I am from the United States and this is my first time living in London. Unfortunately, I rent from a man, who is of bad quality. We currently have 3 of 6 rooms open in our house. I lived here for four months. Since, the beginning, Jude, the agent has sent potential renters to our home for appointments. At first I was polite and let them sit in the kitchen until he arrived. This became habit and time consuming for me, especially when the agent frequently does not show for his appointment or would be 1 to 2hrs late. He also calls and asks us to show them around the house for him. The doorbell has rang as late as 9pm with no sign of the agent, just potential renters. We have asked for all of this to stop. It is not safe for the girls of the house to let strangers inside at night when no one else is home. We shouldn't be doing his job for him either. He ignore us and kept doing it his way. So, now if the doorbell rings and it is random people we just say they can't come inside until the agent arrives. The agent also frequently shows up to the house unannounced and would use his own key to get inside. Most recently, I was sweeping the hallway on Christmas eve morning getting it ready for guest I was having over later that night. It was early morning 10am and I had not changed into regular day clothes. I was in sleep shorts, tank top, no bra. The agent just uses his own key and walks inside with four guests. I am standing there in my sleepwear. I was completely caught off guard! I felt half naked and it was not acceptable for him to just walk into the house. I waited for him to finish showing the house. Once he was done I started talking to him politely about coming into the house unannounced and how I know its not legal. He kept interrupting me. Telling me I didn’t know what legal was. I told him No, I spoke with a lawyer and what your doing is unacceptable. We asked you to change politely. I could see this was not getting anywhere so I ended the conversation and walked towards my bedroom. He followed me upstairs saying " If I am going to get lawyers involved then this will be my last month at the house" I replied " Jude, I am asking you nicely. You need to leave the house now" He replied no, and continued the fight. I asked again and again for him to leave. He wouldn't leave and had me between him and a wall. I had enough room to the right and moved past him. I ran to the 3rd floor where my male room-mate Derek was sleeping. I woke Derek up and told him that the agent is harassing me please make him leave. Derek politely said "lets all go down to the kitchen and talk" I walked to my room and the agent again followed me to my bedroom. I shut my door locked it, he continued to yell at me through my door. Threatening to evict me. Now since it is Christmas the Citizen Advice B. is closed. Not only that but yesterday we received a text message from Jude saying a new room-mate will be arriving at 1pm and to please let him inside. However, the new room-mate was not actually a room-mate. The couple informed us that they were not moving in. They asked how long we were staying at the hotel. Hotel? this is our home..... They continued to inform us that they thought it was a BNB and we were all guest here. No, this is a house with all our private things. He said that explains why our shower is dirty and we have no towels in our room. The wife then asks me if she can please have two towels and use my shower because there is no shampoo in their bathroom. They also informed us that they thought their room was dirty and the sheets have not been cleaned. So, now are home is completely open to strangers he is advertising our house on AIRBNB! complete with false reviews! Please tell me this is illegal! I live in a very nice house in a great area and I don't want to move out. The agent lease ends in three months and the original landlord will take back the house. I am trying to hold out but this man is making my life miserable. Another issue is utilities. Utilities are included in our rent. Jude has the bills come to our house and picks them up. Recently, I noticed that all the bills are under false names. I open our last water bill and it was a final notice for not paying. I could go on but please most PRESSING IS AIRBNB!

If you go into a public house and order a lager type beer and you are the first person to have that sort of beer of that day, should the landlord pull the first pint and toss it in the drain as the beer will have been sitting in the tubes since the previous day? Yesterday I was served the first beer out of the tap and took a couple of sips before I realised it was the beer and not my mouth. It was not flat, but tasted a bit sharp and had no head. Landlord was not bothered with replacing it so I had a Guinness instead. However later on my stomach felt a bit upset and ended up with a lot of wind during the night and a loose stomach. This was not caused by food at home which was fresh cold meats and salad. Only had 2 Guinness so no over indulgence. Surely LL has some obligation to serve a decent pint? I am not after any compensation, but would like to give the LL a mouthful the next time we call at the pub.

