landlord on holiday, front door won't lock

[nappyaddict]

We have just gone to the leave the house and our front door won't lock. We have tried 2 different keys so it is definitely the lock, not the key. We have tried ringing the landlord but his phone isn't connecting as he is on holiday in Turkey. Do we just call a locksmith out? I suspect it will be doube the price being a Sunday. Where do we stand with getting the money back from the landlord?

Do you rent through a letting agent or directly from the LL? If through a letting agent, they might have an emergency contact number?

If not, then yes, call a locksmith and invoice your LL explaining the circumstances. I don't really see what else you can do.

When our front door lock jammed and we couldn't open it, we called a locksmith and then deducted it from our next rent payment. Was an emergency and landlord was happy with this arrangement.

deducting it from the rent means we would definitely get the money so i will do that. our landlord is a bit dodgy so to speak so was worried about getting the money back. his mum lives next door and she even said if he doesn't give you the money I'll have to give it you. she suggested we should wait until tomorrow though when it is cheaper. we used to be with an agency but the were useless so the landlord stopped using them last month.

'our landlord is a bit dodgy'.....

great. Not. I hope that if the place is mortgaged, he has told the mortgage company.

yes it is mortgaged. what dies he need to tell the mortgage company?

that he doesn't live there and you do - i.e he needs to be on a buy to let mortgage.

otherwise he's breaking the terms of the mortgage and that is grounds for repossession. And guess who will be evicted if that happens?

is your deposit protected? Do you have a current gas-safe cert if there are gas appliances?

I would get evidence of several quotes, so you can prove you acted in his interest and went for the cheapest option too.

^Locksmith quotes.

ou deposit is in a scheme the agency set up and we have a gas safety check every year. I'm not sure about the mortgage as it used to be his family home so when he got the mortgage he wouldn't have had the intention of renting it out. he seperated and now lives with new partner I think.

Can his mum not pay the locksmith direct and get it back from him . Can you lock door from inside and use the back door ? Withholding rent even in these circumstances can be tricky and puts your tenancy at risk.

HAve you got your own house insurance?

(Not that you should need to pay, but just in case he's ann arse)

I don't think you're ment to use wd40 in a lock. It'll seize. There's a special kind of lubricant for locks.

some suggestions here

When you say it wont lock and its not the key does the key turn?

Does the key turn when the door isn't closed?

Does the lock have an internal knob that you can open it from the inside and is this working?

good news on deposit and gas safe. Hopefully that means he's told the mortgage company too.

the OP hopefully has tenant's contents insurance, but it won't cover this kind of thing which is the landlord's responsibility.

this is why landlords need to be contactable (not necessarily 24/7, but not disappearing for a week or more). and to have backup plans for fixes if there is a problem while they are away.

I felt a bit cheeky asking the landlord's Mum to pay for it direct. We paid by cheque. It was £45 for a new lock. shivermekimbers How much was it to have a new lock for you? We tried getting some quotes over the phone but no one would even give us an estimate so we just went with who could get here the fastest.

The key was locking the lock but we couldn't get the key back out without turning it so much it unlocked the door again. The locksmith said it is caused by leaving the key in the lock when the door is locked when you are home. Apparently because the lock is engaged constantly, the weight of the key puts pressure on the springs causing it to stop turning properly. Everyone I know leaves the key in the lock so I never knew it was a problem. We only have one car key and one house key on the keyring so not a heavy bunch but previous tenants or landlord may have left a larger bunch in the lock?

We tried to go out the patio door and then discovered the key locks from the inside but when you put the key in the outside lock it's as though it's not the right key because it won't even turn. At first I thought the landlord hadn't given us the key to lock it from the outside but then I realised how ridiculous that was to have one key for inside and one key for outside! We didn't get the locksmith to look at that one as not essential.

glad it is sorted. (At least I think it is?)

now ask your landlord what emergency contacts he has. If you get urgent problems and he cannot be contacted for a week, what would he like you to do?

Is this a deadlock you're talking about? Why would you leave your keys in the lock anyway? That's asking to be burgled I'm afraid

obviously leaving the keys inside the lock inside the house, not outside.