PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Help my tennant has wrecked my house

Options
I inherited my mother's house 4 years ago and have since had a SS tennant for 3 years.

Long story short is that she has wrecked the house and caused a siginificant amount of damage that is now going to cost me a lot to put right. On top of this she doesn't pay on time and has large arrears.

I've finally come to the decision that enough is enough and I need to get her out so that I can get the repairs done and put the house on the market.

The house is in South Wales and is 3-4 hours away by car making dealing with her very difficult. She is also preventing either myself or the agent from gaining access.

I think that she has a six month notice period (the agents have the contract and are also hopeless).

Does anybody have any advice for the best way to deal with the situation. I don't want to turf her out onto the street (obviously), but I really do need to reclaim my house and rectify all of the damage.

Any help much appreciated,

R
«1

Comments

  • tbs624
    tbs624 Posts: 10,816 Forumite
    edited 27 December 2010 at 7:45PM
    Rosie321 wrote: »
    I inherited my mother's house 4 years ago and have since had a SS tennant for 3 years.

    Long story short is that she has wrecked the house and caused a siginificant amount of damage that is now going to cost me a lot to put right. On top of this she doesn't pay on time and has large arrears.
    You can apply to have the LHA payments made direct to you - have you notified the HB office that the T is in arrears?

    Have you or the LA sent the T a fully itemised Rent Statement for the full tenancy and formally requested that she bring her rent payments up to date?

    Have the LA undertaken regular property inspections and informed the T of any areas of concern?
    Rosie321 wrote: »
    I've finally come to the decision that enough is enough and I need to get her out so that I can get the repairs done and put the house on the market.

    The house is in South Wales and is 3-4 hours away by car making dealing with her very difficult. She is also preventing either myself or the agent from gaining access.
    Has she allowed access for essentials such as Gas Safety checks, if applicable?
    Rosie321 wrote: »
    I think that she has a six month notice period (the agents have the contract and are also hopeless).
    You should have your own copy of the tenancy agreement - if the LA is "hopeless" it's because you have allowed them to be. No quals or training necessary to work as an LA so LLs need to keep an eye on how they operate.

    You need to fully check out the terms of that contract. What is the "rental period" - ie, how often is the T required to pay the rent under the terms of the contract?

    Has the T provided a tenancy deposit and if yes, have you scheme registered it? Have you or the LA served a S21 Notice of Intent to Repossess earlier in the tenancy? If yes, was this served after the deposit was scheme registered?

    Have you thought about joining one of the national LL associations, or Tessa Shepperson's LL Law site? They can guide you through all of this
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Rosie
    Impossible to advise you without a lot more info. tbs has asked a lot of questions and these need answering. The most critical is understanding what contract your tenant has and what arrears.
    Is she in a fixed term? When did it start and when does it end?
    Is she more than 2 months in arrears yet?
    What has been done about the damage?

    Blaming the agents is too easy. They may indeed have been inefficient/unprofessional (many agents are) but at the end of the day you are the landlord. It's your property, your rental income and everything (yes, everything) is ultimately your responsibility.

    This is what happens when you take on extreme right-wing German tenants who drink lager (tennents is a lager, no?)

    Seriously, once we know more we can advise, but you also need to decide what you want. The options might be turf her out or accept the status quo!
  • clutton_2
    clutton_2 Posts: 11,149 Forumite
    join national landlords association tomorrow and get their legal helplinen to talk you through what forms to fill in to take her to court and get her out... of course you want her out - she is in arrears and has wrecked your house, why would you want to keep her on ?
  • Odd that this has only recently become a problem: How regularly (eg every 3 months, every 6 months..) was there an inspection of the property & what state was it in at the last inspection???
  • sequence
    sequence Posts: 1,877 Forumite
    How do you know they are not going to return the property in the condition they found it in less wear and tear ?
  • theartfullodger
    theartfullodger Posts: 15,701 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 28 December 2010 at 4:32PM
    Good point sequence! T can (E.G.)... keep coal in the bath, sink full of dirty dishes, floors covered in rubbish etc etc.. and they have an absolute right to do so... and if they return property as-was less fair-wear-'n-tear then they get their full deposit back.....

    Re. arrears just take legal action & issue appropriate notices (guess you did that some time ago as the arrears sound large-ish....)

    Cheers!

    Artful

    PS I understand the problem of distant tenants: I have 3 tenancies 520 miles from my home, & no agent within 60 miles interested.. so your 3-4 hours travel sounds bleedin' easy to me - (mine are 10 hours away...). I'm booking an Hotel for a checkout early Jan!!
  • clutton_2
    clutton_2 Posts: 11,149 Forumite
    ""How do you know they are not going to return the property in the condition they found it in less wear and tear ? ""


    ""that she has wrecked the house and caused a siginificant amount of damage that is now going to cost me a lot to put right.""


    because benefit tenants who are in significant arrears dont have large amount of money - thats why she wont repair the property......
  • Thank you so much for all your replies. It seems obvious to me that i have to get hold of a copy of the contract and check it out thoroughly. Of course the agents are closed over the holiday period, but i will get one asap.
  • I've never heard of a tenant on a contract which requires six months notice.

    Have you joined a landlords association yet?
  • sequence
    sequence Posts: 1,877 Forumite
    clutton wrote: »
    ""How do you know they are not going to return the property in the condition they found it in less wear and tear ? ""


    ""that she has wrecked the house and caused a siginificant amount of damage that is now going to cost me a lot to put right.""


    because benefit tenants who are in significant arrears dont have large amount of money - thats why she wont repair the property......


    Never know, they might win the lottery! :rotfl:
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 351K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.6K Spending & Discounts
  • 244K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.9K Life & Family
  • 257.3K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.