:roll:Hi folks Little bit of help needed here! We live in a cul de sac and the last 4 houses (we live in the 2nd one) has a little access road for the four of us. My problem is that the neighbours who live on the main part of the road constantly park up on the footpath opposite our house! As we are in the middle myself and my wife at time find it impossible to get off our drive. Bad enough when it is one car but if they have family visit then there are up to 4 cars parked opposite. It's a small road so they park up with 2 wheels on the path but we still cannot get out without reversing 3 or 4 times. Any advice please ? They are pleasant enough people but just have no consideration on the parking.

we have been given a £750 penalty from companies house for late filing, although it was our accountant that filed it a month late after much nagging from us to get it done. i am making an appointment with the senior partner today to discuss our complaint.. from what i have read we should just pay the fine, then try to get it back from the accountant, but for £750 is it financially worth it, legal costs etc?... is there anything we can do? it sticks in my throat to do nothing. obviously we are taking our business elsewhere, but all too late!

Hi, today I had my yearly house inspection by the letting agency that i am with, and in the conversation we had the agent said they are going to change the yearly inspections to quarterly inspections is this a bit to much? Never rented a house before that was inspected every 3 months before! Oh and I gave him a list of basic repairs that are needed, nothing fancy or expensive but I bet they dont get done!

On day i got the keys, I had just lterally walked through the door, no furniture or anything moved in or anything and a knock at the door, TV licensing, I explained I had just literally got the keys, and my TV licence was actually registered to my old address, and would arrange a COA when i moved my TV over, you would rather think it was a straight forward task? No!. Because there was an old sat dish outside my property, this was considered 'TV' equipment and should be paid for by a seperate licence? I refused and he gave me a warning, threatened with court blah blah. Surely i was misinformed here?

I reeently signed up for a new electric range cooker after being a BH customer for 9 years. I paid up 2.5 weeks in front and was given a delivery date and told my old dual fuel range had to be removed before the installation of the new one could take place. On the due delivery date I sat and waited and waited until the knock finally came at 5.30pm. The guy came in and looked at where the range was to be placed. He then informed me that my gas pipe was not safe, it was not capped and probably leaking. I had been sat in front of it for over 24 hours smoking - some gas leak. They then took the new range away and told me to contact store for a new delivery slot. The following morning I paid a corgi registered gas fitter to come and look at the pipe. He came asked me why I wanted it capping when it was perfectly safe - capped it as requested and charged me £50. I then rang my store and asked for a new delivery slot and was told I would have to wait a further 6 days before they could re-deliver. I explained I have two kids, one of which is disabled and diabetic and cannot live on junk food and microwave meals because of the sugar content, plus my fridge is full of fresh food. I was informed that the first available delivery slot was 6 days away but if it could be brought forward it would be but was probably not likely. I range customer services at head office - what a joke- he personally knew my store deputy manager and his attitude was one of tough luck. When I explained to him about the kids and the diabetes he told me I had no priority over other customers awaiting delivery. I asked him if he thought delivering a 50" tv to someone was more important than a child becoming ill from eating sugar loaded junk. He again stated I had no priority over other customers so basically yes they were more important. If I had the means to buy a range cooker from somewhere else I would do so. I have never ever missed a payment and I feel thoroughly let down. All Bright House want is your signature on a piece of paper, sales targets for their stores met and stuff customer relations.

Hi all, Please may I stress before i write and ask what i need to ask that there is NOTHING 'dodgy' about this thread im after soem genuine advice. Ok, so my partner is still living with her husband/ex husband and the divorce will be complete in january. She has 3 children by him and I have one from another relationship. I have a 2 bedroom house that of which the second room is my daughters, and I have my daughter quite regularly. Her ex husband has said that once the divorce is complete he wants her and the three children out. She doesnt want the house as she cant afford it and he has agreed to buy her half (even though she technically doesnt own it as she has just found out her name isnt on the deeds or mortgage, she is only entitled to it through the 'marital home' rights), but due to secured debts etc she will walk away with nothing as her small equity she has will go on them. So she considered applying to the council and stay in a hostel until they offer her a home on the basis that she should be a priority in band 'a' and get somewhere rather quick. However, from my previous experience she is more thank likely going to be given a flat. So, if i was to put her up and the children bearing in mind I dont really have the space nor are we ready to move in together, but also dont want to see her in a hostel, would they still see her as a priority but slightly lower ie band 'b' but thus meaning she could bid a bit more freely for a home and pick and chose what she applies for like houses as opposed to being just given whatever comes available? I just dont want to see her with three children 10 floors up in a flat. Not that theres anything wrong with that but just with young children it wont be easy. Also if she was given a hostel, do they ask tenannts to check in and out of a night time to ensure they are using the accomodation?

hello, just wondering if anyone can help me with a small problem. yesterday, 2 BT openreach engineers put a cable on the front of my house attaching it to the wall with nails. The cable is there to serve a new neighbor. I spoke with the engineers and said I was not happy that the cable was on my house and requested them to move it. The response from the engineers was that I should contact my landlord. I then explained there is no landlord since I own the house and I would not give permission for this cable to be attached to my house. I did tell the engineers that they may attach this cable to my house on provision that it is away from a gas pipe. (At the moment, the cable is now in place near a gas pipe) I have spent over 5 hours on the phone to BT and have also sent 2 emails and filled out a web contact form. Can anyone give me advice please? I do not want this cable anywhere near where it is at the moment!

