Renting Through Agent- Tenant Trashed House

foreveramum

Hi all,

can anyone offer any help please. I rented our property out through an agent and left everything to them as I was not in the UK to oversea the renting.

The agent found a tenant, told us they had carried out credit checks and that all was ok so rented to someone.

Five months down the line we have received only one payment plus the bond( which the agent says has to stay with them in a bond scheme or something which is fine by us).

The agency have informed us that they have commenced legal moves to have the tennat removed from the property due to non payment of rent.

However I called round to try to resolve this problem and the next door neighbour spoke to me and said the property is trashed and that the backyard is full of rubbish( which is a shared communal yard).

We cannot gain access and the agency told me it is best to stay away. Where do we stand once we gain possession back and the property is trashed? When we passed over the property to the agent it was excellent with new appliances, paint, carpets etc and now I am so worried about the state of our home.

This is the first and last time we rent! How can people be like this?

Hoping someone can help or advise.

princeofpounds

People can be a pain. Make no mistake, this is the tenant's bad behaviour that is at fault.

However, it's clearly evident that you are, to put it politely, an amateur landlord. This is a business. It isn't your home any more. You need to educate yourself pretty quickly otherwise you will find it hard to deal with this problem and future problems.

An agent is nothing more than someone you employ to represent you. You are responsible for all their actions. Ultimately it is up to you to sort everything out, though hopefully they can and will help. It might be that the agent is incompetent, but even competent agents end up with bad tenants so we would need more info to decide if you should work with them or dump them sharpish.

In terms of legality, make sure right away that:
- you have a valid gas safety certificate for the property.
- the deposit is properly protected in one of the DPS schemes. It sounds like it is, but you must check as if it is not you will never get the tenant out.
- your insurance is up to date (well, this isn't legal requirement but you will need it!)
- that the property was let with an EPC if it was required at the time.
- that you have supplied an address for service of notices on you in the UK.
- and understand Section 8 and Section 21 procedures for eviction.

Landlordzone is one place to start looking.

Do not start hanging around the property. If required, do one inspection with official notice. If you harrass the tenants you can be done for illegal eviction no matter how bad they are.

If any of these terms are confusing for you or you do not know the answers then you MUST learn about them.

Good luck, any specific questions jsut ask.

foreveramum

Thanks for your reply. I know we are amatuer which is why we went to an agency.

We pay the agent a fee for the rent we are supposed to have each month although we do not receive rent? The agent informed us prior to using them that they look after everything. They checked the property before we passed it over and told us to update various things to comply with the regulations they told us we needed- all at a cost which we paid them. We also on advice changed our insurance policy to cover a rented property against owning our own.

How can an agent not be responsible when they took over the property from us? Surely they must be acountable for something?

sunshune

so sorry to hear about your situation, i have just come out of something similar.

Like you i left my property with an agent, who said that they had done credit checks, that the tenants were not students, did not smoke and did not have pets. All the above was a lie.

We received rent for the first 4 months then half because i found out that the tenants were getting their parents to pay and the guys parents had run out of money so he wasn't paying his half. I told the agent that that was not in the agreement and all of the rent should be paid. It took another 5 months to sort it all out. The girl continued to pay but the guy didn't because they broke up. It turns out that he was very violent and he smashed her head through windows kicked doors down and allsorts. They had red letters, baliffs and police knocking frequently.

The agent then went AWOL and have sinced closed their offices.

I was fortunate though that a kind lady at the agent informed me that the girls mother had acted as guarantor which i didn't know before, i was able to get back all the money that was owed.

To the original poster, i would try and get as much information from the agent as possible they may know something that can help you. ALso check the original contract.
I truly am sorry for your situation and i do hope it sorts out as i have been there and it is not a nice situation to be in at all.

Lavendyr

foreveramum wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. I know we are amatuer which is why we went to an agency.

