Updating post from Reddit.
For the past few months I've been regretting coming to his house , he's a live out landlord who abused me a lot , the audio you see in the image is also one of the proofs but I won't play it , so the agreement was from Jan 20 , a 3 month minimum stay , in the beginning of March he randomly has his helper bang on my door like crazy while being call with the helper then he starts to abuse me and I'd like to also quote what he said to me that day " I am losing a lot of money on this room by letting you live in this room, and so I'm gonna ask you to kindly leave " I was horrified, I didn't know he had this evil side . Now I pled with him because I was only going to stay here till April first week or something anyways then I was planning on moving out . This guy refused to listen to my pleas and said " sir I don't care if you don't find a house within the next 2 weeks , but I need you to empty the room , I will put the room up on spare room and have people book it before you leave so I don't lose time or money , now do what you want , sir" I was devastated and lost , then I realized I have the contract and then I fought saying that I have the right to stay here for 3 months till April 20 according to the contract, then he knew he was bound by the law so he didn't say anything.
After a few days I thought to myself since I'm only planning on staying here till April first week , why not make a deal with the landlord So I did , I asked him if he will return my deposit if I leave before April 20 ( mind you he wanted me to leave beforehand) he said "as long as I find a tenant before you leave" so I said alright.
I allowed him to put the room on spare room but made sure to mention that I will only let the people view my room when I'm available, because I saw him show someone else's room ( yes , entering the room when the current tenant is not home , breach of privacy as many say) without them being there He didn't say anything, but one day I came to my room and found it to be open , I asked the helper and he said we showed room to someone , which made me sad again , mentally this owner has harmed me enough , now I recently came across a guy ( I showed him the room ) he said he is interested in taking the room , I texted that to the owner and the owner said he " doesn't take British" NOW that has to be racist or whatever I don't know , these days living in this room have been the hardest for me , mind you I'm an international student and since my first year's final coursework season is March and April , I had to deal with all of this while my studies were at their peak
Now I come to reddit to seek help , how do I get my deposit back , how do I get this guys to give me my money back ( I can also send the audio recording if anyone helpful needs some evidence) Thanks for reading and thanks for your help! Have a good one !
Am I understanding this correctly. The landlord is renting out a house in Britain, but he wants no British people living there?
Probably wants people that do not know the laws that he is breaching. Worst type of landlord.
This is it.
Hit the nail on the head here. He wants someone who won’t argue back and know their rights or law surrounding their rights. I’d argue students are vulnerable too as they don’t want to rock the boat for fear of having nowhere to live.
Seems like it, Indians, let alone Indian students will do what they’re told and put up with abuse for a while
The East India Company has entered the chat
Lol that larger India included many other groups that aren’t necessarily compliant.
So your typical Slumlord.
Yes, they want people who are here on visas and are too afraid to defend themselves against abuse.
That’s true it’s also true that this is discrimination based on race or nationality. That’s bad, I’d move out straight away.What a piece of shit.
It's very common among Indians, they discriminate against non-Indians in every context. I've seen it at work, once an Indian engineer joins the team, if you let him do interviews he'll only pass other Indians.
You should have noticed Rishi Sunak tried to give preferential treatment to Indian companies like InfoSys, and increased the visas issued to Indians. As landlords, they are insufferable scumbags.
I dont know the ethnicity of the landlord, but going off the name Pedro, I dont know that we have evidence of that. I do know that some slumlords pick certain populations because of the ease at which they feel they can manipulate or intimidate them, so maybe it's that?
He gave Infosys preferential treatment because its his wife's family business/company (so still problematic but for different reasons), and the uptick in Indian visas was to replace workers lost through Brexit whilst also being able to pay them less. There was an active drive to bring in qualified Indian doctors and nurses that were happy to work for lower pay than their counterparts in the UK/Europe. That isn't to say you don't have a point, just your example of Rishi (I feel the need to point out I still think he's a cunt) isn't a good example. Rishi Sunak identifies more strongly with his wealth and class than his ethnicity. He was not out there doing poor Indians any favours.
