Landlord in need of urgent advise please

[bulmer47]

This is my first post so apols if I am in the wrong place + if this is lengthy.

I am a LL who really wants to be doing the right thing for her tenants and I am facing a claim against me at this time from tenant whose AST finished on 4th July12 but who abandoned the property moving into a new property one month earlier leaving 2 cats in my property and the back patio doors left open for them. Tenant is claiming LL breach of contract / disrepair but only after LL has tried to deduct damages from deposit for

a) Keeping animals against AST

b) AST clearly states if animals found in property, cleaning, defumigation etc must be done and invoices supplied,

c) Tenant disposed of a cooker hood and a microwave without LL agreement.

d) House left totally uncleaned, I mean not even hoovered, dusted nothing and check out report states this and Tenant signed checkout report so agreeing with state house was left in.

e) State gardens were left in

g) Damage done by cats to wall paper on Hall, stairs and landings.

 

Tenent has openly admitted all the above but refuses she allow any deductions from her deposit. I started claim for arbitration with DPS - tenant refused. I suggested it again, tenant refused.

 

Tenant now served me with a claim for what seems disrepair, or rather a counterclaim to my wanting deductions from her deposit.

 

There have been repair issues but I can prove whenever they have been reported all attempts have been made to rectify the problem. Things have been complicated as everything handled by a (not so good x2) management agent as I am often out of the country. Tenant has a proven history of failing to let contractors have reasonable access and with holding rent, particuarly around Xmas time and for several months. Rent arrears paid after several months but without interest.

 

Repairs include;

1) Leaking kitchen ceiling - 2 plumber repairs done to bathroom, 1x repair to adjoining flat roof. One of the plumbers took 6 weeks from trying to get in to assess to completion largely due to tenant not been home when agreed, tenant cancelling appointments.

 

2) Tenant is claiming lack of adequate heating and hot water from Nov 10 to march12 - Boiler not only has gas cert but annually serviced. Leak from valve and drop in pressure reported Nov 10, rectified within a week.

May11 - same problem reported and rectified along with rads bled.

Oct 11 - Gas engineer recommended adding chemicles to system to flush debris out of rads but being adiment after 3 weeks rads would have to be emptied, flushed and bled. Gas engineer couldnt get back in to complete the flush.

Nov11 - Gas Cert + service.

 

Dec11+Jan12, £200 per month with held from rent, not picked up until mid Jan. When chased about this tenant said it was because she had inadequate heating so this was to offset her extra heating costs. She had done this without any warning or agreement. Problem with Central heating had not been reported until she was been chased for missing rent.

 

Jan12 - Gas Engineer said boiler working but reduced effectivity, he gave option of repair or replace. I repaired at over £600. Few weeks later Feb12) tenant complained of same problem, Gas Engineer went back and did a different repair. Few days later, same complaint. I then sent out my own Gas engineer (as opposed to Agents) and he condemned the boiler stating it was over heating, likely cause - debris from rads going back into the boiler after chemicals had released them and the flush had not been carried out as Engineer could not get back in to do this. Agents engineer confirmed this was most likely.

Mar12 - New boiler sucessfully installed.

 

June11 - Agent notified me of foul smell from drain outside back door - I asked for further detailed information? Should tenant just put some chemical there? Is it likely a bigger problem than that etc - no reply and I was out of the country. A week later agent said drains had a problem that needed dealing with, I asked him to send contractor to assess, report+ estimate. 3 days later on a fri afternoon 17th June I got an email from EH saying urgent situation with drains needs immediate attention. I emailed agents on 18th+20th, they replied late on 20th saying as tenant had not paid any rent they could not assist - EH went ahead and served me a notice and carried out the works.

 

Tenant is saying house was disgusting, dirty and needed lots of repairs when she moved in, she visited 3 times prior to starting AST, her guarantor is a solicitor, at no time did she write to say she was dis satisfied with the state of the house or the needed repairs when she viewed or first moved in nor with the repairs done, at inspections any repairs would be listed and actions put into place to rectify them.

 

Within a month of moving in tenant requested a rent reduction which was declined. Tenant never offered to pay for any repairs and have cost deducted from her rent yet with held rent.

 

Can you guys out there please advise, is it possible to defend a claim of disrepair? Have I actually done wrong so therefore should I rightly be paying compensation to this tenant? I really want to be reasonable but I have had both bad tenants taking advantage as well as very poor agents who have breached contracts and I really feel its time to "fight back" but only if I am in the right. I am desperate to hear your guidance on these matters.

[stu007]

Hi bulmer47

 

Welcome to CAG as its the weekend it may be quiet at the moment so pleas be patient and I am sure the caggers will be along to give you their wisdom.

