讀《FT·金融時報》學(xué)英語：六大類極品房東？

The Snooper 窺探狂

Is your landlady a warm but slightly intrusive pensioner, who lets herself in to check everything is OK?
你的房東是不是一位熱心腸的但有些好奇過度的退休老太太？她隨意進出你家以確保一切正常。

This sort of thing can happen when you're renting a former family home from a landlord who can't let go.
這種事最可能發(fā)生的情況是你租的房子里以前住著房東一家，而房東感到難以割舍。

Know your rights.They can't enter the property without getting your permission 24 hours in advance, unless they want to carry out emergency repair work.
記住你自己的權(quán)利，房東不得擅自進入，除非提前24小時得到你的準許或是因為房子需要緊急維修。

The Ghost 幽靈房東

Feel like nobody is listening to your complaints? Then you could have a ghost landlord.
你的抱怨無人理睬嗎？那么你可能碰上“幽靈”房東了。

Generally absent, maybe living abroad, even the letting agent has trouble getting hold of them.
總是找不到人，可能住在國外，就算房屋中介也聯(lián)系不上他們。
This is a tricky one to deal with.Your landlord has to keep your home in a safe and habitable condition.But to enforce that, you're going to have to sue them.
這種房東很棘手。他們有義務(wù)保證你租的房子舒適安全。但為了讓他履行義務(wù)，你只能起訴他。



The DIY Disaster Zone DIY狂人

The shower has run dry.The boiler has blown up.There has never been a greater need for qualified professionals to roll up their sleeves.
淋浴頭不出水了。熱水器炸了。房子里到處都需要專業(yè)人士來修理一番。

But why would your landlord do that when they are also good at DIY themselves? Only problem is, they never really fix it.
但干嘛要請專業(yè)人士？房東自己就是個DIY行家嘛！但問題在于，他們從未真正修好過任何東西。

Other than move out or sue them, your hands are tied.
如果你不搬出去，也不想起訴房東，那你基本無計可施。

The Tightwad守財奴

This type of landlord strikes when you move out, accusing tenants of damaging the property and refusing to release your deposit. 
這種房東在你臨走時才會原形畢露，指責(zé)你破壞了房間設(shè)施并拒絕退還押金。

Your main defense is making sure your cash is in a registered deposit protection scheme.They can mediate a dispute and decide what's fair.
你的主要對策是確保押金存放于一個登記過的押金保障計劃內(nèi)。這可以幫助你尋求仲裁，判斷是非。

But be warned, the process can often take months.
但這個過程可能要持續(xù)數(shù)月之久。



The Commitment-phobe承諾恐懼者

This is the landlord who decides from the mysterious reasons that you can't rent the property after all, even though your deposit has been handed over and everything verbally agreed.
這種房東會以千奇百怪的理由拒絕你租房，就算你已經(jīng)交了定金，也對各種細節(jié)達成了口頭協(xié)議。

The letting agent is usually to blame for this one.
這種情況通常應(yīng)該怪中介。

Someone says you hand over a cash holding deposit to take property off the market, but if the deal falls through, they should give you your money back straight away.If they don't, complain to the property ombudsmen.
有些人會要求你先交一筆現(xiàn)金定金才讓房子不再公開掛牌，但如果最后沒租成，他們必須立即返還定金。如果不還，你該立刻向社區(qū)房地產(chǎn)官員投訴。

The Dumper逐客狂

Did you complain once too often, or you're being a nuisance when you are just in demand for hot water? You might find yourself asked to leave midway through the tenancy.
你的抱怨是否過于頻繁？又是否僅僅因為索要熱水而惹怒他們？那么你可能在租約期間被房東趕走。

This is known as a revenge eviction, and it was made illegal last year.But tenants can still be asked to leave if they have a break clause in their contract, which many do.
這種報復(fù)性的逐客在去年已被定為非法。但房東還是可以下逐客令，如果租房合同里有一條允許它們這樣做。


Always read the tenancy agreement very, very closely.
切記，一定要非常非常仔細地閱讀租房合同。