thoughts on this situation:landlords/renting

Eliot

Eliot

Eliot

Soldato
Joined
29 Mar 2005
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Right so bit of background first:

Girlfriend emails landlord/estate agency asking if they had anything for a little more that was a one bedroom flat rather than a studio

They email back three days later saying
"no sorry not at that range but will keep looking, so you guys are leaving we will put the house n the market can we come in to take some photos tomorrow"

We reply
Sorry seems to be a misunderstanding, very early days at the moment, not even began looking at places and to be honest just looking to test the water with yourselves to see what was available, please dont put the property on the market as we are not in a position to move for a little while yet

4 days later, with no contact, my girlfriend is sat at the table with her mother (bear in mind this is a studio) the door knocks once and the door to the flat opens (so quickly no one can respond to the knock) A lady pokes her head around and says "can we come in"
Obviously at this point the misses is thinking "!!!wtf?!" and says No
She then says, "im from xxxxxxx, we have someone to view the property"
misses says the property not on the market and the woman walks in trampling on our furry rug with ourdoors shoes, the viewer behind her is disgusted and leaves and she argues with my misses pointing at her saying "you said you were leaving" " we can get more for this place" (they haven't requested more once).


What is the concensus on this?
Its illegal i know that much but what action would you take?
I'm emailing them now and intend to rant over the phone at lunch time but looking for advice really.

Sorry for the hash typing, hope it makes sense, done on my phone in a hurry
 
If you have a contract for a set time in place then they can't throw you out surely unless you don't pay the rent?

If your contract is nearing the end of its term though I don't know what the legality is - Im not sure you're entitled to definitely keep the place on for another year, you'd need to check the terms of the contract she has signed
 
The estate agent has just got a sniff of the fees they can get for re-letting the property so are pushing that angle. An email to them stating your contract termination date/or renewal/confirmation you're not leaving early will sort it out.
 
estate agents are generally retarded individuals at the best of times... obviously there is some risk that you are going to move out soon as you've mentioned an interest in a larger property to them.... they're going to look after their own interests and start showing people around

you can change the locks if you want, they've already arrived with a potential client once without your consent/prior notice - if I were you I'd change locks as you don't want them turning up when your out
 
It seems that entering a property without a tenants approval is illegal, is that correct?
We have always paid in time on full for three years.
Have never had a complaint about use
They have never asked for more money

I mean, the misses could have just exited the shower ffs?
 
I'm pretty sure they can give you 2 months notice even if you are in a contract. But getting you out is another matter. So if you don't have somewhere new then just refuse to go
 
Matthew.M said:
The estate agent has just got a sniff of the fees they can get for re-letting the property so are pushing that angle. .
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i am usually a benefit of the doubt kind of person, but in this case the above sounds very accurate.
Money for the agent, the landlord thinks the agent has done a great service getting the place back on the market so swiftly and for even more.
You get shafted or encouraged to move.

State very clearly that you have no plans to terminate currently.
 
but 1st of october is less than two weeks away.


Edit:Oh sorry i just realised that i missed that bit.

The lady who came in also said "This is free from the 1st of october"
 
heres an edited version of what i've said.
Hi xxxxxx
Honestly not pleased at all when returning home this afternoon.
As I understand, a lady from xxxxxx turned up at 4pm for a viewing, without us having any knowledge of this or either of us agreeing/confirming this was ok.
We also have not confirmed that we wish for the property to be put on the market and have in fact emailed to point out that there is obviously a misunderstanding with regards to our current position.
To clarify again, we have not found any where else to live, nor have we even began looking, when we emailed on the 3rd of September it was with intention of;
A) Finding out what the process was for arranging our departure should we wish to at the end of the contract.
B) Enquiring with you as to whether or not there was anything on your books that might suit what we would be after.


We did not expect the result of that email to be the property put on the market and neither did we expect for viewings to be made without our consent.


I think it is absolutely disgusting the way that today was handled for a number of reasons, mainly because the property was entered without our consent, but also for a number of other reasons below:
The bell to our flat wasn't rang on the front door.

The door to the flat was knocked once and then unlocked so quickly that xxxxxx did not have a chance to either answer or get out of the chair.

The lady then opened the door and started to enter the flat without saying a word until she saw xxxxxx, who was understandably startled.

The lady then asked permission to enter the flat before saying who she even was and xxxxx still in shock said “No” in no uncertain terms.

The lady then said she had a viewing, and was from xxxxx, xxxxx at this point stated that it wasn't up for let (assuming this was a mistake and that she had the wrong flat).

The lady then entered the flat anyway and proceeded to walked over to xxx while showing enough respect for the flat to stand on a fluffy rug with her outdoor shoes and point at her face from two feet or so way from her (still sat down) and say that “this is available from the first of October”.

Later even qualifying your (xxxxxxx's) actions by saying that you can get more rent for the flat and the phone is ringing of the hook about it.

Then commenting that there are two more viewings that have to be cancelled now.

The person viewing the property was pretty disgusted with the situation and left shouting outside the door of the flat “you have no respect” and “this is her home and you have just walked in”.


I do not view this as something as simple as “just” entering the property without our permission, which is illegal, in my view the above just adds insult to injury.
I would also point out that not only is this a breach of our privacy and tenancy agreement but could have quite easily been a very serious case of abuse of our privacy due to the fact that xxxxxx’s mother had just got changed (she was also in the flat at the time), as well as this is quite easy to imagine a situation in which the lady might have entered while someone was, for instance, exiting the shower.


