AIBU to wonder how often other tenants see their landlord?

[Specksofwhiteallaround]

I am absolutely sick of the sight of mine but Dh insists it’s the same for all people who rent and I’m curious if he’s right as it’s not my experience of renting. So as not to drip feed we do have cats, but they knew this and agreed to rent to us. The cats have caused damage to the bottom of the stair carpet and a radiator but I have absolutely no problem paying to rectify this when/if we leave.

My annoyance is that in the three years since we’ve lived here we’ve had almost 3 monthly house inspections. Every time she comes she finds fault with something and I just don’t think any of it is that big a deal. Some examples are that a tree in the garden wasn’t pruned to her satisfaction so we had to buy a lot of expensive equipment to make that better, we don’t get to the weeds quickly enough, she wants us to have a window cleaner come every week and insisted I buy a rug to put under our computer chair which makes it unusable...
She has another house around the corner and checks how often and how long my bathroom window is open and it’s never enough.

The last straw for me is that we informed her about a plumping issue at the last inspection in mid December which has been steadily getting worse while she organised a plumber. Yesterday she turned up unannounced at the door to lecture me about what the problem was (she was wrong, it emerged yesterday that the problem has been caused by a pretty major leak in one of the outside pipes not us.) and let me know a plumber would be there the next morning. While at the door she also took me to task for not cleaning the gas cupboard in the porch. Not five minutes later she’s back with a man from the water board in tow and wants access to the house, apparently the fact it was 11am and I hadn’t washed up dishes from that morning didn’t escape her notice and today she’s messaged informing me of a house inspection this Wednesday. Oh and will I go out and inform the people from the water board that she wants them to come and fit new taps in the kitchen they’re outside fixing the leak...

I have terrible social anxiety anyway but lately It’s getting so bad I don’t feel I can leave the house some days and I’m just so anxious about everything all the time and it’s draining, I feel like I’m constantly waiting for her to turn up at the door or text or ring about more cleaning issues. I’ve not had this level of landlord interference before in my life, it’s like she expects us to keep this a show home and it’s just not feasible.
Sorry this is so long, I guess I needed a good rant I really hope my dh is wrong and this isn’t the norm because I wouldn’t wish this stress on anyone.

Next time she comes round and asks something ridiculous like cleaning the gas cupboard tell her that you'll do it when she fixes the peeling paint and the towel rail!

You need to stand up to get. No need to be rude or shouty but if she tells you to wash up you explain clearly that's it's none of her business....and change the subject to things she should be doing. Repeat!

What a bully!

Definitely not normal! We used to see ours maybe... once every six months? And thats because he was having work done on the house and definitely didn't check the rest whilst he was there or cleaning standards etc. The dishes and the weeds are ridiculous, ditto the window cleaner. My view is that as long as you return it in the same state that you received it thats plenty, irrespective of what it might be like in the mean time!

I last saw our tenants about 18 months ago when we (with warning, at a mutually convenient time) popped over to see the new double glazing we’d had installed. They’d only been in situ a month or so but were aware of the planned upgrade the windows. The letting agency does one check a year.

Rented since Sept. Never had inspection. We do via an agent. However they were useless and the ll asked to come round to look at the issues when moved in.. He was disgusted. And since then gave us his no. Any issues we text and he deals with it ASAP norm within 24 hrs. He comes to look at the issues and that's it. Lovely guy
Even when he's seen work we've done, ie. Put a carpet in dds room he offered us the money bk.
An insoechas never been mentioned.

Never. They have an agent who comes once every three months by appointment and does an inspection. Other than that we just see a workman/woman when there is a problem that we have reported. I've never met our landlord and wouldn't recognise them if I saw them.

Pets - quarterly inspection is acceptable

Utter crap. Even if that’s in the tenancy agreement, it is unenforceable as well as being bullshit. A ll can ask to come round but may not, except in case of emergencies eg flood/fire, enter the property. She can come to the door, you can refuse her entry.

@Specksofwhiteallaround if you don’t feel able to stand up to her, print off the legalities of renting and hand them to her. She may not come round when she feels like it, she cannot enter the property at all. Telling you off for not washing up/tidying is outrageous.

A chat with Shelter might be useful, but I think they’re unable to intervene when it’s a private rental.

Your ll is breaking the law to be coming round so frequently, it is not normal. I go to my rentals if something needs fixing. I speak to them or message when they want something and resolve it within the day if possible. I popped round to one at Christmas to measure for a new cooker as the old one was not turning off automatically. I measured up, handed the kids Christmas money and left.

I can’t bear ll like yours, they give the rest of us a very bad name. Please stand up for yourself, as it seems your DH doesn’t think this is absolutely fucking batshit. It is, I promise. She is bang out of order.

