Hi, this is my first time posting so I hope I've put this in the right place. Today I've received a letter from LCS utility investigations addressed to the occupier/landlord. It states that they are 'investigating the utility supply of my home' and proceed to ask a list of questions - Your Name, date of occupancy, name of previous occupant, forwarding address of the previous occupant, Landlords name, address and phone number and anything else relevant. I've done some research on this outfit and what I've read points to the company working for British Gas, and not actually having any details of the debtor other than the debt and their address - so anyone that responds innocently with the previous tenants details gets chased for the debt instead of them finding the actual debtor. I being about British Gas does make some sense as the previous tenants did switch the service to BG and them upped and left abruptly without closing any accounts and left no forwarding address. The landlord was unaware they switched suppliers, I decided to stay with my suppliers not BG and arranged this all through them - I never spoke once to British Gas. Now there is no way I am giving them my or my partners name - it's just none of their business. Every piece of mail I had for the previous tenants I sent back with "returned to sender - moved away" on the envelope. I can't give them a forwarding address, all I know is that they returned to Libya sometime in February this year - thats all the my Landlord knows. At least they shouldn't be able to ring me as my phone number came with me from my old place and is ex-directory. Currently my plan is to give the letter to my Landlord and tell him to not give them my details to this outfit, then he can contact them as he wishes. Am I going about this the right way? I always seem to have problems caused by other people wherever I live and I just can't take another ride on this merry-go-round.

Where do I start.. I am a sub tenant of a Housing Association property?? I have been letting a 2 bedroom flat from my landlord for about the last 14 months and then I had to put in a claim for Housing Benefit about 5 weeks ago but unbeknown to me he didn’t have permission to sub let it to me as the housing officer turned up and said I have a month to get out. I then get a letter through from housing benefit saying they are declining my claim I HAVE ASKED CORNWALL COUNCIL 7 TIMES SO FAR why they awarded me Council Tax Benefit but not Housing Benefit? I still haven’t got a straight answer from him but this is his reply. Dear Mr , In regard to “it has been interpreted that your tenancy is not enforceable or would be difficult to enforce by the landlord if terms were breached”, this can refer to a tenancy not being set up in a way in which the landlord is able to enforce. Examples of this are such as: Arrears of rent are not pursued or the tenancy agreement has been drawn up or come about whereby it would be difficult for the landlord to legally pursue for arrears. The landlord could be a tenant themself and subletting and not have the permission of the actual landlord to sublet. It has been demonstrated that terms in the tenancy are not enforced and change with out notice and there is not a consistency of rent changing hands on a regular basis between tenant and landlord. As per previous emails on the 26th September 2012, you have a right to ask that any decision we make is re-considered and you can also follow on from this and Appeal. Any re-consideration request and Appeal must be in writing within a calendar month of the date on the decision notice that you do not agree with and you must give clear reasons why you do not agree. In the first instance, the case will be re-considered by a member of our staff who has not dealt with your case before. I strongly advise you do this if you are unhappy with the decision made I have also been paying Cornwall Housing direct each Friday by debit card and they still wont me let me stay here as Housing Officers argument is this should of been allocated to someone else even though I am on Band D but hopefully soon to be Band B due to sleep apnoea that I suffer severely from. I am on Employment Support Allowance for my illness and have actually got an assessment by ATOS on Wednesday, so no doubt they will kick me off ESA as they are incentivised to get people off the sick so to speak. I sent the owner of this flat called Cornwall Housing an email after he hand delivered a letter to Steve (the chap I rent this flat from, However Steve the Landlord doesn’t occupy here and therefore I was wondering if this will be considered served? You cannot be allowed to stay as you have not been allocated the property through the Local Authority and are illegal occupants. Any payments you have made are considered mesne profit and not rent, as the rent is due from Mr Frazer. I reiterate that you are not able to stay and will not become tenants of Cornwall Housing in these circumstances. If you speak to Housing Options on 0300 1234 161 then they will make an appointment to see you and assess your situation regarding homeless status. I realise how this situation is disappointing for you, but I urge you to take productive steps to remedy it, and not try and remain in the property as an illegal occupant. HOUSING OFFICERS REPLY when I told him that I was declined Housing Benefit but accepted for full Council Tax benefit? You cannot be allowed to stay as you have not been allocated the property through the Local Authority and are illegal occupants. Any payments you have made are considered mesne profit and not rent, as the rent is due from Mr Frazer. I reiterate that you are not able to stay and will not become tenants of Cornwall Housing in these circumstances. If you speak to Housing Options on 0300 1234 161 then they will make an appointment to see you and assess your situation regarding homeless status. I realise how this situation is disappointing for you, but I urge you to take productive steps to remedy it, and not try and remain in the property as an illegal occupant.

