[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by the truth

the system over protects the tenants and offers zero protection for landlords....I tried everything in my power to maintain the house. Why would any landlord allow leaks and damage to their house and ignore it? when its going to cost them tens of thousands in the long term? there is motivation for landlords to maintain their properties and they are accountable if they dont, there is no motivation for tenants to do likewise and they are totally unaccountable.

A pig will make a sty of any home - terrace or palace - and a pig does not have to be on benefits to be a pig, but he will always be a pig whether he is on benefits or not.

Tenants who are not pigs will treat any house as their own and look after it, whether it is a terrace house or a palace, and whether they are on benefits or not.

As in all matters, it is the type of person not his circumstances which defines what kind of tenant a person is.

You have been unfortunate Truth, and my sympathies and empathy (having experienced the same) is with you.

[the truth]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

A pig will make a sty of any home - terrace or palace - and a pig does not have to be on benefits to be a pig, but he will always be a pig whether he is on benefits or not.

Tenants who are not pigs will treat any house as their own and look after it, whether it is a terrace house or a palace, and whether they are on benefits or not.

As in all matters, it is the type of person not his circumstances which defines what kind of tenant a person is.

You have been unfortunate Truth, and my sympathies and empathy (having experienced the same) is with you.

ill send you some photos and a video of it one day, its the worse house the builder has ever seen in 20 years. ive got no one to turn to at all...they've got the housing department to turn to if a landlord ever dupes them, now they've gone to another perfectly fine house which they will in time destroy with no fine no accountabliity no nothing...the council even pay housing benefits direct to most people now and guess what, many thousands simply steal it and spend it on themselves...what a mental system...im left with .£10,000 plus damages and a house full of baby **** **** dog **** nappies beer cans beer soaked carpets woodworm, they've even managed to break all doors and punch holes in EVERY wall....2 skip loads so far more to follow £200 a skip plus wages for clearance men

[Josy]

Originally Posted by the truth

ill send you some photos and a video of it one day, its the worse house the builder has ever seen in 20 years. ive got no one to turn to at all...they've got the housing department to turn to if a landlord ever dupes them, now they've gone to another perfectly fine house which they will in time destroy with no fine no accountabliity no nothing...the council even pay housing benefits direct to most people now and guess what, many thousands simply steal it and spend it on themselves...what a mental system...im left with .£10,000 plus damages and a house full of baby **** **** dog **** nappies beer cans beer soaked carpets woodworm, they've even managed to break all doors and punch holes in EVERY wall....2 skip loads so far more to follow £200 a skip plus wages for clearance men

Surely you requested some kind of security deposit or a bond (I think they call it a bond in England not sure though) to cover you in these sort of circumstances?

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Josy

Surely you requested some kind of security deposit or a bond (I think they call it a bond in England not sure though) to cover you in these sort of circumstances?

No I don't think there is one....certainly not one big enough to cover even the waste removal let alone the damage

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by the truth

ill send you some photos and a video of it one day, its the worse house the builder has ever seen in 20 years. ive got no one to turn to at all...they've got the housing department to turn to if a landlord ever dupes them, now they've gone to another perfectly fine house which they will in time destroy with no fine no accountabliity no nothing...the council even pay housing benefits direct to most people now and guess what, many thousands simply steal it and spend it on themselves...what a mental system...im left with .£10,000 plus damages and a house full of baby **** **** dog **** nappies beer cans beer soaked carpets woodworm, they've even managed to break all doors and punch holes in EVERY wall....2 skip loads so far more to follow £200 a skip plus wages for clearance men

How did they come by this house, if it is privately rented did no one contact you for a reference, are people so blinded by pound signs that they will let to anyone without checking why they moved and what they were like as tenants, that is even more important now that the benefit if paid directly to the tenant. If it were me I would bend over backwards to let the owners know what they have taken on, I would take photographic evidence to the council, environmental health, the housing office, to their neighbours, after all if the house is going to end up as a health risk with rubbish etc lying around that affects the whole neighbourhood when it comes to an increase in mice and rats.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by the truth

No I don't think there is one....certainly not one big enough to cover even the waste removal let alone the damage

Josy is talking about a security deposit of usually two months rent in advance, whilst it wouldn't cover your costs it would certainly help! Did you not have one?

