Anyone know my rights as a landlord

[SanDiegoSunshine]

Hoping for some advice here as I’m so upset. I’m a new landlord. I owned my house and lived in it for 6 years until a month ago when I rented it out to a young professional couple through an approved agency.

Over the past 3 weeks they’ve been in contact with the agent managing it almost daily reporting faults and problems. Some genuine- which is fine as I know it’s my responsibility to ensure the house is maintained and satisfactory repairs carried out- to the down right ridiculous. I’ve even been round there myself to take them through what’s-what to save time. Worth noting they even asked for a rent reduction on their first day for something ridiculous!!!

Now they are claiming the blind in the spare room is broken. It’s a small pull type blind which is fitted to a velux window. When I lived there it was stiff but fully functional and when I was cleaning the day before they moved it it was working as I lowered it to clean it. The stiffness wasn’t picked up by the inventory clerk, infact his description of the blind is wrong. However the agents have contacted him and he’s said it was stiff. This wasn’t recorded however and I have no idea why. My only assumption is this item has been broken by the tenants possibly in their attempt to use it.

Where do I stand here? The estate agents think that I’ll likely have to pay if it’s damaged. I don’t feel this is right…1. It was working when i left it and 2. Any stiffness or possible wear and tear for example that could contribute to it breaking wasn’t recorded.

The tenants are now challenging the inventory and its looking like I’ll have to pay for a bespoke blind to be made as a replacement.

Please can anyone advise me?

I have 6 btl houses and used to use a management service. They were very slow to correct any faults and so I have been managing the properties myself for last 5 years and everything runs much smoother. I make an inventory and take photos. I get tenant to check inventory and photos and sign document. Then I file it. I would not be stressing about a blind. Just get another one. You can get them from Argos and they are an inexpensive item. If you have blind down in inventory you should replace like for like with another blind. Tell tenants if they have any problems they can report them and they will be sorted in suitable timeframe but no rent reduction. As a LL you have to treat your houses as a business and not get emotionally involved. Managing things yourself is not time consuming. Most of my tenants sign Tenancy document. I give them copies of gas and electric certificates, copy of Tenancy and Government document on Tenants Rights and deposit scheme where their deposit money is placed. Do reading for Gas and electric and take photos.I get them to sign a document stating they have received them all and that smoke detectors and Carbonmonoxide detectors are present in house. I give them 2 sets of keys, a page stating useful information like which day black bin and blue recycling bins emptied, local shops, bus times into town, local schools, GP surgery all with telephone numbers and my mobile number if they want to contact me. I hardly ever hear from any of them. I let them know 2 months before their Tenancy agreement is due for renewal and ask if they want to renew or move out. I check house at same time as signing new tenancy document. If something like a washing machine breaks I just drove to Curry's and pick up a new one and my dh plumbs it in the same evening.

Yes but why didn’t they just report it as being stiff thus allowing me the opportunity to come take a look. I could’ve been able to sort it rather than it being broken altogether and needing fully replaced

Perhaps they did not want to bother with you and thought it might loosen up.

On the one hand you sound pissed off they complain too much but on the other hand you are pissed off they did not report the blind to begin with. Make your mind up.

How is being a landlord not in your control? Try not being a landlord, lots of us manage it.

You need to ensure things are in good working order, not kind of functional if you know the right tricks.

As you knew the inventory was incorrect, why didn’t you double check it? It’s your responsibility to manage your relationship with the agency not your tenants’.

It sounds like you still have a very strong emotional attachment to o your home and you aren’t able to look at things calmly and objectively.

This thread is why not a single person in the country should be allowed to rent houses out without being registered, licensed and have mandatory training in the law regarding tenancy agreements

@hotmeatymilk because my personal circumstances meant I had to move out. I would’ve preferred to stay but the property became too small for my current situation. I also couldn’t afford to sell although that was my preference as it would have meant a massive financial penalty to pay to my mortgage company as I’m tied into a fixed 5 year deal.

@MzHz the agency does have all the credentials you have mentioned. They inspected my property and it was found to be suitable

Those are all choices, not circumstances. If you want to choose to be a landlord, go ahead, but you have to take some actual responsibility for that choice, which means correcting bad inventory, replacing broken blinds, and repairing all the “it works if you jiggle it just so” stuff you turned a blind eye to when you lived there.

Given that it was stiff already, it obviously wasn't functioning correctly, so it is likely it has broken from wear and tear/being used when it was damaged. They haven't behaved negligently so it's your responsibility.