Outside of that, I've definitely seen companies and low level managers almost exclusively fill the shop floor with other Indians of a similar caste or from the same regions, like in chain retail stores and restaurants, and that definitely needs addressing.
> Rishi Sunak identifies more strongly with his wealth and class than his ethnicity
This is classic Indian caste-culture you're describing.
Rishi is a typical upper-caste Indian, he treats the poor with disdain but he will scam and thieve every opportunity he has.
Ahh, only took me a few scrolls to find the racist. Rishi is probably the as far from culturally indian you can get.
I don't know, my Japanese friend is even further away from being culturally Indian than Rishi.
I'm not sure how you could state that. He's literally a proud Hindu. He also married an Indian. His parents are Indian. As far away from culturally Indian as you can get? Idk. Fairly sure I'm less Indian.
It's hardly racist to observe caste/wealth/ preference is characteristic of Indian and other societies. It's a fact. I.e the Mafia!!
No he's not. He is a rich indian but part of the indian upper class and from a much higher cast system.
That's upper class everywhere isn't it?
My local Indian community didn't welcome him with open arms, for sure, when he made PM. It's all working class people there. Sunak is from a whole different world that none of us could relate to.
Not that I know either way too, but there are many Indians from Goa with Portuguese names who gained Portuguese passports which allowed them to move to the UK.
I think all nationalities do that. I was recently in a senior management meeting with a Chinese contractor in Hong Kong and every single person round the table was British or Aussie.
To be fair, InfoSys is his father in law's company. More keeping it in the family, tory type behaviour.
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Have you never come across an Indian using a western name?
Yes there are loads especially the Christian ones. I've seen a lot with the surname Joseph for some reason too
With a name like Pedro he could be from Goa.
Plenty in call centres, usually a Derek or Louise or something except they're definitely not calling from the UK.
"I hate Indian people" = racist
"I don't like dealing with people from call centres who read from a script and don't have first language English for dealing with my shit" = not racist
Going Indians, lots of them in London, they have Portuguese names
I get called by Indians calling themselves "Steven" and pretending to work for Apple. How do I know they're pretending? Because when I explain "I can't owe you £200 on my apple account because I only use amazon" They hang up.
Goan.
Diu, Daman, or Goa.
But diu and daman folk usually have indian names.
There is only one group who begins a sentence with "Sir" like that. I'm guessing "Pedro" is a fake name in all honesty, Indians tend to use pseudonyms.
OP has already confirmed the landlord is not Indian and is Portugese. So, clearly, there is more than “one group who begins a sentence with “Sir” like that”.
Portugese-Indian most likely.
Yes, cos there's loads of those knocking about
OP could pull up the landlords birth certificate and this guy would still come up with an excuse. Some folk just live in a bitter bubble.
I think there are actually. Wasn't India a Portuguese colony at one point?
Southern idea - it's why in the South of India there's a large Catholic presence in relationship to population size, and why a lot of South Indian's have Latinised surenames such as Thomas, Joao, Sousa...
There actually are. a lot of South Indians travel to Portugal on enterprise visas, get Portuguese Citizenship after I think 6 years (it's one of the easiest or was one of the easiest countries to gain an EU nationality via), and then use this as an EU gateway.
The amount of Indian of birth, now EU nationals (usually Portuguese or Italian), I encountered in the NHS is incredible, given the amount of human migration involved.
There actually are
Of course there are, you think Indian men don't like Portugese women? You racist
Or could also be from goa, where a lot of Indians have Portuguese names
From ex-Portuguese colony Goa where Pedro is a relatively common name - yes there's plenty
I don't support jumping to conclusions but given the question of whether the tenant was Indian and use of 'Sir'... It is more likely than not
There actually is, a ton of Indiana from goa have Portuguese names since it used to be a Portuguese colony
There are in Goa.
Tens of thousands of people from India with Indian/Portugues dual citizenship. There’s 20000 goans in Swindon just as an example.
Yep, probably Goan.
