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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think my landlady was an absolute cunt?

68 replies

TeenTwinsToddlerandTiaras · 21/10/2012 21:50

Apols for the 'c' word but I need to rant and I can't call her that in RL.

We came back from living abroad in April and had to stay with relatives initially as we had sold our UK home before we went (we did not intend to come back).

DH was offered a job in another town so we had a couple of trips travelling up and down to find a house to rent. We found the perfect one, fully furnished as well (we did not have a stick of furniture!) and LL said she wanted a long term let and was so happy to find a family who would look after it! We had to pay a large deposit though but we hoped to stay there for a few years and save for furniture and start again. We also got the DCs into the school that was 5 mins walk away.

Four months in, lo and behold, we get served a section 21 as the LL had decided she wanted to sell and expected us to show round her potential purchasers which I refused to do! I believe she actually got a quicker sale as I kept the place immaculate. She invited us to repaint the bedrooms as she had'nt got round to it which we did as we expected to be there a while. The house was also pretty grubby when we moved in (stuff you don't notice on viewing like the oven being caked in grease, carpets & curtains filthy and window frames mouldy) and I spent hours scrubbing and having the carpets professionally cleaned.

She even had the fucking cheek to withhold some of the deposit as she accused us of stealing some of the 'ornate' pebbles in the garden (DCs has checked them in the pond), not as if she counted them though is it?

She knew we had moved from abroad with 4 DCs and needed to settle somewhere. AIBU to think she is as the title?

I really can't imagine doing that to someone, my blood is still boiling several weeks on. We are now stuck in a grotty house (all that was available) far away from the DCs school and don't even get me started on what we had to go through to raise the deposit on the new place as we did not get the deposit on cunty LLs place until 2 weeks later, the latest time possible!

OP posts:
BonzoDooDah · 21/10/2012 22:52

Did your LL say you could decorate the house (for free) seeing as you were staying for a long term Trills?

expatinscotland · 21/10/2012 22:54

charlie, most long-term contracts include a get-out clause after 4 months. They're not any more secure than a 6-month one.

timothyclaypole · 21/10/2012 22:54

OP I'm sorry you had a bad experience and I hope that she didhave a sudden change in circumstances, or she may well be what you have called her!

But, not all LL's are like this and it's unfair that some of you are saying that. DH and I have become reluctant LL's (and have also become reluctant tenants) because our circumstances have changed. We are getting pretty much zero profit, and we are being as good to our tenants as we possibly can be as our property is now their home, and we want them to stay long term.

RyleDup · 21/10/2012 22:55

It depends on the LL's circumstances though. Its kinda rare that you find someone to move in and are happy to decorate. My experience of a LL are people that didn't give a fuck about the place. I've rented too, but the thing is with renting, its not yours and because of that fact its hard to get yourself settled for life. I don't think the LL is a cunt, I would assume that something changed which made her have to sell. We are in a recession after all.

Ilovemydogandmydoglovesme · 21/10/2012 23:00

A friend of mine, a single mum with four children whose dh had died a few years back, was kicked out of her house. She ended up in a council b&b as she couldn't find anywhere big enough at short notice on her budget. The landlord needed his house back as he had left his job which had a tied cottage.

Then he made up with his old boss and went back to the tied cottage. My friend has had her life turned upside down, again, for pretty much no reason whatsoever. Some landlords are absolute cunts indeed.

tallwivglasses · 21/10/2012 23:01

Okay, a nice LL who was forced to sell would have been apologetic, would offer some small compensation for making them show round prospective buyers and wouldn't quibble over a few pebbles! cunt

BonzoDooDah · 21/10/2012 23:06

That's what I was about to say tallwivglasses ... having made all these promises a decent person would have at least contacted the tenant to say "I'm really sorry I said you could stay but ..." and made it clear they weren't being a complete arse.

RyleDup · 21/10/2012 23:28

Oh yeah, fair point. I wouldn't have kicked up a fuss about the pebbles, thats for sure. But I still don't want to call her a cunt. Choose a different name and I might agree with you.

RyleDup · 21/10/2012 23:31

Tight ass bitch. That will do. Seriously though, the bond is on a protection scheme? Because if it isn't there is big ass penalties for the LL. and if it is, well you can appeal it through the scheme anyway.

SoleSource · 22/10/2012 00:18

Another cunt here too!

ripsishere · 22/10/2012 00:24

I can see both sides. I am a LL, our family house is being let at the moment. We intend to let it for at least two years, possibly up to ten.
If our circumstances change though, we would have to serve notice on the tenants.
We are absolute cunts.

ChippingInLovesAutumn · 22/10/2012 00:40

She's a bitch, that's for sure. Not because she's ended the tennancy early (after all, none of us know why she's done that) but because...

  • she should have given you some compensation for the time/money spent cleaning/decorating.
  • she shouldn't have pissed around deducting money for a few pebbles.

and mostly because she didn't give you your full deposit back ASAP, to enable you to 'move on' more easily.

Bitch.

I hope you find something better than what you have now, as soon as you are able to - or are in the position to buy somewhere.

