Landlord Complications.

[burghley 10]

Hoping to speak to someone who can offer advice or point us in a direction of legal advice about what we can do regarding our Landlord; and if we'd have a strong case if we were to take him to court.

It's a bit of a lengthy story to even mention; but I'll do my best to summarise (which is not one of my strongest points.)
 

Moved into property May 2019. Signed agreements at Estate Agents (who we found out were simply advertising the property for the Landlord).
Reported complications with mould a few months after moving in, followed by issues with bathroom/water leaking through ceiling. (This somewhat got resolved... Very badly from poor workmanship which he somehow signed off.)
 

Several emails sent out, which were ignored, regarding reporting mould in late 2019. Window that we had problems with got measured just before 1st Lockdown, and was told 'will not be doing anything with the window' - Fast forward a few months, contacted again about increase of mould, the window still causing issues and that gas safety check needed completing.
Again, no response.

Sent a letter late December (next day delivery) reminding him of his legal responsibilities, we got the gas safety check done (Eventually, that was way beyond the year mark.. Was last completed before we moved in, was done Feb 2021. That in itself is illegal that it was not done, despite requests and reminders)
 

Followed up yet AGAIN regarding mould - I'd started getting more than usual symptoms of mould exposure due to the neglect, despite our attempts to prevent this in many possible ways.

He eventually replied, stating he would check the window and mould. Claimed he had seen no mould pictures, even though I had sent pictures to him via email in November 2019, and again in January 2021.
Tried to arrange a date and time for him to turn up  - We explained we work until a certain time, and we cannot leave early due to the nature of the role, however he kept coming back with dates and times that were during our working hours. We offered weekends and he came back with 'I can't get a builder on a weekend'. We eventually agreed on this Tuesday, on the basis that we'd ask our managers if we could leave early, however we were not permitted and got the response of 'I don't see any point in coming if we can't get in to sort the window'.

Also, last week I also went through our paperwork - I noticed we didn't get any confirmation from him regarding our security deposit that we paid to the estate agent when we moved in. I questioned the Landlord via email if he had a reference number to provide to us, as I could not find the details on any of the Gov approved deposit schemes (DPS, TDS and mydeposit) - He claimed he did not receive any money from us, however I did also contact the estate agents and they provided me with the letter showing that they transferred the money to him. (This is where it comes interesting in a bit...) I forwarded the email and letter the estate agent sent us and requested he check his documentation again and provide us with the information. No response to that email...

To our surprise... We came home from work this Wednesday to find him outside of the house, completely unannounced. Not only were we shocked, but we were equally pee'd off.
We let him in to see the mould, claimed the house was stuffy despite us having the windows open most days and the heating on to reduce the damp/mould (we've spent more on heating this year than we did last year!) and said the mould on the wall was 'powder' and it was 'silicone mould on the window'. I showed him yet again the pictures I took in November 2019 and Jan 2021 of how bad it had got, that I had tried to use a solution to resolve it, to which he just kept saying we were not ventilating the house properly - Even though I had told him five times by this point (in 2 minutes) that we have the windows open almost daily and heating on. He pondered to look at the mould again and the window in question, said he'd come back this weekend. As we went downstairs, he provided a folder and to our surprise again, full cash of the deposit we had paid back in 2019. We'd caught him out that he had not put the money into a deposit scheme, which we also know is illegal.
He told us he was returning it back to us and that we had to put it into a deposit scheme ourselves (which I already had a bit of understanding it is NOT the tenant's responsibility).

 

We have been trying to get out for months now; the final straw has been today when he said he was returning from Wednesday, I messaged this morning asking when we could expect him and he never showed up at all.

So. Apologies it's so long. Hope someone is able to assist us with what on earth we can do next?!

[spider1 11]

31 minutes ago, burghley said:

Hoping to speak to someone who can offer advice or point us in a direction of legal advice about what we can do regarding our Landlord; and if we'd have a strong case if we were to take him to court.

It's a bit of a lengthy story to even mention; but I'll do my best to summarise (which is not one of my strongest points.)
 

Moved into property May 2019. Signed agreements at Estate Agents (who we found out were simply advertising the property for the Landlord).
Reported complications with mould a few months after moving in, followed by issues with bathroom/water leaking through ceiling. (This somewhat got resolved... Very badly from poor workmanship which he somehow signed off.)
 

Several emails sent out, which were ignored, regarding reporting mould in late 2019. Window that we had problems with got measured just before 1st Lockdown, and was told 'will not be doing anything with the window' - Fast forward a few months, contacted again about increase of mould, the window still causing issues and that gas safety check needed completing.
Again, no response.

Sent a letter late December (next day delivery) reminding him of his legal responsibilities, we got the gas safety check done (Eventually, that was way beyond the year mark.. Was last completed before we moved in, was done Feb 2021. That in itself is illegal that it was not done, despite requests and reminders)
 

Followed up yet AGAIN regarding mould - I'd started getting more than usual symptoms of mould exposure due to the neglect, despite our attempts to prevent this in many possible ways.

