My Traumatic Move to the Village

When I first moved to this village and started writing this web log, first on 360 and then here, I considered carefully if relating the events that had lead up to me moving here. But as they were horrible ones and it had been a very unpleasant time, I thought it was better to just put it behind me. As the move here was a far more positive experience. However, recent events now mean that I need to tell that story.

When my now ex partner and I moved to a flat in Felling, it was a forced move as our Landlady was selling the property we had been in. Even when viewing that flat we had doubts at the place was in a dire state. But we were told that the repairs that were needed were in hand and that the reason why the flat was in such a poor state was that the previous tenants had been drug users.

Coincidently I know that one of my readers is moving house, and from a rented property where they have an unsympathetic landlord. Well there is a difference between a bad Landlord and a criminal one.

My ex and I split almost as soon as we moved there. Dealing with the financial aspect of that split made it impossible for me to move out. Also as I realised that my Landlady was telling me lies I realised that if I just walked away from the problem another tenant would only have the same problems. And the problems were numerous, a seriously faulty gas boiler, dangerous electrics, serious leaks in the roof to name a few. At the time what appeared to be the most serious was in fact the least, that of the leaky roof.

As the landlady lived in Spain and if as she had claimed the previous tenants had been drug users then her claim that she had know nothing about the problem until coming back to sort out a new tenant all seemed credible. However once moved in there was clear evidence that this had been a long on going problem. The flat was over three shop units and I was then rather shocked when the landlady told myself and my Ex that the former tenant worked in the shop bellow that rented two of the shop units.

It took me a while to discover that it was a lie about the former tenant being a drug user and I am sure she had told me that so that I did not start to become friendly with the shopkeeper, as I later discovered that the leaking roof had been like that for the previous seven years. Finally I forced her to get the roof repaired by withholding some rent. But even then she tried to get me involved in an insurance fraud. I refused to be a party to that, but I did get her the quotes for the work, and I told her that if she didn't carry out the work I would get it done and pay for it out of the rent.

Then the next battle was over the Boiler. As every tenant and landlord should know that every gas appliance has to be checked by a qualified and certified person once a year. This is a legal requirement and a certificate, known as a CP12, has to be issued. When I first moved in I was told there was a CP12 in place but I was never given the tenants copy as required by law. Well much to my surprise she was late getting that sorted. It actually took me reminding her that she was liable to a substantial fine for her to allow me to book a gas fitter to carry out the test. The chap who did the testing was excellent and helpful but he showed me that the boiler had clearly not been serviced or checked for years. I noticed the difference almost straight away as my gas bill reduced by fifteen percent. And that was comparing a summer/autumn bill with an autumn/winter one.

I actually wish that I had not made her get the checks done as it would have been easier to prove just how much she was working the system. As her next move was to claim that I was not paying the rent and to start sending solicitors letters. I say solicitors as she engaged not one but two separate firms. As I knew this was unethical I deliberately wrote to both informing them of the others involvement and told both that there was no case to answer and could prove it. The rent was paid by standing order and I keep my bank statements.

When the threats continued I called in the Local Authorities Environmental Health Officer, again. While there were aspects of the state of repair that the EHO could deal with, had I not forced her to get the gas checked then they would have had something they could really deal with.

The minor aspects were the removal of a condemned gas fire and repair of faulty electric points.

All seemed to settle down, then before the next gas check was due I got a notice to quit. As well as a court summons claiming unpaid rent of two and half thousand pounds. Now as the rent was paid by standing order I had the statements to prove that so I was perplexed as to what game she was playing. So I took advice and filed my defence with the court, that there was no case to answer. I also made a counter claim for the poor state of repairs.

The day of the hearing occurred and I attended court, the district judge refused to hear the case and transferred it to a higher court as he felt it was to serious for him to hear. But then my landlady made a strange request, she asked to view the property. Now I had never prevented her access and I told the judge that as he was going to make an order that I allow access. The judge decided not to make that order, but I was even more confused.

When she turned up she was not alone she had a Local Authority Environmental Health Officer with her. Well the acting would have made any ham actor proud, as she and her husband attempted to claim that all the aspects of the poor state of repair was damage I had caused.

I could see what her plan was now, and equally I could see it for what it was, a desperate act. She was a woman that was used to getting her own way, by fair or foul means. Also she was greedy, in the past, as I was told soon after moving in to the place, the flat had been used as a brothel. However the landlady had ignored complaints, pleas and comments from everyone that this was the case until the police raided it.

Well that had been a long while ago, or had it? While trying to get statements from others regarding the state of repair of the property, I discovered that she had been prosecuted for keeping a brothel as the rent she was charging was ten times higher than would be normal for a residential flat. Further, a woman that I knew from my then allotment, was a clerk of court at the magistrates court and had some interesting facts about the property and confirmed that the property had been in a poor state of repair for years.

I had some very strong evidence against her, this was filed with the court. If she had been sensible she should have ended it there. But as I said she is not a woman that like to loose.

Then the killer blow came when she had to get the new CP12 done. I was already in contact with CORGI (The Certification Organisation Registered Gas Installers), nothing to do with the queens dogs. The person she got to do the safety check was not qualified or registered and when I asked for his ID, something he is required by law to carry, he panicked. There had been indications that he did not know what he was doing anyway. So I made a formal complaint to CORGI. They sent round an inspector. Well he took one look at the boiler and condemned it. While I had the knock out punch for the court I also had no heating or hot water.

The date came for the trial and just at the last minute as the matter was going into court she backed down. If I would call off my counter claim and would agree to leave. As my action was never vindictive I agreed to that. However the judge had to be told, and I thought that the landlady was going to be reasonable. But she then tried to get the judge to force me out in a week. I told the judge that if she was not going to be reasonable I would rather the matter went to a full trial. I was asked, not ordered to leave the property in two months.

