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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be boiling with rage at my 'landlady'?

262 replies

FrameyMcFrame · 20/05/2011 10:24

I've posted on here before about my horrendous landlady, she's always popping round to 'check' things in the house.
This time she said she wanted to check 'the state and condition of the house and garden'

Ok, fair enough. I tidied up a bit and around she came for a good old snoop.
I left her to it and sat in the living room with my two DC.
After 20 minutes of snooping she came back to tell me that the inside of the shower cubicle was dirty... so dirty that if I didn't clean it soon it would 'damage the glass' Not sure how a bit of old shower gel can damage glass Hmm
Then she went on to say that the inside of the oven was filthy...and again it was going to damage the glass if not cleaned. It wasn't that dirty, I'd just used oven pride on it the week before!!! When I said this she went through to the kitchen and opened the oven and ran her finger along the back of the oven door and showed me that it was dirty.... obviously I'd missed a bit.

At this point I had to physically restrain myself from telling her to fuck off...
I was so angry afterwards I had to have a glass of wine to calm down

OP posts:
amicissima · 20/05/2011 12:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wotss · 20/05/2011 13:00

(nijinsky I've just re-read your last post where you explained further - that makes much more sense than the bit I quoted in isolation...)

nijinsky · 20/05/2011 13:04

wotts I made the point because stating that "I'm a tenant and pay for my landlord's mortgage" is about near reality as is me stating "I provide subsidised accommodation to my tenants". Neither are the reality of the situation. If tenants are paying their landlord's mortgages, why don't they just get their own mortgage if its that easy? I do think some people are living in cloud cukoo land if they think that all landlords operate in the same sector of the market and simply cream off the rent, which neatly meets all the mortgage payments. How the hell do you think most businesses start up? My DP's employer has yet to make a profit in the 8 years its been up and running, and its an electronics company! How naive! Thanks for the business advice, but unless you actually run a mega successful business, I don't think I'll be following what you say...

nijinsky · 20/05/2011 13:05

OK, fair enough, cross posting wotts

scaryteacher · 20/05/2011 13:11

Having not raised the rent in the 4 years my tenants have lived in my house, then to a certain extent I could be said to be 'subsidising' them. However, it works both ways - mine is an old house that needs to be lived in. They are doing that and keeping it habitable for when we are posted back to UK. They are no trouble and keep the place well, so for me it's worth less rent for good tenants.

BabyDubsEverywhere · 20/05/2011 13:14

We are 'accidental landlords' the rent i get from my tentant goes towards my mortgage...I'm left about £100 a month short, then add on general maintenance, its crippling us, but we dont have the money for the solicitors fees to sell the house, and then to lose the 20K on it....well we dont have that either.

And for info the house was 100k when we bought it now valued at 78k. And thats after we made numerous 'home improvements' Sad

Sorry, back to the OP, your LL sounds a pain in the arse, you need to stand up to her i think.

TheFantasticFixit · 20/05/2011 13:22

Nijinsky - are you the OP's LL? You sound like a right smug twat as well.

I've been renting for the last 10 years and have experienced both extremes - we don't even know if our current landlords are alive, we hear from them so little! On the flip side, I used to have a landlord who would turn up unannounced at all times of the day, let himself in, make a coffee if he fancied it and I am pretty sure he was taking pairs of knickers as well. Bloody nightmare, but he did give me a free month at Christmas and New Year so that's why I tolerated it (and I was young and niave and didn't realise that they don't have the right to do it!)

I really like frgaaah's letter - send that to her OP!

Original poster
FrameyMcFrame · 20/05/2011 13:22

Thanks all for the interesting replies, frgaaah that letter you wrote is great. Think I'll just cpy and paste the whole thing in to an email.

