Tenant gave notice - now he will not go

chant1l

The law will side with both tenants here, you cannot sign a new tenancy where the old one is still running with tenant in situ. The property HAS to be empty, the agent is at fault here - he is the expert and the incoming tenant can only sue him - not you. The court will recognise him as the professional irrespective of your directions (if you directed him to do other illegal activities he is under no duress to do so).
When is the outgoing tenant out going? Negotiate with the inbound tenant and see if some agreement can be formed - buy it if you have to with a freebie or an add on, and try get the agent to fund some of it.

Rick62

What about explaining to the current tenant your situation. Explain to him that you could lose this tenant which would cause you to possibly have a void period and lose money. That because of his actions, he might be liable for the void period, even though you would try to mitigate the damage. Say, that as much as you regret it, it could end up in court if he refused to cover your damages. That would probably not sit well with your employers.

Excellent suggestion. As Prudryden says, make the current tenant realise the trouble and cost that he will cause everyone else and make it clear that you will hold him responsible for the costs, including taking him to small claims court.

franklee

clutton wrote:

exactly what expenses have been incurred - this is what a judge will ask ?

Yes, keep track of these pbradley936. I guess some candidates are costs of re-advertising due to the loss of the new tenant if the old tenant doesn't want to stay on for much longer. Anything that needs returning to the new tenant that has been spent, referencing and admin fees (obviously the deposit can just be returned as it hasn't been spent). Compensation, if any, the new tenants are due.

pbradley936, have you talked to the new tenants yet, how have they taken the news?

prudryden

chant1l wrote:

The law will side with both tenants here, you cannot sign a new tenancy where the old one is still running with tenant in situ. The property HAS to be empty, the agent is at fault here - he is the expert and the incoming tenant can only sue him - not you. The court will recognise him as the professional irrespective of your directions (if you directed him to do other illegal activities he is under no duress to do so).
When is the outgoing tenant out going? Negotiate with the inbound tenant and see if some agreement can be formed - buy it if you have to with a freebie or an add on, and try get the agent to fund some of it.

I'm confused here. I thought PB said there was no written contract with the new potential tenant. All the agent did, as I read it, was to take a deposit. If I have a potential tenant who says he wants to rent, he puts down a deposit to show good faith before we commence on employment, bank, and credit checks and well before the terms and conditions are even given to him to read. Basically, the contract is always subject to the signatures and each page initialed agreeing the terms.

Mrs_pbradley936

Well I have not signed anything but I have no idea what the would be tenant has paid out for. I expect the agent can find them somewhere else if they have paid for reference checks and so on. There does not seem to be any point in accepting Notice if it means nothing, as I say this has never happened to me before. I hope he does not ask me for a reference for his new landlord!

prudryden

pbradley936 wrote:

Well I have not signed anything but I have no idea what the would be tenant has paid out for. I expect the agent can find them somewhere else if they have paid for reference checks and so on. There does not seem to be any point in accepting Notice if it means nothing, as I say this has never happened to me before. I hope he does not ask me for a reference for his new landlord!

You might mention that to him and that his new potential employers might be asking you for a reference as well. Somehow, I think he might get a hotel room not to have to go to court for the damages you may have to endure. Could be he doesn't realize the problem he is causing. Tell him he has to go and see what his reaction is. If it is negative, you know the guy is a loser and you can feel morally justified in giving bad references, bad credit report, and even tie him up in court - just as he is starting a new job.
But if you are in Florida, it may be a little more difficult.

franklee

prudryden wrote:

If I have a potential tenant who says he wants to rent, he puts down a deposit to show good faith before we commence on employment, bank, and credit checks and well before the terms and conditions are even given to him to read. Basically, the contract is always subject to the signatures and each page initialed agreeing the terms.

I'd have thought the tenant should at least read the terms and conditions BEFORE putting down the deposit and your getting the checks done. Otherwise the tenant may not like the terms and has wasted his money and both your time. I always ask for a read of the contract up front and if I don't like it walk away before spending any more time or money. Some contracts are very unfair, even those through agencies so it pays the tenant to work out who are the good guys and who are not.

Mrs_pbradley936

Had an email from the agent and they can put would be tenant into a flat owned by someone else. The current tenant has been paying the rent and agent has a large security deposit so it could be worse I suppose.

prudryden

franklee wrote:

I'd have thought the tenant should at least read the terms and conditions BEFORE putting down the deposit and your getting the checks done. Otherwise the tenant may not like the terms and has wasted his money and both your time. I always ask for a read of the contract up front and if I don't like it walk away before spending any more time or money. Some contracts are very unfair, even those through agencies so it pays the tenant to work out who are the good guys and who are not.

Hi franklee,
I certainly understand your concerns. Here is how it works with my flats.

(1) I give instruction to agents to find tenants.
(2) Agent arranges viewings, notifies me and I agree to time so that I can meet potential tenants as well in order to answer any questions. I prefer this as the tenants can judge me as well as the flat and I can judge them. Quite often, many points of the contract are discussed at that time, but only if they are showing interest. Questions such as rent, council tax, average gas and electric bills are always asked if they are even somewhat interested.
(3) Interested tenants then tell agent they are interested. Agent calls me and asks me if I have any preference if there are more than one interested party. I tell them I like such and such and would like them to come by again for a further interview.
(4) Over coffee or whatever, we discuss some of the important points of the contract.
(a) 12 month AST with 6 month breakclause AND two months notice for either party to quit - which means either party can give notice in the 4th month to quit at the end of the 6th month.
(b) Any negotiation on rent - tenants always ask for some discount.
(c) No pets policy without my permission.
(d) Parking allocation
(e) Noise after 11:00 PM - tactfully discussed.
(f) Anything else that comes up, such as subletting, children etc.
(5) If we have mutual agreement on all points and I think they could be good tenants, I tell them I'm happy and that they should then tell the agent if they want to move in. If they want to read a prototype of the contract, the agent will probably give them a template to read. I actually could show them one, but have never been asked
(6) The agent will then take a deposit to hold the flat as there are generally a number of interested parties, and then acceptance is subject to references and the final signing of the contract.
(7) If the references are not to the liking of either myself or the agent, then the tenant receives his deposit back.. As far as I know, the agent doesn't charge the tenants for conducting references, as the agent works for me and gets paid enough.

I probably left something out. Let me know if I have.

prudryden

pbradley936 wrote:

Had an email from the agent and they can put would be tenant into a flat owned by someone else. The current tenant has been paying the rent and agent has a large security deposit so it could be worse I suppose.

Thanks for following up PB. It's a solution and I hope you get another tenant lined up quickly when the old one does move out.