Help, with tenant, want him out, No TA

maliah

Hi all,

Please bare with me this may be a long one, and i appreciate anyone who can help me.


My partner rented our house to a Friend, we are now in rented, we didnt give him a Tenancy agreement, he had nowhere to go and no money.
We orginally we're gonna have the house repossesed but he said he'd rent in from us.

We we're patient with him whilst he waited for His housing benefit.
He orginally gave us £80 cash and his ex partner put another £200 in my acc, we didnt give him a recipet. All we gave him was a letter from my OH for the H/B explaining he was the tenant , my OH the LL, and what the rent was. Doesnt say on it how long the tenancy is etc etc.

I left my brand new cooker there he has broken the door completley off the house is a mess, we borrwed a cooker from his ex he now saying he wants it back as our new cooker wouldnt fit in our rented house. He says the cooker is his, he is slandering me all over facebook, he is a complete idiot and is one of those people who always wants to get one over on someone.

I;m at the end of tether, i have been given an olive branch from my parents they are willing to move in and renovate the house sell it and keep the profit. Getting the house off my hands,

i told him i'll have to serve notice, giving him 2 months he said no he will make us take him to court, he had made promise;s he cant keep. Says he cant pay his top up of rent and he hasn't got xmas sorted!! I'm peed off as we we're offering him a way to keep his son as the social services are involve with him and his ex and the baby. He wud had lost the child if we hadn't have given him somewhere to live.

My OH offered him £400 and his 2 months notice it wasn't good enough. he wanted £800, so we told him No and that we are handing keys back to mortgage co, as we do not have BTL mortgage. He has agreed to the £400.

I just want to know whre do i stand , i cant sleep and feel he is just gonna make some other excuse up. I just want him out, we have our stuff in the house still, all my OH's tools and we left furniture and my loft is full....am i allowed to go in and get my things?

Any help wud be appreciated Thanks u for reading

Fire_Fox

You probably need legal advice - it sounds to me like you have given this guy an AST even tho it isn't properly written down, you have accepted rent and written to benefits people that he is your tenant. If so that means he can stay for minimum six months, if he is claiming LHA and is eight weeks in arrears you can apply for the LHA to be paid to you.

Are you registered for income tax? Do you have a gas safety certificate? Was any money taken for deposit and is it is lodged a scheme? Have you informed the insurers that you are letting the house?

maliah

Hi,

and thanks for replying,

No i haven't registered for tax, haven't got a gas safety etc. haven't told the insurers, i didnt know about all these things i was just trying to help a friend, i can't afford legal help, didnt think it would come to this. i just dont know what to do.

No deposit was taken and no rent in advance, We have recieved £360 from him but not give him a receipt for it, and 2 payment from H/b one for £492 and one for £400, he went in on sept 17th and the rent is £460 pcm
we get the HB direct to us.

Fire_Fox

You were helping a friend when you let him stay for free, there is no way in court you could claim not to be a landlord if you are receiving rent in the form of LHA! :eek: If you are getting paid the rent now why do you want him out? The damage to the property is done, and presumably the mortgage is being paid. If you don't have a dual signed inventory you won't be able to prove the damage, I am afraid.

I would strongly recommend you get a gas safety certificate as fast as you can, I *think* you also need electrical safety checks (PAT) on any appliances. The cheapest way to get advice on your legal rights and responsibilities is to join a landlord's association. Also crack on and inform the insurers as you may have voided the buildings insurance. Registering for income tax can probably be done a few months late and backdated, but needs doing as the benefits agency may well inform inland revenue that they are paying you.

maliah

oh god oh god!

I want him out Firefox he is awful and nasty, i need the house back my parents have offered to take it on, so we can sell it,

i dont want it,

i have arrears on the mort and no equity, he is causing trouble has a huge mouth and he neighbours cant stand him!

i make no money from this what he pays pays the mortgage in fact it doesn't even cover all of it, i pay the insurance myself

Fire_Fox

((((hugs))))

I am not trying to upset you, I am trying to impress upon you that you must do things by the book from now on. The gas safety certificate is a serious matter so get this sorted before you take any further action. You don't want the tenant to have any way to get your into trouble. You can serve a section 21 (no fault) notice to quit to end no sooner than six months from the day he moved in, but it has to be written in a particular way or it won't be valid which is why you need proper advice.

