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Landlord Stressing
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
We had an inspection of the flat a week ago and this guy who works for the landlady did it, and my landlady just rang up and said that he said the place was in a state. Which is fairly annoying that he's gone and said all this stuff because when he came round we asked if everything was ok and he said it was fine
One of the main things he said is that the bathroom tiles are mouldy, which they get like - but I'm not sure what we can do about this to be honest. We air the bathroom as much as possible and the window is always open, the problem is that there is no heater and no ventilation in the bathroom apart from a tiny window. We've only been here 6 months and we've had to whiten the grout out of our own pocket and time. I said to her we're doing our best and she basically said it isn't good enough. She said we have to bleach and scrub the tiles every week. There's 3 rooms in the house that get mould but I don't know what to do about it! We've only got 1 dehumidifier and they still get moudly and she blames us! I'm at my wits end trying to keep the mould at bay I just don't know what to do
Also he complained that the walls and carpet weren't clean - they're both white, and we've tried to keep them as clean as possible, but my boyfriend put his hand on the wall after he's cleaned it (to test) and it left a mark. Any marks are tiny and are what I would consider general wear and tear, a lot of rented properties are painted yearly for this reason
So what to do? Is it our fault because we are plebs? How clean is it necessary to keep the house when you're renting? Is it our responsibility to contantly scrub mould off the tiles and walls? She lived here before us and reckons she had no problems which I find very hard to believe
One of the main things he said is that the bathroom tiles are mouldy, which they get like - but I'm not sure what we can do about this to be honest. We air the bathroom as much as possible and the window is always open, the problem is that there is no heater and no ventilation in the bathroom apart from a tiny window. We've only been here 6 months and we've had to whiten the grout out of our own pocket and time. I said to her we're doing our best and she basically said it isn't good enough. She said we have to bleach and scrub the tiles every week. There's 3 rooms in the house that get mould but I don't know what to do about it! We've only got 1 dehumidifier and they still get moudly and she blames us! I'm at my wits end trying to keep the mould at bay I just don't know what to do
Also he complained that the walls and carpet weren't clean - they're both white, and we've tried to keep them as clean as possible, but my boyfriend put his hand on the wall after he's cleaned it (to test) and it left a mark. Any marks are tiny and are what I would consider general wear and tear, a lot of rented properties are painted yearly for this reason
So what to do? Is it our fault because we are plebs? How clean is it necessary to keep the house when you're renting? Is it our responsibility to contantly scrub mould off the tiles and walls? She lived here before us and reckons she had no problems which I find very hard to believe
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Comments
As for little marks, it depends how little.
As for having white walls and carpet in a rented properly i think shes an idiot. Especially the carpet.
Marks on the walls/carpets are just smudges, no bigger than an inch and you can only spot them if you're really looking. I've no idea why she painted everything white! And cream carpets are just asking for trouble. We're not hideously dirty, but the house is lived in :rolleyes:
When we were renting a house though, it stated that the carpets had to be steam cleaned when we left.
Check your contract.
I cleaned them myself though and they were fine.
Because it's usually cheaper than colured paint.
Yeah, you pay off their investment for them and all they do is complain. Fucking parasites.
If you can find an alternative way of getting a reference for another place, it could be worth losing your deposit to leave the place a complete mess that would take a while to clean, and put off other tenants (undamaged, of course)
If there are mould problems I would state that there's a damp problem that has damaged your goods, and that two can play at that game.
You could put loads of elbow grease in and she'll still claim that it's not enough. Have an inspection about two weeks before you leave the property, clean it again, and if she continues to be a whingeing parasite you'll probably need to take legal action against her.
Fucking parasite. If she lost everything I'd be delighted.
All these things he has mentioned are petty and not usually brought up in inspections. Inspections are really for abuse of the property and major damage. Little things like this are usually brought up in the inspection after you have left the property, they then take any minor damages/cleaning bills out of your deposit. That's why before you leave you should scrub the house from top to bottom and fix any little problems such as loose door handles etc.
I think you should have to do that for landlords. If they're crap, neg feedback them
Explain to the landlord in writing the problems you are facing with ventilation and heating in the bathroom, and that mould is unavoidable unless the probelms are fixed. Also explain that their failure to rectify the mould problem is damaging your property, and that this is unacceptable. Set your position out in writing now, as it will make the legal action you'll have to take a lot easier.
