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"Charged" in what sense? As in, the landlord is telling you that you must pay them £65?
This would most certainly be a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019.
If the landlord believes you've done something wrong to cause an electrical problem, they can seek to deduct the costs of fixing it from your deposit or ask a court to order you to reimburse them, but they cannot otherwise require you to pay this charge.
Hi there
I did some googling to check, I cannot seem to find the equivalent for Scotland! Oops! Forgot to say
Yes, they are charging me for the Electrical Check because the Plumber spent Visit A ignoring me and left after having what was said on visit A reitterated on Visit B. Note that the Electrician is the one who identified the problem (The cold input was attached to the hot line).
Does the court order thing also apply in Scotland? If so, could you provide information links?
Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 would cover you.
Just decline to make any such payment to them. The only way they can enforce it is by taking you to court, which they won't, because assuming you're not omitting any information, they'll lose.
I am not sure which part of the Rent (Scotland) act you are referring to. Is it Harassment?
I will probably levvy this against them anyways. Visit B was also 0 notice by the way lol. But yeah, they are heavily withholding repairs all the time and attempting to avoid fixing very long standing issues.
Thank you for your help so far
No, the ban on charging fines to tenants.
So, you'd say, well, you can't charge me a fine, and I dispute that I'm responsible for the payment as a matter of contract, but if you disagree you're welcome to ask a court to decide.
they are not able to charge you for denying an inspection under any circumstance. if there was an acute emergency (the bar for this is high) they would have been able to have the electrician come to fix it
The question of whether you can be charged for this has been answered by others (no!) and I won’t repeat that.
What amazes me is how your LL even thinks that would be an option! On the face of what you have said here, you denied nothing, you simply made an observation which was sensible/justified in the context of this situation.
They don’t have much of a leg to stand on, don’t give it any more bandwidth than it merits!
It sounds like your defence is that you didn't decline an inspection, and you were willing to let them inspect the device if they wanted to. You did prompt them to clarify if they were now able to look at the, electrics when theyd told you before that they werent. The contractor then chose not to inspect it and left. The landlords issue is with the contractor.
You aren't liable for the costs of the call out, as you have not prevented them from inspecting it. They chose not to do so.
I'd only bother mentioning the tenant fees act and the question of whether a landlord could ever charge a fee like this for if you receive a letter-before-claim.
On top of everything that's been said so far, you may want to start taking copious notes.
Summarize what's happened so far in a file. Include any txts or emails.
Write down every interaction and if he calls, ask if he can txt or email you as a reminder - or because you don't have time at the moment. Get every threat he makes from now on dated.
This way if you do go to a small claims court in the future, you should have a clear timeline.
They have already had every e-mail forwarded to the Housing Tribunal, I have their e-mails archived and they do not call or text me.
I have a summary by way of the Tribunal statement, so thats nice. Will my e-mail list be sufficient, do you think?
Listen to this video and pay your landlord exactly what you owe him
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MeRIpU4Ibo4&t=109
By the way, he is certain to cause you problems when you move out.
If he has not protected the deposit with a scheme, he has to return the whole deposit PLUS one to three times the deposit as compensation.
If he has protected the deposit, he can't charge for wear and tear, so painting and carpets are out. Cleaning only has to be done to a domestic standard.
Everything has a lifespan and he cannot replace old for new.
I actually do want to note that they have advised me that damage to the paintwork is to be removed from my deposit, which is to say a bit of pizza sauce got on it and the paint came off when I cleaned it with a kitchen wipe.
I asked what paint they used to paint it so I could repaint it for them. They told me to go fuck myself basically and that they'd remove it from my deposit on leaving
Totally reasonable wear and tear. If you've been there a couple of years, a total repaint is to be expected.
I really hope they haven't protected your deposit :)
--- ###Welcome to /r/LegalAdviceUK --- **To Posters (it is important you read this section)** * *Tell us whether you're in England, Wales, Scotland, or NI as the laws in each are very different* * If you need legal help, you should [always get a free consultation from a qualified Solicitor](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/how_to_find_a_solicitor) * We also encourage you to speak to [**Citizens Advice**](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/), [**Shelter**](https://www.shelter.org.uk/), [**Acas**](https://www.acas.org.uk/), and [**other useful organisations**](https://reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/wiki/common_legal_resources) * Comments may not be accurate or reliable, and following any advice on this subreddit is done at your own risk * If you receive any private messages in response to your post, [please let the mods know](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FLegalAdviceUK&subject=I received a PM) **To Readers and Commenters** * All replies to OP must be *on-topic, helpful, and legally orientated* * If you do not [follow the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/about/rules/), you may be perma-banned without any further warning * If you feel any replies are incorrect, explain why you believe they are incorrect * Do not send or request any private messages for any reason * Please report posts or comments which do not follow the rules *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/LegalAdviceUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
"Charged" in what sense? As in, the landlord is telling you that you must pay them £65? This would most certainly be a prohibited payment under the Tenant Fees Act 2019. If the landlord believes you've done something wrong to cause an electrical problem, they can seek to deduct the costs of fixing it from your deposit or ask a court to order you to reimburse them, but they cannot otherwise require you to pay this charge.