 

Please in the meantime have a look around the forums.

[bulmer47]

Thanks stu007, have spent many hours now loking at forums and I think you guys are totally amazing with all the advise and guidance you are giving, its brilliant. I cant seem to find much advise for landlords themselves though, I know there are many Bad LL out there, but not all are and there are also some pretty bad tenants. Can you point me in the right direction for threads assisting LL please

[mariner51]

As LL you are in the letting business. Good Ts desrve consideration, others do not.

Did you erve nay Notice on T prior to their ealy departure?

Did T provide any indication (Notice) of their intended early departure?

When did you regain efective repossession of property? Before or after end of fixed term?

Disrepair is normally a poss defence to a LL s8 Notice

T has declined DPS ADR, so your only recourse is SCC for monies owed, though you wil tested on validity of claim via rent statements, move in/out inspection reports and attempts to repair T notified problems in a timely manner.

On the plus side you can claim T left property insecure and abandoned cats (cruelty).

Go equipped with all your evidence, it will be for Judge to decide.

If successfu, I doubt you will recover any monies due, inc Court fees, but registering a CCJ against T may afford some satisfaction.

Your decision.

[citizenB]

I dont think it would look good for the Tenant that they have refused arbritation - what is their reason for doing so? Courts do expect there to have been some attempt at mediation prior to a claim being issued - so it looks as though you have that on your side.

 

You certainly need to respond to the claim.

 

Can you let us know the date of issue, which you will find at the top right hand of the claim form. Was this issued via Northampton bulk centre or a local court.

 

To back up their claim, the Tenant will need to have evidence - you can request copies of anything they have mentioned on their claim form - so if you can let us know exactly what has been said on the claim - the reason they are making it, then we can see what you can request by way of CPR31.14 and if you have to use the alternative, CPR 18 for other information.

 

Were photographs taken of the condition the Tenant left the property in as well as your check out lists.

[bulmer47]

As LL you are in the letting business. Good Ts desrve consideration, others do not.

Did you erve nay Notice on T prior to their ealy departure?

Did T provide any indication (Notice) of their intended early departure?

When did you regain efective repossession of property? Before or after end of fixed term?

Disrepair is normally a poss defence to a LL s8 Notice

T has declined DPS ADR, so your only recourse is SCC for monies owed, though you wil tested on validity of claim via rent statements, move in/out inspection reports and attempts to repair T notified problems in a timely manner.

On the plus side you can claim T left property insecure and abandoned cats (cruelty).

Go equipped with all your evidence, it will be for Judge to decide.

If successfu, I doubt you will recover any monies due, inc Court fees, but registering a CCJ against T may afford some satisfaction.

Your decision.

Thank you so much for replying - I am almost in tears just reading your relies guys, thank you so much. I know tenants deserve a good service and I did try - maybe this was just not good enough, I know you guys will advise honestly.

 

To answer your questions above;

1) Notice was never served, although I did ask Agent to do so he didnt. Tenant gave 2mths notice, then she realised that her timings were wrong and had taken another property to start her AST a full month before her ast with me had finished so tenancy with me finished 5th July, but her new tenancy started 4th June, so she moved into new place 4th June with the majority of her belongings, left my house full of black bags, rubbish and uncleaned plus cats - for a further month before clearing it out and doing her hand over on 4th july.

2) Fixed term finished 4th feb

3) This disrepair claim is as a direct result of LL trying to lawfully deduct from deposit for damages and state left in re cats - so its a counter claim I guess although the firts part of her claim is to have her deposit returned.

 

4) I have not even attempted to deduct deposit for general clean, only for what should have been done if she was found to have pets there, plus damages by cats to wallpaper in hall + stairs. plus 2 LL items missing which she is now saying were broken (electrical) but which she never had written authority to dispose of and state she left garden in. Tenant has not disputed any of the above but has admitted but refuses to pay for them and refuses arbitration.

 

5) T. did not always notify repairs needed in a timely manner i.e only after noticing she had with held a portion of rent for the 2nd month, and chasing this up, did T then say central heating was a problem giving this as an excuse for with holding rent which she continued to do for a further 2 months so 4 months in total. She then never paid this arrears until end of May when she was told by agent they could not give her a reference while she had rent arrears.

 

6) Other repairs were notified to the agent (T had my address and email address but she never contacted me directly) I then instructed agent to undertake repairs, firstly getting me estimates and reports on the problem, works when then instructed but most often completion delayed as T would either not be in or would call contractor and cancel and re set appointments.