All landlords are evil parasitic cunts and I'd put all of them in fucking prison if it were my choice.
Houseparty, then take all the furniture
Our landlord blamed us for the leaks caused by a broken pipe, and disconnected our shower. As it "wasn't on the inventory" she wouldn't fix it.
Her expensive houseplants weren't on the inventory either. They look really good in our living room
I had a landlasy exacty the same. She knew we smoked and she knew we had a cat. We showed her the papers to state the cat was flee treated, she was happy with this.
4 months into it, she gave us a month's notice (which is illegal)saying she was going to sell the house.
We struggled getting somewhere so needed to stay another day or 2. She made out this wasn't good enough and she would charge us storage for her furniture. I then reminded her, we had a 6 month contract and you couldn't legally give us notice until the 6 months is up.
Anyway, come the inspection she noticed 3 - 4 tiny tiny little round marks on the wooden floor. She was on her hands and knees with a magnifying glass!
She went in the garden (she'd asked us to trim the dead plants and bushes and took a little off the rent)and said we'd nicked all her dafodil bulbs and come spring if they didn't come up she'd be billing us!
2 days after the inspection we get a cheques for around £100 (deposit was &750). Detailed was:
Extensive damage to the floor boards
Exterminator fees to clean the whole house and carpet
Damage to walls
We'd put a couple of pictures up, so apparently the whole wall needed fixing.
The cat never left the house and was treated, plus the house was cleaner when we left than when we moved in. We spent 12 hours giving a thorough clean!
We tried to talk to her about this, she was pregnant at the time and every time we spoke she grabbed her tummy, started panting and told us we were harrassing her!
Anyway, after we moved out, we also found out other people were renting off her they were just paying more rent!
Grrr I hate landlords!
Landlords can't give notice on an assured shorthold, and even if she's selling it the tenancy just moves to the new owner.
I really hate to be the bringer of bad news but its highly unlikely that the OP will get her bond back. We've lost nearly a fucking grand on thieving parasite landlords retaining bonds unreasonably, and if they did die, well, I probably would piss on their grave. The hatred I feel to the landlords who shafted us really is quite strong.
Bugger bugger. Surely if they take your bond they have to produce a bill for the damage?
She keeps blaming everything on me!! She lived here last year and said she had no problem with mould, but there is no ventilation so it keeps coming. And she wants us to scrub with bleach, if she had an extractor fan or a radiator then it wouldn't be there in the first place!!
They do technically have to provide a bill, and they have to show that they have sought to mitigate any damage. Usually they have to show that they have obtained several quotes to get the cheapest price, etc etc.
But what they should do and what they do do are two entirely different things. In our first house we got half our bond back after sending solicitors letters, and it wasn't worth the time and energy to get the other half back; in our second house they took better photos than us (we naively only took photos of the damage) after they had trashed the house. In both houses we had problems with mould due to poor ventilation and heating; in both houses we were blamed. We were also blamed for discolouration of grouting, as soap causes grout to go black apparently.
They're all fucking cunts who deserve to get impaled on something painful and fatal. 14 months on and I'm still seething about that Scottish shitstain that robbed us- I do hope that her life is ruined and she ends up as a hobo freezing to death somewhere. I wouldn't piss on her if she was on fire.
How did they try and blame you? By saying you didn't have the windows open? That's exactly what they're doing to us, and saying that the grout is getting discoloured because we don't take care of it and bleach it every week
Same with the grout, apparently we should bleach it twice a day and everything.
This is why the £100,000 I paid for my house was the best money I ever spent.
Bastaaaaarrrrddddddddddds! I'm finishing uni this year and I intend to buy a house as soon as I possibly can because I've had it up to here with landlords, and paying extortionate amounts for living in a grotty house I don't even like and being blamed for it all :mad:
We're renting at the moment but through a company who deals with the landlord on our behalf. I don't really like it because I just know they'll find any little thing!
When my boyfriend vacated his last rented property the same firm deducted £40 for a broken toilet seat that was broken when he moved in! All he did was take it off, use his own, and put it back on again before leaving. They also deducted about £200 for someone to mow the lawn, which was mowed before they left! Grrrr. If I were you I would send letters (by recorded delivery) every single time you notice the mould! Keep a diary of when you clean and when the mould comes back too.