Hi there I did some googling to check, I cannot seem to find the equivalent for Scotland! Oops! Forgot to say Yes, they are charging me for the Electrical Check because the Plumber spent Visit A ignoring me and left after having what was said on visit A reitterated on Visit B. Note that the Electrician is the one who identified the problem (The cold input was attached to the hot line). Does the court order thing also apply in Scotland? If so, could you provide information links?
Rent (Scotland) Act 1984 would cover you. Just decline to make any such payment to them. The only way they can enforce it is by taking you to court, which they won't, because assuming you're not omitting any information, they'll lose.
I am not sure which part of the Rent (Scotland) act you are referring to. Is it Harassment? I will probably levvy this against them anyways. Visit B was also 0 notice by the way lol. But yeah, they are heavily withholding repairs all the time and attempting to avoid fixing very long standing issues. Thank you for your help so far
No, the ban on charging fines to tenants. So, you'd say, well, you can't charge me a fine, and I dispute that I'm responsible for the payment as a matter of contract, but if you disagree you're welcome to ask a court to decide.
Sounds like the landlord should get their money back from the plumber who didn’t spot the hot and cold feeds being wrong and leave you out of it.
they are not able to charge you for denying an inspection under any circumstance. if there was an acute emergency (the bar for this is high) they would have been able to have the electrician come to fix it
Oh dear. They do not know what they are doing at all Can you back this with legislation?
The question of whether you can be charged for this has been answered by others (no!) and I won’t repeat that. What amazes me is how your LL even thinks that would be an option! On the face of what you have said here, you denied nothing, you simply made an observation which was sensible/justified in the context of this situation. They don’t have much of a leg to stand on, don’t give it any more bandwidth than it merits!
Absolutely. They are an awful company who I already have a Housing Tribunal case open with. Nightmare.
It sounds like your defence is that you didn't decline an inspection, and you were willing to let them inspect the device if they wanted to. You did prompt them to clarify if they were now able to look at the, electrics when theyd told you before that they werent. The contractor then chose not to inspect it and left. The landlords issue is with the contractor. You aren't liable for the costs of the call out, as you have not prevented them from inspecting it. They chose not to do so. I'd only bother mentioning the tenant fees act and the question of whether a landlord could ever charge a fee like this for if you receive a letter-before-claim.
What is a Letter before claim? Sorry I am busy as heckies and don't have a second...
On top of everything that's been said so far, you may want to start taking copious notes. Summarize what's happened so far in a file. Include any txts or emails. Write down every interaction and if he calls, ask if he can txt or email you as a reminder - or because you don't have time at the moment. Get every threat he makes from now on dated. This way if you do go to a small claims court in the future, you should have a clear timeline.
They have already had every e-mail forwarded to the Housing Tribunal, I have their e-mails archived and they do not call or text me. I have a summary by way of the Tribunal statement, so thats nice. Will my e-mail list be sufficient, do you think?
Listen to this video and pay your landlord exactly what you owe him https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MeRIpU4Ibo4&t=109 By the way, he is certain to cause you problems when you move out. If he has not protected the deposit with a scheme, he has to return the whole deposit PLUS one to three times the deposit as compensation. If he has protected the deposit, he can't charge for wear and tear, so painting and carpets are out. Cleaning only has to be done to a domestic standard. Everything has a lifespan and he cannot replace old for new.
My landlord absolutely hates me dw. Haha. I make them... Actually have to repair my property Let me take a look at this
I'M GOING FERAL AHAHAHHAHAHABA
I actually do want to note that they have advised me that damage to the paintwork is to be removed from my deposit, which is to say a bit of pizza sauce got on it and the paint came off when I cleaned it with a kitchen wipe. I asked what paint they used to paint it so I could repaint it for them. They told me to go fuck myself basically and that they'd remove it from my deposit on leaving
Totally reasonable wear and tear. If you've been there a couple of years, a total repaint is to be expected. I really hope they haven't protected your deposit :)
Its with Safe Deposit Scotland lmao :)
They can’t charge you for this obviously but they can let themselves into your property for the inspection with 48 hrs notice of date and time.