I am not sure if anyone can help. My daughter bought a small house when she got her first job, which she has continually let. Late last year (2011) she let it to a couple and their teenage son, took the deposit of £500.00 and their first month rent and they duly moved in. I will add that prior to them moving in she had a tenant who more or less demolished the house, and it cost her £20,000 to renovate it ready for reletting. Her biggest error was not putting the deposit in the deposit scheme but keeping it in her savings account. Three months later these tenants started to complaint about one thing and another, then a constant complaint about damp appearing. She got in a surveyor who stated their was no damp, but it was condensation from drying clothes in the house and not opening the windows and also not keeping it sufficiently heated during the winter. After a further month or so of them complaining they moved. The house was left in a very dirty state and new carpets had to be laid after only five months of use. Now comes the problem. The tenants wanted their deposit back, but my daughter told them they had not given sufficient notice and had left the house in a bad state - thus no deposit was due back to them. They wrote to her telling her that unless she gave them the deposit back, they would go to the court and tell them she had not put their deposit in the DPS. My daughter heard no more from them until today when she had a letter from a solicitor stating they had been to the county court on 4th Sept, and had been awarded £1740.00 which she is to pay within seven days. She rang the court to find out more and it appears the notices had been going to another address and not hers. She is due to emigrate in three weeks time and is distraught over this. Is there anything anyone can suggest to help her?

Hi there hoping for some advice. We recently got a phone call from our landlord saying someone has put and offer on our flat and has been accepted. From this we asked if we could end the tenancy early if we found somewhere say in a week or two. He said yes. We have signed for a new flat and told the landlord who is saying he didn't say it and wants 2 months notice. I'm guessing we're in a bad situation, 2 months is on paper and the 2 week notice was only a verbal agreement. Am I correct in thinking this? This leaves us in the awful situation of potentially paying for 2 places for 2 months - which neither of us can afford, I used all my savings for the new deposit! What are our options, we're considering formally handing notice stating 1 month as agreed, but he's not going to like it and dispute this... We could cancel our standing orders for the following month - but i'm guessing he'll chase our money. Upon investigation we have found our deposit is not in any of the 3 DPS and when asked he said its in his own scheme... Hmmm... is it still true that we can go to the small claims court and get this deposit back and 3x? Can this be done after the tenancy or has it to be done before? Anyone got a quick heads up? How do we stand, i'm worried to tears! Whats the best course to take? I feel sick that he has done this after 3 years of renting from him and being perfect tenants. Help very much appreciated.

Hey guys, I've just given my notice period on 31st August which I believed to be a rent period i.e. month/30 days (went rolling in March). However my letting agency come back to me yesterday and said my termination date is a month from my tenancy start/rent date which is the 9th therefore October 9th. Is this correct or are they trying to fleece me for another 10 days rent which amounts to something like £150. I checked my tenancy agreement last night and couldnt find anything to support this.

Just a simple question really: how is a tenant supposed to know that they have to give notice, even though have been sent an S21? There is no information about this amongst the S21 documents, or accompanying letter from the agent. Have researched the net and find plenty of people who say that the tenant must still give notice (if they leave before the date on S21) but cannot find any information for tenants that says one must do this. I now understand that this appears to be the case, but would be helpful if a tenant, worried about having to leave their home, could be given detailed information about what they should do. Thanks for any advice.

Recently we have had a conservatory installed, but it seems we cannot insure it unless we have buildings insurance. Building insurance is held by the Housing Assocciation therefore we cannot also insure the building also as I believe it could be an offence. Recently many conservatories suffered hail damage and we do not want to be a statistic. How do we get around this one and insure only the conservatory?

