problem tenants

grace1990

I have had tenants in my house for only a month, but already I think I am going to have to have them evicted. The neighbour across the lane is constantly on the phone to me complaining about the noise, and when I went to see to my horse in the field next to the house this morning I noticed 4 broken windows and my beautiful front lawn strewn with rubbish!

princeofpounds

You have three ways of getting them out.
1) Negotiation of surrender, but they have no reason to agree unless incentivised somehow.
2) Section 21 notice - this is a non-discretionary process (and the normal formal way for a landlord to end a tenancy) meaning you will get possession back in the courts, but it cannot take effect until the end of the tenancy (probably 6 months?).
3) Section 8 notice - there are more than one ground you can try here. If they do not pay rent due for 2 months is one ground. Another would be persistent nuisance and breaking of tenancy agreements. But you would be expected to provide evidence in court and it is discretionary on the part of the judge whether to award you possession.

You can try the s21 and the s8 together. Once issued, do not negotiate a way for them to shape up and stay as it may invalidate the notice.

Be a little bit careful - you do not want to get accused of harrassment or muck up what has to be a precise process - dates and format of notices must be correct to be effective.

A letter reminding your tenants to behave properly might solve the worst of the problem.

My recommendation?
- Make it clear to your neighbour you are on-side, but also clear that it is not a simple matter to evict people from their homes.
- Write your letter with concrete measures to implement and a timescale. Try not to be too judgmental, stick to facts.
- If no improvement, your neighbour should complain to council noise and anti-social behaviour teams (if they are prepared to do so - if they want to sell in future they will have to admit it to the buyer, but it should be easily explainable) and collect evidence in a log. You should also collect evidence, such as reported damage, but be careful not to overstep the line by hanging around or photographing your tenants!
- Issue section 21 and section 8 notices on all the grounds that apply. Consider sweetening the deal if they surrender early.
- If they do not leave, start court proceedings for possession.

Landlordzone will be a good resource for the notices and advice.

mlz1413

If you can see broken windows and rubbish then I would write to them advising you wish to do an inspection and propose a date and time at least 24 hours ahead.

When you do the inspection you can tell them to repair all the damage and agree another inspection in approx 7 days time to inspect the repairs.

If the repairs are not done then you can advise (in writing) that these repairs need doing, if they fail then write again saying that T&C of the AST have been broken - note all the terms and sub-sections as per the AST and put a photocopy of the signed AST in with the letter highlighting all the relevant sections and start the legal process to evict them.

Hopefully this is one off that tenants can explain and put right, remember you can't evict them for living in a style you don't like but you can evict them if they are causing damage.

Good Luck.

mitchellst3ve

Great post princeofpounds. I only have one property and have been very lucky with tenants but will certainly have to encounter this scenario at some point if I look to increase my number of properties.

theartfullodger

Poor you!! Most tenants are decent & honest (just like most Landlords...). What were the references you took up like??

(Discreetly so you won't be accused of harassment) take 'photos of the broken windows/rubbish and anything else that comes up...

Keep notes (preferably handwritten somewhere you keep other notes ) of what the neighbour or anyone else says, with dates, and what you did about it.

I completely agree with the suggestion of an inspection (you've no doubt got the right to do that in your tenancy agreement) - but go with someone else, independent, as a witness (just as a witness - brief them to say almost nothing & not to get into arguments). Tenants have been known to say the inspector damaged stuff/money was taken etc..

(In your shoes I'd) get the tenancy and deposit etc etc paperwork checked out carefully by someone who is expert in this area to make sure you've done everything correctly & eveiction processes are possible..

Try talking to your Landlord Asscoiation for advice (NLA or RLA both OK)

Good luck!

Artful

clutton_2

talk to the local environmental health team - noise pollution - they will help you contact your tenant in a legal manner about the noise - this will show you as a very responsible landlord if neighbours complain

sugarpants_2

Oh dear your poor horse

grace1990 wrote: »

I have had tenants in my house for only a month, but already I think I am going to have to have them evicted. The neighbour across the lane is constantly on the phone to me complaining about the noise, and when I went to see to my horse in the field next to the house this morning I noticed 4 broken windows and my beautiful front lawn strewn with rubbish!

grace1990

My husbands cousin is a solicitor so he's going to speak to him and see what we can do. I want them out asap.

sooz

A solicitor will only give you the same advice princeofpounds has already given you. You might want them out asap, but there are no other legal ways to get them out any sooner.

serve a section 8 & section 21 now. Although, since the section 8 will be only on the discretionary grounds, I doubt you'll be able to get them out until their fixed term has come to an end, & for that you'll need the section 21.

How long is their AST for? In the meantime, as clutton suggested, speak to Enviromental Health for advice about the noise.

clutton_2

"" i want them out asap."" - you might want - but the law is slow slow slow to get tenants out - you clearly do not know anything about tenant law, or how to be a landlord - if i were you i would put it in the hands of a solicitor - but this will cost you several hundred pounds, maybe more, and will take several months

a solicitor will tell you the same thing

you have signed a legally binding document to provide a property for a fixed term - and you cannot short circuit that - even tho they upset the neighbours. in fact, in law, you are responsible for your tenants behaviour, and unless you get "on-side" with the local environmental health officers, you may end up in court for "nuisance"

you have to take tenants to court to get them out, unless they voluntarily leave - and yours sound like stayers to me - a depressing scenario i'm afraid

grace1990

I didn't handle all the paperwork or anything, my husband did, but I own the house. But surely they [EMAIL="can@t"]can't[/EMAIL] damage my property and get away with it? Did an inspection an hour ago and the place is disgusting, so much damage.