While I generally agree that I've seen a lot of racism amongst the Indian community, I will also raise my hand and say that I rented from an Indian landlord for about 15 years and my flatmate for 20. He was an absolute gem. I saw him about 3 times in all those years and he raised the rent maybe twice - in the final 3 years. I had also once rented from a white, British person and he was the kind that let the house be a slum for max payment. I lasted 6 months there and that was too much.
Scumbag is not a single-race qualifier.
Yeah we also have a British Indian landlord who aligns with what you have said. Good and bad people exist across the board.
Yes, and Indian named Pedro who only wants more Indians
It's as radical as white supremacists only wanting whites.
Or higher ups only wanting to hire their kids
Or any other form of corruption that literally happens everywhere
It's standard across the board dude
I'm guessing you've never heard of Portugese-India?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goans
You appear to be quite ignorant of how diverse India is. There are *Millions* of Indians with Portugese names like "Pedro".
Never said it wasn't impossible. My point was that everyone is corrupt, not just one group like you're eluding to... You're literally the one being ignorant 🤣
But thanks for taking the time to Google the matter. Good for you
Fucking hell, you really want him to be Indian don't you. Give it a rest
Where does it say the landlord is Indian?
Why else would he only want Indians?
He might not want Indian people either in the same way he doesn’t want British.
You can tell from the writing style he's an Indian landlord. I'd recognise that kind of malicious stupidity any day. Pointless ego-driven conflict, that's their style.
Now who’s racist
Are you illiterate?
"Is he from India?" "No." "I don't take people who are British."
He's clearly saying he wants Indians. The assumption is that if they're not Indian then they're British, and that's bad.
OP confirms further down the landlord is Portuguese. Seems my literacy skills are just fine.
Portugese-Indian - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goans
OP would see him as "Portugese", but he would be Indian by the way he writes (Eg: "sir")
Then why would he randomly ask if they are Indian? The OP is also Indian
Racists being racist? I saw someone on an Airbnb forum say they wouldn’t rent to Indian people as they leave the kitchens smelling like curry. I’m sure you’d agree that bigots often say things that don’t make sense to non-bigots
Was that the Madeira one by any chance?
There are a fair few angry Madeirans (on reddit so pinch of salt taken) who seem to hate tourists.
Pretty sure it would have been the same person who I got into heated discussions with. She wanted everyone to just use the hotels and didn't like it when I pointed out that it's doubtful money from package holiday visitors enjoying their chain hotels is going to end up in the pockets of local businesses.
Someone pointed out that Portuguese cuisine can be rather fragrant and that it's a matter of taste and tolerance.
It turned popcorn worthy...
Textbook example of whataboutism.
Just to add the topic in the forum had nothing at all to do with ethnicities, it was about cleaning fees after guests.
literally mentions a ethnicity
Sir
It's pronounced "Saar"
I see your Sir and raise you a Pedro.
Pedro from Portugese-India: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goans
He's Indian saar.
It didn’t say that, he just seems like one, or Pakistani. That doesn’t go against him, it’s the rest of it that goes against him.
Oh the landlord is undoubtably a racist dick but the OP later confirmed he’s Portuguese. Can see some of the comments are presuming Portuguese Indian but that’s not what OP said and I cba reading all the comments to see if he’s updated to say that’s what he meant. He’s had some good advice so should hopefully get his money back.
Undoubtedly a racist dick, I hear you.
Dude your answer to racism is racism.
I don't believe we should judge people on their race. I give everyone a chance.
I treat it more like a "red flag", I'll take the measure of a man every time. But there are clear patterns of behaviour to watch out for.
Yep. Try going to a post office with Indian staff. They'll likely be the ONLY staff.
Very based comment for reddit
That's so true man
Generally I wouldn't say Indians as a whole are deliberately racist (except against their own tribal groups) they are distrustful - mostly because they are so distrustful! In 30 years in Commercial Property it was / is known that they top the list of dishonesty, slipperiness , Double dealing etc...you WILL be lied to..there will be angles played..all for perceived advantage..price or conditions...which they dont get. If there is a straightline route to an outcome with obvious benefits for both sides they prefer..actually PREFER to avoid it and will create a backroad which leads to confusion. Generally they end up causing themselves to fall out of/ loose the deal. Corruption and graft is ingrained in their society...look at the OP - angst created for a simple residential let..for what..10 bucks a week?? No long term benefit planning. Muppets.