He eventually replied, stating he would check the window and mould. Claimed he had seen no mould pictures, even though I had sent pictures to him via email in November 2019, and again in January 2021.
Tried to arrange a date and time for him to turn up  - We explained we work until a certain time, and we cannot leave early due to the nature of the role, however he kept coming back with dates and times that were during our working hours. We offered weekends and he came back with 'I can't get a builder on a weekend'. We eventually agreed on this Tuesday, on the basis that we'd ask our managers if we could leave early, however we were not permitted and got the response of 'I don't see any point in coming if we can't get in to sort the window'.

Also, last week I also went through our paperwork - I noticed we didn't get any confirmation from him regarding our security deposit that we paid to the estate agent when we moved in. I questioned the Landlord via email if he had a reference number to provide to us, as I could not find the details on any of the Gov approved deposit schemes (DPS, TDS and mydeposit) - He claimed he did not receive any money from us, however I did also contact the estate agents and they provided me with the letter showing that they transferred the money to him. (This is where it comes interesting in a bit...) I forwarded the email and letter the estate agent sent us and requested he check his documentation again and provide us with the information. No response to that email...

To our surprise... We came home from work this Wednesday to find him outside of the house, completely unannounced. Not only were we shocked, but we were equally pee'd off.
We let him in to see the mould, claimed the house was stuffy despite us having the windows open most days and the heating on to reduce the damp/mould (we've spent more on heating this year than we did last year!) and said the mould on the wall was 'powder' and it was 'silicone mould on the window'. I showed him yet again the pictures I took in November 2019 and Jan 2021 of how bad it had got, that I had tried to use a solution to resolve it, to which he just kept saying we were not ventilating the house properly - Even though I had told him five times by this point (in 2 minutes) that we have the windows open almost daily and heating on. He pondered to look at the mould again and the window in question, said he'd come back this weekend. As we went downstairs, he provided a folder and to our surprise again, full cash of the deposit we had paid back in 2019. We'd caught him out that he had not put the money into a deposit scheme, which we also know is illegal.
He told us he was returning it back to us and that we had to put it into a deposit scheme ourselves (which I already had a bit of understanding it is NOT the tenant's responsibility).

 

We have been trying to get out for months now; the final straw has been today when he said he was returning from Wednesday, I messaged this morning asking when we could expect him and he never showed up at all.

So. Apologies it's so long. Hope someone is able to assist us with what on earth we can do next?!

What do you mean have been trying to get out for months.  Why not just go when its obvious he dont want you there

[burghley 10]

1 hour ago, spider1 said:

What do you mean have been trying to get out for months.  Why not just go when its obvious he dont want you there

He has been problematic in not responding to our communications and repair requests that we originally reported in 2019. There's only so many attempts where you can follow up an email to get a response, to get half-assed replies or no reply at all, then for him to pull illegal tricks.

The rental market in Sheffield has been extremely popular lately, we have tried since November 2020 to get through to agents for all sorts of properties, in any area that was commutable to our work, we increased price ranges in our budget by £200 to at least get something and we get told the properties are either let or they are not taking anymore bookings for viewings. This week alone, I've tried to book viewings for 10 properties. We had one scheduled, but literally an hour before we were due to go view, I get a call saying an application had been put in so we couldn't attend.

If he didn't want us in the property, he surely would have served us a Section 21 notice way before now.

So 'just go' isn't exactly a helpful suggestion, when we have been trying and contacting various people and agents in general with no responses or success.

[lobster 54]

Try threatening him with Environmental Health if there are mould problems

[spider1 11]

13 hours ago, lobster said:

Try threatening him with Environmental Health if there are mould problems

Mould on the walls  and the a window is always ventalation  .  So windows not open enough or not enough heat in place to dry it out . Seems to to me  landlord has had enough of moaning tenants and just wants them out even bought there deposit back to give them  but they refused to take it.  Landlord did not serve a section 21 because it would cost him money and prob not won case if they had paid rent on time   and they know that . There is no winners in this case eitherside so go live in a hotel til  you find some were. Stop paying rent youll get a sec 21 then youre out and there is still property to let in sheff but obvious you dont want to move like to hear  landlords side bet he wont be giving a reference to tennants as future estate agents will check 

Advice stop arguing with landlord take your deposit back get him to give you a reference saying you are a good tennant always paid your rent and move out  your not in charge he is you will gert blacklisted if not carefull 

Edited March 21, 2021 by spider1
common sence

[geared 311]

I don't know where you stand with the mould issue, but not sorting the deposit out properly is a big no-no.

 

IIRC the penalty for that is 2-3X the deposit amount, paid to the tenant I think?

[bassett one 451]

why can you not get a SCC property to rent?