[Crimson Dynamo]

In situations like this you need to resort to less than legal means to get money from the underclasses. Ie you need some muscle and wee 1 week deadline for them to pay and up hey presto

the money is found


sometimes you need to lean on people




A visit to Valance road and a quiet word with the Twins and things would be sorted, quicksticks

hard

[Vicky.]

I have never heard of a private landlord taking applicants on benefits without either a homeowner guarantor, or a very large damage deposit. Usually both.

Suppose you learn from your mistakes..however it sounds like these people would be arseholes with or without the housing benefit. So what I take from this story is...nightmare tenants exist

[DemolitionRed]

Yep, nightmare tenants do exist but the majority of tenants are pretty good.

Having worked for two fairly well known sales and letting agents I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that there are more unscrupulous letting agents than there are tenants. They blatantly break the law in both lettings and sales in an attempt to run cash rich businesses. I once wrote an article titled, 20 ways your letting agent will screw you. That included screwing the landlords as well as the tenants.

Landlords turn to agents because they don't want the hassle of rogue tenants and tenants turn to agents because they don't want to know their nosy landlord, but I would advise any potential tenant or landlord to go it alone so long as they can become experts in how a tenancy works.

[Tom4784]

'I had a bad experience with someone on benefits, this obviously means that all claimants are evil scoungers that should be treated as the subhumans they are.'

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

Yep, nightmare tenants do exist but the majority of tenants are pretty good.

Having worked for two fairly well known sales and letting agents I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that there are more unscrupulous letting agents than there are tenants. They blatantly break the law in both lettings and sales in an attempt to run cash rich businesses. I once wrote an article titled, 20 ways your letting agent will screw you. That included screwing the landlords as well as the tenants.

Landlords turn to agents because they don't want the hassle of rogue tenants and tenants turn to agents because they don't want to know their nosy landlord, but I would advise any potential tenant or landlord to go it alone so long as they can become experts in how a tenancy works.

Yes, when we moved to consett a few years back, the letting agent robbed us of 200 quid. I know its not much in the big scheme of things but still, that would be a hell of a lot of money to some people (it wasnt to us at the time...now it would be a bit bigger a problem)

The agent also did his landlord out of a steady rent by refusing to fix the boiler that was knackered from the day we moved in! The landlord didn't have much contact with pattinsons as far as I know, and I only met him once and didnt have his number (nor would the agent give me it...) and pretty much left the agent assigned to that house to get on with repairs and stuff. For reasons unknown (because I bet the landlord was paying for repairs, not the agent ) the agent refused for 7 months to get the boiler sorted, suggesting we fit a new one ourselves(!), then putting us off saying he was arranging appointments and such whilst not doing so and eventually we just moved out. Only for the landlord to suddenly show an interest in the property again and literally come to our new address kicking off that we left without giving notice(were meant to have a 12 month lease, but I think its reasonable enough to break that contract when its coming up to winter and your boiler still wasn't fixed). But when he found out WHY we left...my god I have never seen someone look so angry before, I bet the letting agent got a right mouthful that day

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

Yep, nightmare tenants do exist but the majority of tenants are pretty good.

Having worked for two fairly well known sales and letting agents I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that there are more unscrupulous letting agents than there are tenants. They blatantly break the law in both lettings and sales in an attempt to run cash rich businesses. I once wrote an article titled, 20 ways your letting agent will screw you. That included screwing the landlords as well as the tenants.

Landlords turn to agents because they don't want the hassle of rogue tenants and tenants turn to agents because they don't want to know their nosy landlord, but I would advise any potential tenant or landlord to go it alone so long as they can become experts in how a tenancy works.

I agree Red that most (not all) Letting and Management Agents are crooked bastards.

I used to place far-flung properties which I own with local Letting and Management Agencies but soon changed that particular practice.

I own a beautiful property in Great Barr, Birmingham, which was in really good order when I bought it, but I completely overhauled everything which did need doing, such as chimneys, lead flashings and soakers, suspect roof tiles, eavesgutter systems etc, and then I placed it with a local agent over the phone.