I am a secure tenant (30+years) and live in fair rented HA accommodation. The rent officer visited my current home 9 years ago (as new build) and wants to visit again soon. What is (in plain language) the formula for setting fair rents? Is the service charge included in the setting of or is this on top of set fair rent? What is the maximum percentage my rent could increase by? Thank You

Hi can anyone help? I recently left a property approximately a month ago which I had rented along with some fellow students through a private landlord. Following leaving the property, I learnt from one of my former housemates that the landlord planned to withhold £40 of my deposit (originally £150) due to a stain on the underside of my mattress and that he was going to pass on the remaining £110 cash to my former housemate to return at a later date to myself. I am adamant that this stain was none of my doing. During the tenancy I did not flip the mattress at any point. So further to this I checked with the 3 government back deposit schemes to see if the landlord had registered with a scheme – it turns out he has not. So I then emailed the landlord expressing my concerns with the action he had taken in regards to not providing any invoice, and his method of return of the deposit, as well as that the stain on the mattress was none of my doing and that I felt it was unreasonable that I would have checked the underside of the mattress at the beginning of the tenancy. Adding to this I expressed that he had not protected my deposit as required by law and I therefore requested he paid returned my £150 within 2 weeks. He has replied to this with the following message: Dear XXXX, My response to your letter is as follows:- I will be sending your bond cheque for the full amount of £150.00. You now have a choice; I will buy a new mattress which will cost around £100.00. I have a signed inventory check letter which is dated 30th June 2011.This document will be produced, along with photographic evidence to show there was NO stain or damage to the bed in your room, prior to your tenancy. It is signed by the person who occupied the room. You can re-imburse me £100.00 and I will not go on to seek recourse for a whole bed. I will be sending the evidence to your parents, who are probably not aware of your current position. I dont think you or your parents would like the slur of a county court judgement on your record which will adverse effect on your future prospects. In the tenancy agreement that you were asked to read before signing it states that you are ALL jointly and severally responsible for any damage in the property, how would it look if I took all of you to court to pay for an item that just you have spoilt. I'm sure the other tenants parents won’t be happy about that. As you stated in your letter you would prefer to settle this amicably. I leave you to decide which way to go. Yours Sincerely I am now unsure of the action I should take. I reiterate I am adamant that the stain is none of my doing, and the signed inventory that he is referring to; had no mention of a mattress with any stains. He is now also threatening to seek recourse for the whole bed if this goes to a small claims court – there were a couple of broken slates underneath the bed which I declared with him before leaving and he agreed to there being no problem with this. I have not seen any of the other evidence he claims to possess as of yet. If he pays back my deposit does this not mean that he is accepting that there is no chargeable damage? Would any court judgement have an effect on any future prospects? Originally I just wanted to use the threat of no deposit protection as leverage to get my deposit back and would like to avoid the ‘slur’ of court. If he returns my deposit can I still take him to a small claims court for not originally protecting it? Ultimately I would just like to take no action against the landlord for not protecting my deposit and just receive my full deposit without any charges. Is there any way of going about this? Any other further advice would be much appreciated Please note that I am student, and I have notified my parents contrary to his belief – not that this should make any difference. Regards

Hello. I have had a "Buy To Let" mortgage with the Birmingham Midshires for over 10 yrs and recently fell behind by a tiny amount with the mortgage. Not only have they piled on numerous charges, but the have wrote to my tenant threatening to repossess the property. Needless to say my tenant (for over 7 yrs ) is very worried. Are they allowed to do this? Any Advice would be greatful

