Good Evening Landlordzone,
I am in desperate need of help regarding what to do with an agent I feel has taken advantage of my Mother. The property is located in England. I believe the tenancy started on 06/02/2014. I can't say much more about the agreement as I cannot see it!
I have lived in Hong Kong for 7 years and just moved back. My mother has two properties that she inherited. One of them is being managed by an agent who is frankly awful. I visited her yesterday and an off hand comment made me ask if I could look through her records. This is what I have found:
1) Rent is paid in batches months apart. Example is a "statement" in November which contains July, August, and Septembers rents.
2) Lots of maintenance work is logged but despite this being a gas property, I don't see evidence of annual safety inspections or anything similar.
3) My Mother has had two tenancies with this guy and he has not protected the deposit either time. He's simply paid my Mother the deposit.
4) I see no evidence of an EPC for the property or any other documentation.
This guy is the Son of someone my late Uncle used to work with a long time ago. My Mother thinks he's a great person because he makes her tea whenever she is in the area. I really didn't want to stress her out with how bad this could be until I got some advice. I tried to call the guy twice today and ask him about all these things. He has no office, no website, nothing. He has kept the property let consistently, and sends inspection pictures at random intervals (last two are 14 months apart) but this is nothing compared to all the wrong he's done. I think this is what my Mother thought made him seem legitimate. He also has fancy correspondence like very professional looking statements etc.
Now here is my main problem. How liable is my Mother for the actions of this guy? All these things he hasn't done like safety inspections and protecting the deposits. I also highly doubt he's provided any of the required information like the EPC and how to let documents etc. I think it's worth noting that my Mother's second property is managed perfectly. Protected deposits, annual inspections etc. So in my mind she isn't acting as a negligent landlord here. Although will the courts see it that way?
Additionally, I'm pretty certain that my Mother will need to sell one of these properties in the near future. I've just found out with no protected deposit, she cannot evict the tenants without extensive costs. Is this true?
I acknowledge that my Mother has made a mistake in handing over her property to someone without the required experience, but she really thought she was giving it to a professional, and that's all she needed to do.
How do I get rid of this landlord? What do I do about the unprotected deposits?
The gas safety is the major issue and I've already reached out to some engineers and my plan is to get them in the property ASAP. This is the right thing to do, correct?
Anything else that stands out as something I need to do?
I am in desperate need of help regarding what to do with an agent I feel has taken advantage of my Mother. The property is located in England. I believe the tenancy started on 06/02/2014. I can't say much more about the agreement as I cannot see it!
I have lived in Hong Kong for 7 years and just moved back. My mother has two properties that she inherited. One of them is being managed by an agent who is frankly awful. I visited her yesterday and an off hand comment made me ask if I could look through her records. This is what I have found:
1) Rent is paid in batches months apart. Example is a "statement" in November which contains July, August, and Septembers rents.
2) Lots of maintenance work is logged but despite this being a gas property, I don't see evidence of annual safety inspections or anything similar.
3) My Mother has had two tenancies with this guy and he has not protected the deposit either time. He's simply paid my Mother the deposit.
4) I see no evidence of an EPC for the property or any other documentation.
This guy is the Son of someone my late Uncle used to work with a long time ago. My Mother thinks he's a great person because he makes her tea whenever she is in the area. I really didn't want to stress her out with how bad this could be until I got some advice. I tried to call the guy twice today and ask him about all these things. He has no office, no website, nothing. He has kept the property let consistently, and sends inspection pictures at random intervals (last two are 14 months apart) but this is nothing compared to all the wrong he's done. I think this is what my Mother thought made him seem legitimate. He also has fancy correspondence like very professional looking statements etc.
Now here is my main problem. How liable is my Mother for the actions of this guy? All these things he hasn't done like safety inspections and protecting the deposits. I also highly doubt he's provided any of the required information like the EPC and how to let documents etc. I think it's worth noting that my Mother's second property is managed perfectly. Protected deposits, annual inspections etc. So in my mind she isn't acting as a negligent landlord here. Although will the courts see it that way?
Additionally, I'm pretty certain that my Mother will need to sell one of these properties in the near future. I've just found out with no protected deposit, she cannot evict the tenants without extensive costs. Is this true?
I acknowledge that my Mother has made a mistake in handing over her property to someone without the required experience, but she really thought she was giving it to a professional, and that's all she needed to do.
How do I get rid of this landlord? What do I do about the unprotected deposits?
The gas safety is the major issue and I've already reached out to some engineers and my plan is to get them in the property ASAP. This is the right thing to do, correct?
Anything else that stands out as something I need to do?
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