A horrific 'bad tenants' tail

CKhalvashi

pawlala wrote: »

I've read of worse.

Would that be my property that was handed back with £20k of damage last year?

See here, if you want an example of bad tenants. We were ripping out skirting and kitchen units, just to give you an idea.

CK

mrginge

Full_of_angst wrote: »

Does she have any recourse for the fact that they clearly obstructed the sale of the property, in fact utterly sabotaged it; as well as the money owing and the fact they didn't pay their last month's rent.

nightmare.

Maybe they should sue your mum for clearly obstructing their right to quiet enjoyment.

Full_of_angst

ognum wrote: »

Did you reference and credit check the tenants?

was there a letting agent?

how often did someone visit to check the property?

Is the deposit protected?

Has Mum declared the income for tax?

Letting houses is a buisness not a hobby or something to do with a house because you can't think of anything else.

Yes there was a letting agent.
The property was checked regularly but got more difficult to check latterly. Although the letting agent went often to check they were opening the windows etc
The deposit is all used up in the rent arrears from the reduction she gave them
And yes of course she had declared the income

sandsni

Unfortunately your mum may have to write it off as an expensive lesson in letting property. And be thankful the tenants left so at least she doesn't have to worry about trying to get them out.

As Ognum said, did your mum take a deposit and if so was it protected (and the prescribed information provided to the tenants within the given time (I think it's 30 days in E&W)?

Did your mum have a gas safety certificate (if there were gas appliances/boiler in the house)? Did she provide the tenants with the EPC?

In other words, did your mum fulfil HER obligations as a LL?

There is a lot of very useful information in the following link which your mum could benefit from.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=41160642&postcount=12

Full_of_angst

mrginge wrote: »

Maybe they should sue your mum for clearly obstructing their right to quiet enjoyment.

They were on a 6 month contract followed by a rolling monthly contract. If they didn't like the monthly contract then there was nobody stopping them from moving out and getting something with a longer term contract to make it more permanent for them. They knew the house was on the market when they first began to rent it.

However, no private renters will entertain them now as neither the letting agent nor my mother will give them a reference, they won't dare ask for one.

The reason why it went on so long was because it suited them because they were paying a very low rent!

I've obviously just touched a few raw nerves. That was not my intention.

Just because somebody else has a more horrid experience doesn't negate the experience of others.

sandsni

Full_of_angst wrote: »

However, no private renters will entertain them now as neither the letting agent nor my mother will give them a reference, they won't dare ask for one.

They'll probably just lie and say they're living with family or friends and so don't have a previous LL to get a reference from.

Full_of_angst

sandsni wrote: »

Unfortunately your mum may have to write it off as an expensive lesson in letting property. And be thankful the tenants left so at least she doesn't have to worry about trying to get them out.

As Ognum said, did your mum take a deposit and if so was it protected (and the prescribed information provided to the tenants within the given time (I think it's 30 days in E&W)?

Did your mum have a gas safety certificate (if there were gas appliances/boiler in the house)? Did she provide the tenants with the EPC?

In other words, did your mum fulfil HER obligations as a LL?

There is a lot of very useful information in the following link which your mum could benefit from.



Every single obligation as a landlord was met as it was done through a proper letting agent.

Werdnal

Full_of_angst wrote: »

And yes of course she had declared the income

Please do not take offense at the questions being asked by a poster genuinely trying the help you here.

The deposit was "used up"? Sorry, that is not permitted unless the tenants gave specific approval for this in advance and preferably in writing. The deposit should have been protected in a scheme for safe keeping until the end of the tenancy. If you mother failed to do this, she is liable for return of the whole deposit amount, plus a possible fine of 1-3x the amount if the tenant decided to take court action for this breach. Did the agents not advise her/you of this legal requirement?

Your mother can launch a claim for the missing rent, plus cost of damage and repairs. Did she have a full and thorough written inventory of the property when the tenant's move in and again when they left? Failure to record the start and end condition will hamper any claims, as you need proof and evidence that the damage, dirt etc were down to the tenant. Was there any actual physical damage, or is it just cleaning?

Letting a property when it is also on the market for sale is fraught with problems, as you have discovered. Tenants are quite withn their rights to refuse all access to their "home" even though it is your mother's property.

TBH, having read the many tales of woe here about bad tenants, you are very lucky they have upped and left, as this could be a whole lot worse. The condition of the property, whilst annoying, doesn't sound much more than a good clean and a coat of paint here and there, which is part and parcel of letting.

PS There is no guarantee that ANYTHING was done correctly, just because she used a letting agent!

Full_of_angst

Hi Werdnal

It was all done by the book as above.

There are before and after photographs of all the damage and of course the specialist damp surveyors report with all the photographs and with proof that they were using their own very dangerous calor gas heater instead of the central heating.

Nothing was done and no decisions made without reference to the relevant statutes.

To be honest I posted it on here as an after thought (really only joined the forum as I am in the process of buying and selling my own home). But I have more or less kept out of it because I was all for going over there and evicting them myself.

yes it is lesson learned, that renting property out - for whatever reason- whether as a business or because you don't want to leave a house empty for long periods of time - is more trouble that it will ever be worth.

And yes, I am very very grateful that they left of their own accord and that the house wasn't demolished in the process.

sandsni

Full_of_angst wrote: »

Every single obligation as a landlord was met as it was done through a proper letting agent.

Letting agents aren't always fully conversant with LL regulations even if they lead you to believe they are. As Werdnal says, your mum doesn't have the legal right to "use up" the deposit for anything without going through the proper procedures with whatever deposit protection scheme she used. If the deposit wasn't protected and the prescribed information given to the tenant she could be in for a bigger shock. The "proper letting agent" should have known that and should have made your mum aware of it.