Rogue Landlord Encounters

[KevinH]

Has anyone had encounters with rogue landlords?
I will tell my short story (and keep it as short as possible)

I had a call a few weeks back from a landlord to sort out an issue with an immersion heater following an "incident".

It seemed an emergency so I arrived that afternoon and the tenant, a middle aged Eastern European lady, let me in and explained (as best she could) that the landlord had fitted a plugtop to the immersion heater on the day she moved in to give hot water.

When I looked in the airing cupboard, I found an unrecognisable big black blob of melted mess that used to be a plug and socket where the 20A DP should have been. (Wanted to attached a pic, but it says the file is too large). After having a quick scan around the property, I noticed the tell tale signs of a rogue landlord. A pendant hanging from the ceiling supported by the cables, a cracked socket, no smoke alarms, and my favourite, a 3036 Re Wirable fuseboard. Not an RCD in sight!

I got straight on the phone to the landlord and explained the situation, of what had to be done, and completely unfazed, his reply was "can you just get the hot water back on and I will pay you cash", to which I replied "I can't do it today, I will have to return tomorrow".......

Ok, so I lied! I never had any intention of returning, as I have come across these type of landlords before who cut corners, totally ignore the safety of tenants and risk of a fire, and of course expect everything done for pennies...often not paying at all. I have not got the time of day for them!

Suffice to say that I informed Electrical Safety Roundtable, politely advised the tenant to find another landlord, blocked his number from my phone and walked away.

Should I feel guilty for leaving the lady with no hot water? How are these landlords getting away with it?

 

[LukeD]

Presumably you think you have a right to receive 100% of the rent, while expecting your tenants to carry out your maintenance for you?

Exactly !! The maintenance of the property is the landlords responsibility and also tend to be mentioned in the contracts that a tenant must notify them of any issues . Light bulbs etc unless they are at a height that require a large ladder to replace are NOT the landlords responsibility .etc . Yes there are many scum tenants .But as mentioned by someone else many have the full set of "Wacist cards etc " to throw on the table and use against good or bad landlords. THis could be part of the current issue we see in the media now about people unhappy about the level of immigration and the types we are letting in . So many other European countries do the "letting" business better than us by a long way and both sides win. In the UK its a mess . Muammer Gaddafi who was a great leader (Dont believe the west media !) solved many issues in Libya By removing renting . Overnight all tenants became the legal owners of the property and the "old owners" where paid the market value of the property . You then had a society who where not worried about keeping a roof over their head .


By this time next year we will see a major issue in the housing market and those made homeless might not be getting nice warm hotels like these "Economic migrants" are getting !

 

[DPG]

Exactly !! The maintenance of the property is the landlords responsibility and also tend to be mentioned in the contracts that a tenant must notify them of any issues . Light bulbs etc unless they are at a height that require a large ladder to replace are NOT the landlords responsibility .etc . Yes there are many scum tenants .But as mentioned by someone else many have the full set of "Wacist cards etc " to throw on the table and use against good or bad landlords. THis could be part of the current issue we see in the media now about people unhappy about the level of immigration and the types we are letting in . So many other European countries do the "letting" business better than us by a long way and both sides win. In the UK its a mess . Muammer Gaddafi who was a great leader (Dont believe the west media !) solved many issues in Libya By removing renting . Overnight all tenants became the legal owners of the property and the "old owners" where paid the market value of the property . You then had a society who where not worried about keeping a roof over their head .


By this time next year we will see a major issue in the housing market and those made homeless might not be getting nice warm hotels like these "Economic migrants" are getting !

So he suddenly gave houses to people who hadn't bought them? For free?

So then they can live there for free, but the rest of the people still have to pay their mortgage every month?

Something not quite right there I feel.

 

[LukeD]

So he suddenly gave houses to people who hadn't bought them? For free?

So then they can live there for free, but the rest of the people still have to pay their mortgage every month?

Something not quite right there I feel.

