Having moved into a property at Maypark - Glen of Rothes - Moray, we were delighted to have secured a long term rent for ourselves and our children. All be it on a short assured tenancy agreement which is the norm nowadays. We had the assurances of the estate agent and landlord that the rental property of Maypark would be ours for the long term future and for us it made for a sensible move whilst we saved to buy a house.
That was where the happy marriage ended between ourselves and our landlord.
Day one of moving in we found an animal trap in our garden, it contained a terrified Magpie which was there to attract other Magpies which when trapped would be picked up in the morning and have its neck "wrung" (strangled) or shot, for the trap to be reset to collect another Magpie as it happily strolled along sometime in the near future. The trap itself is known as a Larsen trap, which funnily enough is banned in its country of origin as they are viewed as inhumane. It has two compartments, one for the live bird, and another with bait. When another bird comes along to investigate the distressed cries of the "call bird" it gets trapped by a spring loaded door. It seems to be common, from what I have read, to use catfood as an additional attractent and to spread eggs around the cage.
Obviously unhappy about this for a multitude of reasons; including that we have young children, pets and, are as a family animal lovers as opposed to torturers, I polity rang Duncan Dunbar-Nasmith, (Deputy Lieutenant of Moray), and asked if it was possible to have the trap removed from our garden. The initial response was an outright no, followed up with a lecture on "countryside practices" and the usual excuse of "The trap is there to protect songbird species" which is a well known excuse drawn up by the songbird survival propaganda teams to protect country bumpkins right to murder wild animals as they please (and on many occasions tame pets). I was then told that if I was unhappy about the trap it would be a good time to tear up our tenancy agreement and move out of the property we had just uprooted our children to move into on the promise of a long term and secure rent. He was very aggressive in his stance and most unpleasant to deal with. Apparently I was interrupting his dinner at the time. I'm sure the Magpie wouldn't have minded his dinner going cold for a taste of freedom.
Some days later we were informed by our Estate Agent that the boundaries of our garden had been redrawn and the section which contained the Larsen trap was no longer ours to access. Considering that to access this part of land you have to enter our driveway and rented land, this meant the section was in no mans land and accessible to no one legally except by scaling a stone wall.
This was not a great start to our tenancy you will agree - however he removed the trap, leaving the other one in place yards from it. From this second trap we rescued our cat no fewer than 6 times as it cowered in fear next to a terrified Magpie who thought it was going to be lunch any second.
From here the problems with Duncan Dunbar-Nasmith continued. Our property had a substantial garden, but no fence. At times the dog would stray to the other side of the very small and quiet country road to have a pee on the road verge. Fairly normal in the countryside and perhaps I should have quoted "countryside practices" back at him. Our dog is a friendly family pet and was of no concern to animals or humans. The first letter of complaint came in, then the second, then the third. It was almost as if Duncan Dunbar-Nasmith was keeping a keen eye on our house from the other side of the hedge and writing letters of complaints as often as he saw any infringements. Just to let you know though, the road does not belong to Duncan Dunbar-Nasmith and it was none of his business what-so-ever if my dog takes a pee on the road verge....
During mid summer we failed to mow our grass for a week, another letter
of complaint. I informed the Estate Agent that our lawnmower had broken
down and was in for repair. This took 3 weeks to repair due to a new
part needing ordered, we received several more letters in this time.
However we did of course mow the garden the second we had the mower
returned. By this point though we had received a notice to quit the house. Not
because of the dog, not because of the grass, not because of the
disagreement over the larsen trap, but apparently he needed the house
back for a close family member. This is what really annoys me.
If as a landlord you are renting to large families you have a degree of
social responsibility. If you have promised a long term rent then so
long as it is within reason that is what they should get. Not to be
thrown out when your sister/mother/dog/son/cousin needs a quick place to
stay, not when you own multiple other properties and live in a large
house with spare rooms yourself, not without a polite "I'm sorry but
this is super urgent and we really really must have the property back"
letter. And especially not when you are simply lying through your teeth.
On moving out of the property that we stayed in for less than 12 months
the property was put back on the market for rent. So where was the
urgency? The family member that was moving in? We were lied too. Even
IF he had a family member he wanted to move in, then I would say he
terminated the lease at a whim and should not have rented it out on the
first place. It is my opinion that this deputy lieutenant of Moray who
performs wreath laying for the military dead and general pomp, is nothing
more than an arrogant land owner who although on the face of it wants a
public profile of decency, wants respect in the community, but is nothing
more than your typical out of touch toff.
Dear Mr Duncan Dunbar-Nasmith, you gave 5 children a home and took it
from them within 12 months, caused great disruption to their lives and
caused the family to suffer financially. You are in no way a respected
member of the community but an upper class thug and torturer of
animals. Shame on you