I never informed the agent of that I was a builder or that I had overhauled the property, and he let the property within 2 days of me sending him the keys by post.

It wasn't long before I started to receive deductions from my rent for various 'repair works' (which were allowed without notifying me up to £350.00 under the terms of our contract) and these include 'urgent' works to; 'gutters' and 'roof tiles'.

My subsequent drive to Brum was worth the fuel costs and time just for the look on the bent agent's face when I confronted him.

The tenant was a Doctor who confirmed that he had never reported any problems with the property and also that he was "completely unaware" that any workmen had been out to his home. I also checked the areas of the property where supposed 'urgent' works had been carried out and there was no trace of anything having been done since I personally had worked on the property.

I took the keys back from the agent and he repaid me every single penny he had charged me - including the actual payments for the legit work he had done ie; tenant finding, advertising etc - because he was frightened that I'd take it further, and I took it as well with no sympathy for him.

I could fill a few pages or more with my adverse experiences with 'rogue' agents before i knew better, and you are 1,000% correct in your condemnation of these pariahs.

[Angelika]

So sorry to hear about your problem family.

I believe people only appreciate and respect what they have worked for. We all know the saying "easy come, easy go."

I have a property I can't afford to rent out - can't afford the risk of damage to the property and the risk hefty repair bills. I'd love to rent out but terrified to do do.

[user104658]

Originally Posted by DemolitionRed

Yep, nightmare tenants do exist but the majority of tenants are pretty good.

Having worked for two fairly well known sales and letting agents I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that there are more unscrupulous letting agents than there are tenants. They blatantly break the law in both lettings and sales in an attempt to run cash rich businesses. I once wrote an article titled, 20 ways your letting agent will screw you. That included screwing the landlords as well as the tenants.

Landlords turn to agents because they don't want the hassle of rogue tenants and tenants turn to agents because they don't want to know their nosy landlord, but I would advise any potential tenant or landlord to go it alone so long as they can become experts in how a tenancy works.

Oh god, don't get me started on letting agents! What an absolute scam! Ours, as far as I can tell, are skimming profit from hundreds of properties they "manage" for what basically amounts to forwarding emails. We email them, they pass it on to the landlord, the landlord replies to them, they send us a copy of the reply by post. That's literally it. They come and have a look around every 6 months or so to make sure the place isn't trashed, and pass emails around. Well worth whatever they're being paid :/

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Vicky.

Yes, when we moved to consett a few years back, the letting agent robbed us of 200 quid. I know its not much in the big scheme of things but still, that would be a hell of a lot of money to some people (it wasnt to us at the time...now it would be a bit bigger a problem)

The agent also did his landlord out of a steady rent by refusing to fix the boiler that was knackered from the day we moved in! The landlord didn't have much contact with pattinsons as far as I know, and I only met him once and didnt have his number (nor would the agent give me it...) and pretty much left the agent assigned to that house to get on with repairs and stuff. For reasons unknown (because I bet the landlord was paying for repairs, not the agent ) the agent refused for 7 months to get the boiler sorted, suggesting we fit a new one ourselves(!), then putting us off saying he was arranging appointments and such whilst not doing so and eventually we just moved out. Only for the landlord to suddenly show an interest in the property again and literally come to our new address kicking off that we left without giving notice(were meant to have a 12 month lease, but I think its reasonable enough to break that contract when its coming up to winter and your boiler still wasn't fixed). But when he found out WHY we left...my god I have never seen someone look so angry before, I bet the letting agent got a right mouthful that day

I know the agent you mention and Consett. (Ahh, pease pudding and stottie.)
and this is disgusting, and £200 is a lot of money in any era.

You were within your legal rights to actually withhold the rent until the boiler was either repaired or replaced Vicky as long as you did not spend it but saved it ready to pay over once repairs/renewal had been effected .

Too many of these bent gets are getting away with things like this.

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Angelika

So sorry to hear about your problem family.

I believe people only appreciate and respect what they have worked for. We all know the saying "easy come, easy go."

I have a property I can't afford to rent out - can't afford the risk of damage to the property and the risk hefty repair bills. I'd love to rent out but terrified to do do.