You already knew it was stiff, so you should have fixed it. It should have been working properly before they moved in. You can't try to push the responsibility on to them for not telling you something you already knew. Also, you can't really expect them to know how stiff it is meant to be, so why would they report it? If it had been working fine, then became stiff, yes, they should report it as something clearly isn't working properly. But then that means you would have to fix it so it doesn't get broken from forcing it... which is what you should have done in the first place.

I'm not sure what changing the inventory has got to do with this? Yes, there is usually a time limit on changing the inventory. That doesn't affect whether you are responsible for paying to replace the blind or not. I'm not sure why you wouldn't allow them to change the inventory past the deadline to record that the blind is stiff when you knew it was stiff before they moved in. It seems disingenuous that you are trying to catch them out on a technicality because the inventory clerk didn't notice it It's somewhat moot now anyway as it will need to be replaced so it doesn't matter what the inventory says.

BTW, both the landlord and tenant are supposed to check the inventory to make sure it is accurate. YOU should have noticed that inventory was wrong and amended it yourself.

[quote SanDiegoSunshine]@Xanaduyourenotthatfar thank you and I do know what you’re saying. I’m just not of that view. I’m not in this for the money. I’m not a LL for the income it was purely circumstantial and outwith my control. Unfortunately so far I’ve made no money from this either. Once I paid all the fees I wasn’t left with much this month. All the repairs and costs have amounted to more than their rent too. Obviously I have some savings but it’s not really been the point. I’d be more sympathetic I think had I entered into this with a business mind but again my circumstances weren’t that. I think I’ll see how things go this month and maybe just sell. I’m having a baby soon and I don’t have the time (or energy) for the daily contact[/quote]
But being a LL is enabling you to retain an asset which you'd otherwise have to sell. Yes you have profit from rental income (which I'll agree is pretty minimal for most LL's once you have taken off your costs!) but you also have the future profit on the appreciation of your asset once you sell. So when you think about making hardly any money/you're a LL because of circumstances, you need to consider your alternative which is selling.

I think you need to sit down with someone IRL with some experience (did you mention your mum was a LL?) and really talk through if doing this makes sense. It's unfortunate you would be doing this after taking on tenants but if it does look better selling then it's equally possible to sell with tenants in situ (and sometimes quite a attractive to a buyer).

Good luck!

@Xanaduyourenotthatfar thank you for thoughts and being kind

You can replace it with a cheap & cheerful one - you do NOT have to replace it like with like
I would go for a plain neutral colour or you could be nice & give them a choice of colour
Alternatively as pp said curtain rod & curtains (plain ones a la the Range or Dunelm or even - ahem - good quality charity ones!)
best advice (as pp said) decent carpet decent kitchen - no washing machine & no fridge freezer & either plain curtains or even none. neutral paint that tones in with carpet (stain resistant is good)

Velux blinds are so expensive.
And quite delicate, the fabric comes out of the frame quite easily.
And they can jam if you don’t use both hands and pull equally from both sides.

I dread stuff like this in the hands of careless / oblivious people.

[quote SanDiegoSunshine]@MzHz the agency does have all the credentials you have mentioned. They inspected my property and it was found to be suitable[/quote]
But they don't do day to day management for you? If you don't want this hassle then pay them for that service. Your "rights" are to be paid as per the contract, have the property vacated and handed back in same condition, make periodic inspections with notice, emergency access for repairs by agreement, access for statutory gas and electrical inspections with notice, all utility bills paid (unless otherwise paid by ll).

If you are a landlord you have to be intentional about it ( no tenant will care about your circumstances and the reasons that led you to rent out your property) and in the nicest way, you need to grow a thicker skin. Issues nearly always crop up in the early days of a tenancy as the tenant learns to live in a space, then if they feel listened to and that issues are addressed, if usually settles down after a few weeks. I’d recommend joining the NRLA for about £100 per year, they have a helpline you can ring for advice in any landlord related situation. Also Landlordzone forums are helpful.

NRLA is less than £80 & is tax deductible

I used to be a landlady but it’s so stressful so I sold up.
Please consider this option.
I was always being walked all over, giving people a chance, letting their dogs dig up the garden because I felt sorry for them.
Never again.

[quote SanDiegoSunshine]@MzHz the agency does have all the credentials you have mentioned. They inspected my property and it was found to be suitable[/quote]
I’m talking about YOU, landlords.

The whole DPS system is set up BECAUSE of the piss taking of landlords, likewise the safety certificates

There are some really unscrupulous landlords and then there are the clueless. They’re as bad as each other

In order to be able to take money from people for a roof over their head, I’m saying that landlords should have extensive training, that they pay for, are registered and checked up on.

That said, I appreciate there are arsehole tenants and you do need to give notice to yours at the earliest legal opportunity

This is only the beginning of the tale of woe they’re constructing for you.