7 ms·

I did this as well after having a couple of snooping landlords. Also it's empowering. One rental I had, prior to the tenancy deposit protection scheme I had a

by setquk 7y ago

I did this as well after having a couple of snooping landlords. Also it's empowering. One rental I had, prior to the tenancy deposit protection scheme I had a serial con artist landlord. At the end of the tenancy, he billed my entire £600 deposit return to three companies he owned. One for gardening, one for cleaning and one for maintenance. This made it difficult for a claim to be placed upon him. This was without entering the property, because I had changed the locks. The property was left immaculate. I took photos to cover my arse. Edit: to note I completely ripped out the overgrown garden in that time and cleaned it up to the point it was workable and decorated half the place so I added value to his property. He evicted us because he could rent it out for more money. Retribution was simple. He didn't have a valid address on the tenancy contract. When he asked where to return the keys to, he sent me an SMS to just put them through the letter box. So I did. I put the keys inside a zip lock bag and used an 8 foot bamboo stick to poke them through the letterbox half way down the hall, double locked the security door from the outside and chucked the keys for the actual barrels down the drain in the street. My wife decided to add insult to this injury by spreading marmite all around the inside of the letter box. The next morning I woke up to about 20 missed calls and 3 voice mails calling me all sorts of names and threatening to kill me and was going to sue me for new locks and a new shirt. I went and bought another pay as you go SIM and never heard a thing. Edit: just looked the guy up. He's still going. If you rent in Nottingham, keep an eye out for a cunt who turns up on a motorbike. Ask for a passport or driving license for ID from direct rent landlords, not just business correspondence.

Waterluvian 7y ago
"My wife decided to add insult to this injury by spreading marmite all around the inside of the letter box." This was the part where you lost my support. That's a bit too petty.
- setquk 7y ago
  We changed the locks originally because we caught him in the place doing an inspection unannounced. All our clothes had been gone through and the computer turned on. Funny sounding inspection. The marmite was deserved. If you’re going to make someone’s life miserable and insecure for six months then we’re going to roll out the red carpet on pettiness.
  - Twirrim 7y ago
    Yeah, but it's a complete waste of Marmite. It ought to be illegal to waste such a heavenly thing as marmite like that.
    - setquk 7y ago
      We'll agree to disagree on that. After 22 years of putting up with marmite in the house I still don't like it ;)
      - Twirrim 7y ago
        I'm a Brit who has been living in the US for over a decade now. Every now and then I try to introduce American friends and co-workers to the delights of Marmite, but to no avail. Luckily for me, it's relatively easy and affordable to purchase Marmite via Amazon.
  - sjwright 7y ago
    Nothing is gained by being an asshole to an asshole. All you've done is provided him with documentable proof for how terrible and vindictive he thinks you are. It doesn't matter if every other claim he's made about you was a lie.
    - setquk 7y ago
      Sometimes it is not about personal gain but making sure that any unfair gains are worthless.
      - sjwright 7y ago
        How does smearing marmite make the unfair gain worthless? It might make you feel smug for a few hours, but if your enemy is vindictive, it could be used against you. The best move is to avoid playing the game.
        7y ago
- henryaj 7y ago
  The landlord stole £600 off this guy... but the Marmite thing is too much somehow?
  - teddyh 7y ago
    Two wrongs don’t make a right.
fj39dkf 7y ago
He evicted us because he could rent it out for more money. Something about your comment makes me think there's more to this story.
- mAEStro-paNDa 7y ago
  Why? I agree some of the actions are taking it too far, but this part is not that far-fetched. It happens.
  - setquk 7y ago
    I thought I went too far for a few years to be honest. Now I realise that no protection whatsoever was afforded to any private tenants back then other than taking the landlord to court which was expensive, time consuming, resulted in unpaid days off work and generally a waste of time. The moral high ground doesn't necessarily drive the point home either. Now we have a deposit scheme in the UK which stops landlords doing this because the deposit is held in trust. The landlord has to prove it. Therefore there's escrow and a third party involved. Not being in this scheme is illegal and results in fines that go directly to the tenant as well. This action is not necessary now, but changing the locks still is because it's your personal space and security and you genuinely don't know who has access to that unless you do it. Could even be the previous tenants with key copies.
- setquk 7y ago
  Nothing at all. Paid on time every time and basically decorated the place. Went on the market for £100/month more the moment the tenancy expired and he evicted us. The guy ran umbrella companies to hide his assets and address and to rip people off, got caught going through our stuff. He’s still a landlord and has been the director of about 12 companies now in the last 20 years all dissolved. Who’s the bad one? Hmm Edit: also the place we had after that I rented for 11 years with no problems direct from landlord and they were excellent and we were excellent back.
  - levosmetalo 7y ago
    > Who’s the bad one? Hmm And you basically did a disservice to all his future tenants by not reporting him to the police after being caught by you illegally accessing your home and destroying your property? By not reacting you basically silently allowed him to keep doing this. I would understand that he had some kind of power over you and you were afraid to react and report him, but you choose to confront him by being asshole to him, without doing the right thing and reporting him to whatever authority in UK is responsible for this. Because of that, both of you are bad, though he is a bit worse.
arethuza 7y ago
I experienced stuff like that from a couple of landlords while I was a student - one of the reasons I was quite happy to buy my first flat at 23 (mind you - that was a long time ago). Edit: I almost attacked one landlord when I found someone rummaging in a cupboard at night! Landlord was quite indignant when we pointed out he couldn't come and go as he pleased.
- setquk 7y ago
  Yeah that's roughly what happened here. Although I knew he was likely in there because he parked his motorbike outside. He was actually in my 2 year old daughter's bedroom when I opened the door. I heard him leave it and come down the stairs. Small argument ensued and he sent me an SMS right there on his phone saying that he was coming to do an inspection on date X which was that day. Then said "oh sorry must have been delayed" with a smirk on his face, got back on his motorbike and rode off.
  - arethuza 7y ago
    "He was actually in my 2 year old daughter's bedroom" I think I would have phoned the police at that point!
    - setquk 7y ago
      I did. See one of my other comments.
- PyroLagus 7y ago
  That's probably a great way to get shot, especially in the US. Not only is sneaking into a tenants place (at night of all times) an asshole move, likely illegal, and a clear abuse of power, but it's also such an incredibly stupid thing to do if you value your life.