> If there is a straightline route to an outcome with obvious benefits for both sides they prefer..actually PREFER to avoid it and will create a backroad which leads to confusion
Nail on the head. Everything is a zero-sum game with them. They think hurting you wins them a prize, which is fairly obviously not how business relationships work.
This was exactly how my friend lost his warehouse manager job - to people that he'd recruited.
This thing is common with people, goes for all races. White promotes white, black promotes black, brown promotes brown, same goes with gender, women promote women, men promote men. Some people are just like that.
Some groups practice ethnic nepotism more than others.
Utterly
Saar, I applaud your bravery in speaking the truth on Reddit.
Yes, that is correct.
Scum
Yeah can't have any natives with a comprehensive understanding of the laws of the land taking advantage of him.
This is extremely common in Canada with Indian landlords, it’s a big problem there as well.
immigrants are easier to control, they probably won’t know their rights in the UK and even if they do they won’t bother with legal challenges scared for their immigration status in the country. I also let some letting agencies and my work take advantage of me when i was new here.
Yeah super common. Often Indians will only rent to Indians.
We are being colonised. More Indians own property in the UK then Brits now.
He wants another Indian by the sounds of it
Your deposit should be in a trusted deposit scheme. You should do all communication with them. If it isn’t, it is illegal. Take screenshots of everything. Also, housing discrimination based on race/national origin is illegal
You should speak to citizens advice, they are a free charity who will help you. Also if you’re paying through spareroom or OpenRent report him to them
Openrent helping a tenant? Good one
What’s been your experience
Thought we were past the "No gypsies, dogs or Irish" bullshit.
Is the landlord Indian? I've always found Indians to be the worst landlords, and this is typical Indian landlord behaviour. You need to be much more aggressive, they're actually cowards and they fold pretty quickly when you find a way to hurt them. Your lease should show his address, you should pay him a visit.
You been playing too many games bud
Op confirmed he is Portuguese and not Indian, you look like a right prat now 🤣
This is common knowledge, this link doesn’t prove how the original landlord is Indian. What was the point of linking this 🤣
Just laying out the evidence saar.
You did a very poor job of laying out any evidence . Hope you enjoy your singh hortans and all of the other Canadian business taken over by indians 🤣🤣
Yeah see how that pans out with a section 21 for aggressive behaviour.
I didn't suggest doing anything illegal.
Just find a way to hurt him.
Section 21 is no fault.
I am afraid there may be some truth to your statement. I have heard of many businesses (especially Indian) who took advantage of the furlough scheme when they didn't need to and set up false businesses on the side to claim some more funding.
95% of global scam calls come from India. It's just how they do things, common thievery.
that's just karma, a lot was stolen from them
Wtf? Are you suggesting harassment?
No I'm suggesting he hand-deliver a strongly worded letter lmao ;)
lol calm down man. Pay him a visit and hurt him? You sound like you can only afford to rent with that mindset
Pay him a visit? And do what?
Offer him a massage.
He's Portuguese
Portugese-Indian
Please Keep it Civil
Guys thanks for your advice , a little side note is that the landlord is not indian even though he doesn't know much English he's from Portugal and lives there while handling 2-3 houses here in the uk
Please report to HMRC. He probably is avoiding tax and wants indian students who are willing to pay less and live sub par (sadly)
How quick everyone was to judge. Doesn’t mean there aren’t asshole landlords from all over the world though
'the rent what you say it is?'
They are arsehole landlords. Don't even understand the grammar of the country they are renting property from and are racist enough to not accept people of the nationally they are renting to
Dick head comment.
I'd love to know who sees a guy named "Pedro" and goes: "Yeap! Definitely Indian!"
🙄
/r/LegalAdviceUK is where you want to ask
Yeah. I've heard of landlords like this that only rent to international students because they can exploit them financially and get away with breaking all kinds of codes.