Of the back of this I would like to point out that;
We are not ready to leave yet

We do not want anyone inside our flat without our consent as is in accordance with tenancy laws

We do not want the flat put on the market


I believe that xxxxxx have acted very unprofessionally in the handling of this matter and it's left us feeling very insecure, I would ask for confirmation as to who has access to our flat and whether or not it has been accessed without our consent during my recent holiday as it is my understanding that its is illegal for a landlord to enter a tenants property without prior confirmation.


I await your comment and hope you will contact me tomorrow on receipt of this email on xxxxxx6, if I have not heard from you I will call you at 12pm.


Regards,
 
Bit about lawful access im basing this on
The office of fair trading document oft356 reads as follows:
3.32 We would object to a provision giving the landlord an excessive right to enter the rented property. Under any kind of lease or tenancy, a landlord is required by common law to allow his tenants ‘exclusive possession’ and ‘quiet enjoyment’ of the premises during the tenancy. In other words, tenants must be free from unwarranted intrusion by anyone, including the landlord. Landlords are unfairly disregarding that basic obligation if they reserve a right to enter the property without giving reasonable notice or getting the tenant’s consent, except for good reason.
Irrespective of what maybe written in the agreed contract between a landlord and a tenant e.g. a clause that states the landlord is allowed to enter the property without permission; the law will ultimately overrule the clause because it would be seen as unfair and therefore void. Not even a contract will help a landlord in court if he/she steps into their property thinking they can do so because of what is agreed in a contract.
 
Eliot said:
I mean, the misses could have just exited the shower ffs?
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change the locks then - only takes a few minutes and its fairly inexpensive to do... so long as you either put the old locks back or hand over the keys to the new ones at the end of the tenancy then there shouldn't be an issue

it also has the bonus of really really annoying the agent if they ever try a stunt like that again
 
You should be given notice of all of this, if it's a standard tennancy then I'm sure these actions would be a breach of your rights as a tennant- the only circumstances a landlord or thier agent can come in without appointment is in an emergency situation, such as water leak, fire etc.

Do you have any contact with the landlord or is it a fully agent managed property?

Edit, if you do, I would be tempted to contact the owner direct and speak to them about it.
 
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If you were considering it then don't change the locks without reading your tenancy agreement.

Many tenancy agreements specify that the tenant must not change the locks without the landlord's permission. If the landlord does give permission this will normally be on condition that the tenant gives a new set of keys to the landlord.
 
Surveyor said:
Many tenancy agreements specify that the tenant must not change the locks without the landlord's permission. If the landlord does give permission this will normally be on condition that the tenant gives a new set of keys to the landlord.
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He's got good reason to change the locks

http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2010/07/13/locks-and-keys-–-what-are-tenants-rights/

Tenants changing the locks and keys

What is the situation therefore where the tenancy agreement prohibits changing the locks without permission, but where the tenant does this anyway, and refuses to hand a set of the new keys over?

My view is that he will be in breach of his tenancy agreement, but short of getting an injunction (which is expensive and not guaranteed to be successful) there is not a lot the landlord can do about it. Not during the tenancy anyway. After the tenant has vacated he may well have a claim against the tenancy deposit for the cost of new locks and keys.

However this may not always be the case.

Landlords are not entitled to enter the property without the tenants permission. This is a fundamental right tenants have which is included in all tenancy agreements by implication, even if not specifically stated in the tenancy agreement. So if landlords start entering the property without the tenants knowledge or consent, the landlord is in breach of the terms of the tenancy agreement.
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assuming it is even covered in the tenancy agreement then in the unlikely event that the landlord did seek an injunction or take money from the deposit then its not necessarily going to go in the landlords favour anyway given that there has already been an unauthorised entry of the property

obvs do your own research, seek advice if worried but if it was me then I'd be worried about people now entering the flat while I'm out - I'd be changing the locks regardless of any potentially dubious clause in the contract

Landlords using keys to gain access without permission

Over the years I have had countless tenants complain to me that their landlords keep coming into their property. Tenants often find this intimidating, particularly single women tenants with male landlords. I can remember one tenant telling me that she was terrified to have a bath, after coming out of the bathroom one day wrapped in a towel, to find her (male) landlord at the foot of the stairs leering up at her.

My advice to tenants in this situation is just to change the locks. The landlord will not be able to complain about it. Technically it may be in breach of the tenancy agreement, but the landlord’s breach in persistently coming onto the property without permission is far more serious.
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dowie said:
He's got good reason to change the locks

.....
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The quotes you've given suggest changing the locks without permission is appropriate if the landlord is entering the property persistently which isn't the case here, yet.

The OP can change the locks but should be aware that there may be consequences if he does.
 
Surveyor said:
The quotes you've given suggest changing the locks without permission is appropriate if the landlord is entering the property persistently which isn't the case here, yet.

The OP can change the locks but should be aware that there may be consequences if he does.
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the quotes I've given also suggest that there will be very little consequence if he does anyway... its the second quote that mentions it being persistent - look at the bold bit in the first one too and further up - what the landlord can actually do about it... essentially naff all...
 
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