current tenants not answering calls from letting agent to book viewings!!

bikingbarney

domcastro wrote: »

Sorry to hear that. I think there may be something in the agreement about allowing viewings - there was in mine. But then again, there's something in the contract about them paying rent. As I've said before, the law favours the tenants

Also why headaches? Are you accepting HB? Are you getting the tenants credit checked, employee / landlord references?

not getting housing benefit from then.

tenancy is in both names and he is also listed as permitted occupier??

she does not work, he does.

late for 3 times now paying rent

rent due on 10th December actually received 4th jan!!

they are verbally abusing neighbours alll the time, having stand up arguments in the street, throwing their rubbish over the back fence into the communal alleyway, throwing fag butts over other neighbours cars even though they signed not to smoke on premises!!

The letting agent credit checked them and said that he had a ccj but was clearing it so said it would be fine

BitterAndTwisted

mchale wrote: »

It leans heavily in their favour

I disagree.

Not if you compare tenants rights to the pre-80s legislation.

Not if you compare tenaants rights to many other countries.

Anyway, this discussion is probably better in another thread as I doubt this is of interest to Barney ir helping him at all.

bikingbarney

mchale wrote: »

Yes, but out of interest was the guarantor paperwork signed as a deed?

yep all done properly!!

bikingbarney

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

BB: please ask your agent to contact the guarantor and put them in the picture about the rent-arrears. As you are emotionally involved in this situation (quite understandable) you don't want any accusations of harassment to be bandied about. I suggest that a copy of the reminder letter with the rent-statement to be sent by the agent should be copied in to the guarantor as well.

The problem is that the guarantor has paid the last two months rent even though it was late so its clear the tenants have not got the money to pay it.

last month(dec rent) was nearly 4 weeks late, both tenants and guarantor were ignoring the letting agents letters and calls about the rent.

tbs624

bikingbarney wrote: »

tenancy is in both names and he is also listed as permitted occupier??

she does not work, he does.

He is *either* a permitted occupier or he is a T with joint and several liability. Which is it?

Note that if they are claiming HB/LHA you should be copying your rent statement to the local LHA office too so that they are aware that the Ts themselves are not paying their rent.

In certain circumstances you can apply to have it paid direct to you but if any part of their claim turns out to be fraudulent the money gets clawed back from you rather than them.

BitterAndTwisted

If the tenants are ignoring calls then calls should no longer be made. If the guarantor was signed-up properly you will get your money. The only question is when.

Let the agent communicate with the tenant in writing only and have them send copies of all correspondence to the guarantor. There is nothing else to be done at the moment.

I understand your impatience because you'd like all this sorted before you're deployed overseas but it may not happen.

agrinnall

I think you have to face up to having a void period between the departure of the current tenants and the arrival of new ones. If you are fortunate that may only be a couple of weeks if the LA is on the ball at arranging viewings once the property is vacated and the new tenants are able to move in quickly. Worst case is that you have to take the tenants to court to get possession, they stop paying rent, and they trash the place before they finally do leave so you have to spend time and money getting the place habitable again. All part and parcel of the joys of being a landlord I'm afraid.

bikingbarney

Thanks for all the replies so far.

Ive just been reading through the tenancy agreement the tenants have signed and there is a section headed ACCESS AND INSPECTION.

first paragraph in this section states the following...........

"During the last two months of the tenancy, upon a minimum of 24hours prior written notification, to permit the premises to be viewed during working hours and or at other reasonable times including weekends by prospective tenants or purchasers who are authorised to do so by the landlord or his appointed agent. Except where mutually agreed otherwise with the tenant, the landlord or his agent or representative will accompany viewing appointments .

so Its there in black and white and they have signed to accept this that they must allow viewings.

I got told by the agent on the phone that I couldnt show anyone round until they had moved out. Isnt the agent meant to be clued up on this sort of thing??

G_M

As has already been pointed out to you, Acts of Parliament over-rule tenancy agreements.

LLs can put anything they like in a TA - that does not mean it is valid/enforcible.

I could put in a clause saying the tenants must inspect and repair the roof every year. But I wouldn't get far trying to force a tenant to do it, or claiming costs if they failed to do it!

The only way you could force a tenant to allow viewings would be with a court order.

a) it would take longer to obtain than than the remainder of the tenancy
b) you'd only have a 10% chance of succeeding
c) it would cost you money, time, stress to obtain

BitterAndTwisted

Barney, it doesn't really matter what the tenancy agreement says. A landlord has no automatic right to enter someone else's HOME, either to carry out viewings or to do a landlord's periodic inspections without a court order. Fretting about it will change nothing. I suspect your energies would be better spend on concentrating on getting the rent from the guarantors and getting shot of the tenants legally. Anything else is just going to cause you stress and anxiety for absolutely no return.