to really hate lettings agents??

[gosssipgirl]

We are moving house next month and so out current house is "to let".

The lettings agents have not responded to my letter giving notice (faxed and posted on 2nd March) but I can assume they have got the message since the house is being adverstied and they have called me to arrange viewings!

Still nothing in writing confirming receipt of notice.

They rang at 4pm on Friday asking if someone could come on Saturday for a viewing, and could I show them around as they were short staffed. Ummm... no I bloody can't. I have a toddler and my DH was doing an exam on Saturday. And also you are getting PAID to market the house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided to take my LO out for lunch while they came round and when I came back (a couple of hours later) they had left 2 lights on!!!!!!! (I am quite concious of always turning lights off when not in the room so this really annoys me!)

NOW they sent a letter saying someone is coming to do an inspection tomorrow (I cancelled the last one as I was not in so can't cancel again) and I will be out as I work on Wednesdays.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I've known countless people (I worked at a university for years) who have gone months without hot water or heat and lived in dumps because LL wouldn't make repairs.

And you still have to pay rent!

My old boss had to sue her LL in court to get him to put a new boiler in after she went 2 months without hot water.

Then of course he served her notice and she had to take him back to court to get her deposit back.

The ceiling fell in in the living room of the flat my dear friend rents in Glasgow and it was 7 months before it was repaired.

She had no living room in that time.

I really like the lady who manages my house - she is like a really firm headmistress and there is no nonsense about her. Each time there is a problem, she calls me and we sort it out. The only time I refused to pay was when the first set of tenants blocked the new loo, and said we should pay for it to be unblocked. Turned out the husband had had a big poo, blocked the loo, and used the wrong flush button. I pointed out that he was in a profession that should know about how to flush the loo and that the instructions for the loo were on a shelf beside it as seen in the inventory photographs. We didn't pay - I couldn't imagine asking my landlord here to pay for the loo to be unblocked if I'd done that - too for words.

Not tosh. Longer leases on paper for example you sign a nine year lease in Belgium -- but in reality it's shorter notice than a two year lease.

You need to experience it to understand the reality. Issues like FWT doesn't exist. You pay for everything when you leave.

Tenants rights stronger in britain than any country I've lived in definitely.

I have lived it. I lived in Europe for 4 years in total - Germany and France. I lived in the US for decades.

This place is the lousiest for tenants rights by a mile.

I think you are in danger of tarring all of us who let property with the same brush. Mine isn't a buy to let, it's my home; rented out whilst we are posted abroad by HMG. I want my tenants to look after it, so I ensure that most of the rent gets reinvested in repairs and maintenance as and when necessary. I know CTAX and oil are expensive, so they haven't had a rent rise since they moved in, nor will they, whilst they stay there. I go back once a year to look at the house and see what needs doing over the next year, and plan for it accordingly. I hope when we move back we can give them plenty of notice so they have time to find somewhere else.

scaryteacher - at the big poo! also wondering what kind of fancy toilet you have in your house?

everyone, I think I will call the agents tomo and say I really would like to be present for the inventory check.

It's such a shame it's ending like this as the LLs are very decent ppl and they think they are doing the best thing by employing managing agents. I'm sure if it comes to it, they won't want to take anything undue from our deposit.

When the agents did their "inspection" t'other day they failed to notice a 30cm diameter hole in the plaster work which I have mentioned directly to the LL (and he has seen for himself) and reported to the LL that there were NO maintenance issues. He was a bit and called me to check it was indeed still there....

USELESS!!!!!!!!!

I had an old loo taken out and had one with a dual flush put in. The man who poohed used the short flush as opposed to the long one.

We have had different experiences by a mile.

Wrt: your examples.

A tenant can take the landlord to court (CAB and legal aid) or can get the local authority to inspect, carry out the work and charge the landlord.

"My old boss had to sue her LL in court to get him to put a new boiler in after she went 2 months without hot water." Nothing to do with poor rights. The rights are in place and she exercised them, it was a crap landlord.

"Then of course he served her notice and she had to take him back to court to get her deposit back." Ditto.

"The ceiling fell in in the living room of the flat my" dear friend rents in Glasgow and it was 7 months before it was repaired." See above.

