Problem with tenant

tbs624

roscolabri -
You appear to have a troublesome T and a useless LA here. The T knows how to play along on the issues which are "grey areas". T's should not merely assume that x or y is working - if it is important to the T (& its requirement is not governed strictly by the law) then the T should ask the question before they sign up, preferably in writing. I wouldn't quibble over servicing the burglar alarm however because it also protects your property if it's operational. ( Sorry, but a dummy box or a non-working alarm ain't a deterrent). On TV aerials and telephone points, if you state that these work then they have to.

Your repairing obligations as a LL effectively begin when your T notifies the problem to either you or the LA acting on your behalf. As you rightly say, if you don't know then you can't be expected to act. The T does also have a legal obligation to notify you promptly of any repairs issues.

Showers are an interesting point - if you provide one as working at the start of the tenancy then it should be maintained but, in terms of "reasonableness", a shorter timespan for repairs to be effected should apply where the T has no alternative washing/bathing supplies.

Has the tenant's deposit been scheme-registered (if Eng/Wales) and has your LA served a S21 notice ( intent to repossess the property at expiry of the Fixed Term)?

Do everything in writing now and keep copies. Write to the T giving him a clear rent statement and giving him 10 days max to bring his rent payments up to date. Repairs issue are separate to rent payments and there are specific rules about circumstances in which a T can make deductions from his rent. If you have an agreed inventory that states that the property was clean, & the T has not notified you of any dissatisfaction with the standard of cleanliness, then he cannot bill you for any cleaning work he has had done without your prior agreement.

You can serve notice during a Fixed Term under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988, using Grounds 8, 10 and 11 relating to rent payments as soonn as your T has missed the equivalent of 2 month's payments. You may find it useful to join one of the national LL associations or Tessa Sheppersons Landlordlaw for advice on how to do this. (membership fees can be sent against rental payments for tax purposes). Be aware that repossession under one of the grounds is mandatory, the other 2 are discretionary and the T can string you along and pay a small amount immediately priot to a court hearing and send you back to the start..

I would also notify the T in writing that you wish to make a formal inspection of the property "so as to be able to address your LL and T Act 1985 repairing obligations".

missymugwump

Hi

Are you sure you don't have a LA in cahoots with the tenant or making false claims to get extra fees/money ?

Are they a chain or an independant ?
They sound like amateurs

Are you in the country ?

The fact that you are allowing the cleaning bill most indicate that at some level you think T may be justified ?

I have tried to read all the info did you say there was an inventory ?
If not why not ?

roscolabri

I've wondered that myself missymugwump but my Dad always used these particular agents as he knew one of them.

The agents did get an inventory done and the tenant signed it without any problems. Which is why I find it odd about the whole professional cleaning situation. Upon talking to my agents today, it turns out that it;s not all for the cleaning and some of it is infact a little compensation due to the tenant not having a working shower. I wasn't aware that you can decide the amount you should be compensated.

I'm phoning the citizens advice bureau tomorrow to see what they say about the whole situation. Problem with my agents are that they don't seem to want any fuss which puts me in a difficult position, hence why I'll be making a call tomorrow.

I fully intend to let my agents know that they will only be getting a % of what I receive from the tenant this month due to their amateur approach to the whole thing, but I'll see. First stop is the Citizens Advice Bureau.

tbs624

roscolabri wrote: »

...... I wasn't aware that you can decide the amount you should be compensated.

Your tenant can't unilaterally if you and the LA do not accept it..

roscolabri wrote: »

I'm phoning the citizens advice bureau tomorrow to see what they say about the whole situation. Problem with my agents are that they don't seem to want any fuss which puts me in a difficult position, hence why I'll be making a call tomorrow.

You may not find the CAB that helpful over this one: it's a "business" problem, hence why I suggested the LL associations. You need to be firmer with your LA, regardless of whether your father knows one of them - you are paying them for a service and they don't seem to be providing much of one.

roscolabri wrote: »

I fully intend to let my agents know that they will only be getting a % of what I receive from the tenant this month due to their amateur approach to the whole thing, but I'll see..

They will probably refer you to their Ts&Cs under the agreement that you have signed with them, and seek to enforce the % of the full monthly rent.

koneka

Well she did fix the shower and it is not unreasonable to get few quotes. I thunk letting agent here is not very quick either. I wouldn't pay a cleaning bill if it was unreasonable.Why should landlord pay for something which is not necessary or agreed?

neas

In these situation there are two individuals.... the tenant and the landlord. In this case the landlord and letting agent are the 'landlord'.