by setquk 7y ago

Waterluvian 7y ago

"My wife decided to add insult to this injury by spreading marmite all around the inside of the letter box." This was the part where you lost my support. That's a bit too petty.

setquk 7y ago
We changed the locks originally because we caught him in the place doing an inspection unannounced. All our clothes had been gone through and the computer turned on. Funny sounding inspection. The marmite was deserved. If you’re going to make someone’s life miserable and insecure for six months then we’re going to roll out the red carpet on pettiness.
- Twirrim 7y ago
  Yeah, but it's a complete waste of Marmite. It ought to be illegal to waste such a heavenly thing as marmite like that.
  - setquk 7y ago
    We'll agree to disagree on that. After 22 years of putting up with marmite in the house I still don't like it ;)
    - Twirrim 7y ago
      I'm a Brit who has been living in the US for over a decade now. Every now and then I try to introduce American friends and co-workers to the delights of Marmite, but to no avail. Luckily for me, it's relatively easy and affordable to purchase Marmite via Amazon.
- sjwright 7y ago
  Nothing is gained by being an asshole to an asshole. All you've done is provided him with documentable proof for how terrible and vindictive he thinks you are. It doesn't matter if every other claim he's made about you was a lie.
  - setquk 7y ago
    Sometimes it is not about personal gain but making sure that any unfair gains are worthless.
    - sjwright 7y ago
      How does smearing marmite make the unfair gain worthless? It might make you feel smug for a few hours, but if your enemy is vindictive, it could be used against you. The best move is to avoid playing the game.
      - 7y ago
henryaj 7y ago
The landlord stole £600 off this guy... but the Marmite thing is too much somehow?
- teddyh 7y ago
  Two wrongs don’t make a right.

fj39dkf 7y ago

He evicted us because he could rent it out for more money. Something about your comment makes me think there's more to this story.

mAEStro-paNDa 7y ago
Why? I agree some of the actions are taking it too far, but this part is not that far-fetched. It happens.
- setquk 7y ago
  I thought I went too far for a few years to be honest. Now I realise that no protection whatsoever was afforded to any private tenants back then other than taking the landlord to court which was expensive, time consuming, resulted in unpaid days off work and generally a waste of time. The moral high ground doesn't necessarily drive the point home either. Now we have a deposit scheme in the UK which stops landlords doing this because the deposit is held in trust. The landlord has to prove it. Therefore there's escrow and a third party involved. Not being in this scheme is illegal and results in fines that go directly to the tenant as well. This action is not necessary now, but changing the locks still is because it's your personal space and security and you genuinely don't know who has access to that unless you do it. Could even be the previous tenants with key copies.
setquk 7y ago
Nothing at all. Paid on time every time and basically decorated the place. Went on the market for £100/month more the moment the tenancy expired and he evicted us. The guy ran umbrella companies to hide his assets and address and to rip people off, got caught going through our stuff. He’s still a landlord and has been the director of about 12 companies now in the last 20 years all dissolved. Who’s the bad one? Hmm Edit: also the place we had after that I rented for 11 years with no problems direct from landlord and they were excellent and we were excellent back.
- levosmetalo 7y ago
  > Who’s the bad one? Hmm And you basically did a disservice to all his future tenants by not reporting him to the police after being caught by you illegally accessing your home and destroying your property? By not reacting you basically silently allowed him to keep doing this. I would understand that he had some kind of power over you and you were afraid to react and report him, but you choose to confront him by being asshole to him, without doing the right thing and reporting him to whatever authority in UK is responsible for this. Because of that, both of you are bad, though he is a bit worse.

arethuza 7y ago

I experienced stuff like that from a couple of landlords while I was a student - one of the reasons I was quite happy to buy my first flat at 23 (mind you - that was a long time ago). Edit: I almost attacked one landlord when I found someone rummaging in a cupboard at night! Landlord was quite indignant when we pointed out he couldn't come and go as he pleased.

setquk 7y ago
Yeah that's roughly what happened here. Although I knew he was likely in there because he parked his motorbike outside. He was actually in my 2 year old daughter's bedroom when I opened the door. I heard him leave it and come down the stairs. Small argument ensued and he sent me an SMS right there on his phone saying that he was coming to do an inspection on date X which was that day. Then said "oh sorry must have been delayed" with a smirk on his face, got back on his motorbike and rode off.
- arethuza 7y ago
  "He was actually in my 2 year old daughter's bedroom" I think I would have phoned the police at that point!
  - setquk 7y ago
    I did. See one of my other comments.
PyroLagus 7y ago
That's probably a great way to get shot, especially in the US. Not only is sneaking into a tenants place (at night of all times) an asshole move, likely illegal, and a clear abuse of power, but it's also such an incredibly stupid thing to do if you value your life.