plz help out of mind with worry about getting sued

pixieface_3

Hi hope I have posted this in right place, I have been a lurker for a while now and think is great how helpful this site is, now I need help as I am out of my mind with worry, basically I am a landlord of a small 1 bedroom property and I rent it out myself and do not use a letting agent (in the future I will) I rented it out 6 months ago to a young couple with a baby as they were desperate for a home and she was claiming housing benefit, at first everything was fine with paying the rent, not always on time but first two months I received it as they dropped it off at my home address as they had failed to set up a direct debit yet again, on the 3rd month they posted it through my door when I was not in and to my horror it was not in full and no matter how many times I contacted her she ignored my calls, I tried to give her 48 hours notice to go and sort it out but she ignored me.
so for three months I received no rent so I contacted housing benefit office and they said they would sort it out, to which they have, can I add at this point her boyfriend had left and was not living there. In April I discovered she had been taken into hospital with pneumonia and was told that she would not be returning to the property as it was damp in the property that had caused her to contract pneumonia, I have now received a solicitors letter saying that she has made a claim for personal injury due to the property been damp. I am so angry at her as she is just trying to rip me off!!!
When I went to the property to change the locks and sort things out I was disgusted at the state she had left it in holes in walls and doors had been punched out and everywhere had a thick coating of nicotine, she had also defrosted the fridge and the freezer and let the water drip all into the kitchen which has lifted the floor tiles and seeped into the living room area which has now black mould all over and there was evidence that they had been growing an illegal substance in a walk in wardrobe in the bedroom.
There was an area of black mould in the bedroom but that was due to her not opening the windows other than that there was no damp in the bedroom as said in the solicitors letter, the neighbours have often commented to me about the state of the property as her curtains were never open and condensation was running down the windows and bin bags were left out for weeks on end causing vermin to be in the garden and it looked unsightly.
Anyway I have received a letter from a solicitor and it states I should NOT go into my property and do any renovations to it until they send an independent person to inspect it for damp and that they want all the names of the past tenants (to which I have never had any complaints before) it also says that the tenant contacted me on more than several occasions regarding this...this is a total pack of lies, now i am worried as the day she left we went into our property and carried out work in it such as removing wall paper and getting it re plastered in the bedroom as it was in a disgusting state and we also took up the kitchen floor and paid a fortune to get rid of all the stuff left over and empty the bins that were full of rotting food and nappies, the bins and the bags were full of maggots!! We needed to get this work carried out as we need to put it up with a letting agent as we will be struggling to pay this mortgage as well as our own mortgage (as my husband recently been made redundant and our funds are low) I am gutted as I have never had problems before renting it so never felt the need to get an agent involved and now I wished I had of done as I now know they would have fought my corner for me and now I have learnt my lesson big time as I will never rent to DHSS again.
Can anyone advise me on what to do as I cant afford to incur solicitors bills, I know she is lying and she wants to take me to the cleaners, the where there's a blame there is a claim which really p******s me off!!!! I was thinking of getting half hours free advice from solicitor also getting statements from the neighbours saying about the condensation running down the windows and also getting my phone statement and looking at the number of phone calls that she made to my phone (3) and mine to hers millions!!! and getting my own independent person in to do a damp test should I fight my own corner or get a solicitor involved but I really cant do this as I cant afford it and I am not a member of any landlords association either (foolish I now know!!)
now should I write back to this solicitor and tell them that I have renovated the property as I need to re rent it and that we started work on the property on the day she left and we didnt receive solicitors letter till the 9th May also state she is lying and that I am more than happy to get my own independent person in and give them my past tenants contact details. Help and advice greatly received.:mad: :mad::mad::mad::mad:

theartfullodger

As I read it there is a valid tenancy in place, you have not received authority from the court for possession nor has the tenant let you know in writing that they have given up the tenancy.

If this is the case & I understand matters correctly, it is still their tenancy: It is their home: They are entitled to the "quiet enjoyment" of it - make sure they get it!. You MAY NOT change the locks in the circumstances you describe. You MUST NOT take any action that might be seen as harassment. You MUST NOT start to try to re-let it until the present situation has been resolved.,

I suggest you talk to a solicitor fast and get advice from your Landlord's association (NLA or RLA in England & Wales) which you cannot afford not to join right now.

Presumably everything else is absolutely up-2-date and correct - Deposit lodged with Govgt. scheme, Corgi gas cert if any gas, EPC, mortgage lender advised of letting, HMRC advised of income, inventory done on start of tenancy with photos & dated & signed by tenant,... LL insurance in place,, etc.etc. etyc.. so whilst you are in serious trouble it could be worse.

