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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be honest to prospective tenants?

51 replies

JambalayaCodfishPie · 13/07/2011 10:31

We are moving out of our house after a year of hell.

We have a restraining order against our neighbours as they are violent.

A young family just came to view the house and asked why we were moving - so I told them. I wouldnt want another young family to go through what we have.

Then got a phone call from the estate agent "Dont tell people thats why youre moving, they dont want it now!"

GOOD!!

AIBU??

OP posts:
Poweredbypepsi · 13/07/2011 12:15

Yanbu we have done the same telling new tenants looking around the house ( who had asked what the landlord was like) that we were moving because the landlord kept letting himself in and had actually stayed overnight there without our permission while we were away.

MsChanandlerBong · 13/07/2011 12:21

I agree with Cadlecap. It is not your job to 'sell' the house to the new tenants.
If the landlord and/or the agents have concerns about how you are dealing with potential tenants they should do the viewings themselves (and hopefully wait until you have left the property! Although I know that is unlikely).

YANBU

thursday · 13/07/2011 12:23

i don't see how you could lie to someone asking you, it's not like you have a mild feud with the neighbours that would be unlikely to bother anyone else. they sound like proper JK fodder and i'd really appreciate being spared it if i was looking to let. its a shame for the LL, i don't know what they can do about the neighbours really unless they are tenants and have a LL to complain to. all they need to do is wait til you've moved and then do viewings and problem solved for them.

MackerelOfFact · 13/07/2011 12:24

YANBU at all. Why should another family potentially have to go through the same thing just to protect the LLs investment?

KittyChat · 13/07/2011 12:34

Pepsi - that is unbelievable! What did you do?!

OP - YANBU.

superjobeespecs · 13/07/2011 12:35

yanbu at all i've had problems with creepy landlords and landlords who steal rent then claim they've never recieved it awful neighbours the whole works. if more tenants were upfront about these things then they could get sorted out and less ppl would be in awful situations involving bad landlords and neighbours. our landlord at the moment is a dream come true so to speak, we've had problems galore financially and has let us slip into debt, recover and pay normal rent whilst paying up our arrears. thank heavens for small mercies. tho to be honest and get a flaming for it she is a woman and has young kids.

Poweredbypepsi · 13/07/2011 13:00

Kitty it was the last in a long list of problems we told him he was breaching contract and we were moving.

LRDTheFeministNutcase · 13/07/2011 13:02

Yes, good for you!

WhoAteMySnickers · 13/07/2011 13:06

YANBU. It's a bloody shame for your LL though, it's not his/her fault the neighbours are violent alcoholics and unless your LL owns the neighbours house too then there isn't much he/she can do about it.

Empusa · 13/07/2011 13:20

Jambalaya God knows, when pressed they couldn't tell us how. They were just talking out of their arse.

michelleseashell · 13/07/2011 15:11

Good on you! Hope you have better luck in your new home

MsAnnThroppy · 13/07/2011 15:22

Breach of contract? What a complete crock. And in implying that water stains were historical, the letting agent was misrepresenting the true position in order to induce someone into taking a lease, which would have left them open to being sued (and the LL, since the agent is deemed to be doing the LL's bidding and saying what the LL wants them to say).

If you do the agent's bidding, OP, and either lie or omit to tell the truth to prospective tenants, then I would try to prove that you are effectively an agent for the LL; and if I had been induced into taking a lease on the back of such lies or omission and suffered as a consequence, I would sue you, the agents and the LL for misrepresentation.

Tell the agents that you have no intention of covering up the truth. If they want to handle the information provided to prospective tenants, they need to do the viewings themselves in your absence.

Let the LL take care of himself/herself, they are not your responsibility and you owe them no favours. For all you know, your predecessors had similar problems.

biddysmama · 13/07/2011 15:37

i moved into a house at 36 weeks pregnant, i also had a 16 month old... after a few nights we found out it was full of mice!! there were bits of floor missing that you couldnt see under the carpet and gaps every where for them to get in and the landlord didnt care!

the previous tenant didnt say a bloody thing when we viewed it!

yanbu, tink of the next person not the moneygrabbing landlords

Islandlady · 13/07/2011 15:48

In that case you are NOT being unreasonable- the LL must know he would have a problem re-renting the property once the neighbour problem was known to prospective tenants, he shouldnt expect you to lie for him just so he could get a new tenant.

