Tenant problem at end of contract

princeofpounds

Thank you for those few kind words, in fact this is why I paid an agent to do the job for me.

Recognised... your agent is then failing to do their job properly, because this is exactly the sort of stuff they are there to advise you on. I don't think you are fleecing anyone by the way! Just oddly keen on lining your agent's pockets for little work - only worth it if they are worth it!

The fee is NOT £100.

Ah yes, I see that crept in for the second post.

When it became clear they did not want to sign the contract I offered to pay the fee for them. They declined.

That was the right option to try, but then why mention the fee at all in the first place if it is irrelevant? It gave everyone the impression that was the final straw.

The agent is NOT paid on a % basis so a fee for renewing a legal contract seems fair to me, the agent has no other income from my property. I would have to pay a solicitor to draw up a contract otherwise

Makes it more understandable why they would continue to charge a renewal fee then, but they are still providing a service for you, not your tenants. Still, what service are they actually providing your tenants? Mind you, this isn't a criticism of you in particular, it has become an entrenched frictional cost in the lettings market.

You don't need a solicitor to change a date on a simple AST really with a little bit of knowledge. Might save you some money in the future.

All of which I guess means that you don't actually have a 'tenant problem'. You just have tenants thinking about ending their tenancy in a normal way. If you want them out so you can re-let to people who will sign up for 12 months, section 21 them.

clutton_2

""I had no intention of being a landlord, the house is only let as it failed to sell after 9 months marketing in this economic climate""

but you are one - and you have a duty of care to your tenants.

Either use an agent for full management and let them get on with it, or learn how to be a proper landlord and manage yourself -

you might try doing some reading on https://www.landlordzone.co.uk to see the difficulties you will face in getting tenants out , or https://www.singingpig.co.uk - and do join national landlords association to learn the laws that you must abide by in this business.

if the agent screws up - its your responsibillity in law, it will be you in the dock, not the agent - so - may i suggest that, disabled or not, you do a lot of reading and learn your new business.

good luck

princeofpounds

Oh yeah, here is another free tip. If you are going abroad, you must give T a valid address in England/Wales for service otherwise they do not have to pay you any rent.

Lavendyr

msdevon wrote: »

Thank you for those few kind words, in fact this is why I paid an agent to do the job for me.

You cannot delegate to them the responsibility of being a landlord. They can 'do the job' for you (although as a tenant finder-only service, you have not really engaged them to do so - may I suggest a fully managed service might suit better?), but you are still fully responsible. They are your agent - just that. Principal responsibility always remains with you.

Ultimately it sounds like your tenants want to move out, which negates the whole issue with the "can they just stay there on a rolling contract when I don't want them to?" situation. However, if they do stay there, and you don't want them on a rolling contract, you can serve a Section 21 notice to remove them. You will then have to re-let the property. As you said in your first post that you deal with the 'management issues' I presume you know the correct procedure for this.

Ultimately though you can't make the tenants stay if they want to leave, but you can get them out if you don't want them to stay on the basis they propose. It could take time to evict them (should they not leave when the S21 expires), but at least you'll have what you want. After all the work getting your first tenants out, re-advertising, finding new suitable tenants and so on, that is.

Please go and look at some of the links Clutton has provided, they should be helpful.

Notlob

princeofpounds wrote: »

Oh yeah, here is another free tip. If you are going abroad, you must give T a valid address in England/Wales for service otherwise they do not have to pay you any rent.

And, if you are going abroad for more than 6 months, don't forget to let the tenant know that they should hold onto 20% of your rent and pay it to HMRC on your behalf until you get an exemption certificate.

Notlob

tbs624

Notlob wrote: »

And, if you are going abroad for more than 6 months, don't forget to let the tenant know that they should hold onto 20% of your rent and pay it to HMRC on your behalf until you get an exemption certificate.

Notlob

Only applicable if rent more than £100 pw, an LA is not being used, and if the LL is not eligible to apply for approval to receive gross rent ( which can be done prior to a letting beginning or prior to the LL leaving the UK)

AverageJoe_4

DItch the Agent, they will do nothing for you anyway but charge you a pretty penny for it. Renew with the client on your own contract between the two of you from the day after the existing contract runs out.

Dont charge them an admin fee for signing a contract, keep them happy and they'll stay, by the sounds of it, you need them slightly more than they need you right now.

clutton_2

""Renew with the client on your own contract between the two of you from the day after the existing contract runs out."

no no no no no no no - the OP knows nothing about being a LL - please get a proper agent; spend 6 months reading and researching and learn the business yourself before you even think about managing it yourself.

AverageJoe_4

clutton wrote: »

""Renew with the client on your own contract between the two of you from the day after the existing contract runs out."

no no no no no no no - the OP knows nothing about being a LL - please get a proper agent; spend 6 months reading and researching and learn the business yourself before you even think about managing it yourself.

Didnt the OP already say he was on a self manage with the agent? Not sure, but either way - agents do NOTHING! They know how to charge, but when there's a problem, they call you anyway! I had this with every agent I used from full management to self manange, absolutely worthless.

I kept on the last ones heels tho - made them go round and check the flat periodically, made them send me reports every so often! They were easy to whip into shape - I even told them:

"what am i paying you for if Im gonna do it myself, you havent contacted me in 3 months, where's my report?" I mean come on - they're gettin 9% !!!!!!.

I ditched the others, its like having a dog and barking yerself... alot easier now, I just liase with the T when need be, keep him sweet and eveything cool..

There is nothing to read up on, if everyone's happy and you know how to treat ppl, there's no issue...

Geenie

OP, you haven't said what these tenants were like before this renewal came up, but if they have been good and were planning to stay for several years, then you may well regret all of this, and I would try and see if you can get back on good terms with them and sort all of this out.

LA's are a terrible rip off on matters like this. There was no need to renew the tenancy, let alone charge for it. If you read up on AST law you wil see that all of this could have been avoided, and you could still have good tenants in your house, instead of the possibility of finding new ones, voids in income and people you are not happy with.

Get rid of the LA.