Not good enough unfortunately - an agent is just that, an agent of yourself as the landlord. Although you instruct the agent to act on your behalf, you ultimately hold responsibility as the principal.

foreveramum wrote: »

How can an agent not be responsible when they took over the property from us? Surely they must be acountable for something?

Have they breached their contract with you? In that case I expect they would be accountable for resulting losses (my totally uninformed opinion only). But as above, you are the landlord and as such you are responsible for the agreement between yourself and the tenants, not the agency.

I would get over to landlordzone.co.uk and shelter.org.uk sharpish and do some reading if I were you.

barnaby-bear

foreveramum wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. I know we are amatuer which is why we went to an agency.

We pay the agent a fee for the rent we are supposed to have each month although we do not receive rent? The agent informed us prior to using them that they look after everything. They checked the property before we passed it over and told us to update various things to comply with the regulations they told us we needed- all at a cost which we paid them. We also on advice changed our insurance policy to cover a rented property against owning our own.

How can an agent not be responsible when they took over the property from us? Surely they must be acountable for something?

They are responsible for what it says they are in your contract with them. If your contract said to credit check tenants and they did then they have met that term of it.... do you really expect for 10% for them to be covering the rent if tenant doesn't pay?..... The tenancy agreement is between you and the tenant. Your agency sound quite good and that you are meeting your legal obligations.

tbs624

Sorry to hear that you’re having such a lousy experience. One of the main problems is that, although there are some good LAs, there is currently no requirement for them to have any training, qualification or regulation and some are very slow to pick up on a tenancy that is going belly up and slower still to notify the problems to the LL especially when they are out of the UK ..

Aim to focus on action and channel your understandable upset & anger into getting things properly underway. .Your priority is obviously to get the T out with the minimum fuss, so that you can get the property sorted. I would suggest that you *don’t* leave this solely to your LA.


A T who behaves like this is likely to know how to effectively “play the system” - if the possession grounds used are not tight enough or are dated and/or served incorrectly, repossession will be delayed. A T who is served notice purely on arrears of rent will usually be advised to pay them down to less than 2 months by the time of any hearing.

You need to confirm for yourself that the tenancy deposit is registered - do it today by contacting each of the 3 schemes and getting written confirmation : see http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TenancyDeposit/DG_066391

Regardless of whether you use an LA, ensuring that the deposit is properly held is down to you as the LL and a T can claim the full return of their deposit plus a penalty of 3x the deposit amount & court costs if the LA has failed to sort this out on your behalf. A T also cannot be served with a valid S21 Notice while the deposit is unregistered.

Find out from the LA whether the T was in receipt of LHA (local housing allowance): if yes then notify the local LHA office of the arrears immediately .

If the T is responsible for his own utility bills it may be that he has also run up debts there so you may want to notify the suppliers of the problem: they are unlikely to discuss the Ts bills will you as a third party but at least when you get in & take meter reading they will already have notes on file.

Don’t repeatedly call at the property, nor repeatedly phone/eamil the T nor allow the LA staff to do so - tenant harassment is a criminal charge, and can also result in a civil action for damages from the T. Yep, even when the T acts as yours seems to have done. Be especially careful if it looks as though the T may have abandoned the property, because unless you have personal confirmation & a clear surrender of the tenancy from the T himself, then until he has been ordered to leave by a court the tenancy remains in force despite you not getting your rent.

Your own behaviour (& that of the LA) needs to be squeaky clean. Go over to Tessa Shepperson’s excellent Landlordlaw site: she’s a solicitor who specialises in LL&T law. The membership fee is tax deductible and she has specific kits to guide you through or you can contact her direct for paid advice.

If you need to play hardball try googling LandlordAction - these guys tend to get good results.

Take photos/video of the property when you get back in. You can pursue the T to court for the reminder of the rent due plus any damage over and beyond the deposit that is held. You may not be able to actually enforce a judgment if the T has no money, or you may get paid off at £ridiculous per month but the T will end up with a CCJ. You will need supporting evidence, including a good inventory that hopefully was signed by both parties at the start of the tenancy.

