Our tenants have done a runner!!!!!!!!!!

kazd

Our tennants have packed up and left our property after renting it for approx three months of a six month contract. In that time we have had numerous complaints from the sales office etc. They rented the property from brand new, they left the house unsecure and my husband went over this afternoon.

Apparently the house appears to have not been cleaned from day one, the cooker looks like its ten years old and the carpets twenty, they have smoked themselves silly and the house honks to high heaven.

When the complaints were happening the management company made several visits and said that the place was absolutely spotless and they were paying the rent on time etc

Where do we stand now, obviously the locks need changing along with the carpets and cooker needs a professional cleaning. Who is liable for these costs, we have a rent guarantee with the management company yet have not yet received this months rent. I had already queried this prior to finding out today that they had done a flit. The management company allegedly have a security deposit of one months rent. If we have to pay for the repairs I assume we are entitled to this deposit. Carpeting a whole house is going to cost a damn site more that £695. The management company had made several visits and said the house was fine and we had nothing to worry about. Obviously they were lying in this instance and we would be grateful if anyone could shed any light on this for us.

Thanks

A_Nice_Englishman

This kind of thing happens to most landlords sooner or later. I had one tenant who left owing me £1000 and also nicked all my curtains. Another who has failed to pay their energy bill - I have a letter from a debt colection agency about it!

The deposit will cover part of the repair costs I guess but it probably isn't worth pursuing the tenants for anything else. Even of you find them they probably won't have the money. It may be worth pursuing the management company but I think you would have to prove they were lying and that the property wasn't in satisfactory condition when they visited

I hope your business plan is robust enough to cover this loss and you have better luck with your next tenants.

meanmachine_2

Welcome to the real world of the landlord.

Nowt you can do about it, except pursue them in the courts and that would be throwing good money after bad.

I wouldn't change the carpets again. You'll be doing that every six months.

Can you not just steam clean and make do? The same with everything else.

lizzie12_2

It is best to take photoes prior to tennants moving in and then the letting agency and you have proof they went into a clean house. After renting for a short while - we had a tiff with the letting agents who knew that we had a major problem and did they did nothing. We took photoes the day we moved in and the place was ditched!!!!!
With our complaint we went into the office and spoke very loudly ( so others in the office could hear... customers as well) and demanded a solution.
Problem fixed then....... when we left, we had the landlords parents there also and they could not believe the state of the place when they saw our pictures... the letting agency had let out the property without the landlord knowing........

Robert_Sterling

If I thought BTL was a piece of cake I would have a slice myself.

kazd

I haven't seen the carpets but my husband has said he does not believe they are recoverable. He said he does not think the place had been hoovered since they moved in and there were cigarette butts all over the place and loads of rubbish. Personally I think we have got off lightly in view of the complaints that we have had.

Is the management company liable for the lock change as these tenants have gone off with the keys.

I would like to go over and have a look I think a once over with the Dyson and then a professional clean and it should be ok. He said the house stinks of smoke (We stipulated non smokers) so hopefully cleaning the carpet will sort out that problem.

We only had one months deposit from them but a friend of mine was telling me to day that a mutual friend of ours who has been renting recently due to marital breakdown had to provide three months deposit.

Can we stipulate how many months deposit we want. Also can we also insist on personal references, the letting agent assured me that they had been credit checked but now I am not so sure.

A_Nice_Englishman

kazd wrote:

We only had one months deposit from them but a friend of mine was telling me to day that a mutual friend of ours who has been renting recently due to marital breakdown had to provide three months deposit.

Can we stipulate how many months deposit we want. Also can we also insist on personal references, the letting agent assured me that they had been credit checked but now I am not so sure.

When I rented this place* I had to pay 1.5 months' deposit and provide personal and employers' references, three months' bank statements and three months' pay slips. No doubt I was credit checked through one of the agencies too. My letting agent did the same for my tenants*. I would be suspicious of any agent who didn't do this.

I don't see why a landlord and tenant couldn't negotiate any deposit they wanted.

* Yes, I'm a tenant and and (ex) landlord. Long story, but I can't wait to be an owner-occupier again!

F_T_Buyer

How do you know they have done a runner?

What if they have gone on a months long holiday?

If you change the locks, and they come back still within the contract, you will be at fault.

mr.broderick

You sound like the perfect tenant, all credit to you...

mr.broderick

F_T_Buyer wrote:

How do you know they have done a runner?

What if they have gone on a months long holiday?

If you change the locks, and they come back still within the contract, you will be at fault.

Tell you what go round and empty the place and when they ge back from benidorm!! ask them why they left the door open.......

dunstonh

F_T_Buyer wrote:

How do you know they have done a runner?

What if they have gone on a months long holiday?

If you change the locks, and they come back still within the contract, you will be at fault.

That is an excellent point. If you go and change the locks and they return and cannot get access, they can take action against you.

I'm not sure what comeback there would be on the management company. They're all mostly useless anyway. I don't use one, nor do *we* use one anymore.

With the new rules coming in next year, management companies will cover many of the new requirements on your behalf.