Tenant disappeared, what can i do?

butdoineedit?

Help needed please

I rent out a house that i previously lived in before i had to move areas for work. it's well kept, gas certificates are up to date & all repairs are completed in a timely manner. Inspections have only ever been once a year, when i am there to let the gas man in & the tenant has never expressed any problems to me.

She has an AST, which was initially for 1 year, but has been periodic for the last 4. She claimed housing benefit, which has always been paid directly to me by the council (pre LHA) & i have never increased the rent amount during the tenancy. Stupidly, i let her move in without paying a deposit, as i sort of knew her & knew that she was desperate. The AST states that no deposit was payable.

Anyway, yesterday i discovered that i had not received a payment from the council this month, so i called them to query this (she signed a confidentiality waiver when the housing benefit claim was first set up), & was advised that she has moved out & a new HB claim was started for her new address on 11/08/2011. She has given me no notice at all that she was even intending to leave, never mind the date that she was going & still has keys to the property.

I am concerned about the safety of the property & the insurance implications, as it won't be long before it has been empty for 30 days, which is the longest possible in my insurance policy, & also about the fact that i do not know where any of the keys that she had possession of are & whether other people may potentially be using the keys to access the house.
I am going to travel to the property tomorrow (150 miles away) & really want to know, can i change the locks immediately even though neither side has actually given notice? How long do i have to wait before it is classed as abandonement?
Do i have any rights if the house is occupied by other people using her keys?

Does she have any liability for any of the council tax after 11/8, bearing in mind that officially she has never ended this tenancy?

Oh & is there any way that i can find out who supplies the utilities so i can inform them that she has gone?
I am barely keeping my head above the water financially as it is, this could be the straw that broke the camels back!

Thanks for reading this very long post!

angrypirate

Why dont you do some reading on the legal stuff behind being a landlord
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/50/contents
Having your own business and not having a contingency fund in case something goes wrong is extremely foolish and very amateur. Next time, regardless of who is in your property that you let out, ensure you have a full deposit paid.

princeofpounds

She has an AST, which was initially for 1 year, but has been periodic for the last 4.

If you have had her as a steady tenant for 5 years, don't freak out over ~2 month's void as inconvenient as it is. That's a far lower void % than normal in the letting business, so over the length of the term you have done quite well.

Anyway, yesterday i discovered that i had not received a payment from the council this month, so i called them to query this (she signed a confidentiality waiver when the housing benefit claim was first set up), & was advised that she has moved out & a new HB claim was started for her new address on 11/08/2011. She has given me no notice at all that she was even intending to leave, never mind the date that she was going & still has keys to the property.

If she was on a periodic contract then the most notice she would have had to give you would be one month's rental period anyway.

I am concerned about the safety of the property & the insurance implications, as it won't be long before it has been empty for 30 days, which is the longest possible in my insurance policy, & also about the fact that i do not know where any of the keys that she had possession of are & whether other people may potentially be using the keys to access the house.

Insurance is a genuine issue. Keys are a pain but this is a cost of business and nothing compared to 5 years of rent. Especially as probably all you have to do is change the lock barrels, which are not that expensive.

I am going to travel to the property tomorrow (150 miles away) & really want to know, can i change the locks immediately even though neither side has actually given notice? How long do i have to wait before it is classed as abandonement?

There is no legal concept of 'adandonment'. There either is a tenancy in place (in which case you need a court order for possession), or there is not (in which case you can change the locks). The tricky part comes in determining if a tenancy has finished if you have not received formal notice and surrender of keys.

If one of the parties to a tenancy behaves in a manner inconsistent with the tenancy continuing you have a termination of the tenancy 'by operation of law' (google it). Actually moving out and signing a new tenancy is good evidence but it's not enough, the property really needs to be empty of all her stuff too. Take dated photos as evidence that the place is vacant, and really what you should do is contact her (if you can) and ask for written confirmation that the tenancy is over.

Do i have any rights if the house is occupied by other people using her keys?

You can get a court order to end her tenancy within a couple of months, and an eviction a few weeks after that. You can get an order for missing rent and costs but collection will be hard and slow given she sounds like she doesn't have any money herself, and will probably not be worth it.

