hi all this is 1st thread

me, my wife and 3 kids are coming to australia in feb 09, my wife and kids are australian citizens and i have a 12 month e676 visa, we moving over there to live with her family until we are settled and i get my perma visa.

i have notified my landlord and she has come back to me and said that i have rent arrears, which i dispute and if i dont pay up she will fax australia house and get my 676 visa cancelled, can she do this?

i rang australian immigration and they said this is civil matter and will not effect my visa, her solicitor is advising her on this matter, so i am worried about lies that they could conjure up about me...i would be grateful if someone could reassure me on this matter

we are moving to browns plains, brissy and i support middlesbrough fc, so pig n whistle here i come

thanks all

mat

simply.................no

we know of people who have left uk for cyprus owing 20k.

the only problem is if they want to come back to the UK

Is your deposit in a protection scheme? If so and it is a disputed deposit then it will be dealt with by the moderators of the protection scheme. Landlady would have to provide evidence. Depends when you paid the deposit whether your landlord was obliged to lodge it in a scheme. Any problems geting back deposits you would do well to go to the Forum on www.landlordzone..co.uk/forums/ and pick 'residential letting questions'. Post your query and you'll soon find out whether your landlady is within her rights to withhold any of your deposit.

Can't advise on the immigration side but I can as a Landlord.

By the sounds of it you will have a job getting your deposit back however, by law she must have placed your deposit in a tenant deposit protection scheme so this should help if she proves difficult. This is in England and Wales - Scotland is exempt (so far)

If you are concerned you should write to her (do not deal with her either in person or over the telephone - your word against hers) and ask her to outline exactly where the rent arrears have come from. You can then tie that up with your own records, assuming you have any.

Good luck. I doubt very much that anything she said would be of interest to Australia House. She does have to prove it all anyway.

Also, send any letters recorded delivery, then you can show them at the deposit tribunal thing, that you have made every effort to get the situation sorted out. Presumably you have paid by cheque or bank transfer, your bank should be able to help you pull records of payments.

Good luck.

She is a **** don't pay any more rent just leave on your due date, your deposit will be lost but it should cover any rent arrears.

Silly Billy

I ended up threatening to take my old UK landlady to court because she wouldn't give me my deposit back.

Good thing about the county court is that you can put in a claim without having to be in the UK.

I handed over my deposit about a month before the deposit protection scheme came in. When I left she tried to get around the whole protection scheme by telling me that I had to get my deposit back from the new tenant - so she could sidestep the whole thing about handling the money. Anyway, the mystery deepened when the new tenant decided not to move in after all.

She ignored my first few letters asking for it back. I got one of my parents to call her but landlady said that 'it wasn't anything to do with her' I had to hassle the person who wasn't going to move in.

I then sent a letter threatening court action and said that I was going to charge her 8% interest on the deposit plus the court fee. I also said that once I had issued the court claim, and if she returned to return my deposit before the court date, I would make sure that she repaid the court fee and the interest up til then - or otherwise I would press ahead with the court action.

The good thing about Mumsie speaking to her over the phone was that I had a witness who heard why landlady wouldn't return the deposit - just in case landlady tried to change her story why she wasn't returning it - such as making up spurious claims of damage etc.

She paid up after that!

I don't know from a legal standpoint, but I seriously doubt that Australia House would do that... it has nothing to do with them what you owe or don't owe.. its all whether or not you tick the correct boxes to be awarded a visa..

Em x

Rent receipts, bank transfers, cheque numbers.... surely this matter could be sorted out very quickly.

I don't think a dispute can affect your visa application. I think she's just making a threat to keep your deposit.

no way she can interfere with your visa, its a cival matter

She can't get your visa cancelled.
And I know its nothing to do with your question, but why are you coming on a tourist visa? Spouse visas are so quick in the UK, would that not be easier?

With just 6 weeks till we go to Oz we are now staying with good friends after 3 months in rental the landlord has rang saying he wants over £1200 for utility bills, after questioning and asking for copies of bills (der, who would pay without) he's now asking for £700 - but another few hundred still needs to come off with my adding up of the bills.

I'd stick to your guns if your right.

Tell him no copy of the actual bill you won't be paying. I think that's a reasonable request.

Even if you have added up what you think the bills really cost - since the landlord is trying his luck - I wouldn't give him what you think is fair I'd tell him you won't pay without proof.