Help required with tennant not paying rent :(

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AverageJoe wrote: »

I am not talking total and utter law breaking

Really?

You have just suggested that the o/p breaks the law and illegally evicts (a crimanal act) his tenant.

The penalty for illegal eviction is upto 6 months in jail and a significant fine.

Wrong_Move

The rent is weekly not monthly, he is supposed to pay every Monday

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Wrong_Move wrote: »

The rent is weekly not monthly, he is supposed to pay every Monday

Oh dear it just gets worse.... have you given him a rent book?

Wrong_Move

No, not given a rent book as it was supposed to be paid by Direct Debit every week, hew kept saying he was having problems with his account (and other excuses)

I gave him the option of weekly or monthly, whichever was easiest for him.

Is that bad then?

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Wrong_Move wrote: »

No, not given a rent book as it was supposed to be paid by Direct Debit every week, hew kept saying he was having problems with his account (and other excuses)

I gave him the option of weekly or monthly, whichever was easiest for him.

Is that bad then?

What does the tenacy agreement say about the frequency of rent payments? monthly or weekly? Its irrelevant what you have in a gentlemans agrement, the key is the frequency inb the tenacy agreement.

If it says monthly, then fine. You can serve the s.21 and/or s.8 noties as I have suggested above (after protecting or returning the deposit).

If it says weekly, then by law you should have giiven a rent book regfardless of payment method. The s.21 process is also different for a weekly paying tenancy.

I think you are going to have to engage the services of a solicitor to sort this out.

Wrong_Move

Just double checked the tenancy Agreement and the rent is definately weekly

AverageJoe_4

OMG.

Ok,

fact 1 - he has a scumbag in his house that is screwing him over a barrel.
fact 2 - he needs to deal with it
fact 3 - he can go the red tape way and throw money at it etc etc etc...
fact 4 - he can use him common sense and get it sorted

If he signed an ten'cy agreement, then end it. You can end it esp if the tenant has broken the terms - by the sounds of it, he hasnt stuck to any of them.

What does your letting agent say? Or did you let it privately on a one to one "handshake" deal..??

You only have to look at all the dodgy aprtments in central london and squats and nasty places being rented out by foreigners that aren't even on the map - they do what they like, nothing seems to happen to them.

I think someone is overexaggerating here..

Tell this guy he has 4 weeks MAX to pay or go.

Wrong_Move

No letting agency, I just put an ad in the local rag. I really am quite the trusting idiot. You assume if you are right with people they will be the same back to you. It's not true.

AverageJoe_4

Mate, seriously, this guy is not for real - he's in your flat knowing that if you take a deal from the local rag, its a one on one situation.

The agreement you have with him is worth nothing essentially cos its just you and him and he knows that you have been a trusting gent. If he wanted protection, he would have gone to an agent. No agent means its all under the raidar - no checks, no hassle, no references, he has seemingly all the control over you.

I personally would seek some "streetwise" advice.

"seeking to entertain the services of a legal professional" sounds great, ( seriously...?) but he will look at you and thnk "jesus, this guy has more money than sense" - smile nicely, and charge you a pretty penny for paperwork which will end up taking months and months and then court hearings which no one will turn up to and this guy will not pay you for rent cos he knows you can actually do anything more than write letters... and when its crunch time, he'll fuk off leaving you high and dry with mortgage arrears etc...

check out my signature, it applies to your case mate.

You're not renting an entire block of flats to high society types - I BET this guy is either foreign, a bit of a scumbag or unemployed/cash in hand type.

Am I right.??

clutton_2

join national landlords association - they have an excellent legal help line to help you fill in the forms to get him out - the cost of joining NLA is tax deductible (you have told the tax man have you ?) and you will get cheaper Buy To Let insurance premiums as a member -

you CANNOT do this alone, and you must not think about violence or threats

you have entered a complex business and you are floundering around and need expert advice.

a solicitor will cost you probably up to £2k- £3k by the time you get this tenant out

read www.landlordzone.co.uk which will be an eye opener to the difficulties you are facing

frankly - you are in the pooo up to your chin i'm afraid to say


"" I don't know how he thinks he can live there rent free or by just paying token amounts here and there""

because he is a "professional" non-paying tenant and saw you as the naive unprofessional, poorly educated amateur landlord that you are - i am not intentionally being offensive here, but, this is what has happened - and at least you acknowledge your own culpability in it and have asked for help here

have you put his deposit money into a Deposit Scheme ?? if you have not he will take you to court and ask the judge to award you three times the deposit AND you will not be able to serve him a notice to quit !!!! so firstly , get that deposit lodged with Deposit Protection Service - like YESTERDAY !!!!