Around 7 years ago I got a car from a known rip off company and the purchase was a Bill of sale, 6 months later I got a company car so wanted to return it but they wouldnt accept, so they repossed it. After months of arguing, they took us to court, and as it was well before all forums, and the court was other end of he country I couldnt attend so they won. The purchas of the car was around £3k,they got £1.4k from reselling it, but took me to court for £17k.. I couldnt pay so they put a charge on my property... Of course the property market crashed and now even if I sell today there wouldnt be enough in the property for them to pay it off... Any way I have not had no communication with them since the court date... My question is what happens now, I been told that there is something wrong with the Bill Of Sale, but what do I do, where can I go from here..

Hope this in the correct part of Forum. My Mother went into hospital with a urine infection and has slight Parkinsons. She was with the aid of a zimmer and my sisters help able to get around the house. Due to the fact my sisiter also has her own problems (bone cancer) it was decided initially to provide a care service at home for my Mother on her return there. Her bed was to be brought downstairs and carers would come in 3 times a day to hoist her in and out of bed etc. However due to her deteriation in Hospital (the ward has a tummy bug) a "Social Worker" has now come on the scene stating. It would be best if my Mother was to go for 6 weeks into a Nursing/Care Home as it's now felt that "they" could not supply adequate care at her home. I suspect that this is a ploy to get her permanently of their books and into the Care Home system. She would have to pay for the Care in a "Home". However my 50 yr old sister has always lived with my Mother and the question was asked "Does my Mother have her own home" Ans. "yes" So to finally get to the point. How does my sister stand. Will they force the house to be sold etc, or does my sister have any rights to what is "her family home" or just kick her out. She herself is on DLA etc due to her conditions. Advice appreciated. Peter

We had a limited Company and have had to stop trading as landlady didn't renew lease after 13 years. all our income stopped and the Company owes money to the dutch flower supplier. i thought we were safe as we were a limited company but in their extremely extremely small print it states that any debt is personally guaranteed for the limited company. they want to reposses my house - i have 2 small children and my husband has had a kidney transplant - help!! we are seeking legal advice but interested to see if this small print would stand up in court. we were bot served with a statutory demand last night. they said they had to serve it to both of us even though i've never even spent one penny with this flower supplier. any advice very gratefully received....... we have known the guy for 20 years and the bailiffs just keep telling us that they will force the sale of our house.

What are the implications of selling a house at under value to a family member ? It is looking increasingly likely that we will start missing mortgage payments soon and to avoid possible repossession could sell our property to our son and pay him rent at half what we are paying in mortgage, allowing us, for now to stay in the house and not be worried about repossession. It would also be a cash sale. However would my creditors be able to overturn such a sale ? I have been told that if I were to go bankrupt in the next 7 years the O R could force our son to sell the house anyway, looking at the substantial undervalue as debt avoidance ? Could a creditor move for bankruptcy and get the O R to claim back the sale?

Hi Caggers Just thought this may be of some use to others on CAG Its a House inspection checklist form in PDF that you may use especially useful if renting to keep your own detailed copy of move-in and move-out. please feel free to use or amend.

Hello I wonder if you could help me? I complained to Santander about the mis selling of payment protection on my house of fraser card dating back from 1995 ish to 2003 ish and they have replied saying because it it so long ago all the data has been removed from their records and that was their final response. I can only find 4 statements for this account do you think it I worth going back with these or do you think It will still make no difference? Any help would be gratefully received

Hi there folks. my brother and sister in-law have just moved to a new house. They had virgin media fibre optic package at their previous address but virgin cannot provide this at there new address. they have been given 2 options - either carry on paying the monthly fee and only get a phone line and crappy broadband (tv also not provided in the area) or pay the £180 to end the contract. they haven't got £180 and don't want to have to pay full price for only 2 basic services. is there any way they can get out of the contract or even lower the monthly fee? Virgin, of course, are totally useless on the phone and want just one thing. money. Many thanks in advance!

