don't think landlord trusts us

[lemondropcake]

Saturday night the door to the house doesn't lock. Dp tried to fix it but no joy. Called the landlord and she didn't answer our calls but texted back to ask if we could ring someone to get them out.
We got someone who came out, fixed the door. He had to replace the full mechanism and it cost £200 for the parts, labour and call out fee.
The locksmith wanted cash for the job, he did have a card machine but it wasn't working. Dp gave him the cash and the locksmith wrote out a receipt.
Landlord came round the next day to pay us back...but she was pissed off. She didn't believe the people we got out were genuine, she tried her key in the lock 6 times and even though it was locking for her she tried it again before she left. She didn't just hand over the money and checked the receipt and questioned everything on it, took the broken part away with her and asked a load of questions. When she asked how long he took on the job and we told her half an hour, she said that doesn't sound right at all.
The locksmith came from a large company with a company name, phone number and the job was done to a high standard, although expensive.

In the seven years we have lived there we have never gave her a cause for concern. Never had a late or missed payment, anything broken always replaced.
She payed us the cash last of all but you could tell it was grudged.
Can't help but feel she didn't trust us or the locksmith. She tried the locks that many times and seemed really short with us.
I'm pissed off because she could have just rang someone her self but she wanted us to do it and then has done nothing but moan about it!

What a ungrateful person. Next time, inform if there is a problem but don't get involved other than that. It's for her to deal with.

I'm sure it's not a trust issue. She's probably just pissed off at the cost and wants to get clarification before she hands over £200

Yanbu

If you were new tenants I could understand her worrying but if she's known you 7 years with no issues then she should know you're trustworthy

She told you to get someone out, if she was bothered she should've arranged it herself

I doubt she doesn't trust you but rather had a different number in mind and was shocked when presented with the invoice for an emergency repair on a weekend evening. Lesson learned - she will do it herself next time instead of asking you to sort it for her. And you will tell her she needs to do her job as landlord next time and get a repair person out herself, as last time when you did her a favour, she was unhappy with the firm that came out and their charges and made you feel like their charges were your responsibility.

She is BU. You gave her the option to sort out someone to do the job and she demurred. Not your problem.

She should have arranged the repair herself. It sounds as if it cost much more than she expected. Hopefully there won't be any further comment but you could offer to give the the contact details of the company you used if she wants any further clarification.

YANBU but to be fair it is quite expensive for a quick job but that's emergency call outs for you.

Considering I got a new carpet in the living room and payed a decorator to decorate it and to decorate little ones room too, out of my own pocket!

When the heating wasn't working she just told me to phone the gas people up myself as well!
I'm sick of renting.
She turned up the other month and just let herself into the garden while I was at work to trim bushes. She left workmen in the house while I was also at work, house was unlocked the full day with strangers in and out, I was fuming. She had told me the night before they didn't need access to the house but I ended up having the leave the doors unlocked because they needed to use the electric.

I gave her the contact details of the company so no doubt she was phoning them up when she left.
I am just surprised she tested the locks six times. I just wanted to shout your going to break the door that has just been fixed! Locking and unlocking six times! Why didn't she just take our word for it when I said the locks are the same or just test it the once would have been fine.
I felt really insulted.

She sounds awful. Really bad. You sound like great tenants too.

Are you able to move at all?

I thihnk you are both in the right. Her manner is not kind from what you say but she did text back the same night you contacted her which is amazing service and not something lal landlords would do and she has paid the money immediately which again is brilliant and not again what all landlords done. The fact she tested the lock 6 times is really good I would say. It is very very common that a lock is changed and you think it's fine but in fact one or other key does not work 9we had that recently) but no one tested it often enough at the time. So well done for her for the 6 times testing it. However it doesn't sounds as they she was pleasant so she probably should go to charm school.

She trimmed bushes in the garden? Amazingly wonderful instead of leaving it to rack and ruin. You have a very good landlord there actually. Not all of them deal with bushes in the garden.

However if you could buy that might be worth considering. I don't know how much flats are in your area however.

I would prefer notice if she was coming to the house to do any work and I actually like to be there instead of having people wandering around the house/garden when I'm not there. That's just me but she didn't check just helped herself.
She's normally very good and just lets us be but recently has been round a lot more because she wants outdoor work done to the house so it may be that I feel its a bit intrusive when I'm used to being left to it. Of course she is within her rights but I like plenty of notice for things as I work and like to be present when things are happening.
I wouldn't rent or buy a flat but looking to buy a house within the next three or four years. Deposits don't come cheap and when your paying a fortune for rent it doesn't help.

