Does this letter to my landlord sound ok?

[TheLadyEvenstar]

Dear Mr

With reference to your previous email.

The new tenancy for will not be signed until the works are carried out in full and adequately. I am not prepared to commit my children and I to further months of ill health due to your lack of care or ability to ensure the works are carried out. As you are aware I have a 10 year old son and a 18 month old son, both are suffering with constant coughs and cold due to the damp in this property. My asthma is also suffering as a result.

I feel that I have been more than patient with regard to the repairs needed especially the hallway and Karl's bedroom which were caused by yourself. You sent two of your employees, one of which admitted to myself he had "no idea what he was doing as he fixed projection screens not walls or fit alarms"

I am currently seeking legal advice on this issue and on Friday I am attending a meeting with the private tenant liaison officer. I will write to you again once I have received further advice.

With regard to the rent arrears you mention please can you send me an exact breakdown of what was paid and when. As i have receipts to prove what I have paid and my calculations add up to owing you approx £560
whereas you are saying it is in the region of £1000. Please can you send proof.

Seems fine. If it were me, I would leave out the bit about the employee saying he didn't know what he was doing, as it seems like gossip.

Sorry you are in such a nightmare situation

Sparks, i only added that as he is insistant that the people he sent out were qualified in the work they were meant to be carrying out.

I would not mind getting a builder in to carry out the repairs and sending him the bill lol...

this is some of the things that need doing

To me the qualifications (or not) of the builders is a red herring. The point is that the repairs have not been completed and are not adequate.

I like the line about how you have been more than patient and think it would be stronger on its own.

GL

Hi.

Thought i'd rewrite to see what it would sound like.

Dear Mr **

With reference to your previous email.

Please can you confirm when the repair works will take place on this property?

I feel that I have been more than patient with regard to the state of the property and the repairs required. As you are aware there is a significant damp problem which is now causing my children and myself to suffer from ill health. You have said before that you would be willing to carry out these repairs but unfortunately it seems you sent workman who openly admitted he had 'no idea what e was doing as he fixed projection screens not walls or fire alarms' hence the problems and repairs remain.

Therefore I will be able to confirm my position with regard to extending the tenancy agreement once these repairs have been carried out in full .

With regards rent arrears please could you supply me with an exact breakdown of payments made and owed. (keep the fact that you think it's a lot less to yourself and make him supply the facts first - if you're wrong you'll look silly and lose ground with him)

If these issues continue I will be forced to seek legal advice. (don't tell him you are getting it as it will really pee him off!)

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards

here is the reply I have JUST received from him.

Thanks for your email.
I have been trying to contact you for some weeks now re arranging a visit ? I
have a builder geared up to look at the damp issues and had mooted a meeting
last Friday at 3.30pm. I tried to call all the numbers that I had for you
however did not hear back, nor did I get a reply to my return email. (can you
advise how to contact you ?). Rest assured that it is our intention to deal with
the damp issues immediately and to mutual satisfaction ? please call to arrange
a suitable time to get this in place ? the ball remains in your court on this. We can
also discuss the balance of the issues you raise at this time ? we remain keen to
resolve these issues as it is in nobody?s interest for the place to fall into
disrepair.
With regards the rent , I am writing to you on what I consider a fair and final basis
in professional and friendly terms in the hopes that we can resolve this. I really
envisage one of two outcomes here;

1. That the rent remains in arrears, that we have further broken agreements

or worst case no further rent gets paid, that communications continue to be aggressive and that I am left with no alternative than to seek possession under sections 2 and 8 of the Housing Act and persue further action for recovery / attachment to earnings or benefit. This would take some time, would involve hassle, grief and time on both of our sides and would no doubt involve professional fees and an ongoing battle to recover both the rent, the moneys owed and recoup costs via every means possible. You would lose what I think is a really nice family home and have to find another place to live, I would need to find another tenant ? all of which would cost both of us time and money. Is this really the way either of us wants to go ?