Cherrysoup can you be my landlord please you sound lovely. Mine is a nightmare. Regret ever moving in

I've had the same tennant for 7 years and never been round! My husband is friendly with the plumbers who do the yearly gas check etc and they report back on a superficial level. The flat management company report any issues with the garden etc.

As far as i'm concerned it's him home and i don't want to intrude.

That's not ok. You're entitled to quiet enjoyment of the property and 3 month inspections are overkkll. Stop letting her in!

I've rented various properties over the last 17 years. In all that time, I probably saw my landlords less than 10 times, and it was just for things that needed fixing.

Honestly I'd start saving like mad to find somewhere else. It's a horribly stressful way to live.

If there is an issue in the house that needs fixing, that's it.

I have never met my tenants. Pretty sure it's in my tenancy agreement that I would need to give them 24-48 hours notice before going to their house, although I wouldn't as I have a letting agent. The LA goes every 6 months for an inspection.

I've not seen my tenants or the flat for 18 months. But they're great and I trust them and they've been in the flat for years. No need to bother them really -it's their home. We sort out any issues/things not working asap and they pay their rent on time. It's a respectful partnership. 3 months inspections must be horrible and unsettling.

9 years renting and saw him 3 times. There was no letting agent either so no inspections, but equally virtually impossible to get anything fixed

We never go round to our houses. We've been landlords for 18 years. We only visit if they report a fault or they need something.
Normally we just send tradesmen when needed.

Fucking hell going by your OP your LL sounds like she’s a dickhead on a power trip.

I’ve rented a lot of places over the last 12 or so years and the inspections vary massively. Only had 1 place that was inspected every 3 months or so and that was the letting agent going round taking pictures of anything that needed repairing. Most of the LL I’ve encountered haven’t bothered as long as the rents getting paid in full and on time while I’ve lived there and only popped round when I’ve told them something needs fixing.

I've never had a landlord drop by like that. Once in uni I had a landlord who actually just flat out disappeared. I only noticed when we found out that our rent cheques hadn't been cashed for 6 months (we all paid one roommate's dad and then he paid the total amount to the landlord). We think he might have went to jail or something, he went completely off the grid and we got to live rent-free for 6 months. That was a long time ago. I've been a landlord myself for 10+ years and the less I see my tenants the better. I don't do inspections but my place is a low maintenance condo so it doesn't need much work (knock on wood).

Had quarterly inspections before, but they were a 5min whip round by letting agent, with me there & no issues. Latest Landlord, never, in the 3years I've been here. Legally she has to give you 24hours notice of any visit. She can't just turn up. She's nitpicking & you can insist you are there for any repair or inspection. She's breaching your legal right to 'quiet enjoynent', but IME of working in Lettings, complain & she'll give you notice. I'd move, my privacy is everything to me. I had a landlord who let himself in once, "because i want to talk about renewing your tenancy contract'. I walked out of the bedroom & he was in the kitchen. I was livid & told him so. He gave me notice a week later.

Not read the full thread, but a lot of landlords/agents will try it on given half a chance. The long and short of it is they haven't carried out a full itemised inventory, signed and agreed by both parties at the start of a tenacny, there is legally little they can do. A few years back, I had an agent threaten to keep deposits based on some snot on a hallway from check in day (caused by landlady's children) and some alleged blown lightbulbs on checkout (had receipts to prove otherwise).

In 20 years of being a LL, I have done one inspection, I had some concerns about the tenant after being contacted by a neighbour . On another occasion tenant asked to see us because she wanted to decorate and wanted to show us the colours she wanted to use.
I think she is hugely oversteping the mark and has absolutely no right to comment about the washing up. Quiet enjoyment comes to mind.

My ex landlords I saw daily as they lived next door, they were honestly fantastic! Never ever moaned at me for kids toys in the garden and the time the grass got overgrown because I broke my leg he came and cut the grass for me! Also literally never had internal inspections. I do miss them and the house, I just couldn’t justify the rent anymore.

I don't do formal inspections. I'm friendly with the tenants so when something breaks, I usually send DH round or we go together and I get a cup of tea while he fixes things I know they take good care of the place and have even made some improvements since they've been there so I'm happy to leave them to get on with it unless they need something from me.

I lived in a flat once that was subject to monthly inspections by an agency and if it was messy you were fined. Left that pretty sharpish. Current flat we have been here five years and never had an inspection (flat is owned by a buildings company rather than an individual). They just come when we ask if something goes wrong. It's very refreshing.

Been here 2.5 years and seen the landlord maybe 3 times and that was only because we text him to come round and sort stuff for us.