Is my tenant playing me??

spadoosh

Is there not a possibility she banks with rbs or subsidurary?!?!

Payments were down start of month and i think they were all returned (matches story)

And it can take 3 days for new accounts (wrong standing order with LA) to recieve payment (only did it yesterday and willing to offer you photo evidence of it going out)

Personally (not a landlord just an idiotic trusting person) i would wait a few days (after all nothing is going to happen in the next couple of days) and see if money comes through.

Also she could be paid 4 weekly which would give a good reason as to why she want to pay fortnightly. 4 weekly doesnt line up with monthly so on the wrong month you could be waiting for your wage to pay the rent.

GDB2222

bikingbarney wrote: »

Hi there,

yes I am the guy who is in the forces, we spent quite a few weeks searching for a decent tenant, this one passed all the LA vetting stuff and has a guarantor too.

The deposit is lodged with the correct scheme.

The LA has sent the tenant 2 letters asking her for payment and reminding her about the tenancy agreement that she signed and agrred to abide to.

they have said the next letter will be sent tomorrow and then they will contact the guarantor for payment.

totally fed up with the whole rental thing now. 2 lots of tenants and both playing around.#

If i could sell the house for what I needed to clear the mortgage then I would

the joys of neg eq

Claiming from the guarantor will concentrate minds wonderfully, and hopefully things will improve after that. Going through the S8 process takes months and leaves you with an empty property.

bikingbarney

spadoosh wrote: »

Is there not a possibility she banks with rbs or subsidurary?!?!

Payments were down start of month and i think they were all returned (matches story)

And it can take 3 days for new accounts (wrong standing order with LA) to recieve payment (only did it yesterday and willing to offer you photo evidence of it going out)

Personally (not a landlord just an idiotic trusting person) i would wait a few days (after all nothing is going to happen in the next couple of days) and see if money comes through.

Also she could be paid 4 weekly which would give a good reason as to why she want to pay fortnightly. 4 weekly doesnt line up with monthly so on the wrong month you could be waiting for your wage to pay the rent.

I understand what you are saying and we have tried to be reasonable but 3 out of her 4 months of rent have been late or made in 2 or 3 payments.

one payment came in 4 lumps !!

One thing that bugs me is if the payment had been returned to her on the 4th she must of checked to see that, then why didnt she contact the LA to make the payment again, as it stands we are still waiting for it now.

I know people will say give her a chance she is paying your mortgage at the end of the day but the fact is I still have to pay the mortgage on the house when she hasnt paid rent and also pay the rent on the property I live in now !!!

Wobblydeb

missile wrote: »

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?

Another person who disagrees with this. Nowadays I would always seek to negotiate on rent - why pay more than I have to? My rent is paid on time and in full.

I am surprised that she passed the background checks - unless you've just hit incredibly unlucky and she's just started mismanaging her finances. The fact that she needed a guarantor suggests there may have been some issue? I haven't needed one since being a student. What did your EA say about the checks?

DVardysShadow

missile wrote: »

.... The warning bells would have been ringing when she asked for a rent reduction before she had moved in.

As others have said, of all the things which would ring alarm bells asking for a rent reduction would definitely not be among them. I would be far more bothered by things like payments arriving in dribs and drabs

bikingbarney wrote: »

I understand what you are saying and we have tried to be reasonable but 3 out of her 4 months of rent have been late or made in 2 or 3 payments.

one payment came in 4 lumps !!

OK, we are there already

bikingbarney wrote: »

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

I would not be moved by screen shots. Not a millimetre moved. The only thing which would matter to me was whether the money arrived. Although I would make allowance for the possibility that the Agent was the problem for just long enough to get to the bottom of whether that was actually the case.

missile

tbs624 wrote: »

So anyone who tries for a rent reduction will definitely turn out to be a wong 'un? Given that some LLs/LAs deliberately advertise a pcm fig that is over what they would actually accept I don't think I'd use that on its own as a marker.

Any tenant who asks for a rent reduction before moving in would ring alarm bells for me. Not because they are a "wrong un" but can they afford it? Will they be a difficult tenant? As I said, I would follow up their references to see if they had a history of late payment.

Reasonable LLs do not try to fleece their tenants with inflated rents.

Two people come to view, one is happy to pay the rent asked and has impecable references. The other asks for a rent reduction and needs a guarantor. My decision is easy. :A

poppy10_2

You've been through this before

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3684981

Kick them to the kerb. Then sell the house for whatever you can get for it, and walk away.

GDB2222

The real point is not to be too greedy for the last bit of rent. You are far better off with tenants who reckon they are getting a good deal than with ones who thinks they are being exploited.

missile

GDB2222 wrote: »

The real point is not to be too greedy for the last bit of rent. You are far better off with tenants who reckon they are getting a good deal than with ones who thinks they are being exploited.

+1 :T
If you ask a reasonable rent you avoid an empty property.
Only if you treat the tenant fairly can you expect to build a relationship.

jimjames

Wobblydeb wrote: »

I am surprised that she passed the background checks - unless you've just hit incredibly unlucky and she's just started mismanaging her finances. The fact that she needed a guarantor suggests there may have been some issue? I haven't needed one since being a student. What did your EA say about the checks?

One potential downside using a LA. To them you're just a client making them money and it is of less importance how the tenant behaves. To you it is your property and you want to make sure you get paid.

I know it isn't always practical but I prefer to handle myself so the only person I can blame for bad decisions is me!

If the tenant has paid rent irregularly over the last few months it definitely sounds like they have an issue with budgeting or income or both. A one off problem is excusable as a bank error but repeated over a number of months is not credible.