As I said before, this is not the first time we've had trouble with her (and her husband) I'll try and find the old thread from last year when DP had a massive row with them and called the police to get them removed from the house when they refused to leave whilst on one of their 'inspections'

I think the thing that grates the most is their patronising attitude towards us. They think they're better than us, obviously we must be scum if we're renting not homeowners. she actually said yesterday 'I'd rather the house didn't LOOK like a rented house...!!!' What's wrong with it looking rented? It's nothing to be ashamed of!!!

OP posts:
Oakmaiden · 20/05/2011 13:27

"why don't they just get their own mortgage if its that easy?"

because they don't have the deposit for a mortgage? Because their earnings are not high enough that the bank will approve a mortgage? Because the costs of buying a house and then later selling it are huge, and they don't know for sure how long they will want to live there?

I rent a house which at the time I started renting it was on the market for £135,000. I pay £500 a month rent - so I am effectively paying the mortgage for about £110,000. So IF I had the money for a deposit, and IF the bank would let me have a mortgage for £110,000 (they won't - I can't get a mortgage for more than £95K) then I could buy the house and still be paying a similar amount. But I can't - but I do believe I am very close to covering my landlord's current mortgage payments - and certainly cover the interest parts of it....

HalfPastWine · 20/05/2011 13:29

Sorry, haven't had time to read the whole thread but I'm sorry,your landlady is taking the piss. I rent out property and I only inspect the property once a year, sometimes twice if there has been a particular issue wiht the tenant. She has to give you 24 hrs notice to access the property and it should only be for repairs, maintenance etc. By rights she should only be inspecting the wear and tear aspect about once or twice a year otherwise she is in breach of the tenancy agreement as others have already said. You really need to discuss this with her in a civilised manner. The only thing I would worry about is that she might take the hump and terminate the tenancy but to be honest, who in their right mind would want a landlord like her anyway. Nosey cow!

GothAnneGeddes · 20/05/2011 13:29

Ex tenant and current landlady here. Your LL is being vvvv U. It is much better to have a good tenant (and mine do pay my mortgage), then not. I cannot understand hassley LLs. We had one who liked to foist their crap furniture off on us. We swiftly learned to say no.

TheFantasticFixit · 20/05/2011 13:31

Oh gosh OP, she sounds like an absolute nightmare.. I really feel for you both. There is such instability with renting in the UK anyway that the LAST thing you need is a landlord like yours that makes you feel uncomfortable in your home. I wish that some landlords would understand that there is a difference between their HOUSE, and your HOME.

Original poster
FrameyMcFrame · 20/05/2011 13:40

Exactly TheFantasticFix, I can't find the old thread, it must have been in chat but one of the highlights was whilst on one of thier inspections they demanded to go upstairs and look in the bedrooms. When we asked why they needed to do that when they were there supposedly inspecting the EXTERIOR paintwork they said. 'they are OUR bedrooms not yours'!!

OP posts:
frgaaah · 20/05/2011 13:45

FrameyMcFrame, if you are going to use my letter, based on your other posts about their attitude, I would definitely add in something like:

"We trust we will continue to have good relations and communication. Please let me know if you have any questions on the issues we've raised here."

... or something.

I don't want to be responsible for you gettnig turfed out! Shock

I do think that she's taking the piss. I'm not sure where the boundary between "reminding her of what's appropriate" and "getting chucked out" lies though!

RitaMorgan · 20/05/2011 13:48

Let her in once, twice a years tops. Otherwise say no when she asks to inspect.

poutintrout · 20/05/2011 14:45

I feel really sorry for you OP that your LL is a grade A pain in the arse. Just something that I thought I'd point out, I'm assuming that your LL took a deposit off you. I would just tread a bit carefully about how you deal with her because when the time comes to vacate the house and you want your deposit back she may claim some spurious reasons as to why you can't (like she had to employ a gardener to sort the garden out).