Rent it Angelika. If you need any advice pm me.

[Vicky.]

Originally Posted by kirklancaster

I know the agent you mention and Consett. (Ahh, pease pudding and stottie.)
and this is disgusting, and £200 is a lot of money in any era.

You were within your legal rights to actually withhold the rent until the boiler was either repaired or replaced Vicky as long as you did not spend it but saved it ready to pay over once repairs/renewal had been effected .

Too many of these bent gets are getting away with things like this.

Yeah my mum told me this after I moved out. As it turned out the new place we got was much nicer anyway (and actually rent free when it came to it ) but it must have pissed the landlord off no end. We were never late on rent and apparently the property had been empty for 18 months before we moved in, so I suspect it was empty for a while again afterwards :S

[user104658]

The boiler in our house has an efficiency rating of "G". Does that count as broken? It bloody should .

[kirklancaster]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

The boiler in our house has an efficiency rating of "G". Does that count as broken? It bloody should .

No - but it could be excellent leverage for a rent reduction.

[DemolitionRed]

I wouldn't rent a property off an agent if I wasn't allowed my landlords contact details. Agents deliberately keep tenants away from the landlords and landlords away from their tenants because there is more chance of being caught creating a scam. One of the most popular scam is charging both the tenant and the landlord for renewing a contract; this of course is illegal with fines up to 20K if they get caught.

As for maintenance, this is where many agents make their money, especially with oversea landlords. They send an agent round to inspect a property and report back that work needs doing even if it doesn't. They get various quotes and go for the cheapest available but tell the landlord that its considerably more than what it says on the quote. I'm afraid I became a whistle blower after an overseas landlord took out a full management contract with us. After the tenant reported a slate had come off their roof the agents sent some roofers round to inspect. They came back with a quote for £500 but my manager falsified some paperwork regarding correspondence between him and the roofer telling him that the roof was in a dangerous state and a huge amount of structural work needed doing. The eventual bill came to £5,000 five hundred of which went to the roofing company and £4,500 into the managers pocket. The landlord wrote him a letter thanking him for seeing through all this hard work!!. At that point I resigned but took the landlords email address with me. I wrote and told him what my manager had done and gave him the real details of the roofing company that had done the work. At one point I was asked to be a witness in the up and coming court case but just prior to that happening a large sum of compensation was paid out by the agent to his now ex landlord.

If anyone wishes to put their property with an agent they need to do three things...

Get a list of landlord fees and ask the agents for the list of tenant fees. If they can't produce this immediately its because they don't want you to see it and are probably on a scam.

Tell the agents you want to be in contact with the tenants. If they try to persuade you otherwise that's probably because they are creating scams.

Take on a let only contract but DO NOT allow agents to manage maintenance of your property and make sure you scrutinize the contract because somewhere in the small print it will have you agreeing that they can do small work (up to a certain amount) without having to ask your permission.

The first agents I worked for are a very well known estate agents and at the time I had no idea that they were continually breaking the law with both tenants and landlords. During my time with the second agents...also well known throughout the UK, I was also working part time as a barristers clerk. When this big roofing scam took shape I spoke to a barrister about the goings on but also disclosed other general practices. Its only then that I found out that many of the things both these agencies were practicing were highly illegal, some of which could carry a two year jail sentence. I was advised to get out before I found myself implicated in these illegal practices.

[user104658]

I often wonder about ours - they're just such slimey buggers. Just... Creepy and weasley, you know? They don't oversee any maintenance or anything, like I said they just pass on messages to the landlord, landlord sends someone, then we hear back again through the agent. They're glorified carrier pigeons, it's really ridiculous. They're a local company and appear to have somewhat of a monopoly over local private lets, so we've been dealing with them in our last two houses (the lovely village I live in now is only 6 miles up the road from the **** hole town I was in before).