Once that’s all underway you may want to dig out your own contract with the LA and trawl the small print:

You may want to ask for evidence of the checks that they undertook on this T.

Have they complied on all the other legalities - gas safety etc, and did they properly deal with that deposit & give the scheme’s “prescribed info” to the T? Ask to see the evidence.

Were the LAs supposed to be making regular property inspections, and do you know if they have done? Were copies of them sent to you?

At what point did they realise that rent was falling into arrears, when did they take initial action & what form did it take?

Why didn’t they keep you informed?

Check whether they are signed up to ARLA, NALs, UKALA, OEA schemes and if so you may want to lodge a complaint under the relevant code of conduct.

It will be of no comfort to you to know that it is a minority of Ts who behave in this way but don’t make a snap decision on whether or not you’ll rent in the future.

You can join a national LL association to become more familiar with lettings and you can probably find a more efficient LA. There may be a local LL association which is an affiliate to the national ones and these can prove a really useful source of support and local knowledge.

If you *may* want to continue letting you need it to be known that you do pursue Ts who fail to meet their contractual obligations (whilst of course meeting your own, in person or via your LA).

Do keep the Board updated because as well as giving you the opportunity to vent, it may help someone else in a similar position. Good luck.

Jowo_2

Does your agency hold an inventory signed by the tenant?

princeofpounds

Foreveramum, tbs' post is great and should get you on your way.

I guess we've done the reality check bit now, but if it seems harsh don't worry we are on your side, you just need to know where you stand.
We pay the agent a fee for the rent we are supposed to have each month although we do not receive rent? The agent informed us prior to using them that they look after everything. They checked the property before we passed it over and told us to update various things to comply with the regulations they told us we needed- all at a cost which we paid them. We also on advice changed our insurance policy to cover a rented property against owning our own.

If they have done what they say they have done they don't sound like total cowboys. And many agents just dump a client as soon as it comes to rent non-payment.

But on the specific issue of paying them with no rent coming in - your relationship with LA is determined by your contract. If the fee is contingent on rent (and maybe next time you might want to negotiate it! LA contracts are not set in stone) then they may not be due it at all.

How can an agent not be responsible when they took over the property from us? Surely they must be acountable for something?

They never took the property over. You simply contracted them to do some work, it's your property, your business. They are accountable only to your contract with them.

simpywimpy

Im in the same position with my LA now. The tenant moved out yesterday owing 5wks rent. I found out one month fter the tenant moved in that despite it saying they take a deposit and that rent is payable in advance, the agency did neither but by that time the tenant was already in. Their excuse was that the tenant wasa good, reliable one and they thought that better than waiting etc etc. I disagreed of course but it was too late to do anything.

The tenant has also kept a set of keys and two items from the house as well as left the house filthy to the point where the bedroom carpet has had to be removed because of dog pee.

This week the tenant refused to allow my plumber access to fix a leak to the point where the ceiling now needs plasterng as well.

Where can I go for help? The agency are just not interested at all

foreveramum

Thank you very much for all your replies and sorry to hear about others having problems.

We have been in contact with the agent today and they have been excellent. We as a family work very hard and try to surround ourselves with good people. We think we have done that with this agent who have explained the full procedure incuding an offer to tidy up the property which we have declined.

We will not expect the agent to pay for any damage or repairs and fully accept that we are responsible for our actions. We will let time take its course, repair as we need to, wish the tenants all the best in their new life and hope they too can learn from treating people so badly.

We feel very positive after our meeting today however this road in life is not for us! Good luck to all those who choose this route and I wish you success and better tenants than we had.

There are many, many worse things in this life although the experience, albeit not nice is still a learning curve for our family.

Once bitten- twice shy!!!

Thank you once again everyone.