Afternoon all my mrs has taken a mortgage out in her sole name due to my very poor credit rating We have both paid equal deposit just everything is in her name until my credit gets a lot better My question is how do we protect her credit score without us being linked What will link us financially? What can be done about council tax, obviously i will be named living there under the council tax but is their a way of preventing this being reported to the credit agencies? Any thoughts would be great Thanks

Hi, Im new to this but I would like some advice. I received about 6 letters today from a company called Lowell for a debt that is apparently from 'shop direct'. The problem is Lowell sent these letters to my parents house. I have not lived there for over 12 years. The letters were also in my maiden name which I changed when I married nearly 9 years ago. I long time ago I did get into debt with a few companies but as far as I am honestly aware, I cleared all of my debt. I have never heard of shop direct or Lowell. My problem is my mum is understandably quite upset about this and has concerns about debt being registered at her house. Im not sure how to handle it. If I call or write to Lowell they are then going to assume that they can keep contacting me there and I dont want to upset my mother further. If I try and get a credit report for my name at my parents house will this be any kind of fraud because I dont live there?

How do I. Received correspondence from Optima Legal acting for Oakwood finance on the mortgage my wife had on her house. They obtained judgement in March this year for £17k, £11 of which were charges and interest after they forceably auctioned her house well below its market value. The judge ignored my requests to reduce the costs and stop adding to the interest. Now they are asking for a charge on our jointly owned property and have submitted an application for a charging order at court in October. I remember reading here ages ago that its possible to object as I was not on the original debt. How do I do it. Plus bearing in mind the FSA ruling on charges does this apply in my wife's case please.

I needed to return a substandard item to HoF [House of Fraser - online] and being housebound, the item had to be collected. It was booked for Thursday this week ... the courier being UK Mail. They never turned up. HoF didn't know why. UK Mail didn't know why either. I was told to phone this morning to find out when [or if] they would collect today. HoF couldn't contact UK Mail from 9am until 1pm. When they did finally get through to them, they were able to let me know that a driver would pick up between 1pm and 3pm today. Driver arrived at 3.20pm. I asked for a receipt. He didn't have his receipt book on the van. So I said I'd need to phone the company as I wasn't handing over a valuable item [worth £160] without a receipt. He took off and never came back. I phone HoF who initially told me ...'they don't do receipts'. That fact seems to change with each person at HoF I've spoken to since. One of their reps at one point, when they couldn't organise the collection suggested that I leave the parcel on the front door step if I didn't want to be further inconvenienced and 'someone' would pick the parcel up eventually. I asked the rep in question if she would be willing to leave something of value on her doorstep for collection ... to which she answered 'no she wouldn't'. So was I right to insist on a receipt? I order online all the time and I would never dream of returning an item with a courier if they didn't give me some sort of collection acknowledgement. Because if the item went missing in transit, I'm sure neither HoF or UK Mail would take responsibility and I'd be left out of pocket by £160. The final phone call of the day was with someone from HoF's 'Customer Service High Level Complaints Team' who again stated that they didn't do collection receipts. However on this occasion, he said they would be willing to give one to the driver who was apparently going to pick up the item on Monday and he could hand it in to me. It's an ongoing issue. God knows when it will be resolved. I've made a formal complaint. But I wanted to know if others feel I was right to refuse to hand over the item when I wasn't given some form of receipt for same. The item in question was a canteen of gold cutlery btw.

Hi all, hoping I can get some clarification on my rights as a tenant in regards to mouse infestations. recently noticed there might be a mouse or two in the house after hearing some scurrying along the skirting board in my room. I informed the landlord who also owns the house next door and he said he caught a couple of them and decided to lay a trap. at least 3/4 have been caught so far but upon investigation there seems to be some gaps in the walls/skirting board which I suspect the mice are coming from. I suggested to the landlord could he not fill these in as it would help to prevent them coming in bu he just sort of brushed off the matter and said there would be no point. It would take no more than 10-15mins to fill in. My main worry is I am on the ground floor and the mice seem to be coming into my room, I have bought one of those repellers but I am not sure if its actually bringing them out or not working at all. I've been staying some other place last few days as I dont really want to hear or have any mice running around my room while im sleeping. What rights do i have in this instance? I do know there is some case law regarding rodent infestations but doesnt seem so clear. My housemates are not back until this weekend but I am away on holiday and ideally i would like all of us to have a sit down and discuss what needs to be done and i think the first step is filling in the gaps on the walls. I have been informed that Environmental health could order my landlord to deal with this but on the other hand I have also been told that the Landlord and Tenant Act puts the landlord under an obligation to do this in relation to pests such as mice. Any help would be appreciated as I would like it sorted and the landlord seems nice so far I just like to know my options should he refuse do to anything about it. p.s. Is laying down mouse traps/bait considered reasonable where there may be an infestation? Cheers!

