Advise on damage caused by tenants

Cat695

caringa wrote: »

Why does it seem that every tenant thinks they are being ripped off by every landlord? We have always tried to be fair with our tenants, given them more than a second chance when their lives have taken a turn for the worse etc. and nearly every time they do the dirty on us - either dont pay the rent, mess up the property or worse still, both - and do a runner! Not all landlords are super rich - we have worked hard and saved hard to try and better ourselves - putting our money into property instead a pension. We have to pay a fairly large mortage and make very little return. We recently took on a disabled lady into our one bed flat and despite signing the agreement that it was unsuitable for pets, she has now got two Husky type dogs in there and what was once a lovely homely flat now looks and smells like a dog kennel! She has not paid us any rent and there is nothing we can do about it for 6 months - and then we will probably be labelled as "heartless" for trying to evict someone who is vulnerable!

So from reading this it tells me you took on something your really cannot afford....especially if your not paying into a pension as well!!! very foolish if you ask me.(even more foolish to relie on a house as your pension)

And i'm not a tennant I'm one of those people thats always has to choose "other" when asked about my housing status (I'm in Military Accom before you think i live in a tent or something)

tbs624

Have already made my own comment on the OPs situation but as an aside I do find it interesting the way some posters climb on and off the moral high ground:

Compare:

Wings wrote: »

Absolutely right, what a disgraceful person/landlord to attempt to recover monies from a tenant, for damage to a 10 year old carpet, that this landlord intended to replace anyway. How this person has the front to make such an admission is beyond belief..

and

Wings wrote: »

......Now business might be business, but I try to be reasonable when dealing with tenants who have been reasonable and fair to me. It is landlords such as this poster, that the government decides to legislate for the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

with this

Wings wrote: »

Firstly, your ex can/could revert back to her maiden name, secondly I know of fathers renting to their daughters (same surname), and those in relationships renting to their partners. So if I were in your position I would rent to your ex, only if personal questions are raised should you honestly explain the position, if not asked, then you have no need to raise the subject.
.

Yep, that's Wings' post encouraging an amateur LL to commit Housing Benefit fraud in a thread in which the OP wanted to try to claim HB/LHA to pay the rent on a house he was looking at buying for his ex partner and own child.

caringa

Cat695 wrote: »

So from reading this it tells me you took on something your really cannot afford....especially if your not paying into a pension as well!!! very foolish if you ask me.(even more foolish to relie on a house as your pension)

And i'm not a tennant I'm one of those people thats always has to choose "other" when asked about my housing status (I'm in Military Accom before you think i live in a tent or something)

Wouldnt it be great if we all had a crystal ball! Anyway, most pensions aren't worth the paper they are written on - unless you work for the Government!! We lost our previous pension when the company my husband worked for went bust.

As for taking on something we cant afford - I dont see your point. If rental income pays the mortgage, what is foolish about that? - sounds like a bit of jealousy creeping in. My point is simply that many tenants dont respect the property they rent - eg. if you spilled a whole cup of coffee on your carpet, would you clean it up? In our experience, tenants dont bother as its not their carpet and they know they can move on whereas if you have worked hard to buy something for your own property then you look after it.

caringa

Cat695 wrote: »

So from reading this it tells me you took on something your really cannot afford....especially if your not paying into a pension as well!!! very foolish if you ask me.(even more foolish to relie on a house as your pension)

And i'm not a tennant I'm one of those people thats always has to choose "other" when asked about my housing status (I'm in Military Accom before you think i live in a tent or something)

Wouldnt it be great if we all had a crystal ball! As for taking on something we cant afford - I dont see your point. If rental income pays the mortgage, what is foolish about that? - sounds like a bit of jealousy creeping in. My point is simply that many tenants dont respect the property they rent - eg. if you spilled a whole cup of coffee on your carpet, would you clean it up? In our experience, tenants dont bother as its not their carpet and they know they can move on whereas if you have worked hard to buy something for your own property then you look after it.

Catblue

caringa wrote: »

Wouldnt it be great if we all had a crystal ball! As for taking on something we cant afford - I dont see your point. If rental income pays the mortgage, what is foolish about that? - sounds like a bit of jealousy creeping in. My point is simply that many tenants dont respect the property they rent - eg. if you spilled a whole cup of coffee on your carpet, would you clean it up? In our experience, tenants dont bother as its not their carpet and they know they can move on whereas if you have worked hard to buy something for your own property then you look after it.

If NONE of your tenants would clean up a spilled cup of coffee, then you really need to look at improving your vetting process and consider whether you are a good judge of character. Most landlords do try to weed out the undesirables.

There are plenty of good landlords on here who have good tenants.

BridgetJones_2

caringa wrote: »

Wouldnt it be great if we all had a crystal ball! As for taking on something we cant afford - I dont see your point. If rental income pays the mortgage, what is foolish about that? - sounds like a bit of jealousy creeping in. My point is simply that many tenants dont respect the property they rent - eg. if you spilled a whole cup of coffee on your carpet, would you clean it up? In our experience, tenants dont bother as its not their carpet and they know they can move on whereas if you have worked hard to buy something for your own property then you look after it.

Do you even bother to get references for you tenants? You're so angry!!

To answer your question, yes I would clean up coffee. Just because I rent doesn't mean I live in squaller! In fact I've improved every house I've lived in and believe me that's difficult when you're stuck with the LL's ugly furniture.

Wings

tbs624 wrote: »

Have already made my own comment on the OPs situation but as an aside I do find it interesting the way some posters climb on and off the moral high ground:

Compare:

and

with this


Yep, that's Wings' post encouraging an amateur LL to commit Housing Benefit fraud in a thread in which the OP wanted to try to claim HB/LHA to pay the rent on a house he was looking at buying for his ex partner and own child.

There is nothing in the legislations to stop a landlord renting to an ex partner or a relative, therefore the amateur LL is not committing Housing Benefit fraud, particularly if questions asked by the Benefit Agency are honestly answered by the amateur LL.

barnaby-bear

caringa wrote: »

Wouldnt it be great if we all had a crystal ball! As for taking on something we cant afford - I dont see your point. If rental income pays the mortgage, what is foolish about that? - sounds like a bit of jealousy creeping in. My point is simply that many tenants dont respect the property they rent - eg. if you spilled a whole cup of coffee on your carpet, would you clean it up? In our experience, tenants dont bother as its not their carpet and they know they can move on whereas if you have worked hard to buy something for your own property then you look after it.

It's a business you have to avoid risks such as voids, a tenant who doesn't pay, damage etc and have contingency funds - i.e. its foolish to assume the rental income will be there to pay the mortgage

olly300

BridgetJones wrote: »

Do you even bother to get references for you tenants? You're so angry!!

To answer your question, yes I would clean up coffee. Just because I rent doesn't mean I live in squaller! In fact I've improved every house I've lived in and believe me that's difficult when you're stuck with the LL's ugly furniture.

Why do amateur landlords who post on here think all tenants want to live in squalor?

On this board generally the worst of both types are posted about. Most landlords and tenants don't have problems.

milkybars

Why not suggest that instead of them having it professionally cleaned, they give you that money due to the damage they have caused. With that you can use it as part payment towards a new flooring.

Thinking from their point of view, they must know about the damage already but probably wouldn't offer anything unless you bring it up. I'm sure they are also aware of the cleaning they need to do before they move out so will see this offer as a good deal I think.