Does she have any liability for any of the council tax after 11/8, bearing in mind that officially she has never ended this tenancy?

Council tax liability is determined by the schedule of liability the council publish. Normally it's more about occupation than tenancy, strictly - for example, if you won a court order terminating her tenancy and she was still still the occupier she would still be liable, probably.

The answer is probably yes if the tenancy has not been terminated, but by showing her new tenancy she could probably convince the council that the tenancy did end on that date and subsequent liability would probably fall on you. It's as much about proof as it is about truth, so to speak, and you will have to liaise with the council to understand. You might be able to claim a discount for a vacant property if they pin you with it however.

Oh & is there any way that i can find out who supplies the utilities so i can inform them that she has gone?
I am barely keeping my head above the water financially as it is, this could be the straw that broke the camels back!

Yes, there are numbers you can call, I don't have them to hand but they are on the web and I think in phone books and stuck to some meters somtimes. Or if you call any utility supplier they can give them to you.

butdoineedit?

princeofpounds wrote: »

If you have had her as a steady tenant for 5 years, don't freak out over ~2 month's void as inconvenient as it is. That's a far lower void % than normal in the letting business, so over the length of the term you have done quite well.

Thank you!

There is no legal concept of 'adandonment'. There either is a tenancy in place (in which case you need a court order for possession), or there is not (in which case you can change the locks). The tricky part comes in determining if a tenancy has finished if you have not received formal notice and surrender of keys.
If one of the parties to a tenancy behaves in a manner inconsistent with the tenancy continuing you have a termination of the tenancy 'by operation of law' (google it). Actually moving out and signing a new tenancy is good evidence but it's not enough, the property really needs to be empty of all her stuff too. Take dated photos as evidence that the place is vacant, and really what you should do is contact her (if you can) and ask for written confirmation that the tenancy is over.

I have tried to ring her repeatedly but funnily enough she is not answering her phone! Thanks for the remider about photo's i will definitely do that.

Council tax liability is determined by the schedule of liability the council publish. Normally it's more about occupation than tenancy, strictly - for example, if you won a court order terminating her tenancy and she was still still the occupier she would still be liable, probably.

The answer is probably yes if the tenancy has not been terminated, but by showing her new tenancy she could probably convince the council that the tenancy did end on that date and subsequent liability would probably fall on you. It's as much about proof as it is about truth, so to speak, and you will have to liaise with the council to understand. You might be able to claim a discount for a vacant property if they pin you with it however.

Yes, there are numbers you can call, I don't have them to hand but they are on the web and I think in phone books and stuck to some meters somtimes. Or if you call any utility supplier they can give them to you.

Thanks Princeofpounds, that is all really helpful.
I'm much less concerned about getting any unpaid rent back, just about securing the property in a legal manner, so i can rent it out again without any comeback from the previous tenant, i will be following all of your advice 7 you have out my mind at rest, so thank you!

princeofpounds

Please do read up on the legal issues surrounding tenancie ending. You might wish to follow up on landlordzone forums for example.

Whilst I have a general idea on tenancies I'm no expert on the specific level of evidence you need, you see.

Hope it points you in the right direction anyway.

sonastin

Did / would the council give you her new address? Or would they be amenable to forwarding a letter from you so that you can formally end the tenancy.

Your alternative (as I see it) is to write to her at the last known address (i.e. your property) and go through the motions of ending the tenancy and eviction even if you know that she is not going to receive any of the corresepondence. I'm sure there are grounds for eviction earlier than the 2 months notice (failure to act in a tenant like manner? would the confirmation from HB that rent isn't going to be paid help with eviction for non-payment before you get to 2 months arrears? etc).

At least it has all been done legally then and you won't get any come back from the tenant. Doesn't help with the insurance issue though.

butdoineedit?

princeofpounds wrote: »

Please do read up on the legal issues surrounding tenancie ending. You might wish to follow up on landlordzone forums for example.

Whilst I have a general idea on tenancies I'm no expert on the specific level of evidence you need, you see.

Hope it points you in the right direction anyway.

