Eviction

[Charlieandthechocolatecake]

We have recently been evicted.

After a 3rd party inventory, our deposit will be returned in full apart from the check out fee.

BUT, this is a revenge eviction. From the day we moved in we complained about damp and mould throughout the house. The 3rd bedroom was unusable. DS2 had to sleep in our room because of his asthma.

I know we will get most of the deposit back and I am grateful. But we left the house in a better condition than the one we found it in.

I know it sounds nasty but I'm considering bad telling the incoming tenants of the problems we had (we moved a couple of roads away).

I just feel as though the landlord should cover this fee considering he kicked us out and we had to pay out more to move while trying to save a deposit to buy! Any advice would be greatly received!

[Trifleorbust]

What was the reason for the eviction?

[NormaSmuff]

the incoming tenants wont want to hear this news now though, not when they are due to move in
i wouldnt risk it tbh. just walk away.
surely you are being evicted for not paying? why else would you be being evicted?

[PotteringAlong]

Why were you evicted?

[BoomBoomsCousin]

Do you mean legally evicted, or just not had your tenancy renewed?

There's nothing illegal in telling the incoming tenants the truth about the place, though you could potentially be sued for libel I suppose, whether what you say is true or not. Not sure what the point would be though if they've already signed a contract. I suppose you could offer yourselves up as witnesses if the new tenants want to sue the landlord for not providing the sort of property he advertised if they have the same problems you did but he had said that flat was fine. Otherwise, your vent to the new tenants will probably just come across as you being slightly too emotionally attached to having lived there.

[Toysaurus]

I would warn them. I would want to know. We were revenge evicted because I complained about having no window, hole in the roof with rain coming in, no hot water for weeks, running water going into electrics making power trip, roof collapse, wall collapse.

Place looked beautiful when we moved in but it was just bodged up and with fresh paint which disguised the problems. I would be terrified about ending up with another landlord like this because it costs thousands to move house to fought after rentals in our city which are two grand a month for two beds and another landlord lottery.

[Partyfops]

You would have always had a check out fee anyway so swallow it and move on.

Most damp and mould issues are down to a tenants life style anyway so maybe the LL wanted new tenants to treat it better.

That wasn't meant to sound as bad as it did, I'm not trying to be rude.

[FanaticalFox]

Mould is most of the time due to poor ventilation so doesnt often fly with landlords in terms of you complaining and them fixing it.

[nelipotter]

Leave them a letter advising them to take lots of photos and keep everything in writing... Or just drop round to say.
Its too late for them to not move in but it would be friendly to let them know what they are up against.

[UppityHumpty]

Rented my last tenants a just done up professionally done up flat, that we'd previously lived in for ten years without a problem. Within 6 months they got mould because they wouldn't open windows or switch the extractor fan on. They also weren't cleaning the flat. When they complained it gave me the kick up the backside that I needed - I chose not to renew their tenancy because they were living like slobs.

[BadKnee]

Why were you asked to leave? Did your tenancy come to an end and was not renewed? Did the landlord give you reasonable legal notice to end the contract?

Had you kept the rent up to date?

And I would say nothing to new tenants. It won't help them now and could be seen as harrassment, (depending on what you do of course).

If the property was bad - report to Env Health - even though you have left.

[SpreadYourHappiness]

Surely if the property was so bad, you're just glad not to live there anymore?

[judgymoo]

I probably wouldn't tell the new tenants, its doubtful they would appreciate your advice anyway! But if you are really concerned that the landlord is letting a dangerous or uninhabitable property then a word to your local council Housing Officer might be worth it

[Littleelffriend]

As previous posters have said mould is usually caused by the people living in the house. Would love to know the reason for eviction.

[birdladyfromhomealone]

Were you evicted through the courts?
That is the only way you can be evicted.
If you were not airing the property or heating it adequately mould will grow.
Mould is a tenant problem not a property problem.
It sounds like the LL had enough and wanted his property back and did not renew the tenancy.
Make sure in your new home you heat, clean and ventilate it. Sleep with the window slightly open, then open wide in morning, shower then open window, cook then open window and it wont happen again.

