LL came into my garden and removed my bird feeders

[goodoldsussexbythesea]

My landlady lives locally and often drives past my house. Early this morning, I was in my front garden, filling my bird feeders, and she pulled over and said that the advice from the RSPB is not to feed birds from feeders any more.

I told her that actually, the advice is not to feed them seeds and peanuts between May-October this year and I'm planning on following the advice so I was just using up the last of my seed now as it's not May yet.

She got really defensive and said "well, I just think it's important to follow the advice so I'd rather you didn't do it, please take the feeders down!!" which really annoyed me so I said, well it's not May yet so no, and anyway the advice is that you can feed them (small amounts of) mealworm and suet balls after May so I will be doing that, and she didn't say anything else, just drove off.

This really wound me up and I was annoyed for the rest of the day, took the kids out to a farm park and I arrived home an hour ago, and my feeders have gone out of my garden!!!

I checked my ring doorbell and she's bloody come into the garden, armed with a plastic carrier bag, removed my feeders and taken them away!!

I rang her three times back to back and she wouldn't pick up, so I whatsapped her and it immediately went to two blue ticks. I said - "Please return my bird feeders immediately, they are my property and you had no right to take them. I am following the advice but even if I was not, you still have no right to take my things."

After half an hour she replied "I am not currently allowing tenants to use bird feeders at my properties and have asked that they all be removed. I was passing so I removed yours for you, they are in safe keeping and will be returned in October"

My AIBU is not about who was in the right because I bloody well know I am, but whether or not I should call the police. I spoke to my neighbour about it and she said I shouldn't and that I should just replace them and remove the cost from the rent. She says she's obviously nuts and I shouldn't risk falling out with her

YABU - Don't call police, replace and charge her or do something else
YANBU - Call the police, report her for theft, and give them the doorbell footage.

I’m so sorry this has happened to you OP. It’s such a pleasure to feed birds.

Your landlady has absolutely no right to steal your belongings or dictate to you about feeding wildlife. What a nasty, obnoxious person she is. Power clearly gone to her head.

Suggest you leave it until after 1 May (when Renters’ Rights Act comes into effect and she can no longer serve/threaten you with a no-fault possession notice) and then report as a crime to your local police online. It doesn’t matter whether she intends to give them back, or how much they cost. She’s taken your belongings.

However, be careful about withholding rent. That constitutes a breach of tenancy.

What a weird thing to say in response to someone having their stuff nicked.

"My landlord came into my living room and took my sofa, saying she'll give it back in October!"

Aw, that's sad, but look forward to October! Maybe you can get yourself a nice new cushion!

That's what you sound like

I used to feed the birds, then our area had a rat infestation. I was amazed (and disgusted) how rats could get to the feeders, no matter where they were situated. I don’t feed the birds anymore.

Its a condition of my mum’s leasehold property they don’t feed the birds due to potential of vermin

.

I have bird feeders. No bird poop everywhere or rats running in and out. 🤦🙄

OP I'd be furious too.

She shouldn't even be coming into your garden and dictating, never mind coming back and stealing them!

I would absolutely want to report her for theft. But I'd be hesitant if you like where you live and have nice neighbours. 😔

Really feel for you as I have a similar life situation and also get a lot of joy out of my garden and the birds.

OP please call the police, she intruded into your home and she dared take your belongings away - silly cow has even admitted so on whatsapp! Her attitude is so patronising and it's utterly annoying and soul destroying how you are never it seems allowed to have anything nice in your life, to hold on to small but essential elements that make life bearable and even beautiful.

It depends if you're hoping to stay on at the property.

I'd report online to the police as a nuisance - you have her on camera stealing your property. She can't add rules about bird feeders that aren't in your contract. She can't take and withhold your property.

But if you really need to stay in the property I'd suck it up though.

Thank you.

So In my opinion there are far more things to worry about than having a couple of bird feeders taken away. Worries such as potential impending world war, world poverty, global warming, to name but few could be considered.

However, the OP was asking for guidance regarding her calling the police to report her bird feeders being taken away/stolen by her landlady. I believe that the police have more than enough to worry about without having to spend time filling out forms regarding somebody's bird feeders going missing.

I could list some suggestions here, but I don't really think that you need me to do that.

Back to basics here , she , nor anyone else, has the right to deprive you of anything that is rightfully yours . It is called stealing . Ask any business that has ever prosecuted a shop lifter. Good luck to you and your bird feeders, poor old mother nature needs more people like you ,not less OP.