Thank you, it definitely pointed me in the right direction. Back from work now (where i asked my panicky question & have read up as suggested & found this, which i think may be the way to go based on what i find at the property tomorrow

In most cases if a tenant fails to give up possession of a property, the landlord has to get a court order before he can re-take the property (and even then he has to use the court bailiffs if the tenant still doesn’t go). However there are a few occasions when the landlord can re-take possession without having to go through the court procedure. This is when there is an ‘implied surrender’.

Implied surrender is when the landlord and tenants conduct is inconsistent with an intention to continue with the tenancy. It is ‘implied’ because you have to work it out from the conduct of the parties. As opposed to an express surrender, where you generally have a deed setting out what was agreed, so you know.

I would take the act of setting in place a housing benefit claim for another property as conduct inconsistent with an intention to continue the tenancy

sonastin wrote: »

Did / would the council give you her new address? Or would they be amenable to forwarding a letter from you so that you can formally end the tenancy.

Your alternative (as I see it) is to write to her at the last known address (i.e. your property) and go through the motions of ending the tenancy and eviction even if you know that she is not going to receive any of the corresepondence. I'm sure there are grounds for eviction earlier than the 2 months notice (failure to act in a tenant like manner? would the confirmation from HB that rent isn't going to be paid help with eviction for non-payment before you get to 2 months arrears? etc).

At least it has all been done legally then and you won't get any come back from the tenant. Doesn't help with the insurance issue though.

That's a really good idea, if the council can provide written confirmation that she ended the claim to make a new claim somewhere else then i would believe that would be strong enough evidence to justify the above course of action.

I tried for a forwarding address but the council stated it would breach data protection if they gave me that.

I also have a strong feeling that she is avoiding me as she thinks there may be trouble. I may try texting her telling her i am not mad, but just need her to sign to surrender the tenancy, & see if that will encourage her to answer the phone

Thanks for the really helpful suggestions, you've really helped me get my thinking head back on!

princeofpounds

I may try texting her telling her i am not mad, but just need her to sign to surrender the tenancy, & see if that will encourage her to answer the phone

It's a good idea to forgive the lack of notice jsut to get to a stage where you can move on with complete confidence. Just make sure the place isn't sublet or trashed before you make any offers.

By the way, HB is not necessarily enough. It might be, but you don't have to be permanently resident to maintain a tenancy. It sounds stupid, but she could be getting HB for another house fraudulently but still intending to periodically occupy your place, in that case you cannot evict her without court order. That's why a bare empty property is also useful evidence.

butdoineedit?

princeofpounds wrote: »

It's a good idea to forgive the lack of notice jsut to get to a stage where you can move on with complete confidence. Just make sure the place isn't sublet or trashed before you make any offers.

By the way, HB is not necessarily enough. It might be, but you don't have to be permanently resident to maintain a tenancy. It sounds stupid, but she could be getting HB for another house fraudulently but still intending to periodically occupy your place, in that case you cannot evict her without court order. That's why a bare empty property is also useful evidence.

Roll on tomorrow morning then, when i can go up to he property & suss out the situation, i've got everything crossed it is empty with the keys through the door.

You're right about the money though, that's really not a concern if i can just get the property back. It's only a month so far & i guess i always knew that i may have to lose some, just fingers crossed my house isn't totally trashed!!
Thank u so much for your advice, it really is much appreciated to have a voice of reason!

CIS

Quote:
Does she have any liability for any of the council tax after 11/8, bearing in mind that officially she has never ended this tenancy?
Council tax liability is determined by the schedule of liability the council publish. Normally it's more about occupation than tenancy, strictly - for example, if you won a court order terminating her tenancy and she was still still the occupier she would still be liable, probably.

The answer is probably yes if the tenancy has not been terminated, but by showing her new tenancy she could probably convince the council that the tenancy did end on that date and subsequent liability would probably fall on you. It's as much about proof as it is about truth, so to speak, and you will have to liaise with the council to understand. You might be able to claim a discount for a vacant property if they pin you with it however.

The tenant would be liable for council tax until the end of the tenancy although if they moved out before the end of the tenancy they would be due any applicable discounts/exemptions.

Yorkie1

I'd suggest that you don't actually enter the property to take photos. You don't have a right to enter without the T's permission unless it's an emergency, and at the point of entry I don't think you have sufficient concrete evidence to justify the claim of surrender.