The owners as I mentioned where paid the market value . Also in 78 there was no real "Mortgage " system in Libya . He also paid for all education for any national studying abroad (and related costs ) and the best medical treatment anywhere in the world. But thanks to the the USA getting upset with him The USA Called on their "minions" to destroy Gaddafi . So be very careful what you read about him . he had some faults .But he was a great leader .

 

[DPG]

The owners as I mentioned where paid the market value . Also in 78 there was no real "Mortgage " system in Libya . He also paid for all education for any national studying abroad (and related costs ) and the best medical treatment anywhere in the world. But thanks to the the USA getting upset with him The USA Called on their "minions" to destroy Gaddafi . So be very careful what you read about him . he had some faults .But he was a great leader .

You said the tenants were made legal owners of the property. So presumably they were either given it for free, or they were forced to pay for it.

 

[LukeD]

You said the tenants were made legal owners of the property. So presumably they were either given it for free, or they were forced to pay for it.

Gaddafi made it law that anyone living in a rented property would become the FULL legal owner of that property and it was FREE. The "original " owner was then paid the market value for the property . Also things like Business loans where made interest free etc etc .TO help build the economy . Ive been there a few times and Loved the place.

 

[DPG]

Gaddafi made it law that anyone living in a rented property would become the FULL legal owner of that property and it was FREE. The "original " owner was then paid the market value for the property . Also things like Business loans where made interest free etc etc .TO help build the economy . Ive been there a few times and Loved the place.

Yes, so back to my original comment then - people who were renting got a free house, but everyone else had had to pay for theirs. I don’t see how that's a fair system.

 

[LukeD]

Yes, so back to my original comment then - people who were renting got a free house, but everyone else had had to pay for theirs. I don’t see how that's a fair system.

True...But its possible the ones who owned their homes might be richer and have had business loans etc .So they benefitted by having the costs of loans removed. Gaddafi made laws to try and benefit everyone . . Name another country that would pay for a citizen to be flown to the UK /France etc for the best private medical treatment and the state would pay the bill ! Gaddafi 's idea was if you feed everyone , some for sure might get lobster and some might only get lamb and rice. But at least everyone feels they are better off .

 

[DPG]

True...But its possible the ones who owned their homes might be richer and have had business loans etc .So they benefitted by having the costs of loans removed. Gaddafi made laws to try and benefit everyone . . Name another country that would pay for a citizen to be flown to the UK /France etc for the best private medical treatment and the state would pay the bill ! Gaddafi 's idea was if you feed everyone , some for sure might get lobster and some might only get lamb and rice. But at least everyone feels they are better off .

As you say, it is 'possible' that some of them 'might' have been richer people. But by and large most home owners will be average people working for a living. Not really fair that someone who has just paid a bit of rent then gets a free house, when the other people have to pay full price for theirs.

I suspect there is more to how it worked to be honest. Otherwise there would be uproar I would have thought.

 

[Mike Johnson]

I suspect there is more to how it worked to be honest. Otherwise there would be uproar I would have thought.

You mean protests under a Gaddaffi regime?

 

[DPG]

You mean protests under a Gaddaffi regime?

He's a decent feller apparently

 

[Mike Johnson]

His five point plan:

On 16 April 1973, Gaddafi proclaimed the start of a "Popular Revolution" in a speech at Zuwarah.[151] He initiated this with a five-point plan, the first point of which dissolved all existing laws, to be replaced by revolutionary enactments. The second point proclaimed that all opponents of the revolution had to be removed, while the third initiated an administrative revolution that Gaddafi proclaimed would remove all traces of bureaucracy and the bourgeoisie. The fourth point announced that the population must form People's Committees and be armed to defend the revolution, while the fifth proclaimed the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in Libya, to expunge the country of "poisonous" foreign influences.[152] He began to lecture on this new phase of the revolution in Libya, Egypt, and France.[153] As a process, it had many similarities with the Cultural Revolution implemented in China.[154]