Hi All, This is very complicated: We rented a property for 3.5 years off a first time landlord found through an Agent who did not manage the property). We had inventory completed at the start which I amended and we all agreed to. We had a deposit of £1250 which was held by the T.D.S. During our tenancy we had quite a few issues with the property and a lot of repairs that were required. Stupidly we only spoke to our landlord on the phone and he promised again and again to complete these repairs. We chased, informed the agent (who told us that they could not be involved) and then gave up. At the end of our tenancy the landlord decided he wanted to enter the property early to complete all the repairs which we have an e-mail about. He entered two weeks before the end of the property (something we agreed to be nice as we had already moved out) and then called us with a loads of reasons he was going to keep our deposit. We requested an exit survey (this was never offered and the agent and landlord did an exit inspection without us present). We sent a letter to the landlord at the end of our tenancy (30.11.2011) saying that the deposit money was ours and he would need to prove a claim to it in order to retain our deposit. Things went very quiet. He sent one e-mail with a list of values and costs: Dining Room Floor - Whole flooring need re laminating as water damage to floor. Dining Room Table - Stored in garage water damage Mark on kitchen wall - From BBQ Marks on sofas Damage to sliding doors. We took pictures on exit, he did not. We admitted to the damage to the sofas but disputed the rest as the flooring was extremely cheap and glued together. It had already been damaged in the kitchen in a similar fashion to us moving in and we asked for proof of age and value. We have asked for proof of the value of everything which has never been provided and he has only provided his values along with a few quotes which seem very high. After I sent many many e-mails asking for proof/clarification in December I took this case to the T.D.S. It was then that the agent got involved and said that she was impartial. She rang us every evening during a time when our son had been born. We asked for everything to be put in writing. She ignored this and kept telling us that our taking this case to the T.D.S had made our landlord angry and he would take it to court instead. He did this after allowing the T.D.S 5 weeks of involvement. The agent was very aggressive and served the court papers on his behalf. She has obtained high quotes and has accepted his verbal values of everything. The courts served their papers and we stated that we could not defend as no particulars had been served ( this was in March a month and a half after the original papers). I recently served notice on the Claimant saying that unless we received the particulars the claim should be struck out. That he had not followed the CPR's correctly. A week later to my horror the agent served the particulars on his behalf along with a letter stating she had telephoned us twice to confirm we had received these and that they had been sent a while ago. She also accused the court's administration of being slack and losing papers (our have always been received and we return promptly). I could not believe this and wrote a letter stating that we had asked for all correspondence to be in writing, a request which has been ignored. I also said that we had not got any calls and I feel that this agent is acting as an legal adviser and this is a conflict of interest. I had written a complaint to the agent as well as sending a letter requesting more detail in the particulars. The thing is I've researched more and think that his particulars are written wrong. He has listed the points he is claiming for and has included not background or information. he is also choosing the courts in order to claim more money from us and has deliberately wasted time. He has used photos we have never seen and a few overpriced quotes (he is a builder by trade). Is there anything else I can do as my letters are being ignored by the courts and I'm worried that they will let this hearing 17th July just go ahead without any more information from him! Also should I served my defense on these points or the previous e-mail arguments?

Dear all, I have some ongoing maintenance issues with my property that still have not been resolved. Therefore i am slightly unwilling to be overly accommodating to my letting agents as there are two points in my contract which they have breached. I have recently given 2 months notice and instantly am being bombarded with requests to for new tenant viewings, often with little notice. I have a heavily pregnant girlfriend at home, who obviously needs rest at random times of the day. Given that many many lettings only require a single months notice, i have said i feel it is reasonable to allow new tenant viewings for the whole of the final month of my tenancy, but not two months. My agent says viewings will go ahead because new tenants in the area require an 6-8week lead in period. I am not denying access as i am happy to grant access at suitable times in what i consider a reasonable time during the last 4 weeks of my tenancy, but that i feel it intrusive for this to happen constantly for 8 weeks. I was wondering what people think of this, as many threads on here are cut and shut access or no access. I am happy to grant access, but not yet. Am i right in thinking i am being reasonable?

I own a flat and am renting a room out to someone whose girlfriend stays over a lot. I have asked that he not have her in the flat alone, and I thought he agreed. this morning when leaving for work she was still there and he had already left. I spoke to him about this and he seems to think that because my sister stayed over last night that he's entitled to have her in the flat as he likes. Now my sister stayed over, but she left when I did, and as it's my flat surely I am not subject to the same rules as him. I made the point that he and my sister are both covered by my insurance if they burn down the flat, break something, etc. but it's invalidated if his girlfriend is there alone. Any thoughts? Do I have to justify this or can I just say my flay and I don't want someone who's not a tenant or paying rent wandering around when no one else is there.

