I got evicted today

[Farmduck]

The landlord told me he'd do a formal letter and give me 3 months notice. Which is nice, I guess, after I've been his tenant for 23 years. If I wasn't currently stressed out about it, I'd probably see some benefits for myself. I'm sure this is mostly about him - he has been getting a bit erratic lately, possibly related to his sugar levels or overall state of his diabetes and mental health.

He even brought around a "mediator" today to lay it out for me and unfortunately it was just more of the dumb leading the blind. He keeps going on about tax and how I give him so much financial stress from my tenancy. My rent's been paid in full for 23 years so clearly that doesn't make much sense.

He showed me his quarterly income tax bill. Considering the relevant tax rates and thresholds, I calculate his income at about $420K/year so I don't understand why he kept bringing up taxes whenever he goes off on a rant. I don't think my $14K annual rent is causing his annual $160K/year tax bill.

[Vambo]

I am not gonna post my opinion on 'landlords' on here. It would probably get me banned.

However, I hope you get yourself sorted ok Farmduck and that everything works out ok for you going forward.

[Futtocks]

Best of luck, but that all sounds grim.

[OnStrike]

4 hours ago, Farmduck said:

The landlord told me he'd do a formal letter and give me 3 months notice. Which is nice, I guess, after I've been his tenant for 23 years. If I wasn't currently stressed out about it, I'd probably see some benefits for myself. I'm sure this is mostly about him - he has been getting a bit erratic lately, possibly related to his sugar levels or overall state of his diabetes and mental health.

He even brought around a "mediator" today to lay it out for me and unfortunately it was just more of the dumb leading the blind. He keeps going on about tax and how I give him so much financial stress from my tenancy. My rent's been paid in full for 23 years so clearly that doesn't make much sense.

He showed me his quarterly income tax bill. Considering the relevant tax rates and thresholds, I calculate his income at about $420K/year so I don't understand why he kept bringing up taxes whenever he goes off on a rant. I don't think my $14K annual rent is causing his annual $160K/year tax bill.

Jesus, sorry  to hear this. A nightmare situation. Have you tried getting touch with a local tenants union or a larger one such as Acorn?

You might be in a stronger position than your landlord thinks.

 

Edited October 28, 2023 by OnStrike

[Irish Saint]

Like Vambo not going to give my opinion on the landlord.

Hope everything gets sorted and you find somewhere much better soon.

Good luck mate. When I first joined the forum I spent most of the time on the Australian board,  you were very welcoming.

 

[Futtocks]

42 minutes ago, OnStrike said:

Jesus, sorry  to hear this. A nightmare situation. Have you tried getting touch with a local tenants union or a larger one such as Acorn?

You might be in a stronger position than your landlorn thinks.

Agreed. Make sure that, even if staying is unpleasant, you know where you stand on a legal basis.

[Bedfordshire Bronco]

2 hours ago, Farmduck said:

The landlord told me he'd do a formal letter and give me 3 months notice. Which is nice, I guess, after I've been his tenant for 23 years. If I wasn't currently stressed out about it, I'd probably see some benefits for myself. I'm sure this is mostly about him - he has been getting a bit erratic lately, possibly related to his sugar levels or overall state of his diabetes and mental health.

He even brought around a "mediator" today to lay it out for me and unfortunately it was just more of the dumb leading the blind. He keeps going on about tax and how I give him so much financial stress from my tenancy. My rent's been paid in full for 23 years so clearly that doesn't make much sense.

He showed me his quarterly income tax bill. Considering the relevant tax rates and thresholds, I calculate his income at about $420K/year so I don't understand why he kept bringing up taxes whenever he goes off on a rant. I don't think my $14K annual rent is causing his annual $160K/year tax bill.

23 year tenancy must put you in a strong position Farmduck?! 

Sending positiveness your way mate 

[Farmduck]

10 hours ago, OnStrike said:

Jesus, sorry  to hear this. A nightmare situation. Have you tried getting touch with a local tenants union or a larger one such as Acorn?

You might be in a stronger position than your landlord thinks.

 

 

10 hours ago, Futtocks said:

Agreed. Make sure that, even if staying is unpleasant, you know where you stand on a legal basis.

 

9 hours ago, Bedfordshire Bronco said:

23 year tenancy must put you in a strong position Farmduck?! 

Sending positiveness your way mate 

I probably have legal rights but if the landlord doesn't abide by them there isn't a suitable way of enforcing them. There are plenty of subtle ways he could make my life very uncomfortable and what would a court do to him? He's 83 and in fairly poor physical health and I'm living in his backyard so it raises a few practical limits on any legal options. This place would never pass Council inspection so I could end up winning the right to stay in a place that gets condemned anyway.

I have some sympathy for him. Given his age and financial situation, it's ridiculous that he spends so much of his life worrying and whining about money and taxes. I've told him many times over the years that his focus on money doesn't do anything useful for him. Based on his tax bill, I estimate he has about $10million in the bank so the last thing he should waste time on is worrying about money. If you have a problem then fix it or don't fix it but simply worrying about it achieves nothing.

[gingerjon]

Sounds like a really unpleasant situation. Hope it all gets sorted.

