have you had any replies from any of the letters you sent?

 

Have you managed to clarify any new information?

 

Let us know. If you're leaving you need to think what to do to make life as easy and profitable for you and your other half as possible.

[phat256]

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Edited June 23, 2008 by phat256

[Conniff]

Phat - you can obtain her name and address simply by applying to the land registry and pay a few pounds.

 

All you need do is ask who owns the house you were renting.

[phat256]

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Edited June 23, 2008 by phat256

[waterbottle]

I'm glad yoo've found some sort of resolution Phat. Sorry we couldn't get her off your back.

 

If you choose bankruptcy it can mean a nice clean break. Hopefully things will get better.

 

This landlord thing sounds so dodgy. If you call the Inland Revenue (the tax authorities) they may be interested. I would imagine that THEY WILL get stuff done against the landlady which isn't really what you wanted but might feel nice. You could tell them about all the texts etc. It would also make society a better place because this whole arrangement sounds very criminal. But you must do what you think best for you.

 

Well done for surviving so far!

[phat256]

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Edited June 23, 2008 by phat256