I hope your tenant recovers as it sounds as though she has had nasty experience. You'd better hope she recovers also..

Cheers!

Lodger (A Landlord)

Robert_Sterling

pixieface wrote: »

Hi hope I have posted this in right place, I have been a lurker for a while now and think is great how helpful this site is, now I need help as I am out of my mind with worry, basically I am a landlord of a small 1 bedroom property and I rent it out myself and do not use a letting agent (in the future I will) I rented it out 6 months ago to a young couple with a baby as they were desperate for a home and she was claiming housing benefit, at first everything was fine with paying the rent, not always on time but first two months I received it as they dropped it off at my home address as they had failed to set up a direct debit yet again, on the 3rd month they posted it through my door when I was not in and to my horror it was not in full and no matter how many times I contacted her she ignored my calls, I tried to give her 48 hours notice to go and sort it out but she ignored me.


so for three months I received no rent so I contacted housing benefit office and they said they would sort it out, to which they have, can I add at this point her boyfriend had left and was not living there.

In April I discovered she had been taken into hospital with pneumonia and was told that she would not be returning to the property as it was damp in the property that had caused her to contract pneumonia, I have now received a solicitors letter saying that she has made a claim for personal injury due to the property been damp. I am so angry at her as she is just trying to rip me off!!!

When I went to the property to change the locks and sort things out I was disgusted at the state she had left it in holes in walls and doors had been punched out and everywhere had a thick coating of nicotine, she had also defrosted the fridge and the freezer and let the water drip all into the kitchen which has lifted the floor tiles and seeped into the living room area which has now black mould all over and there was evidence that they had been growing an illegal substance in a walk in wardrobe in the bedroom.

There was an area of black mould in the bedroom but that was due to her not opening the windows other than that there was no damp in the bedroom as said in the solicitors letter, the neighbours have often commented to me about the state of the property as her curtains were never open and condensation was running down the windows and bin bags were left out for weeks on end causing vermin to be in the garden and it looked unsightly.

Anyway I have received a letter from a solicitor and it states I should NOT go into my property and do any renovations to it until they send an independent person to inspect it for damp and that they want all the names of the past tenants (to which I have never had any complaints before) it also says that the tenant contacted me on more than several occasions regarding this...this is a total pack of lies, now i am worried as the day she left we went into our property and carried out work in it such as removing wall paper and getting it re plastered in the bedroom as it was in a disgusting state and we also took up the kitchen floor and paid a fortune to get rid of all the stuff left over and empty the bins that were full of rotting food and nappies, the bins and the bags were full of maggots!! We needed to get this work carried out as we need to put it up with a letting agent as we will be struggling to pay this mortgage as well as our own mortgage (as my husband recently been made redundant and our funds are low) I am gutted as I have never had problems before renting it so never felt the need to get an agent involved and now I wished I had of done as I now know they would have fought my corner for me and now I have learnt my lesson big time as I will never rent to DHSS again.

Can anyone advise me on what to do as I cant afford to incur solicitors bills, I know she is lying and she wants to take me to the cleaners, the where there's a lame there is a claim which really p******s me off!!!!

I was thinking of getting half hours free advice from solicitor also getting statements from the neighbours saying about the condensation running down the windows and also getting my phone statement and looking at the number of phone calls that she made to my phone (3) and mine to hers millions!!! and getting my own independent person in to do a damp test should I fight my own corner or get a solicitor involved but I really cant do this as I cant afford it and I am not a member of any landlords association either (foolish I now know!!)

now should I write back to this solicitor and tell them that I have renovated the property as I need to re rent it and that we started work on the property on the day she left and we didnt receive solicitors letter till the 9th May also state she is lying and that I am more than happy to get my own independent person in and give them my past tenants contact details. Help and advice greatly received.:mad: :mad::mad::mad::mad:

I think some people might be put off by the length of your sentences.
One sentence has more than two hundred words in it.

theartfullodger

Err.. I'm sure the poster has valid reasons for her syntax & actions as a Landord..


Cheers!


Lodger

geri1965_2

OP, do you have any cover for your legal liabilities as a landlord?

pixieface_3

theartfullodger wrote: »

As I read it there is a valid tenancy in place, you have not received authority from the court for possession nor has the tenant let you know in writing that they have given up the tenancy.

