MONEY MORAL DILEMMA. Should Jenny kick them out?

chivers22

Generally in this situation there are two forms of action a landlord can take to gain possession of the property, they can issue a section 8 notice for the undue rent or a section 21. In this case assuming the tenants are on a yearly contract it is easier to issue the section 21 which needs to be done 2 months before the end of the contract, this only allows the landlord access at the end of the contract if the tenant freely gives it up, if the tenant pesists then the landlord will have to get a court order for possession. A section 8 will take ages and is not really an option.

What i would do is tell the tenant to apply for housing benefit and insist that you have power to talk to the council about her claim so you can track the progress, run this on the back of the section 21 to allow the tenant all the chance to rectify the situation. Please note most councils will only rehouse people on the date of a court order for possession and once the bailiffs have been instructed due to lack of social housing.

Merry christmas everyone

rogerpine

no she should not kick them out . speak to C.A.B. to see what help she can get

sluggy1967

Personally, I would NEVER become a landlord. After extensive experience of having to rent before being able to buy I would say I have NEVER come across a single decent landlord, after all, it is the nature of the relationship. Therefore I would assume that if I was the sort of person who would rent out property (thank God I'm not) I would assume that my lack of morals in the 1st place wouldn't give me any sleepless nights in kicking out a family. I think a number of postings already done on this confirms my suspicions.

lamp

If there is proof that a housing benefit application was placed the moment she was out of a job (I'll permit 3 days of range), and she was actively seeking a new job, was kept up to date with communications of progress, etc, then I'd let her stay.
If she lags, feeling sorry for herself, and generally not getting a move on, then sorry, she goes.

It's a harsh life, we have many decisions to face and make, and if it's a choice between person A who does not actively take a grip on the situation and sort it, then rather them homeless, then me (eventually) defaulting on a mortgage and having to sell my own house to cover it...

Self-preservation...

scrummy_mummy_2

sluggy1967 wrote:

Personally, I would NEVER become a landlord. After extensive experience of having to rent before being able to buy I would say I have NEVER come across a single decent landlord, after all, it is the nature of the relationship. Therefore I would assume that if I was the sort of person who would rent out property (thank God I'm not) I would assume that my lack of morals in the 1st place wouldn't give me any sleepless nights in kicking out a family. I think a number of postings already done on this confirms my suspicions.

Unfortunately, many people think being a Landlord is a bit of an easy way to being filthy rich and don't see it as a people focussed job that needs to be worked at as a 2 way street rather than milked. (you won't get filthy rich either by the way!!)
When we bought property I contacted the NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) who run basic lettings law courses and enrolled...it was the best thing ever because it gave me a really good appreciation of what I can and can't do within the law, what I should and shouldn't do and how to organise my paperwork to largely circumvent any major problems......for me and my tenants!
Most Landlords buy property, get tenants in and then worry about other 'minor' stuff which leads to problems, because that is when the hard work begins!
Unfortunately when the general public, egged on by many property programmes on TV that promise untold fortunes from doing so, is allowed to get involved in an area which is actually a business with no experience or training, it has the potential to go wrong as is so often (and I bet increasingly so) the case.
I think before you become a landlord, if you intend to manage a property (or more) yourself, you should have to take a test to show you know, comprehend and understand basic lettings law and can apply it in your business, and be registered to practice as an independent landlord.

gripped

Wow so many Callous people.

A few points have come to mind.

Many replies say 'I'd have to kick them out as my buy to let mortgage doesn't allow DHSS'. Well you chose a poor mortgage then. Cheaper by any chance? Anyone can loose their job. In the situation that someone lost their job, applied for benefit to enable them to pay rent while looking, and found one a job say within 6 months or even 3, you'd have thrown them out anyway. So the only way you'd allow the family to stay is if they didn't tell you ?

If you throw out a previously good tenant, who's to say you won't loose some income off the house while you are waiting to re-let, and then the new tenants could move in and abuse the property, while paying nothing until the courts remove them. This could happen more than once. If you took an understanding and helpful position, which would help your tenant get back on their feet you could potentially be better off in the long run.

