Tenant abandons house! Arggghhh!

n90bar

Any advise on this one greatfully received!

House in Scotland - new tenant moves in mid December under a 6 month short assured tenancy. Mid April comes round no problems up until then but then no rent is paid for month 5 of his 6 month tenancy. After some chasing up tenant decides to text me advising me has moved out and as such wont be paying!!! He tells me keys are returned and wants to arrange for me to meet him to give him his deposit back! I politely advise him that I would need final copies of the utilities etc which he has failed to do and I am fairly sure wont either. He also decides to leave 4/5 items of furniture and I know for a fact he still has at least 1 key. (the rest were hung up in the garden shed :mad:!!!)

I did speak to my solicitor who reckons to forget him, keep deposit and find a new tenant asap. While I'm fairly happy to do that I cant help but feeling very short changed - house luckily was fairly tidy but I have gone to the expense of having locks changed, thorough clean and now remove his goods from the house.

Deposit was only for a months rent so without any other costs I'm still a month of rent out of pocket (assuming I dont get a new tenant very quickly!)

To compound matters the tenant has no intention of giving me his new address so I can't correspond with him that way. Is there anyway I can get him blacklisted or persue the outstanding rent?

Thanks for any help received!

princeofpounds

Your solicitor has the right idea. Keep the deposit, look for a new tenant, move on.

Note you will need to store his goods for a while before disposal. Not sure of the Scottish law on this but it's a good idea to give a chance to collect.

also make sure you have good evidence he has abandoned the house text is good, also take a few dated photos of abandoned condition.

You could sue for month 6 rent at most, deposit pays month 5. I wouldn't bother, get new tenant in. If new tenant starts in time then old one may in theory be due some money back, but you can use this to offset repairs too and don't need to return until asked.

Jowo_2

What kind of screening did you undertake on the tenant? Did you manage the let yourself or did an agency do it? Did they complete a tenant application form giving you their NI number, employer, previous landlord refs, date of birth, copy of photo ID and so forth? Did you undertake a credit check and take up all the usual references? 90% of problem tenants can be screened out without giving them the keys...

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/tenant_screening.htm

Generally, the information on the Landlordzone website applies to England/Wales and not Scottish law so you'd need to check the position- are you sure it was wise to throw away their belongings because you may have been required to store them for at least 3 months?

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/legal/abandonment.htm
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/uncollected_goods.htm

You may be better off finding a Scottish landlord forum or joining a Scottish landlord association to find out the position and how to address the arrears because of the differences in law.

Off the top of my head, I reckon you can pay a fee to a tenant tracing service a month or two after the flit, and then take the tenant to the sheriff court for the arrears.

If the tenant is a 'professional tenant' (i.e. knows housing law and debt collection procedures) better than the landlord and regularly targets novice/amateur landlords, who is serially evicted, you will find it difficult to either trace them, or to enforce the judgement if you find them and win the case. If they've no income or assets, then its a waste of time anyhow.

n90bar

Thanks for the quick and full replies...I havent ever come accross the landlord zone website before so will deinately check it out!

I have disposed of the furniture - I have a text from the tenant saying he doesnt want it and will leave it to me to dispose of.

The house is self managed - i've been doing it for 4 years and this is the first time ive had any problems. References were taken and checked they seemed fine!

I think getting a tenant asap and moving on is the best idea probably!

sequence

Why are you asking for proof that the utilities have been paid ? It's none of your business.

princeofpounds

Oh yes, the utilities. Yes, it's not your problem. Take a reading, inform the provider in writing and over the phone, provide them with the old tenant details you have.

n90bar

Proof of utilites are required...or at least Ive always obtained them to ensure I am not left with hefty bills! I thought that was fairly common?

Fire_Fox

Why are you communicating with your tenant via text message? That is unprofessional and could never be used in court as evidence. As long as the utilities are in the tenants name you will not be left with any bills. You should have given closing readings for your account when the tenant took over, and give opening readings for your new account now the tenant has left. Everything in between in the liability of the occupier not the landlord.

n90bar

Im communicating via text as the tenant will not provide me with his new address and I did think at least by text I have a record of our conversation...where as we wouldnt with a phonecall. I dont see any better way of doing it?

Yes the utilities have been sorted out and are now back in my name.

pyueck

n90bar wrote: »

Proof of utilites are required...or at least Ive always obtained them to ensure I am not left with hefty bills! I thought that was fairly common?

No, you can't withold deposit for not providing utility bills, this is an unfair contract term as the bills follow the tenant not the property.

Jowo_2

n90bar wrote: »

References were taken and checked they seemed fine!

I imagine employer references and previous landlord references are easy to fake (i.e. a friend or relative posing as them).

Did they complete a tenancy application form to provide basic info that would help with tenant tracing, such as NI number, date of birth, photo ID, previous 3 or 5 years worth of addresses and the like?

Did you perform full screening - such as engaging a tenant screening company that would have checked their electoral register presence and performed a credit check for CCJs at previous addresses?

Did you ask for copies of their payslips and bank statements?

This sounds like a pro tenant - sloppy screening is a gift to them.