[birdladyfromhomealone]

No LL will evict unless under real pressure. It costs at least a months rent to re advertise, references, check in insurance etc for new tenants. LL dont want to change tenants willy nilly.

[misscph1973]

Mold is NOT only something caused by people not using extractor fans and not opening windows. Many years ago I lived in a flat in London that had mold on the walls in the living room because the walls were not constructed correctly. No amount of me airing out would have fixed this.

[Doobydoo]

Mould is most definitely not always a tenant problem........that is not correct.

[FanaticalFox]

Thats true misscph but very rare. Most rented out places would be at least 1920s+ properties that are constructed just fine so the problem is peoples lifestyle and ventilation choices i.e not opening windows etc. In fact most "mouldy" places are modern places where bathrooms don't have windows and walls are mostly stud walls and then people don't ventilate = mould due to the people within the property coupled with a modern new build.

[Dowser]

I'm selling up.
I had a nice tenant who told me not to worry , he was going to do all the painting etc
Sadly he got an aggressive cancer and was seriously ill. He's moved on now and I've got a house that needs some serious work in it to bring it up to my standards.

Don't get me wrong it's clean and tidy but I couldn't badger a sick man to bring in decorators etc when his life was hanging by a thread. It just needs a cosmetic refurb.

I haven't got the heart to start on it. Every room needs doing and if I spend the money I might not get such a nice tenant anyway. His rent was always paid bang on the dot.
So it's up for sale.

I've already had an idiot offer £21k less than the guide price which is already low, we are talking double figures here for a three bed , two bath house with garden and car Parkin on private drive.

[bgmama]

I suspect many people on this thread are either landlords or have never lived in a poorly constructed property. I have like misscph lived in two London flats where there was mould, mostly in the bathrooms. The bathroom window was kept constantly open, even in the winter, and I would scrub the mould every few weeks but it kept coming back. Unsurprisingly, I haven't had this problem in other places, despite my lifestyle and ventilation choices being the same. Anyway, sorry for derailing the thread.

[EJREsMum]

Had a similar problem with my last flat/landlord. When we moved in there was a wall that was crumbling from damp and wallpaper hanging off the wall. My DF fixed it up good and proper for us as baby was on the way (hes a builder so done it to high standard). We was going to send bill to the LL when we moved but decided to just take it as lesson learnt.

20 months later we ended the tenancy, we had a bay window that when it would rain would leak from under the window sill and run down the walls. There was untolds amounts of black mould etc.

LL was rubbish kept putting off jobs and doing silly little jobs to make it look like he was doing something so when we left I negotiated with the estate agents that we wouldn't pay our whole lasts months rent as we would only be living there a week before moving and given that we would be moving out because of the state of the property.

I wanted to leave a note hidden in a kitchen drawer for the next tenant to explain all our issues but was persuaded not to. Turns out hes now got a nightmare tenant (We know this because MIL works with lady who lives underneath). Guess this is the LLs comeuppance.

[misscph1973]

There are so many badly constructed houses, the building standard in this country is so low, houses are built to be sold, not to live in.

Anyway, back to the OPs question: I totally understand where you are coming from, I would feel the same, but leave it. If you did, it wouldn't change a thing. There are some horrid landlords out there. Move on, and enjoy your new lease!

[londonrach]

Having lived in a flat with mould that was unstopable its not the people living there but the poorly designed house. In this case our ll was lovely but storage heaters, the coldest winter in recent years and we gave notice to feb. We had windows open 24/7 and bought a condenser but still the mounld grow on the ceiling of the small bedroom and bathroom. We washed the ceiling every other day. It looked perfect the day we moved out as we cleaned the ceiling again but love to know how long it lasted. Ll was aware of the issue and decided to move back in so hope he managed to sort it.

[foodtime]

Revenge evictions are now illegal. If he's giving you notice because he's not Maintaining the property get in touch with shelter and they will tell you what your next steps should be.

Also technically you don't have to leave the property until he's taken you to court. But you have to be clearer with what the situation is.

If your leaving the property in a better state then when you arrived then Your deposit should be fine. Do you know if he put it into the deposit scheme?