I’ll second this, and the no British stance is prolly motivated by foreigners generally not knowing their rights and going away/home eventually, whereas uk citizens will more likely know their rights plus they’re never going away/home, they’re already at home. But regardless, tenants are getting universally fucked over uk wide. Landlords are given free reign. Sad times but it was ever thus.
So many idiots assuming the LL is Indian based on one question.
LL is PORTUGUESE, guys.
Nice to see the racists outing themselves, though, talking shit about Indians like they're all the same.
Portugese-Indian: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goans
OP would see him as "Portugese", but from the way he writes (and behaves) he's clearly Indian.
How obsessed can you be loool, how sad. He's Portuguese, he's asking if he's Indian because OP is Indian and said he's recommending someone
He stays in Portugal, but OP doesn’t mention if he’s Indian or not. There is a large Indian population in Portugal. It just seems weird to ask if the potential tenant is Indian.
? OP said the landlord is Portuguese
No OP said he’s from and lives in Portugal. I don’t think OP has met the landlord based on their comments
His name is Pedro...
On WhatsApp yeah but who’s to say it isn’t a fake name? He’s already doing a lot of dodgy shit and no profile picture?
So LL is from Portugal and lives in Portugal. What is unclear here? Pedro is a portuguese man, not indian
Portugal did colonise parts of India though just an FYI. Portuguese names are still being used in Goa etc.
well it's easier to exploit foreigners since they're not gonna know british tenancy law innit ?
fucking parasites
This is highly likely to be an illegal let. Did he protect you deposit ? Did you sign an ast ?
I don't know what an ast is but I remember the owner was super late in giving me the contract, I had to ask for a whole week , I did sign a contract
Keep a copy of that contract. Save ALL your communication take lots of photos when you leave to prove no damage.
And be prepared to report him when you do leave. I'm no legal expert but if he fails to return the deposit you might be able to get a lot more out of the AH.
Did he give you a gas safety certificate? You should also have been informed of a tenancy protection scheme.
Is your home an HMO? If so, is your landlord registered with the council? If not, you can report him.
What type of tenancy do you have?
Is it a HMO (so you rent a room with communal access to a kitchen and the bathroom. Usually with 3+ other people in the property also renting just a room)?
Or is it a flat/house you rent on your own?
If it is a HMO you can check if the landlord has a HMO licence and if not report them. (This is done with your local council).
If the landlord has not protected your deposit in a deposit protection scheme you can take them to small claims court and possibly receive 3x the initial deposit amount. https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/what_to_do_about_an_unprotected_tenancy_deposit
As for your rights, you can send the landlord and their helper a formal notice in writing e.g. email, post or text. To explain how entering your room without you present is essentially entering without your permission and very much illegal. https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/eviction/what_to_say_if_your_landlord_turns_up_without_permission
As for the racism you can report the landlord to the local council.https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/private_renting/discrimination_right_to_rent_immigration_checks
I thank you very much for this really helpful comment , I rent a HMO as per the description but I also have to mention that the owner has 2 people living in one room and approximately 3 rooms like that ( confirmed 2 rooms with 2 tenants in each) and we are about 9 people sharing the same kitchen , which I do feel is really really sketchy and I do plan on taking actions , thanks again!
Your landlord is an ignorant moron unfortunately
You can report him to the local council. They should have a housing department or a department responsible for licencing HMO's. You can also contact Shelter for advice - they are very knowledgable about housing issues. You can also report him to HMRC as well as it is likely he is involved in some sort of tax dodge.
But give Shelter a call for advice.
Indian guy at work rents a place out and last month he said that one of his rules is no sex at the property. Dogs I can understand, but doggystyle I can not.
Another chip in the broken Britain
You said you're a student. Student Unions provide free housing advice and will help you draft a letter.
I suspect this is because a British person is more likely to hold him accountable than a temporary immigrant i.e and international student.
A strongly worded email asserting your rights and demonstrating that you have a timeline of their wrongs, with evidence, and a will to escalate through the proper channels is usually enough to cause a shitty landlord to fold.
