Grampa Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Went on a legal course last week and have loads a new stuff to post which you may or may not be aware of. I'm pushed for time at the moment and will post more later but for starters did you know that solicitors don't learn anything about housing law at solicitor school? They have to specialise in it at a later date or make it up as they go along, This is from the mouth of a practising solicitor. It sort of doesn't surprise me after picking the pieces up from a number of botched high street solicitor served notices but I would have thought they had some basic housing law training. Frightening innit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 My cousin who is a solicitor in London told me that when taking a law degree they spend very little time learning the rudiments of conveyanceing. Most solicitors learn the ropes on the job........and there was I thinking they knew what they were doing. I guess its probably fair to say that most legal firms will have people with a range of experience ......from very to virtually none, but that junior members will generally be overseen by more senior people. No real surprise there then.....that's how the world works in most other professions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickpea Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Having had to use a solicitor to deal with our last tenants, I can well believe it, Grampa. The solicitor we used failed to spot that our tenant hadn't given written notice (nor, for that matter, did our LA). Would have saved us a lot of aggro and money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 RL I agree with what you are say but the bad experiences I've had with poor and incorrect service and advise given out by solicitors has been done by one (or two) man bands in their little office in the high st. I guess these practices don't have the back up and support of the larger law practices. Tracey as you have also found out there are knowledgeable and unknowledgeable letting agents but don't get me started on that. But as all agents now by law have to belong to a redress scheme you do have a route to go down to get compensation if you have suffered a loss by their actions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 I have asked a tenant to look for accommodation elsewhere as her contract will not be renewed, S21 issued. She moved her boyfriend in and he would not have got passed by me at any viewing. The let was for 1 person and includes services. Anyway when I caught him with keys coming away from property last week I challenged him - reply was ' I know all about housing law as I did a law degree' (he now runs a sub aqua diving school). My reply was 'that means you have no knowledge of it whatsoever'. Agree Grampa there are very few solicitors who deal with landlord/tenant law every day and so they make mistakes when confronted with a desperate client. It always amazes me why agents get involved with S21 etc. They invariably get it wrong and it is not usually part of the customer contract - or is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 I cant speak for other agents but I believe agents should be able to and know how to serve a S21 and S8 (rent arrears) correctly otherwise I would foresee landlords suffering and you would see agents fannying about trying to get dodgy tenants to toe the line with numerous letters and a landlord could be 2 months further up the road with no rent before the agents advises the landlord to go to a solicitor which then brings us back to the earlier post on dodgy solicitors. Helping landlords filling out court papers and starting possession proceedings is more specialised and most agents shouldn't do it as they don't know how to do it correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickpea Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 I cant speak for other agents but I believe agents should be able to and know how to serve a S21 and S8 (rent arrears) correctly otherwise I would foresee landlords suffering and you would see agents fannying about trying to get dodgy tenants to toe the line with numerous letters and a landlord could be 2 months further up the road with no rent before the agents advises the landlord to go to a solicitor which then brings us back to the earlier post on dodgy solicitors. Helping landlords filling out court papers and starting possession proceedings is more specialised and most agents shouldn't do it as they don't know how to do it correctly. This is exactly what happened with us. T did a runner, forged a new AST,accused us/LA of a whole load of nonsense, wouldn't allow access, damaged the property etc, etc. LA went back and forwards with T for weeks before telling us we should consult a solicitor. Recommended a solicitor, who basically told us to forget any idea of persuing the T and charged us £300 for the privilege. We were left being owed £1100 in rent, plus a dirty a damaged property. Disputed the deposit and TDS found in our favour, simply down to the basic fact that, regardless of anything else that had happened, the tenant had never given written notice to end the tenancy after it became an SPT - something neither the LA or the solicitor spotted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 This may be of interest to you guys the Tenancies (Reform) Bill 2014-15 gets it second reading in the House Of Commons on the 28th November 2014.This bill deals with retaliatory evictions and is aiming to ensure that tenants who complain about the condition of their property cannot be evicted, in effect, for complaining. The Bill also states that if a landlord cannot produce a current gas safe certificate for the property then any Section 21 notice could not be relied on to regain possession. The Bill also seeks to change the length of time that a S21 notice is valid for. At the moment S21 notices are open-ended but the proposal is that in future they would only remain valid for a maximum period of 6 months from service.​This bill may be altered before it comes into force but it gives an idea of how things are headinghttp://services.parliament.uk/bills/2014-15/tenanciesreform.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Chichester+District+Council&utm_campaign=4897847_Homefinder+%26+Environmental+Housing+News+Letter&utm_content=2&dm_i=5B6,2WZ7B,HFUVVN,AL8BI,1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 This Bill all seems perfectly reasonable to me. One could argue it goes nowhere near far enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 OK so imagine this:- Tenant is not responding to a landlord, won't allow inspections and won't allow gas safe engineer in to certificate boiler. Tenant is accusing LL of harassment and loss of quiet enjoyment. This is a common theme most of us have come across at some time or other. If this 'revenge eviction' law goes through how is a landlord to achieve S21 eviction? This law seems designed to prevent evictions and lessen the burden on local authorities. Another tightening of the screw on landlords good and bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 I agree RL, the proposals seems reasonable but I do believe the extent of retaliatory evictions has been blown out of proportion and is no where near as bad as some ministers and organisations such as shelter would like you to think. This part of the bill is the bit I find slightly worrying and wonder if it can be twisted and exaggerated by tenants to avoid being evicted. After all a tenant can report whatever they want whether its true or not and if done at the start of the possession process it will just drag it out for weeks longer at the landlords expense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 8, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 Mortitia if it does go through and there is no provision for the situation you mention I suspect there will be a amendment at