If you had taken a deposit you would have had to have lodged that in a scheme before you could serve notice, but you say you haven't taken one. You may not have to pay any income tax you can write off the mortgage interest and many other expenses, but you must still register. Wait until Clutton or Artful Lodger come on, they are both professional landlords (lady in the case of Clutton!) and will be able to advise better than I.

DawnW

ok, try not to panic. If you have received as little rent as you say you have, you are very unlikely to have to pay any income tax, but you ought to tell them. Why not ring the local tax office and ask them what you ought to be doing, explain that you haven't registered before because you were waiting for a proper arrangement for the rent etc but that has not happened and you have only ever received £x since such and such a date etc, and the tenant is going to be evicted for non payment, you will not renting it out again etc. That is what I would do about that one - I find that they are quite helpful and don't bite! You may well need to fill in a self assessment form for this tax year which can be done online. I don't know the cut off date as I do mine as soon as I get all the documentation I need though - think it might be 31 Jan.

You probably should have a gas safety certificate - this costs about £80 or so.

If you didn't take a deposit, it does not need to be in a scheme, simple as that.

Joining the National Landlords Association also costs about £80, and gets you free legal advice etc. You can also offset both of these things (gas cert and NLA) against any tax due by the way. Why not ring the CAB, or even try Shelter for advice if you can't afford a solicitor - would your parents help out with a solicitor though if you explained the problems you are having? Some even offer a free half hour advice appointment.

I do sympathise, it sounds as though you were trying to help someone out and have opened this can of worms. Renting out a property (or even it seems letting somebody live in it for free) is not something to be undertaken lightly, though it is easy to be taken in by so called 'friends'. I have a rented out house and I am quite lucky as my tenants are ok after a few initial hiccups, but I am looking to give them notice next year because it really is much more trouble than it is worth, even with good tenants. I cannot understand why people do it, though I am sure Clutton and Artful mentioned on here earlier would disagree with me here!

I hope you get it all sorted out ok X

clutton_2

is there any way you can prove what date he moved in ? - a letter from the Council re his LHA would do. I would then use this as the start date of the tenancy. As others have said - join National Landlords association immediately - they have a fabulous legal helpline which you can call to get help re evicting him.

Sadly, this will go on for some time - as the ONLY way you can get him out is by taking him to court. (PLEASE dont do this yourself, as you will get it wrong and it will cost you £150 and another 2 months in time) the NLA can help you fill in the paperwork to send to court.

Court is not as fearsome as it may sound - the hearings are very informal, no wigs, just a small office room with 3 tables, one for the juge, one for you and a friend, and one for the tenant.

But even when you get the judge to grant the possession order (this is when he gives you legal access to your own house) the tenant does not have to move out, and if he does not, you will have to go back to court to ask for a Bailiffs Warrant (another £95) to get him out. All this could take 3-4 months, possibly a lot longer.

My advice would be to agree to give him the money, get him to leave on an agreed date - say 11th January (gives him time to find somewhere else), dont give him the money till he is out of the house, then change the locks immediatley

Dont put any of this in writing to him.......

socrates

It is impossible to get LHA without a Tenancy Agreement - so there is one floating about albeit a fraudulent one he has knocked up - that needs to be looked into a bit further.

Gas Certificate needs to be done YESTERDAY - no ifs or buts, he could use it against you at a later date.

You are also at risk of having to give back the rent you have received so far as you say it is being paid to you - as the Tenancy Agreement they have is a fake.

This one is a real mess - I would also post this question on LandLordzone.com as well - couple of legal experts there as well as LHA experts who work in Housing Benefit Departments

clutton_2

""I cannot understand why people do it, though I am sure Clutton and Artful mentioned on here earlier would disagree with me here!"

with increasingly more onerous legislation, and more to come, i am begining to wonder why i do it also !!

adg1

Fire_Fox wrote: »

I *think* you also need electrical safety checks (PAT) on any appliances.

Not required by law, though some local authorities do demand an NIC/EIC Periodic inspection if they are paying the initial deposit.

clutton wrote: »

Dont put any of this in writing to him.......

Normally I am a great believer in paper trails but in this case I fully agree. You don't want him armed with any proof of the 'deal' you've struck.