1. That we sit, talk sensibly, quietly and professionally, deal with the

immediate rent immediately and agree a deal of sorts on the arrears. You keep your home, we embark on a programme of works to bring the place up to standard and I am able to restart my mortgage payments. I?m happy at looking at reinstating the rent discount in retrospect pending what we can work out together My preference is (2), and I am writing this to you as a final chance to avoid service of the notices listed above. I really don?t want to do this ! The ball is in your court ? I understand that Xmas may have been tough for you, have been patient re the arrears for the month from January 6 and continue to show a sensitivity that a professional agent would not afford you. I am however rapidly approaching the point where an amicable resolution will be impossible to return to. I honestly believe in offering every possible chance for resolution vs conflict in any situation ? if nothing else I believe that aggression and badwill take a toll on ones peace of mind and wellbeing. Please lets do this in a manner to avoid this ? It is my right to serve notices today. I will as a gesture of goodwill and a sign of my willingness to resolve this without resorting to the courts, I will stall issuing these notices until Thursday. Lets not do this ! We need;

• the balance of the payments agreed, £220 that was due every Monday

and £50 that was due every Wednesday, paid from the date of our last meeting. If you cant pay this now, a good chunk of it needs paying before Thursday and a documented, agreed plan needs to be in place to pay the rest. Talk to me !

• an agreement in how we are to get the arrears paid in due course
• a meeting, where I will bring cakes (you make the coffee!) to calmly work

out how I will get the rent and you will keep your home Really guys, I am writing this as I don?t want to have to go further here. We?ll sort the damp, fix the rest of the stuff and afford you the trust to get the arrears sorted ? you pay the current rent and we move on in a win / win manner. Your call, but call quickly Respectfully yours

Now for the record he has my numbers and has spoken to me on them so that is not true that he can't make contact. I am paying the rent as stated, well I missed £50 last week. He seems unable to give me an exact amount of what I owe which I find odd! And what about "I will bring cakes" WTF???

oh and the agressiveness he is talking about is when he last visited unannounced he stood here screaming at me and I shouted back, which he didn't like.

What would you reply to him?

I dont know what to suggest except I would recommend you dont go making any more payments without getting receipts as you say you have no way of proving what you have paid. (Do you pay cash?)

He sounds as if he is trying to be helpful although obviously I don't know the back story here. If you don't trust him, then move out but he seems to be reasonable in this communication at least.

Hello, As a Landlord and tenant lawyer I would recommend firstly that you keep a record of all correspondence between yourselves as well as a record of the payments that you have made. If you paid by cheque get a statement from the bank showing when they cleared. Similarily if you pay by cash (not a great idea) you should see if a statement shows the withdrawls.
I would arrange a meeting and get someone (friend perhaps) to attend with you. They can keep a record of what is discussed. At the end of the meeting it is worthwhile noting down all of the points raised and the action agreed.If you respond to his email I would put on there that he has spoken to you on the contact numbers previously and that you have no record of any contact from him. It souunds to me like he is trying to build a case to show that he has made reasonable attempts to resolve the disrepair.
You don't mention what type of tenancy you have but I assume it an assured shorthold tenancy. Even if the initial term for this has expired you become a periodic tenant and there is no need for a new agreement to be signed.
If he is going to take possession proceedings then he will be able to seek a mandatory order if the arrears are over 2 months (or 8 weeks if you pay weekly) at the point of the notice, issuing the proceedings, and at the hearing date.
Technically you are not allowed to withold rent in leiu of the condition of the property. In practical terms though this is often what happens.
If your LL does start proceedings you should try to keep the arrears under two months and also enter a defence and counterclaim for the repair work. It may help to see a doctor if you believe the condition of the property has an adverse effect on your/family health. Again keep records of dates.
Phew sorry for going on.

Oh I wanted to add that Ground 2 is also a mandatory ground but relates to when the mortgagee requires possession to sell (ie the bank wants to repossess).
The LL should have served notice on you at the commencement of the tenancy that this was a mortgaged property? If he did not the court can allow an order if they think it is fair. However he would have to serve you with proof now that the mortgagee are chasing.

Chicken, many thanks for that. I have an appointment tomorrow with the private tenant liaison officer, only after he knew this did he threaten with eviction if i had not paid the arrears off by today, he stated this in an email at almost 11pm monday night.

I pay cash withrawn from my account and paid into his. I have done this since i moved in in august.

I know the email from his sounds like he is being reasonable, he has sent txt messages to me at 4.45am, screamed at me and reduced me to tears, when I try to talk to him face to face he refuses to talk to me but shouts over me.

I am trying to find a new place but i just don't have the deposit

Shine, I have enquired about that unfortunatly in my area you have to be homeless to be nominated for it.