Can anyone assist with some general advice as to the processes involved with the repossession and subsequent sale of a house. Obviously, someone would have to have defaulted on payments etc in order that a repossession be undertaken by the lending party. Are there any minimum timescales involved, which would allow the lending party to make arrangements to either rectify the situation, or to vacate the property? Are the mortgage lending company obliged to notify and seek agreement from both parties (in the situation that two people own a property) prior to issuing a repossession notice, and ditto with the actual subsequent sale of the property? Apologies if the above is vague, but if anyone can help out, it'd be greatly appreciated.

We are happy to announce that Bright House have approached The CAG expressing a wish to deal with our members complaints on the site.As with all reps registered here,we ask that members give them the chance to demonstrate a real intention to resolve complaints,and that posts are kept on topic and free from personal offensives. Bright House have a long way to go,to convince many of our members that some of their business practices are fair and acceptable,and some of the threads on the site give examples. To Bright House; We look forward to your constructive dealings,and our members seeing a benefit. Please observe the site posting rules.

I have a bed and breakfast which is on 100% mortgage, part of this is repayment the rest is bridging loan, secured against a second property. The bank are not going to renew the briging loan in Oct and will start recovery proceeding. This was inevitable i have been unable to sell either property, i lost my wife to cancer not long after buying the b&b i just want out now. My plan is to go back to the other house which is back in another part of the country and from their find somewhere to rent. Does anyone know how long roughly i will have before they take the second house away, they have second charge, the main morgage is with C&G this is up to date. I am trying to buy myself some time.

Open House London 2012 – over 750 buildings and events confirm participation in 20th anniversary edition of London’s greatest architectural showcase A highly anticipated fixture in the capital’s cultural calendar, Open House London is a truly city-wide celebration of the buildings, places and spaces where we live and work. 2012 means 20 years of Open House London and of the Open-City organisation as a whole. In recognition of this significant milestone, Open-City is presenting a festival which will be unprecedented in breadth, scale and reach over 22 & 23 September. It will be a unique opportunity to see, explore and learn about London’s amazing architecture and design over 48 hours. More than 750 buildings of all kinds will open their doors, alongside a programme of neighbourhood walks, engineering and landscape tours, night-time openings, urban jogs and experts’ talks – all for free. This year’s theme ‘The Changing Face of London’ explores issues that are relevant to local communities and how the built environment is evolving – including the design of homes, the impact of climate change, the role of architects and contemporary design in revitalising places and above all showing how good design can make London a more liveable, vibrant and enjoyable city. Highlights to include: • Iconic landmarks and towers including 30 St Mary Axe (aka the Gherkin), Heron Tower and Tower 42 • London’s infrastructure revealed with the Institution of Civil Engineers - including rides on the new Emirates Airline cable car, boat tours to the Thames Barrier and the Hoo Peninsula, engineering walks and site visits to major construction and engineering sites • East London Transformation – discover all about the transformation of East London and the Lea Valley with expert-led events showcasing the regeneration of areas surrounding the Olympic Park. • Nearly 50 projects with Landscape at their heart with the Landscape Institute – including the newly landscaped Granary/King’s Cross and Leicester Square, and the vast green roofs and insect hotel at 20 Triton Street • Several open Embassies with the British Council’s International Architecture and Design Showcase • Showcase of 100 private homes, Architects' homes and groundbreaking housing developments – from contemporary award-winners to vintage 50s and 60s designs • Eco, zero carbon and retrofit buildings, with the chance to talk to experts, see measures in action and discover how you can implement changes in your own home • Win a weekend stay at the 5* Hempel Hotel, London’s premier boutique hotel • Speak with planners, architects and engineers on how they create successful buildings and cities • Maggie’s and Open House London Night Hike on Friday 21st September – a moonlit walk through London with the opportunity to see Open House architecture and raise money for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres • Special events and openings on Saturday night including evening film screenings at the Haggerston ‘I was here’ event and Midnight Apothecary: Liquid Engineering, cocktails with a difference at the Brunel Museum • Activities for kids and families, from architectural model-making to quiz trails http://www.londonopenhouse.org/index.html