I need some help if possible people. I am currently letting out my property out, the lease runs out on 28th August 2012. We would like to move back into the property having just moved back from Singapore when the lease expires. i informed the estate agents managing the property that i chose not to extend the lease and she told me "The lease finishes on 28.08.12. if you want to serve the tenant with notice this will need to be done by 28.06.12." I did so by e mail and phone and just got a e mail from the estate agents saying "I will need to serve the tenants notice today and they will ask me why you are serving them notice, If they refuse to vacate i will also need to give a reason ie: selling property. It is also worth noting that once notice is served they are free to leave whenever they like therefore if they were to find something they could move out tomorrow" The estate agent phoned and said this was unlikely to happen as he is ill and is speaking to the council to get some help and he will most probably leave later, much later.. I informed her that i didnt mind him moving early but if he didnt move out on the end of the tenancy agreement i would not be happy as we wish to move back into the property having just arrived back from Singapore and are spending money on storage costs the longer we cant move in... Is this correct? i thought (perhaps naively) that if i served notice that when the lease expires on the 28th August the tenant must move.. What are my options?

hi, hope im in the right place, i have a tenanted property, that is being dealt with by a 'fixed charge receiver', due to may past financial problems. the tenant has been given notice to quit the property, then the 'receiver' plans to hand control back to the morgage co(ge money) so they can take possession and sell it. my issue is that the tenant wants me to give permission for her to speak to ge as she want to buy the property and does not want to move out. Can this happen.? surely the property has to be in vacant possession of ge for them to sell it on the open market, and getting the best price for me to clear the mortgage.. thanks

The Tenant Services Authority, which was the regulatory body for social housing providers, closed at the end of March. Its regulatory functions have been transferred to the Homes and Communities Agency. http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/

The Tenant Services Authority, which was the regulatory body for social housing providers, closed at the end of March. Its regulatory functions have been transferred to the Homes and Communities Agency. http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/

Hi All, can anyone give me some advice on my legal right regarding the below please? I have a standard tenancy agreement with 6 month break clause (1 month notice) a the condition that "the heating in the flat is not enjoyable for the Tenants as mutually agreed by the Landlord and Tennant" This clause was put into place as the flat don t have central heating neither double glazing (back in 80/2010) - following cold winters I have requested in several occasion to have the window replaced or for a secondary double glazing to be put in place but nevertheless the management agency attempts to insulate the flat with other cheaper solution no much did improve - secondary double glazing were not put into place as the landlord want to sell the flat this summer. Due to the very low rent I still have put up to live in the propriety and to pay more on heating to try to keep warm. This anyway did result in me been ill constantly and having to take time off work consequently. Following been diagnosticate with Cervical Artois and Chronic Sinusitis I have tried to give my notice as I did not want o jeopardise my health any further. Unfortunately the Management agency don t agree with us giving notice and they are stating that now is warm. I am challenging that in the break clause isn t specificity that the temperature has to be agree to be enjoyable or that I have to allow additional time for repairs as this "has already been mutually agreed" Can anyone give an opinion on our right? Many thanks

27/5/2012 Hi. Can anyone help me out here? My tenants advised me 3 months ago that they would be leaving, as they were buying a property. Due to work commitments and timescales, we worked out that the 17th June would give them enough time to complete on their property purchase, whilst also, admittedly, fitting in with my commitments. Within a couple of days they came back to me and asked to make it 17th July, as they thought it may not be long enough. I agreed to this and sent them notice to quit- by recorded delivery- at the beginning of May stating the 17th July. I made contact with them last week and asked if all was on track for the 17th July and was told 'yes'. I wished them well. However, today I received an email stating that the house purchase went through quicker than expected and now wish to leave on the 17 June instead. This will result in 3 weeks lost revenue for me. What I would like to know is if they can counteract my notice with less than 1 months notice, so to speak? They have been tenants for 4 years, on a rolling tenancy, following on after the initial 6 month AST. Many thanks in advance.

Can anyone help please? It's a little complicated but will try to keep it short. I rented my property on a 6 month AST to someone who owns next door and wanted to buy my property to knock through. It all started off well but the sale fell through - no fault of anyone's in particular and he has turned nasty. His tenancy ended on 31st October but he refused to leave and said he'd leave when he wanted. (even though he owns the empty property next door!) He was supposed to pay the rent for November on 26th October but obviously cancelled his direct debit because I didn't receive it and still haven't. I tried to take a prospective new tenant around there (giving him 24 hours notice) but it was hopeless as the tenant was obstructive and abusive. I have written him formal letters requiring him to leave on Nov 30th and follow up letters about rent but he hasn't responded. I then read I should have given him two months notice, so do I need to do this now or does the fact that his rent is now over 16 days late, mean this is void and I can get him out? I requested a meeting giving him 24 hours notice but he said it wasn't convenient. What on earth can I do?