However the reason why I asked is this

A friend has a house he rents out, perfect family home, nice neighbourhood (well it was but read on) good schools, large garden, reasonable rent.

He had a family who lived there for 6 years, and quite frankly would not have had a problem if they had wanted to live there forever they were what he wanted a family who could make the place their home.

Just over a year ago they just gave notice but with no reason, even though he offered to lower the rent they wanted out.

The next tenant only lasted 6 months, when new tenants were shown round
the existing tenant told them there was a BROTHEL next door (I kid you not) - the house was occupied by three ladies of negotiable virtue and had been for about a year.

My friend knew nothing about this presumably the first tenants left because of this but hadnt told him, the second tenants did not bother to tell him only a prospective new tenant.

As soon as he knew he did something about it - ended up with him having no luck with the police but he found out the name and address of the LL who owned the property and had a LL to LL chat and the three ladies were evicted (eventually)

If he had know about the problem as soon as it became apparent he could have acted sooner and possibly kept his original tenants, as it was he lost
about 5 months rent whilst the eviction was sorted out but that was better then not being able to rent it out at all.

hellospoon · 13/07/2011 15:54

Yanbu, well done you for making sure new people know. If that was me and you hadn't told me I would be cursing you big time. We need more honest people like you

hellospoon · 13/07/2011 15:54

Yanbu, well done you for making sure new people know. If that was me and you hadn't told me I would be cursing you big time. We need more honest people like you

bubblesincoffee · 13/07/2011 17:12

I think you are being very unfair to your LL, but I can understand why you wouldn't want to see a young family have to face the same problems you had.

You should just remove yourself from the situation by saying that you won't show prosepective tennants round, make the agents do it. That way you don't have to hide the truth, but you don't have to treat your LL badly either.

Not all LL's are rich, he could need the money. I am a LL, and I actually need the money I make from it to feed and house my own children. If I didn't have that income I'd be on benefits, so I really don't think it's right for you to actively stop someone making money that they need when they have done nothing wrong. It's not his fault your neighbours are horrible.

Islandlady · 13/07/2011 17:58

Bubbles

I would agree that its not the LLs fault that the neighbours are bad, but whats he done about it, a home OWNER surely has more clout and a better reason for getting the problem resolved than a tenant after all its his livelyhood that will be affected, to know that there is a violent neighbour next door and lie to prospective tenants who have young families is dishonest.

As I have said before if there is a problem with the neighbour and young families then why not market the property as being suitable for older families
instead.

it wasn't my friends fault that there was a brothel next door to the house he owned, but once he knew about it he made it his business to get it shut down, after all he has 4 daughters aged between 6 and 15 he wouldnt want THEM to live next door to a brothel therefore his take was why should he expect other peoples children to live next door to one just so he could collect rent.

As a LL what would have done to protect both your tenants and your income
if you knew about the situation

lubberlich · 13/07/2011 19:30

YANBU - well done you. Tell the agent to get stuffed.

Tchootnika · 13/07/2011 19:36

YANBU - far from it.
It would be awful not to let new tenants know about that situation, whatever LL says.

DorcasBouvier · 13/07/2011 19:36

YANBU at all. Why should you have to lie if asked the perfectly genuine question of why you're moving?

springboksaplenty · 13/07/2011 19:39

Good for you - I'd have probably bought you a bottle of wine for stopping us renting next to neighbours from hell! Honestly I think that you are such a nice person for doing this :)

Original poster
JambalayaCodfishPie · 13/07/2011 19:42

Thanks all, did wonder afterwards if i should have just kept my mouth shut.

Ah well. We're out of here very soon, what happens after that is out of my control!

:)

OP posts:
TakeMeDrunkImHome · 13/07/2011 19:54

I've been in my new rented house for 7 weeks now. I absolutely wish SO much that the previous tenants had told me that two families from HELL live across the road or I wouldn't have moved in. So YANBU.

breadandbutterfly · 14/07/2011 19:33

YANBU.

This is why there needs to be a register of landlords and ideally properties so these things can be obvious to prospective tenants - at the moment, it's illegal, as others have pointed out, to withold this kind of information if you're selling, but if you're renting a property out, you're under no legal obligation to reveal/tell the truth about anything.

We rented a property with a large loft to put all our crap stuff in. The night before we moved in, the witch landlady rang and said 'oh, by the way you know you're not allowed to put anything in the loft, don't you'. Angry

The agent had lied. Plus the free mice weren't mentioned either.