Renting sucks :(

LineRunner · 22/10/2012 00:44

The contracts are cunts.

beitou · 22/10/2012 01:11

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by Mumsnet for breaking our Talk Guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

ElaineBenes · 22/10/2012 02:07

I don't understand. Are landlords allowed to break a lease because they want to sell? I think this two motnhs notice doesn't apply to leases with a fixed term - you can give notice but the date of possession is after the end of the fixed term. We are landlords as we moved abroad, have a lease for a year with tenants. I understood we cannot break this lease, even if we sell.

OP, have you seen a solicitor about this?

ErikNorseman · 22/10/2012 05:16

Elaine most tenancies are 6 months meaning 2 months notice can be given 4 months in. This ll hasn't broken the terms, but she is indeed a cunt. How many families want to live somewhere for 6 short months? It's outrageous. And yes lls and agents do lie about wanting long term lets when they want nothing of the sort.

May I say not all landlords are bad by any means though - mine are amazing, I love them. They give me 12 month tenancies with no break clause and haven't put the rent up once just because I asked them not to the first year. They genuinely wanted a family for a long let, so they are very pleased to have a tenant who pays on time and keeps the house well. There are also dreadful tenants and the best ll/tenant relationship is one of mutual appreciation IMO!

ZombTEE · 22/10/2012 06:01

So you agreed to a 6 month lease and then were surprised when the landlord held you to it?

Sorry...she's not a cunt. She's a businesswoman.

You, however, should have not done the things you did to the house 'to help her out'.

She played you. And she won.

Sorry it's been such shit, but if she truly wanted a long term tenant, she would have given you a longer lease. I'm currently in a 2 year lease with no break clause because we wanted to be settled somewhere.

ErikNorseman · 22/10/2012 07:12

Not fair zombtee - 6 month tenancies are standard and most agents won't give you longer initially. That's why, if you want a longer let, you ask the ll/agent if they are looking for that and you have to trust their word. This ll has 'played' her tenants and misled them, causing them lots of stress and hassle and money. OP is entitled to be pissed off.

ZombTEE · 22/10/2012 07:15

Things must be very different in NI then, Erik as I've never had less than a year's lease here in 9 years of living in rental properties.

Why does anyone agree to them? Until people start refusing anything less than a year and standing up for themselves nothing will change.

Or do y'all just prefer to call people horrid names and whine about things?

ErikNorseman · 22/10/2012 07:36

Unless you have experienced it, calling us whiners isn't fair. Obviously things are very different in NI. You don't have a choice here - if you live in an area with a housing shortage then you have no power at all. When an agent can let a house 20 times over without lifting a finger then they will shaft you and set whatever terms they like. I have lived in my brother's spare bedroom for a month because there was literally nowhere suitable available, what power to set the terms do you think we have?

ZombTEE · 22/10/2012 07:40

You know what? Life isn't fair. Are y'all grown ups or not?

Take the power. Talk to your MPs about getting laws changed.

No one ever changed anything by sleeping in their brother's spare room and whining about how life isn't fair.

What if Ghandi had done that? Or Rosa Parks?

No wonder this country is so fucked up. You're all too nice to do anything about it.

Don't bother to respond. I don't need this shit today or any other day.

ErikNorseman · 22/10/2012 07:46

FFS
Grant shapps the housing minister commissioned a report into private renal and said the sector was just fine as it was. I don't know what you think we can do. I also don't know why you are taking this in such a bizarre and personal way.

ErikNorseman · 22/10/2012 07:47

And you can actually piss off. Your tone is really nasty. Go sort your own crap out and don't take it out on people who are trying to have a reasonable conversation with you!

catsmother · 22/10/2012 08:00

OP - calling her a cunt is pretty extreme but I can totally see why you've done so! This isn't some petty dispute over something shoddy you've been sold, or an argument about who was first in line for a parking space at Tesco. This is your home we're speaking about and as others have pointed out, if her circumstances had suddenly changed which meant she had no choice in selling, any decent and compassionate person would have apologised and smoothed the process as much as they could so you could move on with minimal disruption and stress (though I realise that's pretty much a contradiction in terms). They would not have penalised you for some effing pebbles nor would they have witheld the deposit for as long as they did when you desperately needed it.

In the total absence of any kindness - given the circumstances - and I don't care if she's a "businesswoman" or not, surely being in business shouldn't give you carte blanche to behave like a c**t - then I strongly suspect that she saw you coming, correctly sussed you were a responsible, reliable and trustworthy tenant, and invited you to make her house "a home", all the while knowing that she'd be selling shortly and wanted to show the house off at its best - which it would be after a decent houseproud tenant had put the work in.

The rental laws in the UK suck and I thank god that for now at least I don't have to rent. I hope you find something more suitable eventually.

TheDeathAndGlories · 22/10/2012 08:08

The other thing I hate is the cost of moving each time. Agents are happy to make you move every six months because then they get another few hundred out of you for applications and searches. Then there is moving costs, we are six people so have six people's worth of possession and furniture. Moving house costs us over a grand easily every time. Would be nice to save that money for a deposit

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