I've been renting for just over seven years now and have only had one good landlord in all that time (private landlord, no agents involved). Every other time has been a nightmare. Three times I've had agents say the property was left dirty even though I've had a perfect check out report and my family and in-laws helped me make each place spotless (shame none of them are cleaned before my husband and I move in). They try it on so they can pocket your money and usually telling them in no uncertain terms that you're not having it works but the last time (we moved out because the neighbours from hell liked to throw bricks at us when we went in the garden and smash up our car) we were there for the check out report which was "perfect" and waited two months for our deposit to come back. When we called the agents (Connells) we were told the person we needed to speak to was out of the office and when we tried emailing we got one back saying we'd apparently taken off a door, plained it down and repainted it badly...what?!!!! Why would anyone do that when they were moving out? They also did no viewings, we had to do them all and we had four cancellations which they only told us about after the people were supposed to show up. Took us four months going through the Tenancy Deposit Scheme but we got our deposit back in full.
The agent we got for this house tried to swindle £140 out of us saying we'd not got though our credit check even though we have a perfect credit rating. He didn't bank on my husband calling the referencing company and finding out he hadn't even sent them the forms! Hate isn't a strong enough word.

Tenants have far more rights than we seem to think, It is one of the few areas the CAB is useful for.

Bear in mind that you are paying money for a service from your land lord, S/He is in YOUR employ. you hold the whip hand.

NOTHING in a contract that contravenes tenancy lay will hold water, and all tenancy law applies in every case. It is almost entirely designed to protect tenants. basically the landlord only has a right to the agreed rent for the duration of your tenancy, and little else.

Tenancy agreements are a desperate smoke screen, don't be fooled.

expat I feel for you, you make several valid points, and have done on other threads.

I think the problem is that many tenants do not know what their rights actually are.

For a tenant to go months with no hot water and continue to pay rent is not how it has to be. A landlord has a legal obligation to repair such things. If he does not within a reasonable timeframe and that varies on what the problem is (no hot water is deemed urgent, a collapsed fence not so much) the tenant has the right to advise the landlord they are making the repairs and deducting the costs from the rent.

It has to be a reasonable quote and the tenant has to be able to show that they took steps to allow the lanldord to do this himself. If he does not, they are within their rights to do so themselves. And I have seen this happen.

The trouble is there are too many unscruplous landlords who think they can get away with being twats.

And there are too many letting agents who think they can charge what they want for all sorts of things.

Tenants are now getting more protection and more rights and Trading Standards are beginning to clamp down on unfair terms in contracts etc. This will stop the £140 to renew an agreement every year nonsense.

It doesn't give a tenant piece of mind for a long let, however, but hopefully tenants, and landlords, are becoming more aware of their rights.

buzzing it shouuld be within 28 days.

Absolutely bigbad. As a landlord I've given advice here to tenants and prospective tenants on how not to be ripped off. The rights are in place.

Letting agents are the fly in the ointment a lot of the time: especially when they keep the tenant and landlord apart. If a tenant can speak to a landlord everything is so much easier.

Wrt long term tenancies: most landlords would I believe be very happy to have long term tenants. I would, and I regard a short break clause as a protection against a poor tenant, rather than a weapon against a regular tenant.

Oh how I wish for a 3rd party to stand between me and my LL from hell my thread here, in case you're nosy interested

MY LL now wants me to play ball about viewings, despite last Tuesday, when I told her clearly that it was not convenient, ganging up on me with her daughter shrieking 'It's not your house, it's mine, you have no rights' 3" from my face, in front of the safety inspection guy and my 4yo DS. She then sat for over 30 mins outside my house so I couldn't leave.

She then texted me about viewings on Friday, i told her in exchange for a written ref, so far nothing.

I'm not inclined now to let her view my house, until after I've gone. If she wants to make an issue, let her, she can take me to court.

I have not been anywhere near deserving of all of this, she has gone from zero to psycho in a nano-second, and I'm feeling permanently sick and stressed. Both at home, in case she comes round, or outside, what if she's trying to get into my house. Locks now changed, I feel marginally better. I'll reinstate the old ones prior to leaving.

I tell you, even if she doesn't contact me again until check out date, my peace and quiet enjoyment is being constantly well and truly destroyed.

I can't wait to leave here.

