Just given birth and my Tenants and Letting agent being awkward

Tiddlywinks

You have a business relationship with your agent - you pay for certain services. If they are not providing a suitable service then move to another agent.

You have a contract with your tenants - if they have breached that contract then you need to act accordingly.

As to your personal circumstances, well that's not the agent's or tenants' problem - I know this sounds harsh BUT in your role as a landlord you need to be professional, consistent and lawful in your actions anything else that is happening in your life is "noise"; sorry.

sequence

You need to serve a S8 as well as a S21 as the S21 can't come into effect until the end of the fixed term which is 4 months away? Check the deposit is protected in a scheme before serving the S21 (you should know this though, being the LL and all).

I don't know why you gave them such a long contract though.

RobertoMoir

Renting property is a business. It's one thing to have pleasent working relationships with the people who you do business with and quite another to let things slide.

You have two seperate problems - your relationship with the tenant and your relationship with the agents.

Your tenants: As others have said, issue them a s21 and pursue them for rent arrears via the courts. Don't listen to any further excuses and don't mess about with "agreements".

Your agents: If you really feel they are siding with the tenants (and not knowing the details, I'm not going to even attempt to guess whether you're right or not) then replace them once this current bit of business is over and done with.

I appreciate that you don't want "stress" from this situation, which is certainly fair enough but you have to accept that by running your own business (which you are doing by being a LL) you are agreeing to take on a certain amount of stress and risk. If that's not acceptable then being a LL is not for you. Having said that, it's up to you how stressed you let yourself get. It's your business, its your decision what happens next and so you can take charge of the situation here and take steps to solve it and stop the stress from increasing.

G_M

1) check their deposit is protected (I'm sure you've done this!). As you know, if it is not your susequent actions will have no legal force.
2) serve a S21 - this can then be used when the 2 year Fixed Term expires in December. Till then, it is useless.
3) Serve a S8 Notice. If the arrears are 2 months rent or more you can get a court order for possession immediately. If less than 2 months it is at the court's discretion.
4) use their deposit towards any damage/arrears whn they have left
5) Sue in the Small Claims Court for any further damages /arrears after that.

There you go - 5 point solution.

As for the 'mutual release' from the tenancy - by all means pursue this but only in parallel with the above as it's already failed once and probobly will again.

Yes - the 'unusual payment' of rent indicates these are knowledgable tenants - they know if they owe less than 2 months rent the S8 route is discretionary, whereas if they owe more the court has no choice bt to award you possession.

MoneySavingUser

Good points by the posters above - you really need to do all these things asap!

Trollfever

The tenants are 2 months in arreas, but then then paid an unusual amount, which was half a months rent. Are they protecting themselves somehow?

Professional tenants meet amateur landlord.

P.S.

Do I smell a Troll?

clutton_2

if they are more than 8 weeks in arrears, you can issue a S8 notice - in fact ask the agent to do this as the agent has access to the tenants rental records and you dont. IF the agent issues it on Monday you can then issue court proceedings against them on 7th November THAT will show them you are serious....

If you simply cannot face doing all this yourself, and i can imagine that is how you feel right now, then google Paul Shamplina and give him a ring - he specialises in getting tenants out - it will cost you a few hundred quid, but you will be utterly confident that a professional WILL get your tenants as as soon as is humanly possible.

bw if you want any extra help.. PM me - i have been a LL for 12 years and understand how you feeling right now

princeofpounds

In a nutshell I need to know the following: Best way to evict them and get my rent?

As pointed out before, learn what a Section 21 and Section 8 notice are, issue them in PRECISELY the right way.

Best way to get rent direct from them?

If they will not pay then you have no option except to pursue them in the courts. This is not difficult, but will involve modest extra cost and time, and can be hard to enforce if they do not have steady jobs or are otherwise difficult to find.

Is the agent liable for anything?

Probably not. You have a contract with the agent, read it. If they have breached it and caused you damage, maybe. Otherwise no. By the way, it's all ultimately YOUR responsibility. The agent just acts for you. Anything they do to/with the tenants is legally treated as YOU doing it. For that reason you might seek to disinstruct them and terminate your contract if you have lost all faith.

DO they have a lot of rights?

Yes, but so do you. You can follow Seciton 21 or Section 8 eviction procedures to remove them and possibly recover your losses.

Is it worth me hurting their credit rating?

It might not provide much profit to you, but it might give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside and there is always a chance that once they realise you've finally figured out what you are doing it might give you some results.

Jatboy

Thank you for all your help, really appreciate this.

sooz

Congratulations on your new daughter.


Send an email to your agent, telling him what to do, in writing, & to stop disturbing you on the phone with other scenarios & crap tenants at this time...

( with thanks to GM's list)


1) Agent to confirm their deposit is protected.
2) serve a S21 NOW to expire at the end of their fixed term
3) Serve a S8 Notice the second they are 2 months in arrears. Repeat when necessary if they pay a bit to be under the 2 months, & then slip back again.
4) you intend to use their deposit towards any damage/arrears when they have left
5) You intend to sue the tenants the Small Claims Court for any further damages /arrears after that, if necessary.

And you are not interested in any other !!!!wittery by agent or tenant right now.