Sprite Stitch Board!

acidMiasma, I'm so glad you managed to get it sorted out and the deal went through - it'll all be worth it when you get moved in! Good luck with the truck

Argh, need to vent! I'm having issues with my landlord/the letting agent they use. Every 3 months the letting agent comes around to 'inspect' the property (and make sure we haven't destroyed it). They did this last week, blamed us for a broken light shade (which was broken while we were on holiday last year and they let workmen into our house to redo the bathroom - without our knowledge!!) and said the house was 'cluttered'. Because of the 'clutter' they want to come back in 6 weeks to inspect the house again. We perhaps aren't the tidyest of people, and yes, we have quite a lot of 'stuff' (mostly craft or game related) but the house was clean, and fairly tidy. It's dificult not to take it personally! We feel like they are trying to tell us how we should be living, and when we point out that it isn't a show home, and the house is LIVED in, they just tell us it's not good enough. Argh!

And to top it all... our landlord is trying to seel the house, with us in it (we've been assured we don't have to move-not sure if I believe that at the moment!) I had a text message last night, asking if a surveyor could come around today at lunch time. After pointing out we were supposed to have at least 24 hours notice, the landlord made a big fuss about it, saying it was 22 hours, which was close enough so we played nice and agreed it was ok. After returning home at lunch, my bf told me that all of our stuff had been moved (including putting a jar of coffee in the fridge, as it was out on the side!) and all of the windows were open. While he was home, the landlord turned up with the surveyor, a couple of hours before we were told they were going to be there. No notice was given, and the landlord didn't seem to care they'd left the house unoccupied with all of the windows open, which is something we would never do. Needless to say, I am fuming. Especially as they've been moving all of our stuff, and come in this morning which we hadn't agreed to! The letting agent don't know that the landlord is trying to sell, and I'm wondering if I should go to them with these problems. I just feel nothing will get done, as the letting agent seem to be fine with letting workmen in without telling us! I've suggested looking at buying a house, but bf doesn't know if he wants to keep working in his job, or apply to do a phD somewhere, which makes it really difficult. ARGH!

I feel much better after ranting... thankyou!

Also, congrats on the house, acidMiasma! I hope the move goes well

lcockitt-- I feel you. Did you check to make sure nothing was missing after windows were left open? I'm not sure what your legal rights are regarding this in the UK but I'd see if there is a landlord/renters association there that can enlighten you. I've been researching here in canada what the laws are due to similar problems. Landlord refuses to fix anything, crazy neighbors writing on doors with blood, landlord giving 10 days notice on raising rent, not turning on heat till after winter, etc. Some people... *sigh* It seems landlords think people are desperate for any place to live that they can pull BS and get away with it. Pursuing legal action is not fun but sometimes necessary when people think they can take advantage of and step on the 'little guys'. Good luck and hopefully it'll straighten out soon. You don't deserve that treatment even if they think you're a little disorganized. *hug*

Ooohh lcockitt, you need to get that straightened out asap. I hate landlords that stomp all over their tenants' rights, and I like lettings agents even less. I actually live in a council house, so I don't have those kinds of problems, but my BF got accepted by a landlord today and I'm worrying about things like you mentioned (I haven't said anything to him yet because he's got enough to worry about).
You should definitely look into your rights regarding the landlord AND the agent, I'm pretty sure they can't do things like you've said without written notification and adequate notice. http://www.shelter.org.uk gives some excellent housing advice. Also the Citizens Advice Bureau could be of further help, I think.

Hope you get it sorted out!

My troubles are trivial but I need to vent! My husband got summoned to jury duty for up to 10 days just in time for our vacation. I don't know if he can get out of it because who is going to pick up my kids at daycare at 5:30 sharp on my evening to work if he really has to serve for 10 days? Also my in-laws are going to be upset since we were supposed to travel to visit them that week.

In Australia the 'only way' you can get out of jury duty is if you are in jail or have been sentenced to death and the sentence has yet to be carried out! Silly really, since we don't have the death penalty... anyway, your husband probably won't even be picked. When they summon jurors they actually summon more than the twelve (we need 12 here, don't know about other places!) that they require and filter them out through a sort of group interview process. If you have an actual valid excuse, like you've already booked and paid for a holiday, your husband should be able to get out of it! If all else fails tell him to act prejudiced! If he looks like he might not be able to be unbiased he won't have to serve either! Thank god for high school political and legal studies classes!

Thanks for advice Remy and BMH - we're looking into it at the moment and trying to decide the best way to approach it. I just feel that we're going to get screwed over no matter what we do!

Stitchingmama - I hope your husband gets jury duty sorted quickly!

Lcockitt - definitely look into some legal advice, in Canada, none of what you mentioned would be tolerated by the Board. If you've got a few bucks to spare, you could have a law clerk or whatever draft up a cease and desist type letter? Or just drop a copy of the tennt's rights book off to both landlord and letting agent hehe.
As for the landlord selling with you still in it, its a hard sell. The buyers can actually request that the house be vacant by closing, which could be as short as 30 days. As much as moving sucks, especially when your lives are a little in the air currently, I would be looking for other living arrangements if I were in your place.. Tell the bf to suck it up for 6 months until you're settled in a house and then do his phd thing. My bf and I compromised like that before buying our house.

Stitchingmama - jury duty is avoidable with a good reason, and yours kids would be a good reason. They look kindly upon family responsibilities, so he should have no problems getting out of it. Not sure if the vacation is a legitimate enough reason, although they do try not to interupt your life too much. But like Ally says, if all else fails, be prejudice! Haha.

Hey, everyone, back after a long hiatus. The hiatus started because of backed-up class work over the summer school session, but things took a harder turn when we learned that my spouse's grandmother was diagnosed with a particularly difficult variety of cancer. We've been bouncing between Virginia and New York for the past several weeks, and we've been receiving family for visits as well. Now things are a little calmer, and I can start thinking about fitting SpriteStitch back into my schedule thanks to the easier pace of the fall semester, but we're still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

There is no particularly nice variety of cancer Sorry to hear, RMDC. Will keep you and your family in my thoughts.