 

7) Agent did notify me of a possible drain problem on 2nd June, I asked him for more details i.e was this because of sink blocked / was it a case of adding chemicals to drain or something more sinister. He failed to respond and on (Fri p.m) 17th June Enviro. H emailed me (out of the country ) saying urgent repair needed, sewage coming back into downstairs washroom hand basin and up from outside drain - I sent agent Urgent email to deal with the prob, he didnt respond, sent another urgent email (Mon 20th) to which he responded saying "As T had not paid rent for 2 months no funds available to send out contractor" - I sent a ' handyman' to see if he could do something to ' hold' situ / temp repair till I could some how transfer funds from overseas to agent - Handyman assessed and stated it was beyond him. Env H served me with a notice and completed the work on Tues 21st.

 

I look forward to your further remarks and advise

[bulmer47]

Thanks citizenB - I will try to answer your questions raised.

Claim date is 7th March (T left 4th July) I am currently out of the country not due back until late June/ early July and have emailed the court notifying them of this and that I wish to defend and counter claim. - Awaiting there reply. An uncle tried to send the claim for back but they wrote to him last Fri saying he can not act for me. Claim is via a local court.

 

T has a guarentor who is said to be her friend and who happens to be a solicitor and it is she who has filed the claim as it seems full of legal jargon. I have had parts of it emailed to me but systems here in Africa very bad so cant get decent copy of full document.

 

RE ARBITRATION - When agent sent me copy of moving out I was very upset ( I had had previous T who had failed to pay rent for 4mths and left the place in awful condition - I didnt pursue the T )

Check out is awful, animal fur noted all over house, on hob, all over carpets etc. House was full of dust, carpets not hoovered, floors not cleaned, bath dirty, windows dirty, oven crusted with dirt, fridge not wiped out let alone cleaned, carpets all stained, scratch marks throughout hall, stairs and landing so pretty appalling, T signed this checkout. Unfortunatly, the company that did check in had gone out of business, so different one did check out, most of check in documentation missing from agents file, agent had been changed by me when 1st agent (who signed up this tenent) failed to respond to drain problem in a timely manner.

 

Due to the issues with check in / different agent etc I had not attempted to claim for general cleaning of the house only the de fumigating following animals been found there, animal damage, state of garden and missing items which T confirms she had thrown away.

 

Agent filed despute with DPS when T responded (after 5 weeks + not 14 days) that the house was in a state when she moved in so therefore not paying for anything. When DPS wrote to T, she didnt respond in a timely manner but it dragged on passd the deadline, she eventually wrote to DPS saying she refused Arbitration and was taking matters to CC. I received a letter from her solicitor 9th Oct which I responded to in detail, then Jan13 email from T saying she couldnt afford solicitor so demanding her deposit ack - I reiterated the damage by cats, her ast conditions etc and again suggested she allow DPS arb as this was free. Heard nothing more until this claim.

 

DETAILS - difficult to give you everything as I am currently out of country, no fax facils etc but from what I can gather, she is requesting

1) full deposit back - no further details written there.

 

alleging disre-pair

1) Inadequate heating and hot water from Nov10 to March 13

note - a) leaky valve under boiler and drop in pressure reported early nov 10 - Engineer visiting few days later as scheduled to do gas cert and full service, leaky valve replaced, pressures re sset, rads bled.

b) June 11 - same prob reported, and rectified

c) July 11 - Drop in pressure and small rad not fully heating reported - Agent told T they would send engineer when T paid her rent arrears (£2400 outstanding) I changed Agents at this time as 1st agents delay in getting drains rectified.

Aug 11 - T paid arrears, drop in pressure rectified (re set) small rad bled.

Due to the recurring issue I sought advise from my gas engineer who recommended chemicals be put in system to defir rads - he was adiment he must gain entry and flush rads out 3 weeks later otherwise other problems could be caused for boiler. Chemicals were added late Sept, despite appointments T never there to let him back in.

Nov11 - Gas cert + servicing done = No probs.

19th Jan 12 - when chasing rent arrears, T stated with holding due to inadequate heating (not reported till this time)

 

Agents unable to get my Gas Engineer back so sent there own after 10 days, he reported heating working but not very efficiently, gave choice of repair or replace. took repair as none done previously. A few weeks after repair, same reported again, engineer back, did further repair. After couple weeks same prob. While agents engineer working on prob, I sent my engineer who said boiler over heating, likely due to debris blocking system ( rads not flushed as they should have been) and he condemned the boiler. T had other heating in place.

(T still owed £800 arrears, refused to pay and wanted this to off set her additional heating bills. I agreed as a good will gesture only, that if she could supply heating bills to agent with previous yr same period, she could have £400) She paid arrears of only £400, never supplied the relevant bills despite many requests.

