problem tenant taking me for a ride

mickymellon

I have one property which I have rented out for nearly 2 years whilst I have been working away from the UK, I initially had it rented to a couple with a child who were brilliant.

Come the renewal the couple split up and the contract was switched over to her name and for 6 months everything continued brilliantly until all of a sudden, she stopped paying rent.

due to me being away and having a crap bank (Abbey), I had not seen or been sent bank statements monthly so got a shock when I saw my tenant wasn't paying.

I spoke to her and she gave me a load of rubbish as to her circumstances then refused to answer my calls so I called, left voicemails stating I was coming round in 24hrs to see her and when I did go to see her (repeatedly) and have her numerous options to at least tell me what was happening, she basically said she's be staying there rent free until the end of the contract!!!

...so I sent her a letter which she said she never received, I then sent one recorded delivery saying I intend to start proceedings in 2 weeks and booked a court date.

here is the latest from her solicitors

page 1
page 2

I also found out recently she is an asylum seeker of 5 years and (despite paying rent for 6 months) has no funds or intention of paying

read here

So I am left -£5000+ in debt and my tenant still living in my property rent free!!

can someone please help me with some reccomendations as to my next course of action and any good solicitors than may be able to help me.


It seems that her solicitors sole defence is that I sent the letter or made the court date a few days too quicky despite me sending a previous letter and me having a log of my unanswered phone calls to her and her saying she has no intention of paying.

I am at my wits end here

(I have also posted with on the landlord zone website but hoped someone from here could help)

lincroft1710

I've heard stories of unscrupulous landlords who would send in the "heavy mob" to harass a slow paying or unwanted tenant, cause damage to personal property and in extreme circumstances actual physical assault. Or inform police tenant is running "disorderly house" or is dealing drugs from property or has firearms concealed in property and is engaged in probable acts of terrorism.

I am not a landlord and even if I were I would never, never resort to such tactics. But don't you wish you could!!!!

meester

lincroft1710 wrote: »

I've heard stories of unscrupulous landlords who would send in the "heavy mob" to harass a slow paying or unwanted tenant, cause damage to personal property and in extreme circumstances actual physical assault. Or inform police tenant is running "disorderly house" or is dealing drugs from property or has firearms concealed in property and is engaged in probable acts of terrorism.

I am not a landlord and even if I were I would never, never resort to such tactics. But don't you wish you could!!!!

no, posts like this are never sensible, sorry.

minimoocow

You need to be really careful here - she seems to know what she is doing and you don't.

Firstly stop calling her - she will claim harassment. I have been there with tenants not paying and not returning calls so I know how frustrating it is but getting yourself into trouble will not help. She's not going to answer so don't waste your time. Keep all correspondence in writing and as you have already found out send it recorded.

Secondly - yes they can throw the claim out due to dates. The courts are very tight on this - if the dates aren't correct you will need to go through the process again.

Also, I know its not what you want to hear but if you are claiming for non payment of rent if she is geting advice she will be told to make payments to just under 8 weeks rent (i.e. be only 7 weeks and 6 days in arrears). If she does this again you won't have a claim. Therefore it is often better to seek possession under several sections.

When is the fixed term up? It may be easier to wait until the end of the fixed term and issue a S21 notice as there is no defence from this (although she may be given time to find somewhere else to live).

Hope that helps - not a nice situation but you need to know the law as well as she (or her advisers) do.

MMC

meester

mickymellon wrote: »

I have one property which I have rented out for nearly 2 years whilst I have been working away from the UK, I initially had it rented to a couple with a child who were brilliant.

Come the renewal the couple split up and the contract was switched over to her name and for 6 months everything continued brilliantly until all of a sudden, she stopped paying rent.

due to me being away and having a crap bank (Abbey), I had not seen or been sent bank statements monthly so got a shock when I saw my tenant wasn't paying.

You really need to have a managing agent if you are not in the country. It's a cost of doing business.

I spoke to her and she gave me a load of rubbish as to her circumstances then refused to answer my calls so I called, left voicemails stating I was coming round in 24hrs to see her and when I did go to see her (repeatedly) and have her numerous options to at least tell me what was happening, she basically said she's be staying there rent free until the end of the contract!!!

...so I sent her a letter which she said she never received, I then sent one recorded delivery saying I intend to start proceedings in 2 weeks and booked a court date.

here is the latest from her solicitors

page 1
page 2

Did you prepare the court proceedings yourself? The rules on dates are quite complicated, and you need to get them right, if you post the details on the contract length, start date, break clause if any, last date rent was paid, total arrears, etc, you'll get more feedback. The best way to get possession is usually to issue notice. It seems from the letters that the tenant is well-advised, looks like you got things wrong, but you have not included nearly enough information to say.

It seems that her solicitors sole defence is that I sent the letter or made the court date a few days too quicky despite me sending a previous letter and me having a log of my unanswered phone calls to her and her saying she has no intention of paying.

If the law says you have to issue on or after a certain date, and you don't, you lose. Quite simple. The solicitor knows what they are doing by the look of things!

littlemissmoney

I have a great deal of sympathy for your situation... but you need to be VERY careful not to be accused of harassment, which is a very serious offense. Your own log of calls could prove you are guilty of harassement!!

You have not served notice correctly by the looks of things. Hence your case will be thrown out of court. Please serve the correct notice ASAP and get her out!

Landlord zone will help you serve the correct notice.

Good luck!

mickymellon

the nonpayment started when I got back to the UK, the tenancy is up on the 1st November

Unfortunately it's only when things go wrong that I found out I should have had different things in place, that there is landlords insurance etc

whilst out of the country, my dad sorted anything that went wrong which I thought was sufficient and worked well at the time.

and yes, I arranged the court proceedings myself and issued the letter saying she had 2 weeks before I started court action after researching on the internet as with me paying the mortgage as well as for somewhere for me to stay, money is very tight, non-existant (I'm borrowing from friends and family).


rent was last paid nearly 5 months ago!

I will try and post the contract somewhere showing clauses etc

and thanks for all the replies

barnaby-bear

meester wrote: »

You really need to have a managing agent if you are not in the country. It's a cost of doing business.

It's a legal requirement - in fact failing to provide a tenant with a servable agents address means rent is not lawfully due - so she may be legally right in not paying...
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/landlord's_address.htm

Gorgeous_George

You need to serve notice correctly. I recommend you join a LL's association and seek their advice.

Personally, I'd be happy to do time if my tenant treated me like your tenant has treated you.

GG

mickymellon

tenancy contract:

P1
P2
P3
P4
P5
P6
P7
P8
P9
P10
P11
P12 Thanks for taking the time to take a look and help

Tassotti

Mickey

It doesn't matter what it says in the AST.

You need to serve Section 8 and Section 21 with correct dates, then, more than likely get a court eviction.

Research S8 and S21 online and you will find out all you need to know.

A good start is here http://letlink.co.uk/letting-factsheets/factsheets/

Good luck on this cheekt mofo.

Tass