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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To call the police if someone tries to drill the lock on my front door?

133 replies

MelamineTeapot · 19/07/2015 22:05

To cut a long story short, this is what my letting agent is threatening to do tomorrow morning. They informed me of this on Thursday evening by email and the only way I could avoid it was by giving them a set of door keys by 5pm Friday, which was impossible due to my working hours and also that I only have 1 set myself!

I've been panicking about it all weekend. I tried to get some advice from the council and Shelter, but all they can tell me is that it is illegal for the letting agent to do this, but no one can suggest what I should do if they keep to their word. I'm scared to be here tomorrow as I'm a single parent with 2 young children, but I'm worried that if I go out, I won't be able to get back in later.

So I don't have to drip feed, I'm not behind on my rent, or breech any other terms of my tenancy which I signed in March. In fact I paid the rent then in advance for the full 6 months up to Sept 12th. Then last month the letting agent contacted me to ask if i wanted to renew it for another 6 months from September. I said yes, but they told me they would only draw up the contract if I paid another 6 months rent (plus they put the rent up by another £100 a month) and a £120 renewal fee within 14 days. I wasn't able to do that so they put the house back on rightmove. Fair enough and I've started looking for somewhere to move to but then out of the blue on Thursday I got the email demanding keys back or they will drill the locks.

I'm really worried about what is going to happen and the only thing i can think to do is phone the police, if someone does start drilling the locks. My address and phone numbers are gold listed, due to abusive XP, so they would come quickly. But is that the right/best thing to do? I don't want to waste police time. AIBU?

OP posts:
hibbledibble · 20/07/2015 21:27

melamine if they say they require a set of keys (why on earth don't they have one already?) Then make sure you reply to the email saying you will get a set cut for them, and will be charging them for it. They have no right to change the locks.

Please make sure you email them, so they can't later pretend that you tried to withhold a copy of the keys from them.

NameChange30 · 20/07/2015 21:53

"They say that I am incorrect and have been misinformed. Their actions are not illegal nor constitute harassment. They say they want the keys because they are legally entitled to have a set and that if i refuse, it is me who is acting illegally. "

This is complete bullshit OP. You must stand up to them. It's the landlord's responsibility to give them keys. Presumably the previous agent had a set of keys. Someone somewhere has lost them and they are now bullying you to cover their tracks. Tell them you ONLY HAVE ONE SET OF KEYS and they cannot legally change the locks without you being present. They can't charge you for it either. BASTARDS.

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 20/07/2015 22:07

Oh god please don't be bullied into moving out early. This is so frustrating.

Redglitter · 20/07/2015 22:10

So these morons have lost their keys and are behaving like bullies to get a set

unbelievable

Mintyy · 20/07/2015 22:11

OP, honestly, DO NOT MOVE OUT!

Email them back:

"Why would you charge me for the new lock and keys? Please explain the reasoning behind this."

diddl · 20/07/2015 22:44

You should be asking them why they want you to give them a set of keys.

wowfudge · 20/07/2015 22:46

I wonder if they are utterly incompetent and are mistaken as to your rent situation. After five and a half years if I were your landlord I would be furious if a managing agent lost me a tenant - especially one who paid the rent upfront in six month block payments.

bestguess23 · 20/07/2015 22:52

OP please call Shelter tomorrow. Their housing advice line is incredible and they will tell you exactly which bits of legislation support you and explain your rights. They can help you draft a letter and direct you to those who can help you further. Do not move out early due to this bullying, you do not have to.

bestguess23 · 20/07/2015 22:52

Sorry, the number is 0808 800 4444

wigglylines · 20/07/2015 23:01

Have they put your money in a tenants deposit scheme?

If so you should know about it.

If not they will be in trouble if you report them. They could be fined 3 x the deposit amount, money which would go to you.

achieve15 · 20/07/2015 23:05

OP, this is going to sound a bit odd but I am honestly wondering if they have mixed you up with another tenant. The incompetence that goes on in the world as a whole is a bit stunning sometimes.

I can't think of a single reason they would want to do this. The level of crazy also makes me wonder if they are about to up and do a runner, having pocketed as many people's cash as possible?

I would urge getting in touch with your landlord and also, do you have time to go to the nearest police station? My dad had to pop to his with a question and they were fine with it, obviously if they had been mad busy, they would not have been, but it took 2 minutes to answer his questions and there was no queue.

MiscellaneousAssortment · 20/07/2015 23:59

Op poor you, sounds terrible. Flowers

Cliffdiver · 21/07/2015 04:32

Did your original letting agent not hold a set of keys? If so they should have been passed over to the new agent in the property handover.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 21/07/2015 04:54

What an awful situation they have created for you! They are of course acting illegally and harassing you into the bargain. They do know this, they're just banking on you being scared into letting them do what they want.