We got hideously ripped off by one of our landladies. She ended up retaining all of our £1300 deposit. She had a blog on that we had deigned to ask her to repair the boiler (apparently we had to pay for that - not true) and when she refused we gave our notice and quit which also annoyed her because we used our 6 month break clause that she apparently didn't know she had in the contract.
She also accused us of stealing her television (she had removed it from the flat when we moved in because we didn't need it and she had given it to her other tenants whose tv had broken) and accused us of breaking the washing machine, losing keys & leaving the flat in a "terrible" state which was especially infuriating because when we moved in, the flat was disgusting, it even had food in the fridge from when she had been staying there. Also she had let the flat knowing that there was a mould problem in the bedroom. She had just cleaned it off so of course before long it came back and got in the wardrobe and destroyed a leather coat and 2 pairs of leather boots.

We sought legal advice about the deposit (fortunately we had the foresight to taken photographs both before moving in and when we left) and they said that even if we won the case which we probably would, getting her to pay would be next to impossible.

Maybe it would be easier OP to move?

saffy85 · 20/05/2011 14:59

"Saffy85: "The boiler needs replacing (fair enough that is pricey) as parts for it are no longer available and it keeps breaking down. "

Who is telling you that? There aren't complicated, irreplaceable parts in old boilers: see 'A', paragraph 5."

The engineers who have come out to fix it both times. And the guy who serviced it last year. I have no idea whether what they say is true, I don't much care long as it doesn't break down again before I move out later this year. After I move out it can break down as much as it wants to, wont be my problem.

And jesus christ OP. Your LL makes mine look like a bloody saint! Will you be able to move out once the tenency is up or are you stuck there for the forseeable future? I like fgraaah's letter. Polite and to the point.

QuackQuackSqueak · 20/05/2011 15:01

God what a control freak! Can you move? I know you shouldn't have to but at least you wouldn't have to put up with her!

Original poster
FrameyMcFrame · 20/05/2011 15:05

I'm coming round to the idea of moving. We actually have our own flat which we bought at the wrong time and then couldn't sell when we needed to move to a bigger place after having DS.
My brother's living there at the moment but he's moving out soon so we could move back there to start with. It will mean the DCs wont have their own rooms though but I think anything will be better than having to put up with this woman anymore.

OP posts:
Vallhala · 20/05/2011 15:12

Excellent letter, frgaaah. I may well be coming to you for advice in the future!

saffy85 · 20/05/2011 15:14

Definately! Get out while you still have your sanity intact! How old are your DCs and how many? I'm sure they'll survive until you can afford to move somewhere bigger. Especially if it means no more crazy lady coming round and upsetting their mum over trivial matters!

Feel bit sorry for whoever rents your crazy LL's house next. Assuming anyone who met her would want to. Mad bint.

QuackQuackSqueak · 20/05/2011 16:36

If the kids are young they probably won't mind sharing for a while, they might even think it's exciting.

IslaValargeone · 20/05/2011 16:47

I'm really surprised by both tenants and landlords who have not 'inspected'/'been inspected' for a number of years.
I am a landlord, and see my property as an investment. I give my tenants at least a weeks notice, but it is with the intention of checking that there isn't a leak or some other potential problem that my tenant might have missed which has the potential to cost me money if it went unreported. A visit would be once a year though, not every time the mood took me.

Oakmaiden · 20/05/2011 17:49

I get visited by my landlord's agent every six months.

That said - last visit they really just asked me if there were any maintenance issues, poked their head in a couple of rooms and left. Not completely sure what the point was - I could have had a cannabis factory and 17 sub-lodgers stacked in the rooms she didn't look at.

ShellyBoobs · 20/05/2011 21:34

Blimey, OP, that sounds awful.

We considered buying a property to rent out a few years ago (so glad we didn't, given the price crash since) and if we had done so, I'd never have dreamed of giving good tenants a hard time. Perhaps naively, I'd be more worried about the house being in good order for the tenant (boiler working safely etc), than how they were looking after the shrubs!

Oakmaiden, I can see your point, but I don't think you could get a BTL mortgage for £110,000 at £500/month on a £135,000 property. It would be more like a £50k deposit required to get that repayment so you have to bear in mind the large deposit the LL would need.