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?

 

[davesparks]

and i bet we have members who rent the house they live in.... Don't hear much griping from those people.

I am one of those members, I rent the house I live in.

The only reason you don't hear me griping is I don't particularly want to be banned from the forum.

 

[davesparks]

When i am faced with a bad landlord .I dont hold back.I inform the tenant of their rights and the law and I also inform the landlord and tell them what I think of them.

Be careful handing out such advice to tenants unless you are 100% sure of what you are doing.

If after you have spoken to them the tenants start kicking up a fuss they may well get evicted as a result of it.

 

[Dave OCD]

I am one of those members, I rent the house I live in.

The only reason you don't hear me griping is I don't particularly want to be banned from the forum.

I'm a tenant too, and it's probably my biggest regret that we didn't get a mortgage sorted out many many years ago, but so be it.
We're currently halfway through a 3 year tenancy, very nice house with a garage etc and we keep it immaculate but certainly paying enough for it ! And the owners who I thought I knew well and have done a lot of work for at their own house over many years have told me they intend to sell at the end of this tenancy as they're 'getting old'. It's an awful feeling as we'll have all the hassle of finding yet another home coupled with all the moving and organising that goes with it , just need a lottery win really.

 

[davesparks]

I'm a tenant too, and it's probably my biggest regret that we didn't get a mortgage sorted out many many years ago, but so be it.
We're currently halfway through a 3 year tenancy, very nice house with a garage etc and we keep it immaculate but certainly paying enough for it ! And the owners who I thought I knew well and have done a lot of work for at their own house over many years have told me they intend to sell at the end of this tenancy as they're 'getting old'. It's an awful feeling as we'll have all the hassle of finding yet another home coupled with all the moving and organising that goes with it , just need a lottery win really.

You have my sympathies.

My landlord lives less than 15mins away from me yet it has not even had the basic decency to introduce itself to me! An absoloutely disgusting lack of manners on it's part.

 

[littlespark]

Why you address your landlord as “it” but not as a “land-them”??

 

[davesparks]

Why you address your landlord as “it” but not as a “land-them”??

It is indeed an it for, as with all landlords, it is not human.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Being a Landlord I like to think the tenants in our house's are happy with what they have, EICR every change of tenancy or even every two years, just in case, never know what has gone on in the property over any time period no matter how reasonable the tenants are, in reality I find there are more rouge tenants than landlords.

Case in point: asked recently to check a property for a charity that the tenant complained the RCD kept tripping, new Volvo in the drive, tenant with very long nails and very expensive make up, children on new iPhones (more up to date than mine) and sky television, I made an excuse and left.

 

[davesparks]

Case in point: asked recently to check a property for a charity that the tenant complained the RCD kept tripping, new Volvo in the drive, tenant with very long nails and very expensive make up, children on new iPhones (more up to date than mine) and sky television, I made an excuse and left.

Why leave? How does the tenants material possessions affect you as a contractor for the landlord?

 

[LukeD]

Be careful handing out such advice to tenants unless you are 100% sure of what you are doing.

If after you have spoken to them the tenants start kicking up a fuss they may well get evicted as a result of it.

Like a 9 year tenancy with not one gas check or a EICR .They are 100% leaving UK in october .They had no idea of the laws. My advice to them and the landlord was this ..... YOU dont pay a penny rent to the greedy AH . And dont think about trying to evict them etc etc . You could easily end up in Jail. But the moment they hit the airport , they will report him

 

[davesparks]

My advice to them and the landlord was this ..... YOU dont pay a penny rent to the greedy AH .

So you are on the side of the landlord?

This is very poor advice if you claim to be on the side if the tenant!

Withholding rent just puts the tenant in breach of contract.

If you were truly in support if the tenant you would be advising them to take proper legal action which would result in a court awarding the tenant remuneration from the landlord equal to many months rent.

 

[pirate]

I have many years experience as a landlord and as a landlords' agent. I always kept my rental properties as near to perfect as possible, and I have never had a complaint from a tenant. it's not difficult to be a good landlord, but it can cost a bit, however the cost is not relevant when a tenant's safety is concerned.
My landlord clients (nearly) all were good people and took my advice on safety and improvements. Maybe I was lucky due to the location of most of the properties and the "calibre" of my clients, but the fact that they came to me to manage all the paperwork rather than running off a dodgy "lease" themselves meant that they were keen to stay within the law in all aspects.
On the other hand, when I inspected properties of those "dodgy" and non-registered landlords, the lack of maintenance and care was obvious at a glance. As always, there are those who do care, and those who just take the money and run. My point is simply that it's not really correct to tar all landlords (or tenants) with the same brush.

 

[LukeD]

So you are on the side of the landlord?

This is very poor advice if you claim to be on the side if the tenant!

Withholding rent just puts the tenant in breach of contract.

If you were truly in support if the tenant you would be advising them to take proper legal action which would result in a court awarding the tenant remuneration from the landlord equal to many months rent.

Read it again...they are leaving in October .What could a landlord do ? 2 months notice , then 3-5 months .Thats if its all legal

He really would not want to be going near a court !! He cheated and put their safety at risk. He deserves to lose the rent . And should be reported on the day they leave .he needs sorting out

 

[Rockingit]

Read it again...they are leaving in October .What could a landlord do ? 2 months notice , then 3-5 months .Thats if its all legal

He really would not want to be going near a court !! He cheated and put their safety at risk. He deserves to lose the rent . And should be reported on the day they leave .he needs sorting out

Then what you’ll find is that the LL has a case simply to withhold the deposit! I get that this is an emotive subject but you really need to stick to your field of expertise - we all do in everything - otherwise something will come unstuck.

 

[Rockingit]

Echoing what others have said about this being a two-way street, years ago I had the contract on several postcode areas for a large lettings agent to do all their serviced work. The number of times I’d get called out for the simplest of things that were well within the capabilities and responsibilities of the tenants to resolve was unreal - replacing PP3’s in smoke alarms was such a common thing I kept bulk stock of them in the van. So the LL ends up with a £100 bill for the 30secs to change a £2 battery that requires no skills whatsoever!! The attitude of the tenant was literally ‘screw them, don’t care’.

However, this country has a major problem with housing stock and that has to be realised - it used to be the case that you finished studies/training, got a job, saved up and bought a house. But the gap between income, mortgage ratios and house prices just makes that impossible for so many. Basic maths says a couple each earning £30k gives a combined income of £60, for a four times mortgage (if they can get one….) makes £240k. Which is significantly short of a majority of house prices in a lot of areas. So instead they’re forced to rent a place for £1k+ on which the LL has mortgage repayments of £500 - it’s an ever decreasing circle for the tenant. That’s simplistic, I know, but neatly sums up the problem.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Why leave? How does the tenants material possessions affect you as a contractor for the landlord?

The tenants material possessions affect my perspective with them living in a house owned by a Charity rent free.