Crazy Landlady

[walai134]

Hello,

We are currently living in HELL.

 

Since we moved in a very ( too expensive!!) one bedroom flat, the landlady started to be obsessed by us.

She started to complain constantly about everything and always via email.

 

Then we couldn't sleep because of the noise pollution coming form the ceilings. They are not soundproofed and we ca hear every single annoying noise coming from above. Our guests couldn't believe it. It's really annoying, it's like a bunch of elephants are walking above our heads!

 

As soon as we complain via email and calling her, she accused us of harassing her.

We stopped any communication with her, until she started to contact us again via email to complain about the fact we asked to her husband to give us some rubbish bags, because we were new and we didn't know where to find them.

 

Then my family friend needed a temporary address to send receive his new job contract. He gave his HR our home address.

Our landlady received the letter and she started to threaten us, accusing us of address fraud and, also, blackmailing us.

She wants to charge us for 4 months rent because she is accusing us of having another tenant, without asking her permission.

By contract we should pay £300 more per month if we add a tenant to the flat.

The funny thing is that my friend lived in another area of Holloway (which can be proved) and he's been sleeping at our place only for 2 days, as a guest for the weekend.

 

Before this blackmail she sent her husband to our place and she spied us from the window of the garden. She saw our friend and her husband entered into the house without any notice, asking for the name of the guest using an excuse.

 

She is keeping the copy of the mail of my friend and she keeps on saying that what we did is fraud and that wehave to pay her.

 

Wht should we do with her?

I can't handle this situation anymore!

[mariner51]

I suggest you modify your language re LL before she responds in kind.

She may be a bit flaky but maybe a newbie ot had bad experience with previous Ts. We don't know.

However a friend using your hell address as an accomodation address is poss a fraud on someone, particularly if he has a place in Holloway. Of course you can have an occ visitor to stay for a short period but asking for extra rent for another occupier giving your hellish address to others is not blackmail, as you say it is written into the AST you signed.

IMO it is your responsibility to explain situation to LL.

Room ceilings do not have to be sound insulated and noise of footsteps may be due to occupier above having wooden or laminate flooring with no carpets. Have you mentioned the noise to occupier above and suggested some carpetting?

Your first comment about falt being expensive was illuminating, despite not mentioning age of property.

What can you do? Serve NTQ when legally able and move to cheaper accom, pref a self-contained house. not flat, before you are served a s21.

[walai134]

I suggest you modify your language re LL before she responds in kind.

She may be a bit flaky but maybe a newbie ot had bad experience with previous Ts. We don't know.

However a friend using your hell address as an accomodation address is poss a fraud on someone, particularly if he has a place in Holloway. Of course you can have an occ visitor to stay for a short period but asking for extra rent for another occupier giving your hellish address to others is not blackmail, as you say it is written into the AST you signed.

IMO it is your responsibility to explain situation to LL.

Room ceilings do not have to be sound insulated and noise of footsteps may be due to occupier above having wooden or laminate flooring with no carpets. Have you mentioned the noise to occupier above and suggested some carpetting?

Your first comment about falt being expensive was illuminating, despite not mentioning age of property.

What can you do? Serve NTQ when legally able and move to cheaper accom, pref a self-contained house. not flat, before you are served a s21.

 

Hello,

Thank you for your answer.

My friend stayed just for 2 nights and he received just his contract, that's it. I never heard of address fraud for this. Do you have any links that can prove it? I can't find it

He lived in Holloway until January 2013 and he received his contract just less than a one month ago.

The landlady said he received pays slips, which is not true. And she kept a copy of this letter, sending it back to the postal service.

I've never been rude with her via email and also there are emails I've sent to her which prove my request. The property has been sold in 2001 but I don't know how old it is.

It's a flat and we are living in a basement.

We don't know if we can leave the property before our contract ends (it will end the next month).

Also we found snails coming from the bathroom (we've got the pictures), her husband entered in to the house without notice.

We always paid on time the rent and the bills.

She never provided us the invoices of the extra bills we had to pay for "utilities".

Also she wants to kick us out from the flat without notice.

 

Isn't it illegal?

 

Thank you again!

[walai134]

The email proves my request about a solution for the noise pollution.

Also the house has no privacy: there's a small door that connects our flat to hers and she assured us that the door was locked permanently and that none used it.

Unfortunately behind the door there's another room and we can hear clearly people walking and talking.

 

Also she spied us through the windows of the bathroom even though she said that none could see through them.

[assisted blonde]

leave the premises as soon as your tennancy is up and choose b etter next time, if there is a door its pretty obvious there is a room behind it and if thats the case people will walk and talk, asking for bin bags? buy some, noise from upstairs yes could be floorboards but there is often noise if people live above you, this sounds like a neighbour dispute really its fairly obvious that you dont get on with the LL so look for somewhere else

[Ediej6]

You are entitled to "quiet enjoyment" of the premises in law. The LL and/or her representatives cannot enter into the flat without your permission unless it is an emergency.As you have such a short time to go until the end of your tenancy, I would put it down to experience and move. You are entitled to leave on the end date without giving any notice, so I would just go and not tell her. But don't stay even one day longer or you will be required to give a minimum one months notice/or pay for a months rent, as technically you will be in a Periodic Tenancy after your end date has expired and you have to give notice to end this.No, she cannot kick you out early either and if she hasn't served proper notice on you (2 months), even though your tenancy is about to end, she cannot kick you out at all! Threats to kick you out are criminal under the Criminal Law Act 1977.Protection from Eviction Act 1977 means she needs a court order to get you out if you refuse to leave.The law is very much on the side of the Tenant but unless you stand up to her or report her to the police, she may try to get away with it. Go to the CAB for further advice.

[walai134]

Hey thank you so much for your help!

 

We are going to leave as soon as the contract ends, we cannot leave the flat right now

 

Next time I'll choose another solution. She still wants to sue us and wants us to pay more than £2000 for having another tenant at our place for 4 months (this is not true at all and we can prove it).

She sent us an email forcing us to pay her, without any evidence. Just her email with a deadline: 14 days to pay her.

 

About the bin bag: we were putting the garbage out, we were new and her husband gave us some bags. The day after she sent us an email about it reminding us to collect the proper bin bags, with a very severe tone.

 

I don't know why she's doing all this mess since we always paid on time. She seriously thinks we're stupid...anyway we're going to ask for legal advice and we'll get out from that place asap.

 

Thank you again!!