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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not want my landlord round everyday this week

86 replies

lemondropcake · 17/07/2017 19:34

Landlord text me yesterday and said she was coming round to prune garden and do other jobs in the garden. She said she will be round next week.
Today I came home from work to find she had let herself in and was in here for four hours!
I felt uncomfortable and couldn't get on with doing anything I wanted to do.
She tells me when she's coming and that's it she just let's herself in at any time. I'm on egg shells and wondering if she's going to be here every time I come home from work and even worse on my day off when I want to relax!

OP posts:
NicolasFlamel · 17/07/2017 20:58

What deadgood said. Are you ignoring all advice on purpose? Just tell her it's not acceptable rather than stewing about it.

milliemolliemou · 17/07/2017 20:58

Have friends with rentals. Can't understand that it hasn't gone through a letting agent unless it was a totally private agreement. Do you actually have a contract, OP?

But agree with everyone - if owner had access via a gate that's what she should have used and certainly shouldn't have gone through your house without agreement. Nice she's doing the garden but not intruding on your privacy. Did she actually come into your home?

Can you contact her and tell her you appreciate the gardening but you don't want her letting herself in to your home whether you're there or not without your permission. It won't affect your move.

ThouShallNotPass · 17/07/2017 21:00

As some others have said, what your contract states is irrelevant. There are certain rights you simply cannot sign away.

I once acted as informal agent for my own landlord and would tell potential tenants (neighbour's) things like, "Clause b2 is legally unenforceable. Clause 7 is bullshit. Just ignore clause 12...." I told the landlord that too. He was a right scumbag and lost every time he tried to act badly. Nearly all his tenants changed locks upon starting their tenancies as we told them he wouldn't think twice about sending people into his properties when the tenants were out. Now his agents keep him in line and run the estates for him. Legally.

Your landlady should NOT be coming into your house without your permission at all. And that includes waiting inside for workmen to come do quotes. At the very least she should be waiting outside.

ScarletForYa · 17/07/2017 21:03

Why are you allowing it?

She has to give you notice if she wants to come and there's a limit on the amount of times per year she can come.

You need to put a stop to it.

Original poster
lemondropcake · 17/07/2017 21:04

I'm texting her tonight to ask if she is coming round tomorrow and if she says yes I will say the back gate is open for her. I'm going to leave the key in the door locked tomorrow and leave via the back door so she gets the hint not to come into my home without asking. There is no reason for her to come in. There is also a tap out the back if she needed water access for what ever reason.
I don't want to get into an argument with her so close to leaving but I just want peace when I come in from work which I'm not getting at the moment. I do not like her vague 'next weeks she could be coming and going when ever she likes while I'm out without my permission.

OP posts:
Want2beme · 17/07/2017 21:05

As well as telling her not to enter the house or come around without asking you, could you lock the front door from the inside that she can't unlock and then you leave via the back door? You shouldn't have to resort to doing this, but at least it'll keep her out.

Original poster
lemondropcake · 17/07/2017 21:06

I've texted her. Yes she did let herself in. My mail was sitting on my staircase so she definitely used the front door.

OP posts:
twofloorsup · 17/07/2017 21:07

My landlady is a bit slack like this.
I let it go because she is nearly 80 and has absolutely bent over backwards to make my move a smooth one. All above and beyond.

But I have teenagers and my home isn't always landlord ready. She will arrange a contractor to do something that needs doing but then always "pops in to pay them" whilst I'm at work. I hate it but don't feel she means any harm so I let it lie.

Original poster
lemondropcake · 17/07/2017 21:12

I know she means no harm and is just getting the garden ready...but she is nosey. And that's why she is using the front door. She wants to judge or find something clearly.
I had opened mail on the counter that I opened before leaving for work. I have boxes in my room so I can prepare to move which I can't have her knowing about until everything is signed. I just don't like it and feel it intrudes my privacy.
If she had texted me on Sunday and said she was coming round tomorrow afternoon to so garden via back gate that would be fine because I can be at work and have time to prepare what I'm doing....but today I come home to find her in my garden after being in my house. For four fucking hours. It was a rose bush ffs.

OP posts:
AUsernameThatNooneHas · 17/07/2017 21:18

She is not allowed in unless she gives you 24 hours notice. I'm not sure whether you can refuse her when you're not there.

juliasalinger · 17/07/2017 21:20

Access without permission is an inexcusable breach of the lease (unless there is an emergency).

