Eviction advice needed

BitterAndTwisted

I would have thought not until the three months have elapsed as the goods are not your father's and neither are the debts owed by the ex-tenants. I see no reason to get involved with any bailiffs coming to the door at all. Also, there might be some risk to him in acknowledging the tenants' debts in the first place. I doubt your father would welcome being chased for any of these debts himself in the future as it sounds like he's had quite enough trouble already.

HeatherH

Ok, property is still with us, and we still have not heard a peep from the ex tenant and ex licensee. After reading various websites, we've gathered that we have to keep the property for 3 months, annoying but fair enough. What I'm trying to get my head round is if we, after 3 months, have to definitely sell the goods (that have value) or we can just be rid by giving anything of value to something like freecycle or a charity shop.
My dad does not intend to go for any money owed as he believes it would just create unnecessary hassle (his choice, not mine).

So legally, do we have to sell the goods, or can we just get rid of in any way we deem fit. Thanks

N79

HeatherH wrote: »

Ok, property is still with us, and we still have not heard a peep from the ex tenant and ex licensee. After reading various websites, we've gathered that we have to keep the property for 3 months, annoying but fair enough. What I'm trying to get my head round is if we, after 3 months, have to definitely sell the goods (that have value) or we can just be rid by giving anything of value to something like freecycle or a charity shop.
My dad does not intend to go for any money owed as he believes it would just create unnecessary hassle (his choice, not mine).

So legally, do we have to sell the goods, or can we just get rid of in any way we deem fit. Thanks

You need to be able to show that you got fair value (as they are still the T's and they can demand this amount in the future).

However, there are companies that specialise in this work and will provide you with a receipt for the total estimated value of the goods, will pay you this amount if it is not zero (which the T can claim for 6 years, less you costs which will magically mean the T is owed nothing or, indeed owes you more money!) and will then dispose of the goods for you. This gives you your evidence to defend any claim from the T.

This is not the cheapest option (the companies may charge you if there is nothing of any substantive value for them to sell) but it is the easiest and, given your other posts, it is also the safest approach vs and future T claims.

HeatherH

Thanks N79,

I'll definitely pass this on as there's a month left before it can all happen. Will keep posted

HeatherH

Just an update:

It's now been three months since the eviction date and we've heard nothing from either the tenant or licensee. I've told my dad that he's better off selling the property, even printed off the abandoned property artical from another website, but he's not listening and goes on about what his landlord brother says about just getting rid of everything. Hoping he soon sees sense, as I can see it making more trouble than it's worth if he tries to take the easy way out.

HeatherH

Ok update, tenant has finally contacted us but haven't said about how they're going to take the rest of the stuff. The next day the licensee rang and threatened to sue my dad for the stuff, he's one of those types who likes to threaten court, but when the eviction notice was going through the court neither of them turned up. My dad is still saying that everyone including his solicitor, his brother who is a landlord etc is advising to get rid of the items. I'm wondering if he can actually sue as he's not on the tenancy, as i thought it can only be done by the tenant and there's no proof of ownership of anything in the property. I know my dad could counter sue, but the tenant has no money to sue for. I feel i'm talking to a brick wall with my dad now. Any advice appreciated

BitterAndTwisted

Are you still playing Tetris with the ex-tenant's possessions? Have your father tell this person that they have x number of days to make an arrangement to collect all of their sh!te or it will be disposed of. The number of days is dependent on what advice that "abandoned property article" gave which you mentioned earlier.

If you father cannot be persuaded that there's possibly good money to be recouped by selling on the ex-tenant's sh!te then let him send it all to landfill. He might find that there's cost involved in doing that so spending a little time to sell it might be time worth spending after all. Still, if someone won't listen to good advice, they won't listen and that's that.

HeatherH

Thanks for the reply, we left all the items in the property for 3 months as said in the possessions article. And it's amazing that the ex tenant and friend still expects us to keep it just because they have no where to put it! Lol. alot of items have already been disposed of, but we still have most of the belongings that we think is owned by the actual tenant.
So renting out the place is still a long way off because of the items and repairing the property. It's just an ongoing process at the moment.

Jowo_2

"The Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 allows a landlord to sell goods left in a property if reasonable efforts to trace the tenant or owner of the goods fail. The Act further states that if the tenant is traced, the landlord must serve notice stating its intention to dispose of the items, how to arrange collection, and that disposal of the items will not begin until the notice has expired."

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

Was the tenant traced - i.e. do you actually now know where they live? - for example, did you pay a tracing agent to find them? was notice served about disposal of the items? if so, when did the notice expire? how long has your father been storing the goods - is it 3 months plus before the tenant popped back up? does the tenant know that you still have the goods? why did you store the goods in the property since it hindered the refurbishment and letting of the property to a new tenant?

I'm a bit confused about the timeline between the length of the storage and when the tenant got in touch.

HeatherH

Ok, tenant was never traced til now, but after the 3 months was up notices were sent to the tenants relatives to who we thought they may be staying with. They still did not contact us, and only when the tenant rang my dad could we tell them that some has gone and they can collect it. She then said they still had no where to put it but is working on it.

For the time frame it's been, it took them 5 months to contact us, will that go in my dad's favour as i said before the solicitor we used said we should only wait 2 weeks and then we can dispose, so it worries me who's right. All of what my dad says he's been told contradicts what i've read, so feeling a bit in the middle.