Myself and my partner rent our house of my Uncle, we have a full tenancy agreement.. Last week our house was broken into, burgulars stole, TV, Laptop, Nintendo Wii, Car Keys and Money, they ransacked my 2 babys bedrooms and our living room... They destroyed the lock on my back door and now it does not open.. My front door has been un-usable for 10 months now (we have to normally lock it from the inside and go around the back to get out as it could not be locked from the outside, now we cant go around the back to lock up as the back door is knackered) and the window was pulled open with a garden rake, and is now only nailed down..
So now when we go out of a day we cannot lock the house up due to the front door not being lockable from the outside, the door can just be pushed open..
I have told all this to my uncle and he has told me he is not willing to pay to get the doors or windows fixed as it is not his fault.. He lives in another country so I can only contact him by telephone.. Also, he has always known that the front door was unusable..!!!
Who is responsible, am I right in asking him to do the repairs or is it my responsibility..???
Just to clarify, my house does not have double glazing only old withered wood single glazing, and both doors are about 40 years old and when never in great condition to start with..!!
I feel so unsecure now and we have our 2 children aged 1 and 2 to think about, I cant rest and would move house if I could afford it, we have to replace a television, Laptop, Wii, and pay the excess on our car insurance to get car locks changed.. we cant afford to replace doors and windows aswell as do all this..!!
I do not have insurance (silly I know) there is NO WAY we can afford to buy 2 new doors and replace a window... I have told him that we will definatley be moving out in the next couple of months once we have saved up..Who is responsible , me or my landlord..?
Since the uncle (LL) is out of town and you have repeatedly told him about the issue there are a couple of things you can do.
You can hire someone to fix the problem yourself and pay them with money from your rent. Deduct the amount of the repairs and send the remainder to the landlord (LL) next month
Get a temporary order through housing court to order your LL to fix this problem. Not being able to lock your house is considered 'an inhabitable condition' (may be called something else where you live). Your LL probably does not have insurance to cover this but it IS his problem. No one said it was his fault. and in the eyes of the court fault is not the issue. Responsibility is the issue, your LL is responsible but you can do either.
I suggest you WRITE a letter explaining your plan of action to your LL before you proceed. If this was me, I would call instead of write- but at least I would tell him he has 24 hours to hire someone or I will use whatever portion of my next months rent necessary to fix all of the broken doors. If you call, follow up the conversation with a letter. Keep a paper trail and be sure to get the receipt and send him a COPY keep the original for yourself for the rest of your tenancy there.
Your uncle is your uncle.
Your LL is your LL.
all my best.