Talking from experience.
Talk to Citizens Advice first if you need to strengthen your argument, but you can quite literally just tell him you have several instances of illegal behaviour and you’re happy to take it to the authorities unless he plays nice.
My previous one too: https://www.reddit.com/r/HousingUK/comments/1jkah7a/comment/mju3bp2/ but more problems aside from racism.
I still can't get back my deposit.
Always hear people talk about contacting the housing ombudsman they’re usually helpful from what I’ve heard
.
Can’t blame him lol. Two Brit flatmates moved in my flat a couple months back and the tidiness went to complete shit.
If it is discrimination based on a protected characteristic, report him to Trading Standards.
Your landlord is making sure he gets no brittish tenants.....why???...because he's a dodgy landlord who wants tenants "foreigners" that he can bullshit and manipulate and bully into paying illegal surplus.....illegal subletting is yir man's game. Fuck him.
Court case guaranteed
Probably doesn’t accept British tenants as it’s more likely they know their rights and are less likely to put up with whatever his usual antics are. Obviously, avoid.
I wanted to rent a flat in Cambridge not long ago, but my name ( Indian) was struggling to get my offers accepted so I started using my husband’s last name who is not Indian I started getting accepted for my offers. Cambridge is one of the most elitists cities and they have their own bit of racist screenings going on 😑
I just took a property back from an Indian family and I’ve never seen anything so filthy in my 20 years of property rentals. Water everywhere, mould everywhere, never been cleaned, windows never opened, heating never used, bathroom fans switched off because of the cost of running is obviously too much, brand new oven destroyed with food. Good luck to him if he wants to rent to these people.
Landlords are the scum of the earth
If your deposit isn't protected and you take him to small claims court you can get 3x your deposit awarded as a penalty for him.
Check with the 3 schemes first: https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection
Also there's a good chance he probably can't just kick you out - https://www.gov.uk/private-renting-evictions .
But if you really want to make him shit his pants ask for the gas and electric safety certificates- the gas should be done annually and the electric every 5 years. It's a criminal offense to not get them and he could get jail time.
Report him to the appropriate landlord reporting system I know they exist as I've been told about them by my elderly neighbours
Id tell him to give his head a wobble but he probs does that when he speaks anyway
That is some low effort racism there. Was that meant to be a joke?
Yes lmao go cry about it
I'm crying because you think that is comedy. PLEASE never consider stand up. Crickets.
Oooo touchy touchy 🤣 deffo a crying lil wimp 🤣
Bet he stinks of curry
It seems one of my year 6 students has found reddit.
Deport
Stop acting the victim and leave the property you don't own. 🤗
Honestly British students are extremely bad tenants. It's like they don't know what cleaning is or even putting stuff away.
Ah yes, all 2.9 million of them are extremely bad tenants and so therefore are allowed to be discriminated against.
... yes. It's worse than you can imagine. It's like they're 5-year old. They never vacuum. They take other people's food from the fridge. The list goes on.
And you can vouch for 1b plus Indians too
Sweeping generalisation. You’re part of the problem.
Ok grandpa
Wow, sounds terrible. Will you be ok? Why don't you sell up then so a family can have a home, all of this awful hassle involving hoovers and missing dairylea is definitely not worth it.
I'm a renter. And british students are absolute infantile pigs.
So why do you not study where you’re from?
Prick.
You are the 2nd biggest bellend in this thread, after the Landlord in question. Well done 👍🏼
But...they never vacuum! The list goes on!
Funniest thing I've seen on here in ages guffaw
What an absolute nonsense, lol. Students in general are shit at cleaning. I am a professional cleaner and have seem the grimmest properties from literally every type of person. Its impossible to say one nationality are less clean and tidy than other.
If you are very obsessed with cleaning what is already clean and tidying up what is already tidy, and you like zooming in on to the tiniest speck of barely visible dirt to complain about it, that should imply that you have some sort of mental illness due to the unhinged obsession.
You need therapy instead of getting hung up on tenants not doing things your way. Btw is your name Vaneet?