If this is the case & I understand matters correctly, it is still their tenancy: It is their home: They are entitled to the "quiet enjoyment" of it - make sure they get it!. You MAY NOT change the locks in the circumstances you describe. You MUST NOT take any action that might be seen as harassment. You MUST NOT start to try to re-let it until the present situation has been resolved.,

I suggest you talk to a solicitor fast and get advice from your Landlord's association (NLA or RLA in England & Wales) which you cannot afford not to join right now.

Presumably everything else is absolutely up-2-date and correct - Deposit lodged with Govgt. scheme, Corgi gas cert if any gas, EPC, mortgage lender advised of letting, HMRC advised of income, inventory done on start of tenancy with photos & dated & signed by tenant,... LL insurance in place,, etc.etc. etyc.. so whilst you are in serious trouble it could be worse.

I hope your tenant recovers as it sounds as though she has had nasty experience. You'd better hope she recovers also..

Cheers!

Lodger (A Landlord)

:mad:
she has had a bad experience my a***e she was some benefit scrounging lazy never done a proper days work in her life!! and yes I fell for a sad story and felt sorry for her now the scrounger has done this to me!!! it was her lifestlye that made her ill not my property, she is after a fast buck and nothing else and as for my grammer cant you see that i am stressed and asked for advice!!!! not a lecture on the length of my letter stick your advice up your a****s i wont bother to use this site again !!!

Lavendyr

Charming. Artfullodger gave you some excellent advice and you would be sensible to pay attention to it rather than being rude.

Re grammar, the point is that it is difficult to help you if it is difficult to read your post. You are more likely to attract replies if your request is easy to read. There is no need to take such offence.

The situation sounds complex and I am not in a position to offer any suggestions I'm afraid, although you do have my sympathies - most of us tenants are not like this as I'm sure you know! But you really do need a solicitor's advice, rather than posting on here. Best of luck.

barnaby-bear

geri1965 wrote: »

OP, do you have any cover for your legal liabilities as a landlord?

Presumably you recorded the state of the property for your insurance? Surely the insurance assessors report will be available. Most insurance will have some legal cover as Geri points out, these scenarios are why it's there.

Wickedkitten

theartfullodger wrote: »

As I read it there is a valid tenancy in place, you have not received authority from the court for possession nor has the tenant let you know in writing that they have given up the tenancy.

If this is the case & I understand matters correctly, it is still their tenancy: It is their home: They are entitled to the "quiet enjoyment" of it - make sure they get it!. You MAY NOT change the locks in the circumstances you describe. You MUST NOT take any action that might be seen as harassment. You MUST NOT start to try to re-let it until the present situation has been resolved.,

I suggest you talk to a solicitor fast and get advice from your Landlord's association (NLA or RLA in England & Wales) which you cannot afford not to join right now.

Presumably everything else is absolutely up-2-date and correct - Deposit lodged with Govgt. scheme, Corgi gas cert if any gas, EPC, mortgage lender advised of letting, HMRC advised of income, inventory done on start of tenancy with photos & dated & signed by tenant,... LL insurance in place,, etc.etc. etyc.. so whilst you are in serious trouble it could be worse.

I hope your tenant recovers as it sounds as though she has had nasty experience. You'd better hope she recovers also..

Cheers!

Lodger (A Landlord)

I would definitely follow ths advice. Despite the damage that they have done to your property, they still have a valid tenancy and not only have you gone in and gotten rid of her possessions which she could probably claim for, but you have also gotten rid of any evidence that might have gone against her.

silvercar

In April I discovered she had been taken into hospital with pneumonia and was told that she would not be returning to the property as it was damp in the property that had caused her to contract pneumonia

If you've been officially told that she has ended the tenancy, then you can enter the property and start to make good the mess. I presume you took photos of the condition in order to claim from her/ her deposit. Were her possessions removed or did you have to remove them (and have them available for collection)?

carefullycautious

Amateur landlords who neither take the time to read up on the law and abide by it have their fingers burnt.

Ok if this was my property I would have taken photos of all the damage, rubbish,damp etc to show that she obviously wasnt capable of looking after and airing the place properly to prevent damp problems.

This may have helped with your case somewhat, However, by now entering the property disposing of all the evidence and redecorating you have left yourself open to being sued. The solicitors letter was actually doing you a favour in asking that you did not try to 'cover up' the problems, as I said above you would have been able to counter argue the appalling state she left it in.

Theartfull lodger is spot on with everything he has said to you.

What a mess