[OnStrike]

3 hours ago, Farmduck said:

 

 

I probably have legal rights but if the landlord doesn't abide by them there isn't a suitable way of enforcing them. There are plenty of subtle ways he could make my life very uncomfortable and what would a court do to him? He's 83 and in fairly poor physical health and I'm living in his backyard so it raises a few practical limits on any legal options. This place would never pass Council inspection so I could end up winning the right to stay in a place that gets condemned anyway.

 

I understand your points but it's important you seek as much advice and help as you can I think. Acorn tenants union may be a good place to start. His age, health etc doesn't give him a pass to do what he wants. He has responsibilities, you have rights and there are laws in place. Really hope it works out for you.

As others have said, best not to put my opinions of landlords on here.

[Farmduck]

19 hours ago, OnStrike said:

I understand your points but it's important you seek as much advice and help as you can I think. Acorn tenants union may be a good place to start. His age, health etc doesn't give him a pass to do what he wants. He has responsibilities, you have rights and there are laws in place. Really hope it works out for you.

As others have said, best not to put my opinions of landlords on here.

Acorn doesn't operate in Sydney, as far as I can tell. It seems they only recently started in Melbourne. We have a Tenants Union here and I've been reading all the info on their site. Under NSW law, a landlord can end a tenancy for any or no reason by giving 90 days notice on a periodic tenancy, This applies where any specific lease period has expired and the tenancy has continued on an implied fortnightly basis, like mine.

[OnStrike]

2 hours ago, Farmduck said:

Acorn doesn't operate in Sydney, as far as I can tell. It seems they only recently started in Melbourne. We have a Tenants Union here and I've been reading all the info on their site. Under NSW law, a landlord can end a tenancy for any or no reason by giving 90 days notice on a periodic tenancy, This applies where any specific lease period has expired and the tenancy has continued on an implied fortnightly basis, like mine.

Apologies, assumed you were in England

[Farmduck]

My landlord changed his mind a couple of weeks ago. I don't know why. It's overall a good thing for me. There is such a tight housing market in Sydney - or Australia generally - that I would have been screwed. So, for now I get to keep my slum and he gets to keep his income. He also changed his mind on getting paid by direct transfer after only 4 weeks. Apparently, "someone in USA took a few grand out of his a/c" but I couldn't get any useful details about the specifics. He's such a technophobe and 83 so he doesn't have the vocabulary to explain what happened. It seems odd, considering he doesn't have any online presence, doesn't even have an internet connection and has probably never even used an ATM.

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

6 minutes ago, Farmduck said:

My landlord changed his mind a couple of weeks ago. I don't know why. It's overall a good thing for me. There is such a tight housing market in Sydney - or Australia generally - that I would have been screwed. So, for now I get to keep my slum and he gets to keep his income. He also changed his mind on getting paid by direct transfer after only 4 weeks. Apparently, "someone in USA took a few grand out of his a/c" but I couldn't get any useful details about the specifics. He's such a technophobe and 83 so he doesn't have the vocabulary to explain what happened. It seems odd, considering he doesn't have any online presence, doesn't even have an internet connection and has probably never even used an ATM.

 

Thanks for the update mate, great to hear you're not getting kicked out in the end. 

If you ever want to migrate over to East Yorkshire just let me know. Poultry need to stick together! 

[Futtocks]

1 hour ago, Farmduck said:

My landlord changed his mind a couple of weeks ago. I don't know why. It's overall a good thing for me. There is such a tight housing market in Sydney - or Australia generally - that I would have been screwed. So, for now I get to keep my slum and he gets to keep his income. He also changed his mind on getting paid by direct transfer after only 4 weeks. Apparently, "someone in USA took a few grand out of his a/c" but I couldn't get any useful details about the specifics. He's such a technophobe and 83 so he doesn't have the vocabulary to explain what happened. It seems odd, considering he doesn't have any online presence, doesn't even have an internet connection and has probably never even used an ATM.

Well, good news for now, but the guy sounds less than totally dependable.

[Farmduck]

22 minutes ago, Futtocks said:

Well, good news for now, but the guy sounds less than totally dependable.

I put some of it down to being 83, insulin-dependent diabetic, possibly a bit of dementia, and watching SKY news.

[Bedford Roughyed]

1 hour ago, Futtocks said:

Well, good news for now, but the guy sounds less than totally dependable.

Yes not knowing when it will potentially happen again wont be great.

My Landlord (so far for 10 years) has been great, but if he sold up or asked me to move, I'd find it tough!  Probably have to double the rent I pay, never mind moving all my 'stuff'.

[Futtocks]

2 hours ago, Bedford Roughyed said:

Yes not knowing when it will potentially happen again wont be great.

My Landlord (so far for 10 years) has been great, but if he sold up or asked me to move, I'd find it tough!  Probably have to double the rent I pay, never mind moving all my 'stuff'.

I'm lucky with mine too; when he decided to largely refit the house (adding a storey, as well as upgrading all the existing spaces), he moved me and a couple of other long-term tenants into the completed bits before starting work on our previous flats. He did use the rebuild as an excuse to say goodbye to couple of other tenants he didn't like so much. It almost certainly created a lot of extra work for him.