Updating post from Reddit.
I am privately renting and have the same landlord as my brother in law. Some months ago my landlord showed up at my door at 9 o'clock at night to demand that my brother in law pay his rent and how he may kick all tenants out and stop being a landlord because of it. My brother in law only lives one street away so I dont understand why he came to me. Tonight I have recieved an email saying he is not pleased because my brother in law is late on his payments again. This isnt really my problem as far as im concerned so I emailed back and apologised this is happening but passed on his number so that he may discuss it with my brother in law. I have now received several emails highlighting his displeasure and that he does not do phones and will only correspond by email. So I pass on my brother in laws email and he continues to email me about it. What are my rights here if any? With my tenancy up for renewal in a month im worried this is somehow going to be leveraged against me because the landlord clearly thinks i bare some responsibility here.
Im sure someone else can clarify, but the fact that he's shared private information about another tenant with you, and done it in writing, can't be a good thing for him. I'm thinking along the lines of GDPR.
Yep - sharing private details in this manner is a breach of GDPR.
Yep. And as a landlord he MUST be registered with the ICO, and should have given you a privacy statement when you lived in.
Bet neither is the case.
I’ve never heard landlords need to be registered with the ICO, are you sure about this?
If a landlord handles a tenant’s personal data (i.e. not entirely through an agency), and falls under the ICO definition of a data controller as a result, then they need to register with the ICO. That isn’t specific to Landlords but applies to anyone in a position where the collection or use of personal data is necessary.
not your problem and landlord is breaching GPDR. maybe say something like if it continues, you will be reporting it as harassment.
And don't forget to look for a new place to live...
Tell him BIL still owes you a fiver from 2016
And to get in the queue
Best advice is think about trying to move. I’d suggest that this is a landlord that we’d be better off without
Also start a dialogue with the housing team at the council in case things escalate. Any attempt at an illegal eviction call 999 immediately
Tenancies automatically become statuary periodic after end of fixed term.
Legally this has no bearing on you.
Once your contract 'ends' your tenancy becomes rolling monthly unless either you terminate or your landlord secures an eviction, which would require a 2-month 'Section 21' Notice and likely 4-6 months' further court action. You don't have to renew your tenancy for this to happen, it happens automatically.
LL is breaching General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) by contacting you about someone else's tenancy unless they have specifically given him permission to give you information which it doesn't sound like has happened here. This could in theory be reported to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you wanted to take it super seriously.
My recommendation is to be firm with LL in telling him he can't contact you about your brother-in-law. Relation doesn't mean he can speak to you to try and leverage BIL to pay the rent, he needs to speak to BIL directly and nobody else.
Nobody will care about the gdpr breach. The ico sre over busy.
Ignore him and let him get wound up. It really isn’t your problem and he sounds like a keyboard warrior.
Block his emails with the subject of your bil.
I have to wonder what culture the landlord is from where they think you're somehow responsible for the rent of someone who is extended family but not even a next-of-kin (and even if you were, you wouldn't be responsible unless you were listed on the contract as guarantor). This seems pretty bizarre behaviour to me but maybe quite normal in some parts of the world.
Not everything is about culture, shit heads exist in all of them
This is true, but south Asians are one of the worst when it comes to slumlording. They target south Asians and especially students because they know they can bully them. While putting 8 to a room. These students or workers don't know their rights. Which means they end up being exploited, robbed and in many cases sexually assaulted. The UK had a big crackdown on them pre pandemic, Canada currently has a growing south Asian abusive landlord problem.
Sounds like this is white British, otherwise the threats would be off the charts.
He is British like us so definitely not from a part of the world that holds a different standard
I think you know the answer already.
You have no control over your brother, nor responsibility for him.
Your landlord sounds a bit neurotic tbh. He must be struggling atm. Bad payers cause a lot more hassle and expense than tenants sometimes realise.
I'd be gentle with him, though, if your contract is up for review in a month. Keep on his good side whilst not owning their own debt problems
Show that you understand his position and how concerned you are that your brother has let him down.
Is there anything you can do to help him get the cash from your brother?
Point out how you work hard to make sure your own obligations are met and the rent paid on time.
Don't pay your bros rent for him, obviously.
It's illegal to harass you for someone else's debt. Find somewhere else to live.
Has your brother-in-law listed you as a guarantor on his tenancy? With or without your knowledge? If so, this would be quite normal.
If, however, that is not the case, then it's just the landlord trying to pressure the brother-in-law by getting you to phone him and embarrass him. It's very old-school and not normal at all.
Have a conversation with the landlord, let him know you are not getting involved, don't want to know and won't be passing on any messages.
If the landlord continues, then consider moving elsewhere.
It is an ICO (Data Protection) breach, and it has nothing to do with you, but pushing back too much could make you vulnerable to eviction.