Help required with tennant not paying rent :(

AverageJoe_4

Planner wrote: »

OMG!!! It gets worse!!! Things like this are still considered illegal eviction of a tenant.

PLanner is right - the OP should throw lots of money at the situation and perhaps sign the deeds of the house over to the tenant for good measure.

All of us know the law and where we stand - some of us know how to use it to gain the results we need.

The T is about as likely to complain to the "authorities" and take the OP to court for "eviction" as Bonnie and Clyde are at opening their own gun shop.

AverageJoe_4

Planner wrote: »

You should put your seatbelt on before starting the engine... you might have left car in gear and it could lurch forward and kill you.... we wouldnt want that would we?

During your call to me, I hope you are using handsfree?

It wouldnt be UK Law it would be English/Welsh law. I dont think theres any such thing as 'UK law'.

Naughty, naughty 31mph in a 30mph zone. I hope the speed cammeras get you (assuming you havent 'sent the boys around' to remove them).

yes indeed - those dreaded speed cammeras will get me when I'm using my mobile to text and using spell check whilst driving.

Good luck with all your business ventures Planner, I'm sure the Taxman will love you.

AJ

ILW

Planner wrote: »

OMG!!! It gets worse!!! Things like this are still considered illegal eviction of a tenant.

I have been through similar with a friend, a tenant new how to use the law and would do such things as making token payments before an eviction notice was issued etc.etc. Took nearly two years to get him out. Heard it on the grapevine he had been dong the same thing for years. In many cases the law just does not work except to keep lawyers in a very comfortable lifestyle.

tbs624

ILW wrote: »

Just to sort of get back to some possible solutions. A half way option is to cut the water off, but make it look like it just happened. Landlords used to do it a lot with sqatters.

Does Friday the 13th bring these idiotic posts on?

Interfering with "the peace & comfort "of a tenant by doing things like this, which are intended to make them give up their tenancy is likely to land a LL with a prosecution resulting in a hefty fine, and maybe even an enforced spell in a government-sponsored bedsit.See here http://www.atro-online.com/prosecutions.html for some examples.

A T who knows how to " play the game" on non-payment of rent will also know how to push the right buttons for an action on tenant harassment and illegal eviction. Once the Mags Court have finished you can expect a civil action for compensation too.

ILW

tbs624 wrote: »

Does Friday the 13th bring these idiotic posts on?

Interfering with "the peace & comfort "of a tenant by doing things like this, which are intended to make them give up their tenancy is likely to land a LL with a prosecution resulting in a hefty fine, and maybe even an enforced spell in a government-sponsored bedsit.See here http://www.atro-online.com/prosecutions.html for some examples.

A T who knows how to " play the game" on non-payment of rent will also know how to push the right buttons for an action on tenant harassment and illegal eviction. Once the Mags Court have finished you can expect a civil action for compensation too.

What would you suggest then?

tbs624

ILW wrote: »

I have been through similar with a friend, a tenant new how to use the law and would do such things as making token payments before an eviction notice was issued etc.etc. Took nearly two years to get him out. ....

Two years? Wrong lawyer or not a short term AST.

ILW wrote: »

.... In many cases the law just does not work except to keep lawyers in a very comfortable lifestyle.

and if LLs didn't try to cut corners on their own tenancy agreements, and their own legal obligations on things such as deposit regs & rent books, things would be a lot more straightforward.

ILW

tbs624 wrote: »

Two years? Wrong lawyer or not a short term AST.

.

Short term AST but went onto housing benefit in first month of tenancy. It then gets very messy and courts will seldom evict.

tbs624

GreenNinja wrote: »

I would love to know why the law is so biased that people like the OPs tenant are able to do this!
When its blatantly obvious that the tenant has not paid his rent why does the law give him rights to stay there and still not pay and as suggested get compensation against his deposit. The whole thing is ludicrous!
The law should be on the side of the poor bloke being taken for a ride.
Why is it in this country that people are rewarded for being lazy or dishonest? and the decent hard working person gets taxed and penalised to pay these scumbags to live a life where they get benefits and their rent paid every week for doing nothing.

That's a bit of a Daily Mail-style diatribe isn't it? I'm absolutely not condoning any T who fails to pay their rent , but it looks mighty like the LL here is a tad lazy himself - letting out a property without first familiarising himself with even the most basic LL &T laws? And unless I've missed it, the Op hasn't said that his T *is* in receipt of benefits/LHA?

It is not ludicrous for a T to be awarded a penalty if a LL fails to comply with deposit regs - but it is ludicrous for a LL to allow himself to be in the position where that is a possibility. Simple solution - get those deposits registered & the prescribed info given to the T asap.

As the T pays weekly he is entitled to a rent book by law - by not providing one, the LL has committed a criminal offence as mentioned previously , and the T could argue that it was more difficult to properly keep track of his payments without one. LLs who operate in a business-like manner are also able to step in with the right paperwork at the first sign of rent payment difficulties.

On the upside, the T has redecorated some of the property at his own expense and the LL says he has done a good job, however, there will probably be a tale that the T asked the LL to do it but it was agreed he could do it & knock it off the rent. .....

WrongMove's best bet is to get professional advice asap.

AverageJoe_4

Scumbag T's are only acting like this cos the landlord has not been hands on from the start. You dont really get a well clued up person renting out the papers on a cash in hand deal - they'll rent a nice place and not pay.

This guy that the OP has is taking the pi-ss cos the OP has allowed and he came accross weak and amateur from day one.

ILW is correct - you have to know how to deal with these ppl in every way - otherwise you end up as the most law abiding out of pocket landlord there ever was. That's forum speak for MUG.

AverageJoe_4

1 - slap the T and take the money he has stolen.
2 - change the locks and deny all knowledge of the T ever existing.

For a video guide - refer to Simpsons Episode where Homer gets conned out of his own home by the Travelling Carnnies.

This is a funny cartoon, with a HUGE slice of reality in it.