a later date but it is a valid concern. I guess we will have to document all attempts to gain access to the property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 8, 2014 Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 There's no point in worrying yourselves about things you have no control over. The Government (whoever is in power at the time) will debate the subject and decide how best to proceed. When they think they have it right it'll become law. If it needs fine tuning afterwards it will get sorted.......this is called progess. Our choices & input to this process are very limited........we can effect the election every 5 years, we can lobby our MP's and if you belong to an associated trade organisation they can have an input to the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 Another nice new law for you all to digest. In Feb 2014 there was a amendment to the General products and safety Regulations which came into force 14th August 2014. This states that if you manage a property that contains internal blinds, curtains etc that have a chain or cord they are classed as a hazard (to kids due to risk of choking I guess). So if you have any properties with these type of blinds/curtains you need to check they have a safety cleat or snap connector. I am guessing if they are fairly new and installed by a proper contractor they will comply. Thinking about it I would say one on the worst ones would be the old fashioned venetian blinds as you have to pull on them quite hard to raise them up and dont have (or cant have) a snap connector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 I didn't know this was a requirement.....something else to add to my list of 'things' to comply with. So, thanks for flagging that up. However, I don't think this is a big problem. Child safety clips are readily available for just £2 or £3 to retro fit roller, vertical, roman and venetian blinds. There's a selection on Ebay : http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=blind+clips&_from=R40%7CR40%7CR40&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xvenetian+blind+clips&_nkw=venetian+blind+clips&_sacat=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 I am in future going to just try to advise landlords not to use these type of blinds. If they have a snap connector that not so bad but to have little hooks the that the tenant is supposed hank the cord out of little fingers reach could still cause problems if there was a incident. I just have visions of tenants spouting that the hook was broken, we were never told to use it, it was unsuitable for the blind, it came unstuck from the wall and the landlord never put it back up etc etc etc. Then on every inspection/check out/in it is another thing to make sure you check. Most of our properties don’t have curtains or blinds anyway as the tenants supply their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 13, 2014 Report Share Posted November 13, 2014 Ok that's your choice and as a lettings agent I can understand why you would do that, I'd probably do the same given the potential for lots of hassle should something go wrong. As a private landlord my view is slightly different. I had some new vertical blinds fitted a year ago and was asked if I wanted the child proof clips. I said no at the time but have subsequently bought and fitted them. Cheap, quick and very easy to fit and they look/ seem very durable. I'm so pleased with them I'm going to get some more for my own house. Roller, venetian & roman blinds would also be very easy to retro fit child proof clips. Personally I dislike roman & venetian blinds as the big issue for me is that they are dust traps. The fact that they are difficult & time consuming to clean is a far bigger deterent for having them than the need for child proof clips. Whilst I can usually get away with not cleaning roller & vertical blinds and large draw curtains very often I can't with the others as dust is/ can be so bloody obvious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 Back on the subject of "retaliatory evictions" which shelter want extra protection for tenants brought in, the below link makes interesting reading.http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/dont-know-many-revenge-evictions-says-housing-minister/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 14, 2014 Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 I thought it was generally knowledge that landlords are perceived as liars, cheats, the worst kind of people you could meet and deserve everything that is thrown at them by tenants, local councils, Shelter and the Government. I mean we all know there is a hierachy. People that the general public love to hate include......the tax man, traffic wardens, estate agents, bankers. *ankers AND landlords who come near to the top of that list. Maybe as landlords we should appeal to the European Court of Human Rights as we keep getting dumped on big time. I've already stopped referring to myself as a landlord as I'm starting to lose my friends, don't get invited to dinner parties any more and its become virtually impossible to get into the best places at Newmarket.......God only knows how estate agents manage their poor image. I now refer to myself as as working in Property Management as it has more of a professional ring and people take me far more seriously. Mark my words, in 5 years time there will be NO landlords......we are a dying breed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted November 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 14, 2014 Mark my words, in 5 years time there will be NO landlords......we are a dying breed. There will be landlords but it will a lot harder for them to self manage and all the unqualified agents will be pushed out (or underground) which will mean more work for me and lots of agent portfolios to buy up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted November 16, 2014 Report Share Posted November 16, 2014 Property Management Agent..........I like that RL.......I too will refer myself to this title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted November 16, 2014 Report Share Posted November 16, 2014 For the record the term Property Management (Managing) Agent is not new - I have used a professional one for several years. Although often (and usually) a P M A is also a Letting Agent, the roles are different. For me the P M A is someone who looks after the common interests of owners of a group or groups of properties, whether owner-occupied or rented to tenants. Although expected to be fully conversant with the various laws and procedures that may apply, and offer advice on request, my P M A does not (and should not) get involved with letting matters between Landlord and Tenant, unless specifically appointed by an individual owner to act as their Letting Agent as well. IME it is better to keep the two roles separate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 16, 2014 Report Share Posted November 16, 2014 Not guilty my Lud'. I absolutely refute all accusations that say I used the word 'agent' in my previous post. What I said was.... 'I now refer to myself as working in Property Management ......' (as opposed to being a landlord). I do in fact manage my portfolio of properties and therefore am clearly working on managing properties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Your right RL Agent is not a good terminolgy to use so I have amended my status to: "Property Management Consultant". That should ensure I get a few Gin & Tonics in the Pub instead of abuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted November 17, 2014 Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 Excellent choice Melboy. Seems Consultants are the public's new favourites...... it used to be Pop Stars.......then Chefs.......now its Consultants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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