I sympathise with the renting issue. We pay much more on rent than friends and family pay on monthly mortgage payments for much bigger properties, but prices have gone up so fast that timing is everything. If you didn't buy before they soared it is hard. I hope you will get your own home in the future as you are planning. In the meantime yes, it does sound an annoying situation and you have obviously really raised the quality of the house with the carpet and decorating. I don't think your landlord is legally allowed to turn up whenever she wants to do work or let people in. As I understand, maybe someone will know, they have to check with you and provided you are reasonable with allowing what is needed, they can only come to the house at a time of your choosing.

She should definitely be giving you reasonable notice, not just popping round. It is your home, not hers. Have a word.

So she wants to improve the house and you're objecting? Checking the lock six times is hardly going to damage it, YABU. Given she got straight back to you, I think she's been very reasonable. I would have gone round to fix it myself for under £50. How did the original lock break? I've just sorted out loose stair carpet for my tenant, God knows how it came off, given it was fitted by the people who did our house too and very recently. The fitter was amazed. If you bust something, I think you should pay, not the landlord.

Conversely, she has no right to allow in workmen when you're not there and she needs to ensure you're happy with people going round and being in there. That is the law. You as a tenant are far more protected than the landlord.

Ehh you sound overly invested in the landlord-tenant relationship. She was responsive to your request and paid for the repair quickly. She's done her job. She's entitled to ask questions if it was pricier than she expected. If she's been your mate it would have been offensive, but she's not your mate...

The door handle completely seized and it wouldn't lock. It needed a whole new part. Nothing that could be fixed at home by her or us and these things just happen. Not like we made it break!
Sometimes things just break, especially when old and used a lot. It wasn't us that broke it, it just broke! Its her job to fix it.

Job was sorted straightaway - she gave you the option of doing it or waiting until she could do it.
£200 is a lot of money. Don't know the exact problem of course but I paid £70 for last call out here at home, (key got jammed in lock - whole thing had to be replaced.)

She will have learnt lesson and insisted that she gets her own guys to quote on it first next time.

Would you hand over £200 in cash without verifying the circumstances? Not many people would.

The rent v buy calculation is never as simple as the cost of the mortgage.

Buying is rarely "cheaper" - but long term it can be, ( not always), a very good investment. The big thing is security. You can't be forced out as long as you pay the bills. The flipside of that security is it is horrifically expensive and very difficult if you do want to move.

She sounds like a good land lord to me, I think she was just a bit pissed off at the cost. Look at it another way, if it was your own home you'd be paying that yourself and I'm sure you'd be a bit peeved at the cost too! For £200 I'd expect a whole new door too!

I don't think it's legal for her to access the property randomly like that. Also, it's her job to sort repairs out. Her behaviour was pretty poor about the whole lock thing but she'll probably get in touch with the company to challenge them as it's an obscene price to pay for a lock change... ( you were charged 2-3x more than it should have been).
I think I would write her a letter to express that you are not willing to take on any more of her responsibilities (i.e. repairs) ever again and she needs to adhere to the rules about prior contact to request access.

Most landlords would not just come round to do the garden unless they had permission. I think her service in paying for the lock quickly was very good.

I agree it is very hard to save for a deposit. My daughter had to sleep on sofas, live at home and all sorts in order to be able to save one up. It's very difficult.

I am afraid threads like this make me very glad I no longer bother to let a property out. There is just not enough profit in it considering the hassle particularly now the stock market is doing better again. Shares are less hassle.

Next time, inform if there is a problem but don't get involved other than that. It's for her to deal with
If the OP had not have dealt with it and the LL had refused to come out by the sounds of it the OP would not have been able to lock the door of her home.

So unfortunately it doesn't sound like the OP had any choice but to get involved.

That said if I had to fork out £200 for a replacement lock I would definitely have been checking and re-checking it and wanting to know every detail.

As the OP has given her LL the paperwork at least she can check everything out and confirm that it is legit.

This is the problem with LLs, they are happy as long as the rent money comes rolling in but hate paying out for stuff which although any one would, LLs need to realise that expenses like these are just part of being an LL.

Ages ago in my rental flat the hob broke, it was the original one from the 1980s, so it had a good 20 years of use and my LL had the cheek to ask me "if I really needed it replacing and couldn't just make do FOR 6 MORE MONTHS!!!

Cheeky cow.