Tenant brought drug dealer onto premises

poppy10_2

She can invite whoever she likes to her house.

missile

Theyarv1 wrote: »

everyone wants her out now

Who is everyone? From your first post there are only two tenants.

thelem

Theyarv1 wrote: »

One of my tennants brought a drug dealer onto the premises

Can you be more specific? Were they dealing drugs from your property? If so, was it just to the tenants and their guests, or were people coming to the property just to buy drugs? There's a huge difference between setting up shop in the house, and coming round to watch a DVD and have a splif with your mate.

If there was no drug dealing, then I don't see why it causes you a problem as a landlord. Plenty of people do illegal things or things that you may not approve of, but that's their choice. It only becomes your concern if they are causing damage to the property or relationships with neighbours and other tenants.

Why were the police called? If it was concern for the friend who was passed out then I'd have thought an ambulance would have been more suitable.

tbs624

Theyarv1 wrote: »

We don't live in the same building, it's in England.
Basic, i never protected the deposit, stupid i know, I only got as far as setting up an account with The DPS. Contract signed in September. Has a 6month break clause for either party, though everyone wants her out now (within 3 weeks)

My bolding. It's not just stupid, you have breached the law.

It's hypocritical of you then to complain about who else *may* or may not be acting outside the law.Note that merely having a mate who deals drugs and/or passing out at home don't qualify as breaking the law unless you can show that the pair were in possession of/partaking of drugs at your property.

T can take you to court and the court must award her between 1x and 3x the tenancy deposit equivalent if you have failed to (a) scheme register the deposit and (b) given the T the scheme's prescribed information, both within 30 days of you receiving the deposit.. You also cannot use a s21 Notice unless you have first repaid the tenancy deposit in full.

Is the property a shared house with individual bedroom lets and shared communal space? Or are the Ts all signed to one joint and several liability tenancy agreement.?

Theyarv1

Drug dealer - she admitted it was one over the phone, she said it wasn't her fault, her friends sent a random drug dealer around to her house for no reason (doesn't sound likely to me), she was taking sleeping pills so mistook him for a friend and buzzed him out, then passed out and doesn't remember anything (I don't think you do this if a total stranger turns up at your flat, you surely just say 'who the hell are you, get out of my flat'). 2 other tenants both there said she was talking to him for a number of minutes in her room and then they entered her room because the guy was getting aggro shouting that he was owed money for drugs. At that point one T called the police and the other entered the room to calm him down (she coincidentally worked in a prison and now works wtih drug abusers).
I have 2 other tennants, neither believes her. She had lots of money in her room (she never has money), they accused her of drug taking a few weeks back, they saw texts on his phone saying please come to my address xyz, and a random man shouting was in the room - which obviously is a problem for tenants and neighbours (it's 16 flats in a block).
The property has 3 brs, one has her own contract and the problem T and another one are on a separate one. The contract is a v basic one pager from WHSmith.

maninthestreet

Is she a Tom??

G_M

Theyarv1 wrote: »

I have no problem with returning the deposit in full, the flat is in a good state. I would also obviously reimburse pro rata the rent she paid up front that isn't 'used'. None of that bothers me, just whether I can make her move out within a 3 week time period from today

You have missed the point completely.

Returning the deposit is not a question of choice depending on the condition of the property, it is a legal requirement before you can issue a valid S21 Notice (the 1st step in eviction).

Since the deposit is not protected at present, any S21 Notice would be invalid, so the court would never issue you a possession order. So no eviction.

Furthermore, you can only issue a S21 to take effect after the Fixed Term of the tenancy has ended (or at the Break Clause point).

The alternative is to attempt to get a court possession order based on a S8 Notice. This is discretionary (ie the judge can agree/refuse, unlike a valid S21 where the judge must issue a possession order.

So under a S8 you'd need to prove the person was a drug dealer (can you?) AND that the tenant was involved (can you?), and even then the tenant could offer mitigation ("I was on sleeping pills - not my fault guv") and the judge is likely to decline your request.

As for "3 weeks notice"....:eek: on what basis and via what procedure do you plan this?

The 'bribary' option suggested by artful is a possibility, but take great care: see Protection from Eviction Act 1977 - harassing a tenant is a criminal offence.

GDB2222

Thank you, G_M, for pointing out the important issues. The tenant has a fixed contract that cannot be broken for the first 6 months, ie ending in February.

The OP really needs to return the deposit now. Otherwise, the tenant can apply to the court for a payment to the tenant by the landlord of up to 3 times the deposit.

By the way, if there are 3 unrelated tenants on two separate contract, has the OP managed to make this an HMO?

19lottie82

Sorry OP, but all of the info about this guy being a drug dealer and the T taking drugs, is all just hear say, you don't have any proof. Even if you did, you woldn't be able to throw her out if she was within her fixed term contract.

If you attempt to, you would be breaking the law and could end up in VERY hot water indeed.


The only thing that seems factual here is that YOU haven't protected the deposit. If I were you, I'd do that before you worry about anything else..........

If you want rid of her, the best thing you can do is wait until 2 months before her contract ends then issue her a section 21. But remember ths will be invalid, unless the deposit is protected.

Or if you would prefer not to wait that long, you can offer her a financial incentive to leave early, but she dosn't have to accept it.

thelem

Ah, so it sounds like you have a drug using tenant who isn't paying her debts. I'm not sure she's done anything wrong if this was an isolated occurance, but do keep a close eye on her. Have you got any evidence of drug use in the property, and if so is there anything in the contract that prohibits it?