Like you say, they haven't given any landlord contact information either time. There was a LOT of miscommunication with our last house. The landlord himself was in construction and gas etc. Certified so came round to sort things himself usually and was nothing but pleasant... And yet as I said earlier, after we moved out the situation with the deposit became quite nasty - I personally think because of the agency in the middle. I believe they pushed him to claim for little things that were just ridiculous. He was also annoyed that we hadn't told him about some damp on the bathroom ceiling, which we had reported to the agent multiple times and had even been noted down in an inspection. They then refused to give us the inspection details. We threatened them with a dubious data protection act claim and the next day one of their little gophers ran up to our door, shoved the inspection through, and ran away . Supplied that to deposit protection and it saved us over £100 of our deposit. Landlord insisted that they had never passed on any of the messages regarding the ceiling.

I had a package delivered to the wrong address a few months ago and went to collect it, current tenants told me that the landlord had scrapped the agents and was just doing it himself this time. Which I must admit pleased me quite a bit. Utterly useless...

[the truth]

updates from these twats........so its been a few weeks now and they've not cleared their crap.......so I send in a worker to clear the 60 bags out of the garden and start cleaning the house.....he went back there to check out and take his stuff, he claims his wife went to cry so they couldn't finish taking stuff oh and wait for it, hes now accusing my worker of stealing some of his stuff

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by the truth

updates from these twats........so its been a few weeks now and they've not cleared their crap.......so I send in a worker to clear the 60 bags out of the garden and start cleaning the house.....he went back there to check out and take his stuff, he claims his wife went to cry so they couldn't finish taking stuff oh and wait for it, hes now accusing my worker of stealing some of his stuff

So he had personal belongings left in the house and you didn't consficate them in lieu of the trouble you have been put to some of this story does not add up at all..

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Cherie

So he had personal belongings left in the house and you didn't consficate them in lieu of the trouble you have been put to some of this story does not add up at all..

no that's not my style , its strewn everywhere , toys handbags, mattresses, dirty nappies. cant see it as worth anything. I don't want to get into some petty nonsense holding onto handbags and kids toys, its probably valueless compared to the expense of cleaning up and reparing the house anyway....I just want the house cleared so I can start urgent repairs and in time either re-rent it to someone decent .. etc the worker I sent in to clear the back has filmed it all, ill try and transfer it to m laptop , can I post the video on here?

[DemolitionRed]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

I often wonder about ours - they're just such slimey buggers. Just... Creepy and weasley, you know? They don't oversee any maintenance or anything, like I said they just pass on messages to the landlord, landlord sends someone, then we hear back again through the agent. They're glorified carrier pigeons, it's really ridiculous. They're a local company and appear to have somewhat of a monopoly over local private lets, so we've been dealing with them in our last two houses (the lovely village I live in now is only 6 miles up the road from the **** hole town I was in before).

Like you say, they haven't given any landlord contact information either time. There was a LOT of miscommunication with our last house. The landlord himself was in construction and gas etc. Certified so came round to sort things himself usually and was nothing but pleasant... And yet as I said earlier, after we moved out the situation with the deposit became quite nasty - I personally think because of the agency in the middle. I believe they pushed him to claim for little things that were just ridiculous. He was also annoyed that we hadn't told him about some damp on the bathroom ceiling, which we had reported to the agent multiple times and had even been noted down in an inspection. They then refused to give us the inspection details. We threatened them with a dubious data protection act claim and the next day one of their little gophers ran up to our door, shoved the inspection through, and ran away . Supplied that to deposit protection and it saved us over £100 of our deposit. Landlord insisted that they had never passed on any of the messages regarding the ceiling.

I had a package delivered to the wrong address a few months ago and went to collect it, current tenants told me that the landlord had scrapped the agents and was just doing it himself this time. Which I must admit pleased me quite a bit. Utterly useless...

Sounds like the landlord had a 'let only' contract with the agents. 'let only' contracts ensure a monthly fee to the landlord whilst the agents tenants are on that contract but there is nothing else to be earned from that let apart from contract renewal fees. Most agents have very little interest in 'let only' contracts and that's why they wouldn't bother passing your complaints on to the landlord, even though that is part of the promised agreement.

You were very wise to take a copy of the inspection. I would advise any tenant to always make sure they have a copy of the inventory and a copy of every inspection. I would also suggest that if you ever need to contact your agent regarding problems with the property, do so by email and never by phone because at least then you will have a paper trail when it comes to disputes like the one you had when it came to getting your full deposit back.