Evicted, locks changed, no notice...

Touche

ceridwen wrote: »

Is she going to be working back in Britain for long then?

Couldn't tell you. I just know she had something work related going on in the UK this week. Facebook didn't have that much info...

ceridwen

So - sounds like she has just the one rental property and its been her home in the past - and it would appear likely she needs to move back into it herself now or in the near future.

From this - she's not some big Rachman-type character - more someone who has been influenced by a strong-minded (and probably pretty unintelligent) mama to pursue an unwise course of action. She needed to have the tenant move out by the sound of it - but should have gone about it the proper way. I am guessing that she went about it in a very cackhanded/immoral sort of way because she's heard that the Courts can take months to get out even a tenant who is months behind on the rent and didnt want the risk of the whole process taking months.

So - personally I dont think its worth "bringing the heavy guns" out against her in those circumstances - AS LONG AS you get whats yours back again (ie your property or a generous amount of money to "buy it off you" and reasonable compensation for an abruptly-terminated tenancy). I think it would be worth your while to at least have a go at putting it to her that you'll "go quietly" - provided your terms are met. It might resolve the situation more quickly and cheaply than going off to a lawyer "all guns blazing".

Re your books - playing devils advocate here...she might not actually have the faintest idea they are worth a reasonable amount. I would personally assume that any textbooks of any description would only be worth a matter of a few £s secondhand - so she might as well. The reason those books are missing then is more likely to be because she thought "Oh....a few old books" - rather than "They're worth a bit - I'll sell them" and has just chucked them out unthinkingly. I suspect thats the most likely explanation as to where your books are right now - ie down the rubbish tip (sorrees....but that is how it would look to most people....).

Again - playing devils advocate - seeing it from her POV - then she might honestly have done this to get herself back in her home as soon as possible. Which is not to say that she hasnt handled this very badly and unfairly - as indeed she has.

<sebb>

Sorry to hear what has happened to you.

I personally dont think ignorance of the law is an excuse in this case. I expect that nearly all landlords who have committed an illegal eviction offense are unaware of the seriousness of their offense and the consequences it would have on them. It wouldnt make sense to risk it if they knew what they were facing.

You are lucky that you are in a financially secure position with friends to offer you somewhere to stay. For the sake of other people who are not so lucky, you need to make sure this woman gets the punishment that she deserves so that she cant do this to the next unsuspecting tenant.

ceridwen

Thinking further on the devils advocate front.

I have sometimes wondered what I would do if I had been able to afford the buy-to-let property I was hoping to get a while back - and then tenants wanted to stay put after I required vacant tenancy.

It would have depended very much on what the tenant was acting like. If the tenant/s were paying the rent on time/generally being good tenants/etc - then I would have given the legally-required amount of notice and expected them out by evening of the last day of tenancy.

If they were being bad tenants (ie non-payment of rent or wrecking the place) - then they would have 1 or 2 weeks notice (if that) and then they would be gone (irrespective of what the law said). They would find the locks had been changed and they were out - with no further notice.

if they had previously been good tenants - but had just turned bad at that point by not being out at the end of the legal notice period = I'm not quite sure. It would depend on both my circumstances and what I could see of their circumstances - eg if I had said to them that I needed to move back in myself and would be doing so the day after their tenancy expired and they were still there - then the same thing would apply and the locks would be changed and their stuff removed (because I had obeyed legal notice period requirements - but they hadnt taken account of my right/need to come back into my own home).

So - I think all round its best to give a bit of careful thought as to how best to tackle the situation before getting involved with lawyers.

After all - the ultimate objective is to get this dealt with as quickly and smoothly as possible.

teeni

lynzpower wrote: »

LOL, yeah I joked a few years ago I only do jobs where Im hated, so far been in Childrens Social work, estate agency, HIPS (!) True enough!

Only need to do this sort of thing, then work for the inland revenue and traffic warden ( or highways enforcement representative- or however the LAs try to dress it so traffic wardens dont have to say what they do) to run the full gamut.
:rotfl::rotfl:

Keep up the good work :beer:

my other half is a front line child protection social worker, both of us are hated by certain groups of people. Now when we want to go out for a drink our local is 20 miles awa y just to guarentee peace.

Must say always fancied being a traffic warden.

<sebb>

ceridwen wrote: »

If they were being bad tenants (ie non-payment of rent or wrecking the place) - then they would have 1 or 2 weeks notice (if that) and then they would be gone (irrespective of what the law said). They would find the locks had been changed and they were out - with no further notice.

.

and you would have been guilty of a criminal offense and face a potential civil claim for damages. probably a good job you couldnt afford that btl place then.

ceridwen

<sebb> wrote: »

Sorry to hear what has happened to you.

I personally dont think ignorance of the law is an excuse in this case. I expect that nearly all landlords who have committed an illegal eviction offense are unaware of the seriousness of their offense and the consequences it would have on them. It wouldnt make sense to risk it if they knew what they were facing.

You are lucky that you are in a financially secure position with friends to offer you somewhere to stay. For the sake of other people who are not so lucky, you need to make sure this woman gets the punishment that she deserves so that she cant do this to the next unsuspecting tenant.

But - I dont think there will be a further unsuspecting tenant. I may be wrong and she plans on making a habit of this. Maybe she does intend to have another tenant and has one lined up who will pay her more rent - and, if so, then punishment is certainly appropriate.

Maybe though it is the case that she needs to come and live back in her home herself or sell it - and has panicked into handling this very badly.

It is difficult to see the full circumstances from the other side of a keyboard.

I think there are probably only about 5% of people that could honestly say that they would abide strictly by legal requirements about a house they rented out - no matter what. Most of us would know (and totally ignore) the law about tenants rights if we had a bad enough tenant for instance. Are you saying that if you had a rental house and found that you had taken in "The tenants from hell" by mistake that you wouldnt find a way to make sure they were out within the next 24 hours (law or no law)?

(EDIT: I'm sure O.P. is a good tenant and therefore the law should have been abided by...)

ceridwen

<sebb> wrote: »

and you would have been guilty of a criminal offense and face a potential civil claim for damages. probably a good job you couldnt afford that btl place then.

But then one cant let "tenants from hell" rule your life by fear of whether they might try to "take it out on you" by misusing the law to "have a go".

EDIT: stressed again - that I'm sure O.P. has been a good tenant - so I'm just giving the devils advocate other viewpoint

<sebb>

ceridwen wrote: »

But then one cant let "tenants from hell" rule your life by fear of whether they might try to "take it out on you" by misusing the law to "have a go".

EDIT: stressed again - that I'm sure O.P. has been a good tenant - so I'm just giving the devils advocate other viewpoint

I do understand where you are coming from. I've seen thread after thread of landlords that have been taken to the cleaners by tenants from hell and its completely unfair. But the law in this country is clear on this matter and the actions you are saying you might have taken would end up with you committing a serious criminal offense with pretty severe consequences. Whether you agree with the law is a totally separate matter.

I imagine the responses in this thread would be completely different if the OP was a young single mother on a low income with no friends or family around to help them. Do you think the LL would have done the same thing if her tenant was in these circumstances? I suspect she would have.

bitsandpieces

Touche wrote: »

I checked ebay and haven't seen anything that looks like *my* books. The resale value does seem to be pretty high though and I kept my books in pristine condition.

I know textbooks can have a good resale value, though it's more obvious if someone's trying to shift a whole load of hot medical books than something more generic like a laptop :rotfl: Who knows, though, your LL might be that daft...