If your son or daughter is off to Uni

Heard some similar horror stories. T's last landlady played fair these last few months, but the year before weren't brilliant, and that was before lockdown!!

 

I've had the opposite experience. Got my rental property back recently after the tenants left owing 3 months rent after damaging/breaking the fridge, the freezer, the washing machine, the oven, the front door, the back door, the shower and the draining board.

Thousands of pounds of damage, applied to get even just the bond money back - application rejected.

Don't be a landlord

 

It's always been thus. Not just the landlords but the agents too. I remember one particularly annoying episode whereby I was charged for a missed inspection that I'd had to take a day off to attend. My sister was visiting so I had a witness too. I phoned them up expecting them to apologise and refund me my money but they basically said what are you going to do about it? The hassle of going to small claims was too much but I swore I'd never rent out a house through an agency. Then there was another landlady of mine who it turned out was pocketing the rent but unbeknownst to me was defaulting on her mortgage. The tenant after me got a rude awakening when the property was repossessed.

Edit: And yes, @Tyke_67, I appreciate it goes the other way too. I'm likely to need to rent my current place out in a few years and between my policy on agents and my fear of bad tenants I'm not looking forward to it.

 

I did it through an agency as well so i actually paid extra for the privilege of having my house damaged. My advice is don't rent your place out - at all costs.

 

You have my sympathy @fired. I hope you can get it sorted out.

 

Some of them are the lowest of the low and the conditions that some students have to live in are horrific. In my second year at uni we didn’t have central heating for most of the winter, my room was damp and I had to sleep in two hoodies every night. We complained loads but nothing got done until my dad came through and gave them a bollocking and the **** themselves.

Went with a different letting agent in third year and they were great.

 

Trouble is I'm hoping to move full-time to Burgundy in a few years but I don't want to sell up in the UK because I'll probably come back later, when I can't maintain the place down there myself anymore, and I want to protect myself against increases in the property market in the meantime. I can't very well leave the place empty for 20 years or so.

 

20 years- wow. I'd sell the place, really would

 

I'm really sorry about your experience as well, I realise all tenants aren't bad and I wasn't expecting any hassle at all. Silly me. I forgot to mention they broke the combi boiler 4 times in as many years as well. Guess who had to pay for that...

 

He’s not an obnoxious fker from York is he ???Last year we lost our bond same thing as you. Had to pay for lockdown period irrespective, She’s moved in to this years flat and heating doesn't work ( not that its needed yet) new kitchen was promised when we signed contract been told now its not happening, he speaks to you like you're an idiot and his emails have the same patronizing tone. House was spotless when we emptied it after lockdown ended. They have you by the ballacks.

 

this happened to a friend of mine (not a student) some years ago. There was nothing he could do then but I thought a law has been made to protect people in these circumstances ?????
tbh I would be tamping mad and as the landlords playing a dirty game I'd have no hesitation in getting my own back (good Christian that I'm not!) - mention that you're contacting tax people to see if all the unearned income from the flat is being properly declared (probably isn't) - does the place meet all the necessary safety standards - are all the certificates in order -
any asbestos in the building - put in an official complaint about the students being harassed by him - police matter ??
A bit extreme I know but they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it!

 

I thought that all changed a few years ago as the deposit has to be registered with one of three schemes. They are supposed to be judge and jury about what happens to the deposits and tend to favour the renter. If he didn't register it within one of the schemes and provide notice of which one it was to the students within, I think it is, 30 days then they can sue him for 3x the amount, regardless of whether he keeps the full amount or returns it to them with a gushing apology.

I did a LOT of research into this when we thought our landlord was going to make a fuss about us leaving a month earlier than he wanted (although contract said we could). We knew that he hadn't registered the deposit as he couldn't tell us where it was and we phoned all 3 up and they had no record. We didn't in the end as he was actually decent and made an honest mistake. You get up to 3 years to sue so he's probably still sweating about it now as we only left a year and a half ago.

 

Just to redress the balance of this thread a little, I'll never forget the landlord I had in my first student house who came round to collect the rent in person then said "Hey lads, I've just been given a load of money - want to come to the pub and help me spend it?"

 

Was the landlord not signed up to the Deposit Protection Scheme?

If it was a shorthold tenancy, they were legally obliged to do so. If they haven't you can claim compensation.

Apologies if you already know all this.

 

I went 13 weeks without any hot water or heating at my rented place once, absolutely horrendous it was.

 

No sympathy for landlords, even the good ones. They're a part of the reason, to varying degrees, of why house prices are so expensive.

 

if he's running the agency my guess is that he's on a fiddle - telling the owner he's checked the property and all is o.k and he's returning the bond whereas in reality he's pocketing part of the bond. Could this be checked with the property owner?