Well that should have been the end of this, but that's when matters started to get really nasty.

The weekend following the court case, the wheely bin that normally sat outside the front of mine but belonged to one of the shops was set alight. Earlier that evening I had seen that it had been moved to the opposite side of the road. However before it had bin lit it had been placed in front of the door to the flat of the property opposite to me. I was the one that spotted the fire, I was asleep but something must have woken me and I saw the orange glow as the shop over the road was becoming engulfed in flames. As the fire brigade arrived I alerted them to the fact that there were two blokes living in the flat. Its a good job I did as one was already unconscious and the fire was begging to take hold in the bedroom he was in.

The police interviewed me as a witness, but was confused as owner of the property had named me as the victim. The police were already taking the matter seriously as an Arson and attempted Murder, and started to think that the wrong premisses had been targeted. I also discovered that my Landlady and her family had once been a notorious criminal family in the area. So what had I done to upset her?

When I told the police of what had been going on, they were convinced that I had been the intended target for the fire. Unfortunately there was insufficient evidence to link anyone to the fire and no one was caught or charged.

However, the purpose of the fire may well have been to hide other evidence, as because of the boiler being condemned by CORGI, the council sent in there own Electrical inspector to check the electrics. Well there were thirteen serious faults found including three points were there were risk of fire, and two were I was in danger of electrocution.

Was I glad that I was leaving the place. At least the council were not going to allow her to let the place again until it was made safe.

Then came the most traumatic episode of the whole saga. In Gateshead there is a Private Landlords Association. Most local authorities have them, and they are supposed to be vetted landlords who comply with the law and these associations work in conjunction with the local council. So I applied for a couple of properties via them.

I had already decided that I wanted to move out to a more rural location and Chopwell, the village I now live in was for me the best bet. As well as being affordable, I wanted to have interesting green space close by too. I did also look further afield, but as I knew that energy prices were going to shoot up, I also needed to find a place I could afford to run too. So bleak fell tops were a romanticist ideal but out of my budget.

It looked as though I had landed on my feet with the first property that I looked at, it was ideal. Moreover, I thought that my prospective landlord seemed really decent. However, when I went back to the association to get the ball rolling on accepting the tenancy. Well I was in for a shock as my Landlady was a member of this association and I was finding myself bared from getting a property via them. Not only that I was being treated like a piece of dirt by the staff. Now as the staff are council employees that is unacceptable from an ethical prospective as well as being unlawful.

Having failed to make me homeless via a legal method, all be it by telling a pack of lies, my landlady was trying to ensure that I could not obtain a home elsewhere. What made matters worse here, was that the council were being very partisan in this matter. Put simply it looked as though they were accepting what ever story she was weaving as true. As I had the evidence that showed that her claims were untruthful, I complained forcefully.

Initially my attempts to complain were being blocked, but I went to the top. Well while that unblocked matters somewhat, matters were still far from satisfactory and I did loose the house that I first viewed. However, one of the council staff contacted me in their own time, and told what was really going on and what was being claimed by my then landlady.

First she was claiming that I was an anti social tenant. I have never been involved in anti social behaviour! Second that I was a drug user, she has used that claim before. I don't use or approve of drugs. The other claim was the most vial as she was claiming that my ex and I had split because I had been in appropriate with her children. Well as my ex did not have children, nor do I, I have no idea where that came from. The only reason that a claim like that would have been made was out of viciousness and to be vindictive. And yes this is the aspect that relates to recent events. What better way of making someone the last person that anyone would want to rehouse.

Also this member of staff that had contacted me had also noted that there were inconstancies in her claims. The one that stood out was that my supposed unpaid rent was now over three and half thousand pounds. As the rent was fifty pounds a week that meant that the rent was supposedly unpaid for over a year, in fact nearly a year and a half. Now I don't know a landlord that would ever allow that to happen. Further, that the officers in that council department were not or did appear to be following the rules.

That was something I had already begun to suspect. Well there is nothing that motivates me more than fighting bullying or fighting injustice. Therefore I made a full and formal complaint to the council, about the individual involved. Further, I complained to the Gateshead Private Landlords Association as under their own rules no one who has a criminal record can be a member. That should have excluded my then landlady. Additionally as she had used false documents (electrical and Gas Safety Certificates) to gain membership she should have been thrown out immediately. She was not.

Additionally was the curiosity that her court defence and her defence with the council was that the gas and electrics were fully safe because the council had provided a grant to renew both a few years previously. All I got from the council was a whitewash. With sarcasm refer to their replies to my complaints as Dulux Letters.

The reality was and is that particular department in Gateshead council is corrupt. They protect landlords to the detriment of tenants.

I took my complaints as far as I could but I was left feeling that no one really wanted to even look at the problem let alone deal with it.

That would have all been in my past, but for recent events. Now there is a not so near neighbour that has been gossiping about me. When I posted about the matter, I got some heart warming support from folks here, and I thank you for that. But it was while I was shopping in Consett today that one of my local readers old me that she was only reporting what a friend of hers had told her. Now this woman was originally from Felling and it looks as though she is friends with my former Landlady.

This realisation makes me understand why this woman is so nosy about what I am doing. It also shows the power of a malicious allegation.

The former Landlady though has lost any credibility. The council ordered her to carry out extensive work on the property, as she refused she had to sell the building. So she no longer is a danger to tenants. She was finally kicked out of the Landlord Association. Also the council had to introduce an appeals process for rejected prospective tenants. Also the council officer who unlawfully supported her was moved out of the department he used to head. In some ways they were easy, I haven't a clue how I counter a nasty lie started by a woman that tried to kill me.