I WOULD MOST DEFINITELY BAN LETTING AGENTS, CAN'T STAND THE FUCKERS

probonbon you are right. I never recommend a six month tenancy to my landlords. I always say a year, with the break cause that can be used if needed. I also tell a landlord not to increase the rent on renewal etc. Why lose a good tenant for the sake of an extra tenner a month? If current tenant moves out and you have an empty property then you lose that £120 instantly.

Good tenants are hard to find.

'tenant has the right to advise the landlord they are making the repairs and deducting the costs from the rent.'

She didn't have the money to stump up for a new boiler. That's a huge outlay a lot of renters don't have, even with rent deduction.

And she shouldn't have to waste her time sourcing quotes and takng time off work to let workmen in.

Yes BBM: completely agree: we've never raised rent. In fact for a good tenant we reduce it. I think openness is everything. I'm sure you are a better agent than many (by the sound of it) but I have come across letting agent mendacity in my time as landlord that has resulted in difficulties, I'll say, rather euphemistically.

Expat: in my home, if something needs fixing, I have to take time off to let workmen in. If you consider it your home, that is something you might have to do too. Things go wrong in a house: even let houses. The fair and right thing to do is minimise the inconvenience, not just because one has to, but because you want to preserve a good relationship.

(nb I have bought new appliances in the past to save my tenants having to do this).

She shouldn't have to source quotes and fix it herself but as you can see there are other options open to her. Local authorities are there to help with this. Perhaps she didn't know about that.

But none of that has anything to do with her rights or the way she was treated: it's to do with an abusive landlord. The state is not responsible: but it has set everything in place for redress.

Groundhogs, I read your thread, what a horror. It must be v stressful although the law is on your side. I can't begin to give advice as so you've had so much of the good stuff.

A legal letter can be very effective sometimes I think.

'Local authorities are there to help with this. Perhaps she didn't know about that.'

Yes, she did. They were of no assistance. The landlord was a lawyer and well aware of his legal obligations. And hers.

My experience in Europe was far better, and, from the number of threads on here by tenants since I joined here in 2004, I'm far from in a minority in that.

Loads of threads in the past year of so from tenants whose landlord's have not been paying the mortgage, and the first they hear of it is a letter dropped on the matt with notice of repossession procedings.

LOADS of threads for those hunting for private lets but facing 'No DSS'.

Several threads from someone called darceymum with a petition to end being able to serve notice on or deny someone the chance to let because they have children, an illegal practice in many countries (the US being one).

Tenants have few rights here in comparison with other places, because the attitude here is that property is an investment and not a home.

Perhaps she was intimidated by his profession: he sounds like a piece of work. Civil law is not on his side.

My experience in Europe and outside Europe is awful, and I've read quite a lot of the same on here.

Most of what you are talking about is abuse by landlords which can and should be challenged: and is not a failure of rights, as such.

You make such vague generalisations based on false premises, I think your last sentence is an example of this.

'Perhaps she was intimidated by his profession: '

Satan himself would have a hard time intimidating this woman. That's why she sued him and then sued him again. It's not an overnight process, hence, she went without that boiler being repaired.

He was shit and the law is an arse.

You make similar generalisations.

Your experience in Europe was poor, mine wasn't.

And any search of threads on here over the past few years demonstates, over and over, how landlords and letting agents have taken advantage of tenants and used whatever means necessary to do so.

She won -- but the law is an arse?

He was wrong about his legal rights -- but the law is an arse?

She was able to sue -- how? Her own money? She had legal aid? If she did, jolly good: the state has supported her through a difficult time with an abusive landlord, her rights were in place and she won the case.

but the law is an arse and tenants protection has failed?

Yes, because she shouldn't have had to sue the guy!

And no, no legal aid. She made too much money to qualify (not enough to afford her own property in Edinburgh, however).

So yes, it's an arse that someone has to go that far to get a necessary repair done and then he served her notice and she had to struggle to get the deposit back.

Sorry you are so terribly bitter about bad experiences with tenants.

Off to get the little ones ready for bed and do some work.

Feel free to carry on spewing.

How rude.

I think the bitterness lies elsewhere here. By your use of invective I'm guessing it lies with you. Show some maturity: it's clear I am a decent landlord in support of fair treatment of tenants. Your bitterness is best spared against me.