...Well, important for my partner and I! Just want to declare I've tried Googling this but get conflicting information, so thought would register and ask you kind people. Our aim: To commence renting a new property we've found to replace our current rented property (which has different agents) as soon as possible. My hope is we're able to send notice by registered post immediately, to quit our present property on or after 28 October, without any penalties or repercussions. You'll see below why I haven't put an earlier quit date. By the way, when I search this query the results are generally information to assist tenants who want to stay where they are, which is kind of the opposite! Information: Our current six-month Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST) commenced 29 September last year. So it expired 28 March this year. When we signed this AST we also signed the notice that possession would be required by the landlord or his agents on 28 March this year. Obviously they haven't let us know any further intent to execute this possession yet and we haven't entered into any new agreement with them. So all would seem good... The possible problem: ...However, the AST we signed includes this clause: "The Tenant agrees with the Landlord to give the Landlord at least two months' notice in writing when the Tenant wishes to end the Tenancy at the expiration of the term certain or to terminate the tenancy if the Tenancy has continued as a Periodic Tenancy. Should the tenant provide less than two months' notice the Landlord reserves the right to charge the full rent for the notice period required." Not sure about the apostrophes there To be fair though, the AST also includes the same sort of clause requiring the landlord to give us two months notice should he want to give us the boot. The questions: 1. Is the two months notice noted above something we have to adhere to, i.e. is this legal? I appreciate we signed it. 2. Or am I even not understanding things correctly, and perhaps it doesn't apply? 3. Actually, we'd prefer to commence the new property about a month from now, but is it true 9 October-ish wouldn't be acceptable notice for my present letting agents as the quit date, as the quit date has to be the end of a full month of tenancy? I.e. is it true that the cost of rent doesn't have to be accepted pro rata by the agents where the tenant gives a quit date before the end of his month's agreement? More info: My partner's pregnant and we need to move from our one bedroom cupboard to a two bedroom home. I hadn't checked the agreement we signed recently, which is my fault of course, so today paid the new letting agency our agency fees, with a provisional agreement of commencing tenancy in about a month. Obviously, if we're stuck we'll have to ask the new agents if they'll consider waiting a bit longer. And of course I can phone the present agents first to see if they'll accept notice to quit of one month. Though I don't see why they would. Also, we live in Wales, if that matters. And the bond, held by the Deposit Protection Service, is equal to one month of rent. PS: I've tried to write this to make things as easy as possible to answer for anyone kind enough to help. PPS: Welcome to the forums, me?

Hi there forum I was hoping for your advice/comments on the following: myself and a co-tenant entered into an assured shorthold tenancy with a person that represented that they were the landlord of a property; we paid rent in cash (which was collected from our flat each month as the landlord's agent had other properties to collect rent from also) and we were given a receipt; the term of the tenancy was six months (started in April 2010) and so the fixed term expired in October but there is a clause which says that it will then continue on until either party gives a months notice to the other to terminate; we came back to our flat last Thursday to find a notice from a debt collection/repossion company celotaped to the door saying that we had been occupying the flat without the consent of its client, the purported registered owner; we did a land registry check and this does seem to be the case; we have tried to contact our landlord but all numbers go to voicemail and the agent cannot get in touch with the landlord either; the notice asked that we vacate immediately however after speaking to the debt/recovery company, we managed to agree that we would vacate in the first week in January 2011 (we had paid rent up until the middle of January); we have also been asked to make sure that all utility bills are paid up (our rent was all inclusive and all bills were in the landlord's name) - we replied by stating that we have paid rent which included a proportion for such bills and so if anyoen is to be pursued by the registered owner of the flat then it should be our landlord and not us; we installed a BT line into the property and now will have to pay circa £300.00 to buy out the 12 month contract (as we will have to leave before the 12 months have expired); it appears as though the landlord may well be a rogue and so we have been payign rent to someone who did not allegedly have the authority to rent out the property, although we acted in good faith at all times. ANY COMMENTS AS TO WHAT OUR RIGHTS ARE!?!?!? Thank you in advance and my apologies for the distress call! Yours faithfully Innocent_Tenant

