HA tenant and growing rent arrears!!

tabskitten

property.advert wrote: »

If the 12 months of the 12 month AST is up then you are expecting her to move out on that date. If you have let it roll over, then you are I believe in a periodic tenancy. Inaction will cost you.

not 12 months until 3rd april

Catblue

OP, have you considered what might happen if the tenant refuses to move when you do finally give her notice?

If she is looking to move into council accommodation, then the council will proabably advise her to stay put in your flat until you get a possession order from the courts. That could take months after the date on which you've told her to leave.

This uncertainty is also going to affect any sale of the flat in the meantime.

- No buyer who intends to live there is going to hang around waiting for months for you to evict her
- No investment buyer is going to want to take over a tenancy with arrears anyway

In your place, given that you really want to sell the place and move abroad, I would give her notice as soon as possible. I know that you are relying on the rent to pay the mortgage, but the likelihood is that you'll get a much better offer without her in the flat.

If she does move out at that point, then great. You can advertise the flat aggressively as current vacant possession and no chain. You are also still around to collect the arrears from her. You can also use her deposit to offset some of the arrears. That might actually be the easiest way to get at least some of the arrears quickly. How much is her deposit?

If she doesn't move out, then at least you have time on your side to start getting her out.

tabskitten

Catblue wrote: »

OP, have you considered what might happen if the tenant refuses to move when you do finally give her notice?

If she is looking to move into council accommodation, then the council will proabably advise her to stay put in your flat until you get a possession order from the courts. That could take months after the date on which you've told her to leave.

This uncertainty is also going to affect any sale of the flat in the meantime.

- No buyer who intends to live there is going to hang around waiting for months for you to evict her
- No investment buyer is going to want to take over a tenancy with arrears anyway

In your place, given that you really want to sell the place and move abroad, I would give her notice as soon as possible. I know that you are relying on the rent to pay the mortgage, but the likelihood is that you'll get a much better offer without her in the flat.

If she does move out at that point, then great. You can advertise the flat aggressively as current vacant possession and no chain. You are also still around to collect the arrears from her. You can also use her deposit to offset some of the arrears. That might actually be the easiest way to get at least some of the arrears quickly. How much is her deposit?

If she doesn't move out, then at least you have time on your side to start getting her out.

Yes- this is something that I do worry about.......
But I also worry that this would cause her to be 'difficult' wrt viewing whilst she is still in the flat. The Letting agent advised me not to evict just yet- maybe once again I should not have listened....:(

RAS

tabskitten wrote: »

Yes- this is something that I do worry about.......
But I also worry that this would cause her to be 'difficult' wrt viewing whilst she is still in the flat. The Letting agent advised me not to evict just yet- maybe once again I should not have listened....:(

Hi

You have no legal right to organise viewing whilst she is still in the flat, which is why it would have been wise to have got her out sooner.

Jowo_2

Indeed, a tenant has a right to quiet enjoyment of the property and doesn't have to consent to any visits, though the OP's tenant seems to cooperate.

There's always a danger that a tenant sabotages the viewing by telling the prospective buyer fibs about the property and neighbours to put them off.

This tenant knows it will be difficult for her to secure onward accommodation because of her arrears, this is why I can't understand why she would facilitate the sale of the property for the landlord since it will effectively make her homeless.

bitsandpieces

It's not really being 'difficult' wrt viewing - your tenant has every right to refuse to allow strangers into her home if she chooses to do so. The arrears are another issue.

terryw

Agreed, selling a house and having a tenant in at the same time is very impractical for all concerned. Does the OP really think that this tenant will extol the virtues of the property knowing that she will then be homeless.

Jowo and BaP have faster fingers than me!

Jowo_2

tabskitten wrote: »

The Letting agent advised me not to evict just yet- maybe once again I should not have listened....:(

If you have a contract with the agent where you are paying them a percentage of the rent for managing the property regardless or not of whether the tenant is paying it, then they would encourage you to keep the tenant as they are earning income while you are losing it - the risk is totally on you.

What does the estate agent undertaking the sale say about the benefits or negatives of having a tenant in situ?

And have you received the tenant screening report from the letting agency and double checked their credit ref and previous landlord references for veracity to identify if you've got a tenant with serial evictions/rent arrears/CCJs?

tabskitten

terryw wrote: »

Agreed, selling a house and having a tenant in at the same time is very impractical for all concerned. Does the OP really think that this tenant will extol the virtues of the property knowing that she will then be homeless.

Jowo and BaP have faster fingers than me!

NO- maybe the OP is not trying to assume anything!!
Maybe the OP has never been in this situation before and is just trying to make something out of all this mess!!
Again- why do some forum posters seem to get such a kick out of superscillious postings.
Shame that slow fingers robbed you of being first in there with the boot!

I am only honestly asking for constructive help- I am not trying to pretend that I trying to do anything other than work out the best course of action.

tbs624

tabskitten wrote: »

H....Problem is she is now over £2000 in arrears- and has only been in there a year.....

I have just put the property on the market and she is happy to stay in the hope that we get a landlord buyer- and in all other ways she is the perfect tenant- the EA and letting agent reports the place is immaculate and she wants to stay there as long as possible.

Paying the rent, in full and on time, is pretty key to being "a perfect tenant": this sounds like an amateur LL being given the run around by T who knows exactly what she is doing ( & she is clearly hoping for another "mug" LL to allow her to stay put and freeload.)

If someone buys the property for themselves they will want vacant possession and if a LL wants to buy it, they will want notice serving on a T who doesn't cough up.

OP - you need to give her notice. You're living in cloud-cuckoo land.If you can't do much from just a few hours away up the motorway in Manchester , how do you envisage sorting out ongoing problems once you are in Oz?

You seem to be trying to have it both ways - you want a T in , paying rent until you manage to sell, but the fact is that this T, given what you have posted , is not likely to be doing that reliably, and you are creating added hassle for yourself when you need to be focusing on offloading the property in the most straightforward way.

Biting off more than you can chew, without bothering to join a LL association and/or failing to familiarise yourself with the reality of letting property doesn't entitle you to be pis*y with other posters when they don't give you what you want to read. Terryw is one of the more sensible posters on this board and was making a valid point btw. A disgruntled T may indeed agree to viewings but very subtly ( or in a very obvious manner) put off your potential buyers.