If even a few months waiting for DHSS payments is going to cause you to struggle making payments yourself, then you've overstretched yourself and probably shouldn't have entered into it in the first place.

Each case should be taken on its merits and even if legally you have no responsibility to help, IMO morally you do.

But then there's a lot of greedy people about. And a lot of them are Landlords.

matildarosepink

I've been on both sides of the fence. I let a flat out to someone who turned out to be a drug dealer. He was on HB, I've several friends in a similar position and don't believe it's right to be prejudiced just because of this (in many other countries it would be illegal to say no HB/kids/pets etc). I still think this, but on this occasion the guy was a toad. He was arrested for drug dealing a fortnight after he moved in. HB promptly stopped because he was in prison on remand. He moved his girlfriend in who didn't pay rent despite working full-time (and despite knowing the property was mortgaged and I had lost my job). I was completely caught for months. I couldn't evict her (she wasn't the tenant but his agent - this gave her all the rights but no responsibilities.) Couldn't find out where he was to evict him. So.. don't get mad get even. On the advice of a copper friend, I staked out the place and waited til she went to work. Let myself in with my keys and changed the locks and waited. She came back, screamed and hollered and called the cops. They tried to ARREST ME (they told me straight to my face that they'd try to) but couldn't. They were adamant that she'd be homeless otherwise (poor soul). I put her stuff out on the street and coped as best I could by selling the place. (It was heaving with stolen property when I cleaned it out, as well as being a hideous disgusting mess.)
I'm now on HB myself, and have had awful landlords too (one didn't pay the mortgage, I had a 3 month old, was on my own, and had a week to find somewhere new when it was repossessed from under us. My rent had always been bang on time and the landlord knew my circumstances).
So.. to get to the point, nothing wrong with HB tenants, but my advice would be, check all references, don't accept anything less than full deposit (if they're serious about the place they'll get it from somewhere) and don't accept rent arrears at the beginning (it's the tenant's responsibility to pay the rent up to date, not the council's - HB claims take up to six weeks, and are always paid in arrears). No special rules just because they're on benefits. And the minute there's no rent, start eviction procedures, no matter how nice they are. You can always keep a good relationship with them but explain that unless you do this on paper, the council will never help them with housing til they're on the streets. Check the property regularly too - tenants who don't care about a place wont care about paying the rent quite so much. Once HB starts getting paid it's regular and doesn't stop unless the claim's been fraudulent. Good idea to meet potential tenants and see how savvy they are at making claims and knowing about HB/legal advice etc. I'm not saying landlords should be completely heartless, but lots of people think buy-to-let is a doddle, and that's simply not true. It's not an easy option. Plenty of people default on rent, working or not.

ladyrow

Be careful with HB and tennants, I was a fool twice and allowed single women with children to rent my flat. Both times they moved their boyfriend in and did not let the HB people or me know.
So someone shops them and even though they have been living in the flat for months, the rent is requested back from me, backdated to when they found out the boyfriend had moved in, I then had to pay it all back.
I found it crazy as I had been renting the property in good faith and I ended up well out of pocket.
So my advice - get couples who are both declared on any HB form and ask to see a copy to make sure this is the case.
My father-in-law only ever rents to older people, takes the hassles away.

sluggy1967

ladyrow wrote:

Be careful with HB and tennants, I was a fool twice and allowed single women with children to rent my flat. Both times they moved their boyfriend in and did not let the HB people or me know.
So someone shops them and even though they have been living in the flat for months, the rent is requested back from me, backdated to when they found out the boyfriend had moved in, I then had to pay it all back.
I found it crazy as I had been renting the property in good faith and I ended up well out of pocket.
So my advice - get couples who are both declared on any HB form and ask to see a copy to make sure this is the case.
My father-in-law only ever rents to older people, takes the hassles away.

This smacks of the famous photograph which says "No Dogs, No Irish" of yesteryear. How can you be so prejudiced?, why not say "No single people especially those who have got KIDS, no blacks, no jews, no-one under the age of 50....." etc etc

emmybee

Jenny is running a business, not a charity, so she should ask her tenant to apply for Housing Benefit ASAP. I would be surprised if she (the tenant), as a single parent, wasn't already on Housing Benefit.