Tenants leave with no notice - several items missing from house

Feel_Sick

Hi,
I received a text from my tenant 2 days ago -

'Just to let you know we have moved out, sorry for no notice but a house out of town came up'


So today, i visit the house.
2 double beds are missing inc mattresses, as is the dining room table and chairs.

The house has also been left far from tidy - and has damage beyond 'general wear and tear'.

How do i proceed?
Til now, the tenants had always paid on time, kept it tidy etc so im a bit shocked at the bare faced cheek of it tbh.

themull1

Do you not keep the deposit?

Werdnal

Did you take a deposit and is it protected? Would that cover the damage/repairs and cleaning work required to make the place good again?

When was the fixed term due to finish? Or were they already on an SPT?

Have they handed back the keys? If not, their tenancy and their liability for rent continues.

jgh

Tot up the replacement/repair costs that are not wear 'n' tear, and send a statement to your Deposit Protection service. You get the repair costs, the former tenants get the remainder.
If it's more that the deposit, a polite request to the former tenants, followed up by the Small Claims Court.

Feel_Sick

The letting agents we used went bust and did a runner with the deposit.
We have checked with all the deposit schemes and no one has it registered (I did do a long post about it at the time).

They keys are apparantly being sent back to me (house in luton, i live in somerset) They didnt pay rent for this month but all the food in the fridge i cleared out was still in date so they must have been there for the start of the month.

They were DSS tenants if that makes a difference?

Feel_Sick

Oh and i dont have a forwarding address - would the council help as they will obv still be paying their DSS and will know where they live?

marliepanda

Feel_Sick wrote: »

The letting agents we used went bust and did a runner with the deposit.
We have checked with all the deposit schemes and no one has it registered (I did do a long post about it at the time).

If they paid a deposit, and the LA ran off with it, that is not their fault.

You as LL still owe them the deposit, less anything you decide to deduct for your losses.

If they owe money above the deposit, then that is all you can claim for. It is not their fault that the agent you appointed has taken it, and you have to bear that cost.

PasturesNew

Do you have a signed inventory, or did the agent do a runner with that too?

BigAunty

Did you have a signed inventory which detailed the condition of the property at the outset and the items supplied? Otherwise you can forget any form of redress as you will have no evidence that they were responsible for the changes.

marliepanda

PasturesNew wrote: »

Do you have a signed inventory, or did the agent do a runner with that too?

Good point! You cant make any deductions if you dont have that...

Also, are these the same tenants that wouldnt leave and you were asking for eviction advice? Surely you should be pleased theyve gone even without notice

Feel_Sick

BigAunty wrote: »

Did you have a signed inventory which detailed the condition of the property at the outset and the items supplied? Otherwise you can forget any form of redress as you will have no evidence that they were responsible for the changes.

Yes i do.

And i am well aware, regarding the deposit situation.
Also, do remember they left WITHOUT any notice.