You haven't refused to give them a spare set of keys, you've just said they couldn't have them when they wanted them - it was unreasonable of them to insist that you do it in their scheduling anyway, since you work.

Basically they want your home back (hence the unreasonable rent demands as well) so they can either sell it, rent it out at a much higher rate, or there are other plans afoot.

Moving is your best option of course, and asap, because even if they do back down over the keys situation, they're clearly complete arseholes and aren't going to respect your privacy, your wishes or your home, so you'll probably find them showing people around when you come out of the shower, or similar.

Is there no one who could get a set of keys cut for you before Thursday?

RedHelenB · 21/07/2015 05:20

YANBU -even if you do move out before don't tell them! Nominally keep the house on so they don't have your rent plus some other sucker for 3 months!

User100 · 21/07/2015 09:27

I'd disagree with RedHelen - if you move out tell them straight away and ask for your full deposit back plus the outstanding rent returned on the basis that they made peaceful enjoyment of the property impossible. They will say no but the tenancy deposit scheme has the power to demand they return the deposit and then make further payments and there is at least a chance they would side with you.

rallytog1 · 21/07/2015 09:53

You really need to speak to Shelter today melamine - they will be able to give you excellent advice and run you through the best strategy to deal with this.

IamtheDevilsAvocado · 21/07/2015 16:05

Please dont be bullied by these scum.

Please contact your landlord-i bet they dobt know their agents are acting in such an appalling way! They will not want to lose a good tenant.

They are acting illegally - why should you lose your home and the rent you've already paid upfront? Plus all tje costs for an unnecessary move. By the way is IS NOT normal to pay 6 months in advance - I ve never come across this in years of renting (save some commercial lets) .

If you move out it will mean that they will have won...

DancingHat · 21/07/2015 16:12

My friend who is self employed has always had to pay 6 months in advance and she's moved 4 times in 2 years due to landlords cashing in on rising house prices. She lives in Coventry.

OP the best advice seems to be to talk to Shelter who will be able to give you informed specialist advice. Best of luck.

bestguess23 · 21/07/2015 17:36

OP, any luck with Shelter today? Please do give it a go. They helped me out with a terrible landlord issue which was rapidly resolved.

Original poster
MelamineTeapot · 21/07/2015 18:51

I've already spoken to Shelter. All they can advise is that the letting agent is acting I already know that. They are just as powerless as me to actually stop the letting agent doing whatever they like.

Basically all I can do now is sit and wait until Thursday, to see if this time they are bluffing again or really going to change the locks. If they do, I can phone the police and as I will be locked out of my home, the council will get involved at that point.

In the meantime we are planning our getaway. I may even manage to get the keys to our new home by Friday and the kids have started packing already.

OP posts:
User100 · 21/07/2015 20:47

Melamime - they were bluffing on Monday, they will be bluffing again on Thursday. Hopefully after Thursday (when it's clear it's all bluster) it will be easier to ignore it all.

bestguess23 · 21/07/2015 21:15

Did you ask Shelter for specifics of which laws they are breaking? If so, send a letter/email outlining to the Lettings Agent.

zipzap · 21/07/2015 22:43

Do you think something funny-weird might have happened - for example, we once rented a property that some complete strangers turned up and demanded to know why we hadn't been paying them our rent for the last few months. Which was news to us as we had been paying rent to our landlord...

turned out that he gambled the house away or had big debts and gave the house to cover them that he had sold the house with us as sitting tenants but not bothered to inform us and had carried on collecting our rent whilst telling the new landlords that he'd given us their details and we'd be in contact with them and organise with them about paying rent.

It had gone several months as the bloke involved looked very hard and had been 'away' we suspect at her majesty's pleasure before he'd been able to come around in person. We also had lots of baliffs turn up looking for the old owner as he carried on using it as his address.

It was a scary time - do you think something strange could have happened for the landlord to have changed to such an unreputable agency - even if he lives abroad you'd have thought he would have been able to google pretty easily and if an agency screws the tenants over then there's a good chance they'll screw the landlords too so it's not a natural choice of agency if he wanted to change and he had good tenants in situ.

BerylStreep · 22/07/2015 00:09

You say your rent is almost £1000 a month - that is a lot of money to walk away from if you up sticks and leave this week, when you still have almost 8 weeks left on your tenancy, which you have already paid for.

It would be much cheaper, and more effective to seek advice from a solicitor and instruct them to send a strongly worded letter threatening legal action. If you do decide to move out in any case, at least you will have some clear evidence in the form of legal correspondence of their failure to allow peaceful enjoyment, which would perhaps stand you in better stead of claiming any rent due.