Hi, Not 100% sure of my rights/obligations here, so any help would be greatly appreciated! The LA which my LL used to manage the property on an AST which had fallen into periodic tenancy vanished without trace at the end of February. At the start of March, I recieved a telephone call from the LL informing me that no further payments were to be made to the LA, and that she had not received the rent payment for February. The LL confirmed that she had spoken to the LA before they 'vanished' and that they infoermed her they had recieved the rent, and would pay into heer account. According to the LL this did not happen and she was unable to contact them again. The LL insisted upon a new AST being signed - I did not see the purpose of this, and was loath to do so as my LL has a r3eputation for being 'difficult', but LL stated she would serve notice if I did not sign, and as I did not have a security deposit or moving costs for a new property, I felt I had no choice but to sign. As soon as the new AST was signed, my LL became the LL from hell. She began making demands for receipts for rental payments going back to December 2010, insisted upon late fee charges being paid for December, January and February payments (the rent since August 2009 has been paid either on time or up to 14 days late on occasion, without any notice of any issues regarding this), threatening court action for rent arrears if receipts were not produced etc. Whilst I understood her frustration with the LA, and would have been happy to work with her to get any paperwork that would help her in her claim against the LA, I was shocked and immediately defensive to this seemingly unfair and overly aggressive stance. In subsequent correspondence, the LL has stated that the LA are in administration and made continuous reference to this matter also being a 'criminal matter'. Upon searching rigorously, I managed to locate the majority of my receipts bar one for the amount of £160.00 (I have a dreadful feeling it was located in one of my books which I have since sold in a car boot sale...). LL has stated that according to the Official Receivers there is no record of £160.00 being paid, which I know to be untrue. Several letters later and she is now instructing me that if the £160.00 'arrears' and the 'outstanding late fees' are not paid within 7 days, she will make a claim at County Court. She has also issued a letter titled 'notice of legal proceedings' in which she states that her solicitor is 'looking into a claim for misrepresentation'. A couple of internet searching hours later, and I have my response to that particular letter. I asked the LL to provide details of the Official Receivers several times, as i suspected that the LA were not in adminstration, but had just vanished, and she was attempting to recover whatever losses she had by making demands for payments I could not provide receipts for. Luckily I found the majority, but this last £160.00 is proving difficult! She has made continuous references to the 'Official Receivers' and the contact she has had with them, but upon pushing her for the fourth time for the name of such, her response was as follows: 'In response to your queries regarding the Official Receivers for (LA) I have asked permission to pass their details onto you. As you are not a creditor they have specifically asked me not to do so at this time'. This actually made me laugh, as such information is a matter of public record, and this proved to me that she has not in fact had any contact with a receiver of any kind. I have paid for reports on companies house today, and they confirm that the LA is in liquidation, not administration. The reports were also only filed on 14.04.11, with the 'wind down' meeting having taken place on 31.03.11. As such, the claims my LL has made about speaking to Official Receivers before the company was even in liquidation are clearly lies. I obviously also now have the liquidators details What I would like help with is where I stand on the matter of the missing receipt for £160.00? Does my LL have the right to so aggressively chase for this, even though I have already paid it? Also, does she have the right to begin back-dating late fees when there was no issue raised in the past regarding late payments? Any help is greatly appreciated, I have had to become a rental expert in the last few months, what with the numerous claims about legal and criminal proceedings, as well as several repair issues (a leaking roof is 'non-urgent' according to the LL and the black mould spreading under my bedroom windows, up the wall, and around the back of the wardrobe is 'not harmful and should be cleaned off the wall with a mild detergent'; this advice comes without any testing of the mould, and without her even seeing it!). I have managed to find my own answers on most of the curveballs my LL has thrown at me, but I'm a little stuck on this one! Many thanks in anticipation

