A note now, to get to answer my question, check bottom of my looooong post lol.
I have always had problem landlords, im 24 now, left home at 17, till 18 in student accomidation, the landlord had nasty views about people on benefits calling them scroungers.
Despite this, landlord wise he was brilliant, repairs were carried out next day, i locked myself out twice and he came out to let me in free, he towed a friends car to garage when it broke down.
He was great with me until about 9 months in when he heard my parents were on benefits, he all of a sudden wanted me out at end of tenancy, claimed I paid rent late and caused hassle to other tenants which is a lie as Im quiet and shy and nervous.
Oh and BTW my parents do full time voluntary work, in fact run a charity doing MORE work than a huge amount of people who do WORK!
Anyway I was then in Halls Of Residence for 6 months, before I left college due to cash problems.
Anyway at this time, landlord 1 took me to court saying I never paid the final 4 months rent(BS) and the problem was, he didnt issue rent books, just wrote on scraps of paper.
He won which annoyed me, as I was only 17 at time, never signed a contract, I was told a verbal agreement was in place(this was in England BTW) I believe the judge did this as a class thing, I may be wrong, but she seemed to be really chummy with the landlord and he even called her by name when he came into court. I never signed or saw a tenancy agreement or signed or saw any inventory BTW.
Even worse now my Uni Halls claimed I never paid them a penny for the 6 months, which was a cross bill, as I was at a local not main campus, and I had proof all the bill was for £90 not like £800, and I couldnt get legal aid as it was over £500
What happened was I gave 4 weeks notice to reception, but the halls officer was on 2 weeks holiday and didnt class my notice to start until the DAY SHE CAME BACK! that was unfair and I mentioned to court in the defense this.
Also even then the contract states you can leave in the 4 weeks notice at any point as long as someone moves in, you are only charged until the date new tenant moves in. which they did, in fact the Uni tried to get me to move out like 7.45am that morning as the new tenant had got their early.
Oh and I left 2 weeks into "their notice" 4 weeks after I gave mine.
So I told court all this.
What happened next was I moved back to Scotland, and I lost the court documents, but the court said they couldnt even confirm there was a case due to the DPA, so I lost the case! even though the Uni never turned up for case either!
Whats more, what I lost was, my words were twisted to say I ADMITTED, I owed the £90, and they added like £400 on in court and solicitor fees, wow solicitor fees for a firm that doesnt even turn up for a court case nor send out letters(the letters all came direct from Uni)
I then got a different landlord, notorious in town for taking on junkies and alcoholics, as he only had people on benefits as workers didnt go near his place, due to the huge amount of break ins(in fat last year someone commited suicide, and one of his houses with 8 rooms had 4 immigrants per room sharing, him getting HB for each one!) I myself was robbed at one of his flats by squatting junkies!
Anyway he was fine with me, cept fixing meter as he had Npower with no standing charges, yet put £2 a week SC on each meter(and having 8 rooms per house and 20 houses made quite a profit) and even charged about double the rates Npower charged per unit, he even told Npower he lived at each address(well he used different companies for each house and his daughters or wifes name)
I went back to parents for 18 months and went back to one of his bedsits, put it this way, my current bathroom in my new place, which barely fit a bath sink and cupboard in, was BIGGER than this box room of his.
This is when the problem really began, when I move in, in this tiny room, I couldnt even lie down without my feet touching the walls, and he put in a full size cooker for storage IN MY ROOM! he said it was temporary until next day, as someone else was moving downstairs and it was for them, 4 months later it was still there and he said for me letting it stay there, and if I helped him down like 8 flights of steps with it, hed knock £20 off my rent, so I did, got down stairs with it, and I mentioned about the money, and he claimed he NEVER said that, he also then said the floor around the cooker was torn and he just placed it in the day I moved in(which is BS as I moved in as the old tenant had moved out as I moved in at 10am that morning and the tenant moved out, pretty much as I moved through door) and he was keeping part of my deposit(no inventory was taken)
Also my HB took 3 months to sort, and I moved in on a Sunday, and they paid from the Monday previous so they got 6 days extra, but he said he could keep it as it was "his money" not mine
Since the day I moved in the windowsil had rotted away and 4 months on had woodworm and creepy crawlies living in it, and he kept on putting it off, until I went to health and safety at councul and he gave me a lot of abuse.
Also when he came to see me, he had a broken arm and cuts and bruises, I spoke to his cleaner for the house and she confirmed the horror stories I heard, he was 3 weeks in arrears her wages, he claimed he couldnt afford to pay her, despite 3 other tenants in my house just giving him 4 weks rent at £65 a week! and the cash was in his hand, and she said he was beaten up by a tenant in another house after he never gave back the £700 deposit and months rent.
And she said its not the first time it has happened, it happens almost monthly and he does it on purpose to get out of paying rent, as he takes on dodgy tenants as he knows he can muck them around.
Anyway with me and his other tenants he walked in when he wanted and nosed around out drawers and ovens.
My neighbour who had just moved in, told me he complained to her that the oven was dirty in her room, which was like that when she moved in!
Also she had an ancient bulky microwave there when she moved in which the landlord claimed was his(it was previous tenants and he left it as it wasnt working right) anyway he told her if she broke it she would have to pay £50 to replace it(it was about 20 years old)
I have always had problem landlords, im 24 now, left home at 17, till 18 in student accomidation, the landlord had nasty views about people on benefits calling them scroungers.
