Tenant on Housing Benefit

yesican

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Eh, there's nothing to stop a landlord popping round just to look at or through the windows. Still, that isn't going to help Skinty regain possession based on abandonment of the property.

I hope to God that the guarantor is a home-owner, properly sign up to a Deed not some useless bit of paper, and they have assets worth anything. Going by this agent's behaviour I'd be ready to fire-bomb their flaming offices by now.

Good luck Sue. I think nearly everyone who has read this thread is cheering you on from the sidelines.

Are you kidding me????

Last september,My OH was nearly charged for doing that after our previous tenants (who were not on housing benefits by the way) were playing hide and seek with the rent!(mind you,they stopped paying rent after only two months on the 12 months lease that they had!)

They phoned the police on him and the only reason that they let him off with a caution (the policeman's OWN words) was because he has never broken the law and also,if he went near the house again,he'd be arrested...

Unfortunately,anyone can be a bad tenant and anyone can also be a good tenant---

What really bothers me is the fact that,Some,if not many law abiding LLs are doing the best that they can to survive in this climate and also, to provide for their family and yet,the law does not protect them at all, IF anything,it sees them as criminals!

He has sworn NEVER to give out leases with a minimum of 12 months stretch..!

They went to as far as "stealing" our garden shed (we saw it on ebay!--Long story on this one) and some stuff in the house when they realised that their accounts had been arrested and my OH was getting that money through his lawyer!

It makes me angry just thinking about the 10 months of hell that they put us through!

BitterAndTwisted

What did your OH agree to accept a caution for? How many times previously had either you or your OH been to the property unexpected and uninvited? Remember, the OP had been reliably informed that the tenant either had moved out or was in the process of doing so, so the chances of a "distressed and feeling oh so threatened" tenant inside the property were slim-to-none.

yesican

The tenants turned out to be a bunch of a**** who knew how to get away with just about anything.....Their lease ended in August but they didnt move out until 8 weeks later (we'd to apply to have the house back even after their lease had expired and they were still staying put!).

Funny way the law works huh?

yesican

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

What did your OH agree to accept a caution for? How many times previously had either you or your OH been to the property unexpected and uninvited? Remember, the OP had been reliably informed that the tenant either had moved out or was in the process of doing so, so the chances of a "distressed and feeling oh so threatened" tenant inside the property were slim-to-none.

This is the first time that he had been there.

The tenants had sent him a text saying that they'd moved out and he went there to check the state of the house.It turned out to be a plan to get him in trouble.When he phoned them to find out where they were because he was at the house and there was no one,they never turned up but the police did...!

BitterAndTwisted

At the house or in the house? Again, what exactly did your OH agree to accept a caution for?

yesican

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

At the house or in the house? Again, what exactly did your OH agree to accept a caution for?

He was in the back garden and the window was open,when he looked through it,there was no furniture in the house as it was an unfurnished house (but the kitchen had been turned upside down,the cabinet doors missing).

He was standing at the door with the spare key waiting for them and the way things have turned out is that the tenants claimed that they had two plasma tellies,some playstations that had gone missing.He never entered the house but to them,he did.

He refused the caution and the case is pending .

BitterAndTwisted

Again, for precisely what offence did your husband decline the caution for? Of course, another pertinent question could be "Why did anyone go to the house in response to a TEXT MESSAGE when they hadn't agreed a formal surrender of the tenancy?" From the outside, knowing nothing about this particular situation or the particular people concerned, it is appears to me that two possibly inexperienced landlords, who know nothing about LL&T legislation, could have been intentionally ensnared by low-life but very experienced tenants.

Your comment about "we'd to apply to have the house back even after their lease had expired and they were still staying put" proves how in danger you were. They had the legal right to stay put. Until a court-order granted you possession. Under certain circumstances they may have been encouraged to remain in the property until the court-appointed bailiffs were at the door. As was their right. Just because neither of us likes that does not mean that it's not legal.

clutton_2

if i am in dispute with a tenant i never, never, go to a meeting alone, and i always take a camera with me...

yesican

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Again, for precisely what offence did your husband decline the caution for? Of course, another pertinent question could be "Why did anyone go to the house in response to a TEXT MESSAGE when they hadn't agreed a formal surrender of the tenancy?" From the outside, knowing nothing about this particular situation or the particular people concerned, it is appears to me that two possibly inexperienced landlords, who know nothing about LL&T legislation, could have been intentionally ensnared by low-life but very experienced tenants.

BitterAndTwisted-

We ALL make mistakes and you know what? its ok to make mistakes.Having gone through that,we've learnt/we're still learning the hard way-Yes,the hard way.

Are you a perfect LL??-I doubt it as tommorrow,it could be your turn.

FYI-He is not an inexperienced LL like you have put it, he took his foot off the brake on this house just for a second and this is what has happened to him (mind you,he thought that he had all the angles covered just like you,apparently not).

Even the so called "experienced ones" like yourself can go through this when a tenant knows all the loopholes that you thought you had covered.

All i can say to you is ,i hope we dont see you anytime soon in the same situation and when it happens-i'll remember not to call you an inexperienced LL.

btw-We're not married,we've been together for nearly a decade (he's my partner)

BitterAndTwisted

I am not a landlord or a landlady and never shall be one so I shall not be in the same situation any time soon, thank the Lord.

I don't wish to be harsh or unkind to someone I don't know but the writing was on the wall with that tenant. No formal surrender had taken place. The tenants had proven to be a PITA. Extreme caution should have been employed.

Speaking of cautions, you still haven\t disclosed what your OH was given a caution for, the caution he has not yet accepted.