[burghley 10]

8 hours ago, spider1 said:

Mould on the walls  and the a window is always ventalation  .  So windows not open enough or not enough heat in place to dry it out . Seems to to me  landlord has had enough of moaning tenants and just wants them out even bought there deposit back to give them  but they refused to take it.  Landlord did not serve a section 21 because it would cost him money and prob not won case if they had paid rent on time   and they know that . There is no winners in this case eitherside so go live in a hotel til  you find some were. Stop paying rent youll get a sec 21 then youre out and there is still property to let in sheff but obvious you dont want to move like to hear  landlords side bet he wont be giving a reference to tennants as future estate agents will check 

Advice stop arguing with landlord take your deposit back get him to give you a reference saying you are a good tennant always paid your rent and move out  your not in charge he is you will gert blacklisted if not carefull 

We have had the windows open most days as I stated in my original post. Most days equating to minimum 5 out of 7 days during the day. Heating has been on everyday at night. We've spent nearly twice as much over the Winter period and it's still not done any good. So the ventilation shouldn't be an issue. I've dealt with mould previously in other houses growing up with my parents, I'm not that stupid to not know how it works and I've followed exactly the advice from the council and all the sites/leaflets provided with no success.
We are not "moaning". It clearly states that our legal obligation as tenant in our AGREEMENT to report any issues when it first arises, which we have done. He had failed to act on them in a timely manner, which is ALSO stated in our agreement, that he also has a copy of.
We have requested the Landlord's side to understand why he's not doing things right, he's chosen not to give us any answers, so that's on him and we've chosen to act on the basis he's hiding something from us which has resulted in him doing things illegally.
 

So in actual fact, I'm kindly denying your 'advice'. We pay the rent on time (and early) every month. Never missed a single payment, so to even stupidly suggest us to stop paying just to get ourselves into complications is ridiculous advice and we will not be subjected to move into a hotel; that is absolutely low.
 

5 hours ago, bassett one said:

why can you not get a SCC property to rent?

We have been applying with the property shop weekly for over 2 years for a 1 bed with no success at any point. It took our friends minimum 3 years to get theirs. Tried to contact them regarding my disabilities also to see if they could offer any support/small push on priority however we got declined. Seems we have a long way to go.

[spider1 11]

6 minutes ago, burghley said:

We have had the windows open most days as I stated in my original post. Most days equating to minimum 5 out of 7 days during the day. Heating has been on everyday at night. We've spent nearly twice as much over the Winter period and it's still not done any good. So the ventilation shouldn't be an issue. I've dealt with mould previously in other houses growing up with my parents, I'm not that stupid to not know how it works and I've followed exactly the advice from the council and all the sites/leaflets provided with no success.
We are not "moaning". It clearly states that our legal obligation as tenant in our AGREEMENT to report any issues when it first arises, which we have done. He had failed to act on them in a timely manner, which is ALSO stated in our agreement, that he also has a copy of.
We have requested the Landlord's side to understand why he's not doing things right, he's chosen not to give us any answers, so that's on him and we've chosen to act on the basis he's hiding something from us which has resulted in him doing things illegally.
 

So in actual fact, I'm kindly denying your 'advice'. We pay the rent on time (and early) every month. Never missed a single payment, so to even stupidly suggest us to stop paying just to get ourselves into complications is ridiculous advice and we will not be subjected to move into a hotel; that is absolutely low.
 

We have been applying with the property shop weekly for over 2 years for a 1 bed with no success at any point. It took our friends minimum 3 years to get theirs. Tried to contact them regarding my disabilities also to see if they could offer any support/small push on priority however we got declined. Seems we have a long way to go.

 

...Whats going to happen when your 6 moths lease is up and he refuses to renew it . Is landlord going to give you a  letter of recomendation .

[burghley 10]

13 minutes ago, spider1 said:

 

...Whats going to happen when your 6 moths lease is up and he refuses to renew it . Is landlord going to give you a  letter of recomendation .

6 months? We've been here 2 years in May, the agreement is on a periodically run yearly basis. We're fully prepared to challenge, as we have done previously and recently. If he provides a negative recommendation, we have full traces of all communication and receipts from our end and a previous good recommendation from my previous landlord to counteract. 

I do things the legal way and always have done, so nice try in attempting to weedle us out. 😁

[spider1 11]

1 hour ago, burghley said:

6 months? We've been here 2 years in May, the agreement is on a periodically run yearly basis. We're fully prepared to challenge, as we have done previously and recently. If he provides a negative recommendation, we have full traces of all communication and receipts from our end and a previous good recommendation from my previous landlord to counteract. 

I do things the legal way and always have done, so nice try in attempting to weedle us out. 😁

After 12 months you are on a rolling monthly contract . 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2021 by spider1

[geared 311]

Have you tried to investigate the source of the problem yourself?

 

Is it in one spot or house wide?

Do you notice a spread or increase in the mould after it rains?

Is there any obvious damage to the gutters or drain pipes?

Have you got in the loft an inspected for signs of damp or water ingress?

Does the house have air bricks, are they blocked off?