Stop being such a walkover. Remind her of this. If you have an agreement about her maintaining the garden then request 24hr notice to leave the access gate open. She has no need to access your home.

We have a landlord who ONCE took access without permission (and then stupidly admitted it by email). Despite our previous amicable relationship, we made it very clear in writing that this was unacceptable and a clear breach of our lease. It hasn't happened again.

All the other stuff is irrelevant.

Trollspoopglitter · 17/07/2017 21:24

Tell her it's illegal for her come into your home without you being there again and you'll be changing locks if she does it again. Tell her when you were a student, a dodgy landlord did this to you and things went missing. Police had at that time advised you the landlord had broken the law and could be prosecuted. Suggest she checks with her local precinct to verify for herself.

Original poster
lemondropcake · 17/07/2017 21:25

She said she was coming 'next week to do garden and asked if brown bin was empty...no more than that.
Obviously by next week she has meant this week. No mention of using the front door and no mention of times.
The last time she texted saying some guy was coming to do a quote in garden. I didn't reply and two days later she said she had let herself in.
Dp doesn't want to rock the boat in case she gets angry about our notice to quit and letting her go ahead with the garden work.

Me on the other hand cannot stand the thought of her treating this like her second home and walking in every time my back is turned.

OP posts:
Creampastry · 17/07/2017 21:25

Put sellotape at the bottom of doors to see if she opens them! Nosey cow!

Original poster
lemondropcake · 17/07/2017 21:28

That is a bloody great idea wish I had thought of that!

OP posts:
HipsterHunter · 17/07/2017 21:29

OP you sound slightly paranoid - sneaky / having a good nosey etc

NellieFiveBellies · 17/07/2017 21:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
lemondropcake · 17/07/2017 21:33

Why am I paranoid? She has no reason to come into my house when I'm out. The back gate is accessible and she is doing the garden. There is a path to the back garden. She doesn't need to come in and out my home....the only reason I can think of is because she wants a snoop.
Paranoid or not she has no right and I have every right to feel paranoid when someone is walking about my home when I'm not there. She may or not be snooping but I'm not there to find out.

OP posts:
Original poster
lemondropcake · 17/07/2017 21:37

Dp is worried she keeps the deposit. He doesn't want to upset her by locking the door from the inside.
She's not going to be happy when we give notice anyway is She? But I don't see why I should be unhappy and not say anything.
Although she's done the garden she hasn't done a thing in the eight years we have been here, Window ledges are falling apart, bath plug is faulty and little things like that.

We decorated the living room and put in carpets and decorated dds room twice. The wallpaper in the hall hasn't been done sinse the 70s and is peeling.

OP posts:
Lucisky · 17/07/2017 21:37

I had a landlady that would do similar. I lived in a flat over her restaurant and she had access to the downstairs for storage, through my front door, which was fine, or so I thought. It became clear that she was coming up the stairs for a nosey when I was out, because she was commenting on things in my flat. I was very young, so didn't have the gumption to stand up for myself, until....She walked in on my bf and I having steamy sex! I saw red (my bf thought it was funny, it was the look on her face), had a real go at her, and had locks put on the upstairs doors. She tried to get in again shortly after, and complained that I had had locks fitted. Cheeky cow.
What I am getting round to saying is that you should get your locks changed, NOW. Solves the problem at a stroke.

NellieFiveBellies · 17/07/2017 21:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

KermitsLoveChild · 17/07/2017 21:38

You're going round in circles. I get it, you don't want her in your house without prior arrangement and she's taking the piss.

Take the advice given and remind her of her legal duty to not enter your home without 24 hours prior notice. It doesn't matter how close to ending the lease you are she still has to abide by your tenancy agreement. If you can't do that you have to accept that she will be entering your home whenever she feels like it regardless of whether you plan to move or not.

llangennith · 17/07/2017 21:39

I haven't RTFT but when we rented out a house it was in the contract that we had to give notice that we needed to enter and it was limited to amount of times. As you're moving, bear with it and be glad you're moving on.

AlmostAJillSandwich · 17/07/2017 21:41

If she's there working for hours she probably wants access to the toilet, are you absolutely sure she hasn't only being in the house for use of the loo?

MrsPorth · 17/07/2017 21:48

Like a pp, I was wondering if rather than snooping, she was using the bathroom or accessing drinking water from the indoor tap given that she was working there all day in the heat. It doesn't make it okay though! She should have given you notice and asked.

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