General Landlord-Law FAQThese FAQ are based on questions we have been asked about the site and the Landlord-Law service by prospective members. Contents:1. What is the purpose of Landlord-Law?
1. What is the purpose of Landlord-Law?Landlord-Law is an online resource for both landlords and tenants so that they can find out the answers to most of their legal problems on the site. For example you can access Landlord-Law in the middle of the night or from anywhere in the world, provided you have internet access. For annual members there are in addition, forms and tenancy agreements which can be downloaded and used free of charge, plus other special features such as our rent arrears action plan and kits 2 and 3. There are other services you can purchase if you need further help. However for the majority of our members, the information and forms on the site are sufficient. 2. Where are you based?We are based in Norwich in East Anglia, England, and the site only deals with the law in England and Wales UK (i.e. in Europe). We cannot help, for example, in respect of properties in the United States of America or Australia where there are different legal systems. Note also that there are different legal systems also in Scotland and Northern Ireland in the UK. 3. How can the site be for both landlords and tenants? Surely it should only be for one or the other?This is a legal information site, and the law is the same whether you are a landlord or a tenant. It is just the viewpoint which changes. Tessa is neither a landlord nor a tenant (although she has been both in the past) and has no personal allegiance to either landlords or tenants as a group. Many people are both landlords and tenants at various stages in their life, and will look to the same solicitor to give advice, plus many landlords will have family members who are tenants, for example adult children at College or University. 4. I would like to join, but what if the site does not work on my computer?The vast majority of people have no problems. However, if you are worried, we would suggest you join initially as a monthly member. If the site works for you, you can easily then upgrade to annual membership by paying the upgrade fee. However if for any reason the site does not work with your computer (for example if you are unable to log in, which happens with a handful of cases) you can ask us to refund your membership fee, which we will always do (for monthly members) provided you let us know within 14 days of your subscription start. You should however first check the guidance which you will find on our Techie Help page (you will see a link to this in the blue section at the bottom of every screen). For example you may not be able to log in because you are entering your login details incorrectly. 5. After I have joined can I email or telephone you to ask legal questions?Unfortunately not! There are hundreds of members, and it is not possible for us to provide a free telephone or email advice service as part of your membership. However most questions are answered by the information on the site, which is very extensive. If your question is an unusual one, there are a number of things you can do. You can submit a question to the Q&A page (although note that many are submitted but only 10 per fortnight are chosen). If you are an annual or monthly member you can post a question onto our discussion forum . Tessa will often give brief answers here, plus you will be able to discuss your problem with other members. However for complex problems (particuarly if there is paperwork which Tessa will need to see) you should instruct Tessa formally to advise via email, which will cost you £85. Note however that we do provide a limited amount of telephone advice support with the online kits. 6. I would like to instruct you do to legal work but I do not want to join Landlord-Law. How can I instruct you?I am afraid we only accept instructions for legal work from Landlord-Law members. Our special prices are calculated on the basis that members have paid the annual membership fee and will be instructing us via the Landlord-Law online procedure. This involves payment in advance and all relevant details being provided to us via the online forms, which saves us a lot of time. The forms will also prompt you to send us the correct paperwork. The whole point of Landlord-Law is that we are an internet service and do things differently. If you are uncomfortable with computers and do not want to instruct solicitors via the internet, there are plenty of other firms you can use, who still operate in a traditional way (some of which you can find in our 'Find a Property Solicitor' Directory. However many people are pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to use our online procedure, so please do not be put off by the fact that you are not a whiz kid with computers! 7. I would like you to act for me in proceedings for possession but I see you are based in Norwich and my property is elsewhere. Is this a problem?No, we can act for property anywhere so long as it is in England and Wales UK. Many possession proceedings nowadays do not have a court hearing at all. Where a court hearing is involved, we will instruct local agents to attend the court hearing with you. The important thing with possession proceedings is to get the paperwork right. If this is correct, the court hearing is often a formality. 8. I would like you to do legal work for me, but I cannot see the type of work as one of the options on your Legal Services page. What do I do?If you would like us to do legal work which is not listed on the Legal Services page, you should instruct us to advise (which will cost £85) and send any relevant paperwork. Tessa will then consider the case, give you her initial advice and let you know the cost of any future work. If the work is not something Tessa is able to do personally, we can often recommend a local firm you can use. 9. Is there any type of landlord and tenant work you do not do?We mostly only do work regarding short residential tenancies with private landlords (eg ASTs). We do not do any commercial landlord and tenant work (e.g. shops and offices), or social housing work (e.g. Council properties). Tessa can sometimes give initial advice regarding long (e.g. 99 year) leases but does not undertake any legal work. Also we do not do conveyancing work, although we can give advice to people purchasing properties with sitting tenants. 10. Do you give refunds, for example if I decide I no longer want to be a member?We give a full refund to monthly members provided they request this within 14 days of joining the site. We will refund daily members fees provided the member re-joins as an annual member within 24 hours. Other than that we do not give refunds. You can read more about our refunds policy here 11. Do you give tax advice?No, Tessa is a solicitor not an accountant, and does not give any tax or financial advice or help. We are not regulated by the Financial Services Authority for giving financial advice. However there are links on the site to other web-sites which may be able to assist. For further information about our service, please read the non member information pages you will find linked from the top section of the main blue navigation section to your left.
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