Estimates taken for new boiler - new boiler installed, final part was delayed a few days as tenant late with rent + I was out of country.

 

 

2) Dangrous and unsafe electrics

Immed prior to this AST many electrical up dates done including additional RCD's, full 5 yr cert given. System tripped several times in first few weeks, T had electricians num ( guarenteed works) and was told over using system with 3 daughters, hair dryers, straighteners etc or unsafe equip would trip system. Agent showed her how to re - set more than once. When told she would have to pay for any further call outs like this, no further complaints.

T is claiming un safe electrical appliances, and usafe electrics meant my electrical appliances were broken - i.e micro wave (thrown out by T so unable to get it tested) washing machine was under guarentee as new for her, agents failed to get this repaired said couldnt find guarentee (me out of country) on returnhad machine checked, fault had nothing to do with electrics.

 

T says daughter had electric shock form lounge switch ? reported once, advised T + Agent to get electricain back to check - no probs noted, no further complaints.- no electrical issues reported by current tenant!

 

3) Leak through kitchen ceiling

a)This was reported and said to be something in bathroom causing - prob rectified.

 

b) 6mths later same problem reported - again said to be bathroom, it took plumber 6 weeks from assessing to completion as T kept failing appts or was not in.

 

c) same prob reported several months later but this time (only when it rains bad) - had bathroom checked, no prob noted, had seam between side extension flat roof + adjoining kitchen re sealed although no eveident problem. A temp patch was put in place +it took some time to complete full repair as had to wait for fair weather.

 

4) Drain problem - stated earlier. due to agents unhelpful responses and my formal complaint against him, agents changed.

 

5) Leak under sink - reported and repaired although handyman left system tied up with blue rope which was later fully rectified.

 

6) Damp in house exasperating daughters astmah - ( no mold or obvious damp other than small leak through kitchen ceiling)

 

7) House was "filthy dirty and in bad repair on move in" - that she had bettered the house and was forced to re decorate at her own cost.

- T visited property 3 times prior to AST signing with various members of family / friends including T guarentor who is solicitor.

 

I think these are the main things from what I can gather. No photographs taken on check out, report is clear (although prob incomplete) and T signed the conditional report.

 

CATS - I had no idea they were in the house, I sent a new agent to assess house for further tenant and he reported a) cats abandoned there, rear door left open and house a mess. I told managing agents to call tenant and if cats not removed within 2 hours to call rspca - they didnt do this. T repsonded initially saying she wasnt aware she had left rear door open and would move cats once she settled into new house. 2nd repsonse via her solicitor was that she had not completly moved out and her daughters were on the rear field (could not have been true as visiting agent locked rear doors) 3rd response different again.

 

Many thanks and I am sorry if this is long.

[citizenB]

Right, timeline for you

 

Claim issued 07.03.2013 + 5 for service = 12.03.2013 + 14 days to acknowledge claim = 26.03.2013 + 14 days to submit defence = 09.04.2013.

 

It is important for you to acknowledge the claim on time - so make sure you do that by the 26th March. I will try and find someone with more legal knowledge who can advise what you should be doing in respect of not being in the country at the moment - I doubt there will be a hearing so soon after the defence submitting date.. I think you have contacted the court to advise them of this, but I think that is taken care of at allocation stage.

 

You need to respond to each and every point the Tenant makes on the claim. You then make your counterclaim. The person I am sending S.O.S to should be able to advise on that.

 

It does sound as though you had problems not just with the Tenant, but the Agent as well !

[bulmer47]

Thanks a million citizenB - really appreciate all your advise. I have had terrible problems with managing agents depite paying 12+ % per month but there seems little re dress against agents. I await further advise and feedback from you and others that may feel like giving a view.

Q - if house was left in such a state, animals there and damage from animals (all in breach of AST) and T has confirmed the state by signing the check out report, can she then just refuse to pay for the clean up and repairs like this?

Q - Can someone please clarrify, I am right in thinking that I can ask the claimant to disclose all documentry evidance she has to support all the allegations she is making ? before I submit my defence and counter claim? How do I do this?

 

I have emailed the CC advising them I am not in the country but I am still awaiting thier reply.

 

Thanks again everyone and please keep the views, comments and advise coming, it is really appreciated.

[andydd]

My area of expertise is more Freehold issues.

 

But it is worth pointing out that the tenant should really of followed the CPR Disrepair Protocol here > http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/prot_hou and you could draw the judges attention to the fact they didnt.

 

But as others have pointed out its really just a case of how much evidence each side has, youll note in the above CPR that its recommended surveyors (or ideally a single surveyor agreed by both parties) is used.

 

Andy