Potential Problems with Tennant

Kilmaley01

Hi guys

Dont know if anyone can shed any light on this one for us. We rented our property out 12 months ago on a 6 month rental agreement through an agent. They just took a one off fee of a months rent and then no longer are involved in managing the property. There was some Insurance 'thing' set up by them at the start.......it was something we hadnt come accross before but instead of the tennant paying a bond, she paid extra ( or the agent did) into an insurance fund. ( I know I can contact them Monday morning and ask them - but in a bit of a mood and hoping to shed some light before then, as we will be seeing the tennant tomorrow).

Anyhow, once the 6 month original lease was up, she wanted to carry on living there and we agreed to not bother going back to the agent as the agreement covered us (I think) just to extend it.

Anyhow, she has given us notice about 2 weeks ago. There are a couple of damp spots in the house and we are have just had them sorted the last few days. She never complained to us prior today, when we went up to tidy the garden. The grass was 3 foot tall and weeds everywhere it was in a terrible state. I sent her a text saying "It's unacceptable the way you have let this garden go". I got a message back saying that the damp was unacceptable to live with etc and that why should she do us any favours by keeping the garden tidy.

She wasnt there an knew we were going into the house to have a look at any work that would need doing before possible new tennant. We pulled back the rug in an open plan lounge and there is a full size iron burn on the carpet.

Anyhow, I'm ranting....my questions are: -

1) Does anyone know anything about these insurance things that letting agents use?
2) Can we charge her for the 5 hours we had to spend tidying the garden today and still not finished - it was in her agreement that she was to keep the garden tidy and it was a jungle.
3) Are we entitled to claim for the carpet?
4) If anyone does know about the Insurance stuff....would that cover carpet and garden?

Thanks in advance for any light you can shed!!

tek-monkey

Is it not the tenancy deposit scheme you're talking about?

clutton_2

no one can advise you on the insurance purchased - you need to read the documents - ask the agent what they were/are

did the agent sign an inventory on check in - if so you need to get it so that you can compare current condition on check-out.

yes - you can charge her for carpet replacement if it is a significant burn and if it was not recorded on the inventory - but you need to deduct wear and tear costs from the tenants bill

dont do things by text - send her formal professional letters

is her deposit protected ? - do you or the agent have access to it in whichever scheme it is loged with ?

Kilmaley01

Insurance is called Zero In scheme. Will call agent Monday.

The carpet is throughout the house!! It's a large (ish) open plan living /dining room and the same carpet runs up the stairs and throughout the house!! We wouldnt be nasty to her and expect it all but the open plan and stairs would need to be replaced.

Kilmaley01

Clutton...I know you are right about the 'texts'....we had kinda become friendly and would talk via email /text. Will put anything else in writing.

Also, what about the garden, or should we just 'lump it' and do it? It does annoy us tho as it WAS in her tenancy agreement.

clutton_2

her response as you have posted above is less than friendly - stay formal from now on

if there is nothing specific in the tenancy agreement about the garden, then i think you have to take it on the chin as a cost

in my personal view it is un-reasonable to hold tenants responsible for keeping gardens/lawns in good shape without giving them the equipment to do so

i also dont think it reasonable to replace the whole carpet just for one burn in one room.

come back to us on monday when you have the details of the scheme

do check that it is still in place since responsibility for teh property has passed from the agent to you

did she only give you two weeks notice ?

Kilmaley01

Have checked and it is the Tenancy Scheme as mentioned by someone earlier...

No, she did give us a month notice, she doesnt move out until 13th October. She is a nice girl and no I wouldnt expect her to replace the whole thing but the open plan room is kinda split dining/living room by an arch and that would look silly not having the same carpet throughout. However, I'm fairly confident we could probably get the same carpet and just do the room that was damaged.

She was provided with tools and a flymo for the garden. She attempted it once in a year and broke the flymo as she had let the grass go so long. After this happened, we offered on numberous occasions to use our powerful mower to cut the grass for her but she never asked. Anyhow, it's irrelevant now. However, we want to go there tomorrow to finish the garden as the weather is nice and it's the poss last chance to do so before a viewing of poss new tennant next weekend. Do we need her permission to go and work on the garden? We have only been to the house twice in the 13 months she has been there and today was one of them, the previous time was to look at the damp. We would never go into her home - it is afterall, her home. But are we within our rights to go and do work in the garden?

Loaner

clutton wrote: »

if there is nothing specific in the tenancy agreement about the garden, then i think you have to take it on the chin as a cost

in my personal view it is un-reasonable to hold tenants responsible for keeping gardens/lawns in good shape without giving them the equipment to do so

I disagree. Many of my tenants take a property BECAUSE it has a garden. Regardless of whether they have their own tools, the garden should be returned in the same condition as it was handed over.

Loaner

Kilmaley01

It was one of the main reasons she wanted the property, because it had a nice front garden and a large private rear garden...

We removed 22 bags of garden waste today and there's still plenty more to go!!

clutton_2

""But are we within our rights to go and do work in the garden?""

if she is still living there - no you dont have the right without her permission

franklee

gromit2303 wrote: »

There are a couple of damp spots in the house and we are have just had them sorted the last few days. She never complained to us prior today, when we went up to tidy the garden. The grass was 3 foot tall and weeds everywhere it was in a terrible state. I sent her a text saying "It's unacceptable the way you have let this garden go". I got a message back saying that the damp was unacceptable to live with etc and that why should she do us any favours by keeping the garden tidy.

gromit2303 wrote: »

We have only been to the house twice in the 13 months she has been there and today was one of them, the previous time was to look at the damp.

gromit2303 wrote: »

However, we want to go there tomorrow to finish the garden as the weather is nice and it's the poss last chance to do so before a viewing of poss new tennant next weekend.

How long ago was your previous visit? Presumably not long as you have only just fixed the damp. Therefore was the grass bad then and did you remind her to attend to it then?

I think you have jumped the gun doing the garden now. You should have given the tenant the chance to put the garden right before she leaves. In doing the work without giving her that chance I don't think it right you charge her - unless she agreed to your works and price beforehand. It's the tenant's business how clean she keeps the house, how long the grass etc. while it is her home but she needs to return it to you in it's original condition upon leaving. For all you knew she was going to get some mates round to sort the garden next week or so. You did it now to look nice for viewers which is for your benefit, you could not have held the tenant to do it in time for them.

As for the carpet you need to take into account the quality of the carpet, it's age, condition at start of the tenancy and it's expected lifespan. So a cheap carpet that's say five years old is more or less worthless and you can charge the tenant little. OTOH a brand new expensive carpet and you can charge more. google and you will find guidelines on how to work this out. I do not think you can charge more than the one room, not for a matching set of other rooms.

This is the sort of thing:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Fair-Wear-and-Tear?&id=568373