Hi, It is difficult to write the whole incident but I will write to the point and any kind of help and input will really be appreciated. My 2 bedroom flat was flooded with sewage water on 2nd Jan, 2011 and 2 rooms were fully flooded and cleaners and insurance company declared it uninhabitable (though living room was not flooded as I was there and water did not enter in living room), 4 flats in same floor were flooded, so it was definitely not LL fault or my - tenant fault, this was caused by community living in that building which has 70 flats, so can not blame anybody in this case. I lived with my friends for initial 2 days and then moved to a guest house and payment was made by my landlord’s insurance but only for around 3 weeks. (I paid for initial 2 days but I got that back from my LL insurance) Flat was not fixed during this time and my landlord then wanted me to end the contract (because it may take several weeks before flat will be fixed), I had no place to go and all my stuff was still in the flat, During this time I also started looking for new accommodation as well as some other cheaper alternative accommodation and found one but that was not available till 12th Feb, 2011. On 14th Jan I gave him notice of 4 weeks, told him that tenancy will end on 14th feb as 4 weeks of notice was required. I used to pay rent on 20th of every month, and before 20th Jan I came to know that my landlord or his insurance company is not ready to accommodate me anywhere, I called my LL and told him that I am not paying rent because 1) you or your insurance company is not providing me an alternate accommodation 2) There is a clause in my tenancy agreement - (4.2) the Landlord will return to the Tenant any rent payable for any period during which the Property may have been rendered uninhabitable by fire or any other risk which the Landlord has insured on 25th of Jan I vacated guest house and went to my friend's place, I needed accommodation for another 3 weeks as new house that I found was not available before 12 th Feb, 2011. After lot of discussion with my spouse we decided to go back to same old flat and started living in living room (rest of 2 bedrooms were uninhabitable), we are a couple and 2 children (4.5 years and 8 months) as we found it extremely difficult to live anywhere else because of access to kitchen and kids were not adjusting well. Before moving back I informed my LL as well as his insurance well in advance that please please arrange some alternative accommodation or else I may move back. I thought of moving to a hotel but by that time I already spent good amount money for initial accommodation, packing , moving , taking time off from work etc that I did not want more financial exposure. There are two problems here – 1. My landlord expects me to pay full rent for last 3 weeks, though I was not able to make full use of property, moreover I moved to flat because I did not have any other option left. Agency claims that insurance was ready to accommodate me till 12th of Feb but that was not true as I have emails communication from them, basically either agency is lying or LL misguided him, I have written proof of it in form of emails, which I provided to agency and he kind of agreed on phone that LL should pay me all deposit back in such case. 2. My landlord/agency never protected my deposit till 4 months after I paid it to agency, who then paid it to landlord. I chased them after 4 months and they said they will do it but I never got nay kind of communication from them and I checked with all deposit schemes and it is not protected anywhere. Agency is not ready to help me; they initially said I should get back my deposit in full and now asking me to speak to landlord directly. Please suggest, is it worth going to court, if yes are they two separate issues? My tenancy has already ended on 14th feb, LL has not paid me deposit back as we have not been able to agree to how much he should return, I even offered him to keep i/3 of rent just to close this matter but he wants to take full rent. I did not mention other problems like issues in contacting LL etc and no reply from him as they can not be proved in court. I also visited CAB today and lawyer suggested me to file a court case for not protecting deposit. Thanks in advance

Here is my quandry: I have my deposit held by DPS. I ended my tenancy and was asked to give up almost half my deposit (£790 - £382) As the house had dated decor and old fixtures (noted in the inventory) I argued the fact that I had left the property in as best condition as possible. In fact, I spent a great deal of my time cleaning a house that was falling to bits. I made a counter offer via the DPS site, which was rejected. In the meantime the house was sold without any of the work (noted in an email from my letting agent) pertaining to the withheld portion of the deposit being done. I know this because: - I moved two doors down so I have a very good idea about who comes and goes - I can see the house from the outside to the front and rear and - The photos of the house put on the selling agent's website did not include any new work, besides a very dodgy wallpapering over of a severely damp-affected wall. Thinking that the sale of the house may change the situation, I waited 3 weeks for my landlord to return from holidays to hear what her new instructions would be. Today, I received an email from the letting agency that reads as follows: I have been in discussions with your landlord with regards to a deduction and they have advised they will accept a £250 deduction to now get the matter settled. If this cannot be agreed and the matter is referred to the DPS for adjudication they will be making a claim for the full amount and not that of £250. So...the landlord has sold the property without getting any of the work done and made an arbitrary claim for £250 with the implied threat that I should take it or suffer the consequences. What to do? Thoughts?