Is my tenant playing me??

bikingbarney

After a bit of advcie really(again:()

Basically after our last lot of tenants messed us around we issued them a s21 and they left on time.

We now have a new tenant and when my wife met her at the house she got the impression she was a nice girl and was looking for somewhere to rent longterm.


we initally signed her up for a 6 month term(all this is done through a letting agent btw) with the proviso that if the rent etc was on time then we would look at long term renting to her.

Now at the time she asked if she could reduce the rent by £25 a month but we said no to this and she was ok.

The first months rent went in ok but since then we have had nothing but problems with late payments etc and this month the rent is over due by nearly 3 weeks now.

The excues have ranged from late payments due to bank holiday, been paid late by her employer, incorrect standing order details from the letting agent?

This month she said the rent left her account on the 1st but was returned to her from her bank on the 4th ?? she then wnet on to say last week that she would clear the rent yesterday (17/07) the letting agent asked her why she couldnt pay the full amount when they first contacted her on the 10th as she would have had the full amount sat in her account as it had been apparently returned to her??

Anyway the letting agent have phoned today and informed me she still hasnt paid(even theough she emailed me to say that it had left her account yesterday) and that they will attempt to get the rent from her guarantor if it does not reach them tomorrow.

Do you think she is playing us and messing us around or due to the fact we got messed around pretty badly by our last tenants we are reading more into it than is probably needed.

thanks

BB

James_N

She may be genuinely not seeking to muck you around, or this could be the start of big trouble. Consider issuing an S21 immediately - you do not need to follow up. Send a clear signal you are clued up, aware and ready to act.

ll123_2

Speak to the tenant! She may be struggling to pay the rent if she was asking for a rent reduction ...

Figure out a way for her to pay what she owes then serve her a Section 21 notice to leave. It will be better for her to move into a place where she can afford and obviously better for you to get a tenant who can pay the rent in full and on time.

19lottie82

When you talk about a "range of excuses" then that would suggest to me that she is mucking you about.

As others have suggested though, speak to her.

19lottie82

ll123 wrote: »

Figure out a way for her to pay what she owes then serve her a Section 21 notice to leave.

Not possible until 2 months before the contract expires UNLESS she is 2 months in arrears.

However a mutual surrender might be best for both of you if she can't afford to rent the property.

bikingbarney

Thanks for the replies,

We have tried talking to her and the excuses above are what she has give us too.

She has also been asking me quite a lot to get rid of the letting agent and reduce the rent and also let her pay fornightly.

We would of consisdered this if she had paid on time for the first 6 months but there is not a chance now.

princeofpounds

Not possible until 2 months before the contract expires UNLESS she is 2 months in arrears.

Serving a notice is possible at almost any time, after deposit is protected. You can (and should) serve notices as soon as possible even if you would have to wait for a court order on the basis of that notice. It has a chance of encouraging compliance.

And the route for 'arrears' is not Section 21, but Section 8. And it is not arrears that matters but 2 rental period payments overdue (they are subtly different).

If I were you, I would serve a S21 for the end of the fixed term and a Section 8 as soon as she has missed 2 full payments.

The range of excuses probably means she is messing you around. She might have real reasons for this or not. Either way, if you issue the notices she will have enough time to fix the problem if she is capable and honest.

PaulLuke

Actually you can serve a S21 notice at any time but it won't become effective until the expiry of any initial term and with a minimum period of two months notice.

This means, if you are more than two months away from the end of the initial term you can serve a S21 to expire at the end of the initial term.

The other option would be a S8 notice but your tenant would have to be two months in arrears at the time of serving the notice and still be two months in arrears at the date of any court hearing.

bikingbarney

she is now saying she can provide the letting agent with a screen shot of her account showing that the money left her account !!

tbs624

PaulLuke wrote: »

The other option would be a S8 notice but your tenant would have to be two months in arrears at the time of serving the notice and still be two months in arrears at the date of any court hearing.

For the mandatory s8, G8 it's two months rent unpaid (where rent is paid monthly)

missile

James_N wrote: »

She may be genuinely not seeking to muck you around, or this could be the start of big trouble. Consider issuing an S21 immediately - you do not need to follow up. Send a clear signal you are clued up, aware and ready to act.

+1

She may have lots of problems and calls on her income, she will respond to those who shout the loudest.

The warning bells would have been ringing when she asked for a rent reduction before she had moved in. No matter how nice / genuine she appeared, I would not have let to her. You need to rethink your tenant vetting criteria ......... unless you are running a charity?