No, the over reaction was from the landlady who took it upon herself to enter the property without permission and take items that don’t belong to her.

Can’t believe people are actually defending the landlady on this thread, it’s madness.

People up and down the country have bird feeders in their gardens and don’t have any issues with vermin or bird shit. That wasn’t even the LL’s issue to begin with, people are just making up reasons why the LL is justified in her actions. There is no justification here, she has massively overstepped and committed a crime in the process. Op is right to be angry, I would be too.

Op I would tell her to return the bird feeders by a certain date/time, and if she doesn’t you will be reporting to the police with video evidence. The police probably won’t do anything, but the threat of it might be enough for her to see sense and return your property.

Google the legal definition of theft then. ‘To permanently deprive………..

Ace - so I can just take my neighbour’s garden furniture and keep it all summer, as long as I give it back once it gets colder?

Excuse me, I’m just off to knit a huge swag bag.

She has been permanently deprived of them. The landlord telling her some bullshit of returning them at some point in the future is irrelevant - she's stolen her belongings.

Hi all,

Thanks for some good advice given by people. My mum came over for dinner which is why I didn't come back for a bit. We've chatted about it and she agrees with a lot of what you guys have said about writing her an email and then going to the council.

I want to address a point of view that a lot of you have - that this is "silly" or "petty" or "just a few birdfeeders". I am genuinely glad you have lots of nice things in your life that you can enjoy so that losing one of the things you like wouldn't upset you too much.

I have little in my life. I moved far away from my life and my friends and family, I had to leave the town I grew up in, and my job, just to get away from this man who is still out there. I live in fear my my ex finding us here. I live in the middle of nowhere now, and I have no-one out here except my NDN who is twenty years older than me, and a couple I sometimes chat to at the pub, who I expect are just being kind by chatting to me. My mum visits for two hours every couple of weeks. That's it. I can't go back to my home town for fear of being seen by my ex. Other than that, I'm alone with three kids under 10, a job I hate and am way overskilled for, and very little money.

It may sound pathetic, but that tiny little garden, that I work hard on, plus the nice home I created for me and my kids, is the only joy I have and after nine years of being controlled, I was glad I could finally make some small decisions about my own life, although due to my circumstances, my choices are still severely limited.

So a landlady coming along and telling me that I can't have birdfeeders and then taking them away from me, is hugely upsetting for me for two reasons: They were important to me, and brought me joy, and I felt controlled again, by someone who has no right to try and control me.

And I am not going to let that happen!!!!

And what right does the landlady have to take her tenants belongings and dictate to her when she can have them back?

The RSPB announced changes this week to their guidance around d feeding.
https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/how-to-help-garden-birds?utm_source=google&utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_campaign=supplementaryfeeding&https:%2F%2Fwww.rspb.org.uk%2Fwhats-happening%2Fnews%2Fhow-to-help-garden-birds=

You're both in the wrong. You shouldn't be using bird feeders for various reasons, but she definitely shouldn't have come and taken them away!

Exactly, if I took someones car but left a note saying id return it in a week ive still stolen a car

It’s outrageous that she took them - I hope you get them back.

It’s likely that she will aim to amend the contracts to include no feeding - if she’s indicated that it’s something she’s implementing across all her properties then it’s more likely to be about vermin than the RSPB.

When you get them back is there somewhere your neighbour could hang them close enough to your fence line that you can still enjoy them?

This link confirms exactly what the OP has said!!!

Cancel the cheque.

💐 for you OP. I would feel just like you do. She has NO right to act in this way. Sometimes it is really important to stand up for ourselves. Maybe wait until May to act in case she is a vindictive cow as well as a controlling thief. Good luck!

It’s theft. Whether or not the person who removed the bird feeders is the owner of the property is irrelevant, it is theft.
ETA: But don’t do anything about it until the rules for landlords change on 1st May, @goodoldsussexbythesea

OP is there anything written in your tenancy agreement that gives her the right to enter the property including the garden any time she likes ? If not then she has breached the tenancy agreement. She has no right to take and withhold your personal property, even if she wants all tenants to follow what the RsPB are saying, it is guidance not law, you don't have to follow it, she has no right to enforce it.

I think you’re right, most landlords I know are decent. Doesn’t make you any better though.