Summarising this very simply.... Points against each part.

Tenant:

The tenant should not be witholding rent.. altho it looks like communication and responsibilities have broken down. If you were my landlord I'd think of you as a bit of a cowboy and go to the council to have someone thourghouhly check property out and nudge you to get repairs fixed.

Landlord (thats you and the LA):

1.If the property has a alarm... and the tenant isnt explicity told its fake.. then he rented the place assuming there was an alarn
2. If the property has tv outlets... for plugging an aerial in, the tenant has the right to ask them to be in working condition. Not telling him is 'conning' him in a sense. And as others have pointed out is pretty bad on your and letting agent part. Simply asking him to fork out for sky because your cheapskate landlord who 'didnt tell him they worked' is rubbish. You have a duty to provide what you advertise and maintian it in working condition
3. The shower, the tenant doesnt care about costs and will be unaware of them
4. Cleanliness of place initially. When the tenant leaves the letting agents and you will require the place to be clean and tidy... if its a tip at the start i believe the tenant has a good case to request flat is cleaned to a good standard. However 600 quid is alot. I did this in my old flat, there were stains all other flat that were hidden from us initially... i asked them to get carpets cleaned professionally... they obliged.

You sound like you havent fully appreciated the rammifcations of being a landlord. Sometimes you pay out big sums of money for broken things... showers, boilers/heating systems... It is unfair to leave a tenant without shower/heating etc for more than a week or so. If you were a good landlord you'd have offered to reduce rent a bit for his inconvenience but you expect him to pay full rent.... while not keeping the property at the original state it was in...

I can kinda see how the tenant is... but he should've gone about it another way.... the cleaning shouldve been forced by tenant.. however i might guess at the defensive nature the landlord/letting agent are coming from that he might've requested it to be cleaned and this fell on deaf ears... maybe


Id say you were a poor landlord.. as this situation probably arose from tenant getting annoyed at fact he

1. Rented a place that wasnt clean.. whereas his contract states he has to keep it clean, tidy and leave it so or he will be billed.
2. Has a landlord who lied or conned him out of things that were present in flat (Alarm and tv socket)
3. Has a landlord/letting agent who take over a month to get repairs done.

I had the same thing with my last letting agent/landlord... bed slats were bode..... but they came around... dint test them with any pressue or anything and said 'yep its nothing wrong' and after 2 months eventually replaced our old mattress with a 99 quid one.

Suffice to say I handed notice in the week after and moved to a cheaper, unfurnished flat were im more in control of my own repairs.

ruggedtoast

roscolabri wrote: »

I just got off the phone to the agents and grilled them about the situation. Apparently the £600 isn't just for cleaning but also a little compensation due to the fact that he had previous problems with the shower before February.

The tenant has also taken legal advice (according to my agent) and that he was within his right to withold payment due to a lack of service. My agent then said that if I was to evict the tenant, then the tenant would probably win the case because of the lack of a shower and that would be more expensive for me.

Your LA is talking bullrods. The tenant has no right to withold rent. He has signed a contract that legally obliges him to pay you rent on a given day for a given period until the contract becomes void.

You have signed a contract promising to provide a service, one part of which is maintaining fittings.

One side of the agreement does not preclude obligation from the other. i.e you cant stop providing a landlord service if the tenant stops paying rent until a court says you can. The tenant cant stop paying just because youre not providing a service.

However, I suspect the LA may just want you to fix the darned shower and probably thinks if it did go to court, you wouldnt have much luck.

roscolabri

neas wrote: »

Simply asking him to fork out for sky because your cheapskate landlord who 'didnt tell him they worked' is rubbish. You have a duty to provide what you advertise and maintian it in working condition

You've clearly misread something along the lines. I at no point asked for him to fork out for sky. There is already a skybox there and you can use it as a freeview box, which means you don't have to pay a subscription, hence the term freeview.

shadowspy24

Ask for the receipt for the cleaning bill. You can't just take his word for how much the cleaning costs especially since you are paying. Tell him, no receipt, no reimbursement. Also i assume the LA is taking their fees as a percentage of the rent, in which case it should also be in their interest that the tenant pays the rent.

greenface

is their a bath also or just a shower ?? Tennant before instructing any cleaning to be done needs to inform LA and you before quoting how much and what for and you need to agree to this or put it right yourself you never had that chance to do so. IMO tennant is stiffing you and LA is charging you to watch them.