Despite this, landlord wise he was brilliant, repairs were carried out next day, i locked myself out twice and he came out to let me in free, he towed a friends car to garage when it broke down.
He was great with me until about 9 months in when he heard my parents were on benefits, he all of a sudden wanted me out at end of tenancy, claimed I paid rent late and caused hassle to other tenants which is a lie as Im quiet and shy and nervous.
Oh and BTW my parents do full time voluntary work, in fact run a charity doing MORE work than a huge amount of people who do WORK!
Anyway I was then in Halls Of Residence for 6 months, before I left college due to cash problems.
Anyway at this time, landlord 1 took me to court saying I never paid the final 4 months rent(BS) and the problem was, he didnt issue rent books, just wrote on scraps of paper.
He won which annoyed me, as I was only 17 at time, never signed a contract, I was told a verbal agreement was in place(this was in England BTW) I believe the judge did this as a class thing, I may be wrong, but she seemed to be really chummy with the landlord and he even called her by name when he came into court. I never signed or saw a tenancy agreement or signed or saw any inventory BTW.
Even worse now my Uni Halls claimed I never paid them a penny for the 6 months, which was a cross bill, as I was at a local not main campus, and I had proof all the bill was for £90 not like £800, and I couldnt get legal aid as it was over £500
What happened was I gave 4 weeks notice to reception, but the halls officer was on 2 weeks holiday and didnt class my notice to start until the DAY SHE CAME BACK! that was unfair and I mentioned to court in the defense this.
Also even then the contract states you can leave in the 4 weeks notice at any point as long as someone moves in, you are only charged until the date new tenant moves in. which they did, in fact the Uni tried to get me to move out like 7.45am that morning as the new tenant had got their early.
Oh and I left 2 weeks into "their notice" 4 weeks after I gave mine.
So I told court all this.
What happened next was I moved back to Scotland, and I lost the court documents, but the court said they couldnt even confirm there was a case due to the DPA, so I lost the case! even though the Uni never turned up for case either!
Whats more, what I lost was, my words were twisted to say I ADMITTED, I owed the £90, and they added like £400 on in court and solicitor fees, wow solicitor fees for a firm that doesnt even turn up for a court case nor send out letters(the letters all came direct from Uni)
I then got a different landlord, notorious in town for taking on junkies and alcoholics, as he only had people on benefits as workers didnt go near his place, due to the huge amount of break ins(in fat last year someone commited suicide, and one of his houses with 8 rooms had 4 immigrants per room sharing, him getting HB for each one!) I myself was robbed at one of his flats by squatting junkies!
Anyway he was fine with me, cept fixing meter as he had Npower with no standing charges, yet put £2 a week SC on each meter(and having 8 rooms per house and 20 houses made quite a profit) and even charged about double the rates Npower charged per unit, he even told Npower he lived at each address(well he used different companies for each house and his daughters or wifes name)
I went back to parents for 18 months and went back to one of his bedsits, put it this way, my current bathroom in my new place, which barely fit a bath sink and cupboard in, was BIGGER than this box room of his.
This is when the problem really began, when I move in, in this tiny room, I couldnt even lie down without my feet touching the walls, and he put in a full size cooker for storage IN MY ROOM! he said it was temporary until next day, as someone else was moving downstairs and it was for them, 4 months later it was still there and he said for me letting it stay there, and if I helped him down like 8 flights of steps with it, hed knock £20 off my rent, so I did, got down stairs with it, and I mentioned about the money, and he claimed he NEVER said that, he also then said the floor around the cooker was torn and he just placed it in the day I moved in(which is BS as I moved in as the old tenant had moved out as I moved in at 10am that morning and the tenant moved out, pretty much as I moved through door) and he was keeping part of my deposit(no inventory was taken)
Also my HB took 3 months to sort, and I moved in on a Sunday, and they paid from the Monday previous so they got 6 days extra, but he said he could keep it as it was "his money" not mine
Since the day I moved in the windowsil had rotted away and 4 months on had woodworm and creepy crawlies living in it, and he kept on putting it off, until I went to health and safety at councul and he gave me a lot of abuse.
Also when he came to see me, he had a broken arm and cuts and bruises, I spoke to his cleaner for the house and she confirmed the horror stories I heard, he was 3 weeks in arrears her wages, he claimed he couldnt afford to pay her, despite 3 other tenants in my house just giving him 4 weks rent at £65 a week! and the cash was in his hand, and she said he was beaten up by a tenant in another house after he never gave back the £700 deposit and months rent.
And she said its not the first time it has happened, it happens almost monthly and he does it on purpose to get out of paying rent, as he takes on dodgy tenants as he knows he can muck them around.
Anyway with me and his other tenants he walked in when he wanted and nosed around out drawers and ovens.
My neighbour who had just moved in, told me he complained to her that the oven was dirty in her room, which was like that when she moved in!
Also she had an ancient bulky microwave there when she moved in which the landlord claimed was his(it was previous tenants and he left it as it wasnt working right) anyway he told her if she broke it she would have to pay £50 to replace it(it was about 20 years old)
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