Tenant move out without notice.

Kaminari_2

A question for all you landlords out there.
I have a tenant that has moved out without notice. I have contacted them on the phone and they have confirmed that they have moved out. As the tenancy has not ended do i have to issue them with any form of eviction notice or can i re let the property immediately because the property is now abandon?

Thanks

Mrs_pbradley936

I think you should have something in writing in case they come back and say they have been on holiday. I take it that you are not out of pocket because you should of had a deposit. If it was me i would not bother chasing them for loss of rent for the period of the tenancy - I'd just let it go. But I would ask them to confirm that are not coming back.

BobProperty

Get it in writing they have left, get the keys back and get a witness to be present when they hand back the keys. If you do all that, you should be safe to re-let the place. I think the RLA AST agreement had something in it to the effect that the tenancy isn't over until the tenant hands back the keys (might be out of date or have changed, though)

silvercar

I wouldn't let the rent in lieu of notice go. What's the point of a tennancy agreement if tennants can leave with no notice. The landlord will be out of pocket until he finds another tennant.

Mrs_pbradley936

silvercar wrote:

I wouldn't let the rent in lieu of notice go. What's the point of a tennancy agreement if tennants can leave with no notice. The landlord will be out of pocket until he finds another tennant.

In principle I agree with you – in practice by the time you write letters and argue back and forth, issue a court summons or threaten to “it is not worth the candle” so to speak. If the OP has a deposit he will not be out of pocket if he re-lets soon.

Gorgeous_George

The LL will not be out of pocket if house has been left in a suitable condition and can re-let it fairly quickly.

Personally, unless in extreme circumstances, I would reward the lack of notice (very poor manners apart from anything else) with a solicitor's letter and court action.

Alternatively, for a quicker result, I'm sure there is something that could be done by way of revenge.



GG

whambamboo

Gorgeous_George wrote:

The LL will not be out of pocket if house has been left in a suitable condition and can re-let it fairly quickly.

Personally, unless in extreme circumstances, I would reward the lack of notice (very poor manners apart from anything else) with a solicitor's letter and court action.

Alternatively, for a quicker result, I'm sure there is something that could be done by way of revenge.



GG

The OP can only sue for the actual loss occasioned by not getting the required notice. He has a duty to mitigate his loss by getting a new tenant in as quickly as possible.

So in practice he would probably only be able to claim perhaps 2 weeks' rent - so unless they've caused a lot of damage, the month and half or six week's notice, plus 2 week's rent means he's best to leave it well alone and laugh all the way to the bank with the whole of the tenant's deposit.

And don't forget that most landlords lack documentation to prove damage was caused by the tenant, and wasn't pre-existing, so in all likelihood he's really only legally entitled to perhaps 2 weeks' rent, so if he has any sense he will advertise the flat straight away and laugh all the way to the bank with the whole of the tenant's deposit.

Gorgeous_George

I know about the need to minimise losses.

The tenants's intent was to cause grief for the landlord and I would not forget this.

Every dog has his day. Revenge is a dish best served cold and all that.



GG

clutton_2

i have just had a tenant leave, and i have had to get a skip in to dispose of her rubbish; and get the whole house redecorated (she was there for about 18 months) replace the sitting room carpet; repair the fence, refix radiator, repair the bannister, replace shower rail, and the shower curtain, and 2 lots of curtains.

All this repair work will have cost me the equivalent of 3 months rent after taking her fathers deposit into consideration. The property will also be void for probably another month. So, any profit i made during her tenancy has been very neatly entirely wiped away.

She is a single parent mum with no money, so, no point in taking her to court.

Sadly this forum tends to have many many posts about bad landlords, but, very few indeed about the dirty tricks that tenants get up to.

Her explanation was "I did clean it" !!!!!!!!

whambamboo

Gorgeous_George wrote:

I know about the need to minimise losses.

The tenants's intent was to cause grief for the landlord and I would not forget this.

Every dog has his day. Revenge is a dish best served cold and all that.



GG

so take the tenant's entire deposit.....

What's the problem?

Don't get bitter and twisted with revenge, just think about your bank balance. If it's best served by suing then sue, otherwise you're getting best revenge by simply doing nothing.

whambamboo

clutton wrote:

i have just had a tenant leave, and i have had to get a skip in to dispose of her rubbish; and get the whole house redecorated (she was there for about 18 months) replace the sitting room carpet; repair the fence, refix radiator, repair the bannister, replace shower rail, and the shower curtain, and 2 lots of curtains.

All this repair work will have cost me the equivalent of 3 months rent after taking her fathers deposit into consideration. The property will also be void for probably another month. So, any profit i made during her tenancy has been very neatly entirely wiped away.

She is a single parent mum with no money, so, no point in taking her to court.

Sadly this forum tends to have many many posts about bad landlords, but, very few indeed about the dirty tricks that tenants get up to.

Her explanation was "I did clean it" !!!!!!!!

Doesn't sound like any dirty tricks to me, although maybe she did something horrible to the curtains that I can't imagine and you haven't specified.

You knew she was a single mum and yet you rented to her.

Apart from rubbish being left behind doesn't sound like any more than wear and tear.

When you run a business you need to factor these things into your business plan.