Problem tenants not paying rent !!!!

bikingbarney

Hi all I wonder if you can help.

I started to rent out my property in august to a young couple and for the first 3 months the rent was paid on time with no problems.

Last month I noticed that the rent hadn't been paid 2 weeks after it should of been so I contacted the letting agent to find out why and what was going on, they informed me that they had been trying to contact the tenants by phone and letter and the tenants hadn't replied.

so they took the step of contacting the garuntor to find out what was going on and in the end the garuntors wife paid the rent by debit card.

This month I thought I would stay on top of it and surprise surprise they haven't paid again, whilst I was on the phone to the letting agent one of her colleagues got through to the tenant on the phone who said "oh well my boyfriend pays the rent and i thought he had paid it " and then she put the phone down.

This was last week and since then my letting agent has tried to contact both the tenant and garuntor but they have both been ignoring phone calls, text and emails from them.

So it looks like Im not going to see my rent this side of xmas!!!!

A section 21 has been issued because as well as rent issue we have been getting complaints from other people in the street about constant arguing in the street, neighbours getting verbally abused by them and the possibility of them smoking in the house even though we said no smoking tenants.

I got a phone call from the tenant on the day she received the section 21 asking why we were kicking them out and she got quite angry on the phone.

letting agent seems to think I will have problems with them refusing to move out when the time comes so Ive come on here to ask for some advice please on what to do.

To be fair the letting agent is pretty rubbish and im not really sure why im paying them so much a month for me to keep informing them the rent hasnt been paid etc.


what is my next step!!

yours an admittedly very naive first time landlord !!:eek:

anselld

Are you sure all the s21 details, dates, etc are correct?
When does the fixed term expire?
Is the deposit protected in a scheme? How much?
Assuming all thats in order there's not much more you can do till notice is up.

BitterAndTwisted

If the tenants' deposit has not been protected in one of the three schemes your S21 will fail in court.: treble-check that it has. IF the S21 has been served correctly you should go to court asap once it has expired to enforce it in court. Some tenants will hold on until you get court-appointed bailiffs to evict them, especially if they are relying on the Local Authority to re-house them.

IF the guarantors have been signed up properly and have signed it as a Deed you should be able to claim the tenants' deposit for unpaid rent and chase the guarantors for any balance.

If you can answer Ansilid's questions in detail we might be able to provide further advice.

G_M

* Assuming you're in Eng/Wales and took a deposit, it MUST be registered in a scheme or you're stuffed
* How long is the tenancy Fixed Term? 6 months? Or 12 in which case you've got problems
* If the tenants are, and remain, 2 months in arrears you could issue a S8 Notice, but given the timescales you might as well wait for the S21 (assuming 6 months
* S21 MUST be properly served. Check
* Once the fixed term is up and the S21 expires, the tenants don't have to leave and probobly won't
* So you'll need to go to court. Any errors (deposit not registered; S21 not right etc) and you're back to square one
* Anything owing after they go (rent, damage ect) can either come from the deposit, or if more than the deposit, you can sue both the tenants AND guarantors jointly, assuming the guarantor agreement is valid - is it?
* to be valid, guarantor agreement MUST have been executed as a Deed, and witnessed, and the tenancy agreement must have been given to the guarantors too. Many agents get this wrong.

clutton_2

if they are 8 weeks in arrears you could try to issue a Section 8 notice and get them evicted sooner than a S21 will allow you to. If i were you i would join national landlords association .org.uk and get their help. As a new landlord you will need all the help you can get and the NLA has a brilliant legal helpline which can talk you through the paperwork precisely. the joining fee is tax deductible. it is the cheapest legal advice which is reliable, unlike a lot of the advice on this forum - and they also have all the legal paperwork you can possibly want, plus discounts on your property insurance and other discounts. Poster N79 is definitely to be relied on here

BitterAndTwisted

What credit-checks were done by the agent on the guarantors and did you see them or their references?

I'd be minded to write a letter to the tenant, copying in the guarantor/s, pointing out that all parties have signed a legally-binding agreement and that you fully intend to issue court-proceedings against them for any unpaid rent at the end of the tenancy. And send a rent-statement along with it showing rent-due date, rent-due amount, date paid and balance owing.

nollag2006

You should look to the guarantor to pay the rent arrears. Get the EA to call them in the morning

bikingbarney

G_M wrote: »

* Assuming you're in Eng/Wales and took a deposit, it MUST be registered in a scheme or you're stuffed
* How long is the tenancy Fixed Term? 6 months? Or 12 in which case you've got problems
* If the tenants are, and remain, 2 months in arrears you could issue a S8 Notice, but given the timescales you might as well wait for the S21 (assuming 6 months
* S21 MUST be properly served. Check
* Once the fixed term is up and the S21 expires, the tenants don't have to leave and probobly won't
* So you'll need to go to court. Any errors (deposit not registered; S21 not right etc) and you're back to square one
* Anything owing after they go (rent, damage ect) can either come from the deposit, or if more than the deposit, you can sue both the tenants AND guarantors jointly, assuming the guarantor agreement is valid - is it?
* to be valid, guarantor agreement MUST have been executed as a Deed, and witnessed, and the tenancy agreement must have been given to the guarantors too. Many agents get this wrong.

ok here goes...........

6 month contract from 14th august to 13 feb

section 21 issued on the 11 dec to coincide with the end of contract.

so far they are a week and half late with rent this month

last month was 3 weeks

guarantor was contacted last month after no reply from tenants and his wife paid the rent by debit card

guarantor and tenant both ignoring the letting agents communication this month.

with regards to credit checks we were kept informed at the start as the lad had a ccj and was trying to pay it off, in the end the tenancy agreement went in the girls name even though she doesnt work and he was paying the rent with his father as the guarantor

apparently they have split up and he has moved out of the house .


hope this helps

bikingbarney

nollag2006 wrote: »

You should look to the guarantor to pay the rent arrears. Get the EA to call them in the morning

as stated in my first post the guarantor is ignoring the letting agents communication also

BitterAndTwisted

They probably will ignore telephone calls hence my suggestion to write to the tenant and copy in the guarantor to clarify exactly what they chose to sign up to. This might prove to be a prompt for the tenant to get the hell out of your property at the end of the fixed-term rather than messing you about.

jamie11

If I may, let me explain something.

If you intend to serve a S8 grounds 8,10 & 11 there needs to be 2 months unpaid, that is not the same as arrears.

If the rent has not been paid on the due day and nothing is received during that month and then the rent is again not paid on the next due day, then that is two months unpaid and you are able to serve a S8 on the following day. (That's because the rent is due in advance) It only becomes arrears when the month is past.

The rent needs to be two months owing at the time of service and on the day of the court hearing for ground 8 to succeed, that is a mandatory ground for possession, what happens between is immaterial. This holds true if the rent is reserved monthly, there are slightly different rules if the rent is weekly or quarterly etc.