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Getting unpaid rent from ex tenants?
Hughieboy
Posts: 9 Forumite
Hi,
I realise this isn't a free legal advice forum but I'm starting here to see if anyone with knowledge of this kind of situation may be able to point me in the right direction.
We have a house that we rent out on full management through a local letting agency. Unfortunately, although we now have normal rent paying tenants living there, the previous tenants were awful and messed us about for money from day one culminating in us agreeing to release them from their tenancy early when it became clear that they could not or would not be continuing to pay their rent. They split up and the female of the couple just said she wasn't paying anymore and that was that!
As they had a couple of black marks against them credit wise we were dubious about taking them on but a member of staff at the letting agency (now departed) recommended them as they were known to them and with the added security of a guarantor (the male party's employer) we went ahead.... big mistake.
My question is regarding getting the unpaid rent paid over to us. The letting agents are dealing with it but they don't seem to be getting anywhere and I don't know if it's lack of effort on their part and whether there is something I should be doing to speed things up, it's getting pretty frustrating and we need the money, we are still paying out for the property obviously. They don't seem to be getting anywhere with the guarantor who I thought was there to cover these kind of issues. And although the deposit is held still, they can't pay us what we're owed from that (even then there will be a shortfall) without written consent from the ex tenants, and they are just not responding to anything it would seem.
I questioned this and received the email below.....
"I can confirm that we are regularly chasing the Tenants, but as usual the
tenants are failing to respond to our calls. We have left voicemails and sent
emails to try and make contact but to no avail.
Therefore we have now made contact with the Guarantor requesting his assistance
in encouraging the tenants to sign the closing account and for the guarantor and
the Tenants to make immediate payment of the shortfall. We await a response from
them. If we have not heard back from them by 4.00pm tomorrow we will be
arranging to visit Proctors on Thursday morning and will update you accordingly.
The Tenants Deposit is held by us and is Registered with TDS. The deposit
remains the Tenants money and we are not permitted to do anything with these
funds without the Tenants written authorization.
Under the current Tenancy Deposit Scheme Guidelines, the Tenants have 3 months
to dispute any of the proposed charges to the deposit. After this period, we may
be able to arrange for the funds to be forwarded to you if the Tenants have
failed to respond to our correspondence or raise a dispute through the proper
channels.
Should the 3 months pass without communication or agreement from the Tenants or
Guarantor, we will discuss the options available to you.
Generally we will advise a Landlord that they will be able to raise a claim
through the small claims court and claim the cost of this to be awarded to you.
We understand that you will find this all a little unfair, as you have mentioned
previously, but these are the rules that we are governed by and cannot go
outside them."
This was last week and, surprise surprise, no news from the agent who seems to be permanently out of the office on viewings.....
It all seems totally unfair and biased towards the non paying ex tenants. Is what the letting agency says correct? I feel they could be doing more, I've seen no copies of written correspondence despite requesting it and I really don't see what the point is of a guarantor if they aren't able to get them to step up to the plate and either take responsibility or make the tenants do so....
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks.
I realise this isn't a free legal advice forum but I'm starting here to see if anyone with knowledge of this kind of situation may be able to point me in the right direction.
We have a house that we rent out on full management through a local letting agency. Unfortunately, although we now have normal rent paying tenants living there, the previous tenants were awful and messed us about for money from day one culminating in us agreeing to release them from their tenancy early when it became clear that they could not or would not be continuing to pay their rent. They split up and the female of the couple just said she wasn't paying anymore and that was that!
As they had a couple of black marks against them credit wise we were dubious about taking them on but a member of staff at the letting agency (now departed) recommended them as they were known to them and with the added security of a guarantor (the male party's employer) we went ahead.... big mistake.
My question is regarding getting the unpaid rent paid over to us. The letting agents are dealing with it but they don't seem to be getting anywhere and I don't know if it's lack of effort on their part and whether there is something I should be doing to speed things up, it's getting pretty frustrating and we need the money, we are still paying out for the property obviously. They don't seem to be getting anywhere with the guarantor who I thought was there to cover these kind of issues. And although the deposit is held still, they can't pay us what we're owed from that (even then there will be a shortfall) without written consent from the ex tenants, and they are just not responding to anything it would seem.
I questioned this and received the email below.....
"I can confirm that we are regularly chasing the Tenants, but as usual the
tenants are failing to respond to our calls. We have left voicemails and sent
emails to try and make contact but to no avail.
Therefore we have now made contact with the Guarantor requesting his assistance
in encouraging the tenants to sign the closing account and for the guarantor and
the Tenants to make immediate payment of the shortfall. We await a response from
them. If we have not heard back from them by 4.00pm tomorrow we will be
arranging to visit Proctors on Thursday morning and will update you accordingly.
The Tenants Deposit is held by us and is Registered with TDS. The deposit
remains the Tenants money and we are not permitted to do anything with these
funds without the Tenants written authorization.
Under the current Tenancy Deposit Scheme Guidelines, the Tenants have 3 months
to dispute any of the proposed charges to the deposit. After this period, we may
be able to arrange for the funds to be forwarded to you if the Tenants have
failed to respond to our correspondence or raise a dispute through the proper
channels.
Should the 3 months pass without communication or agreement from the Tenants or
Guarantor, we will discuss the options available to you.
Generally we will advise a Landlord that they will be able to raise a claim
through the small claims court and claim the cost of this to be awarded to you.
We understand that you will find this all a little unfair, as you have mentioned
previously, but these are the rules that we are governed by and cannot go
outside them."
This was last week and, surprise surprise, no news from the agent who seems to be permanently out of the office on viewings.....
It all seems totally unfair and biased towards the non paying ex tenants. Is what the letting agency says correct? I feel they could be doing more, I've seen no copies of written correspondence despite requesting it and I really don't see what the point is of a guarantor if they aren't able to get them to step up to the plate and either take responsibility or make the tenants do so....
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks.
0
Comments
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You should be starting legal action against the guarantor. Probably best to do this yourself. Check that the agent has a signed guarantee. If they have not, do you have anything in writing from the agent stating that the rent would be guaranteed? Because you might be bringing your case against the agent.
Also were there any deductions against the deposit for damages etc?You might as well ask the Wizard of Oz to give you a big number as pay a Credit Referencing Agency for a so-called 'credit-score'0 -
You should be starting legal action against the guarantor. Probably best to do this yourself. Check that the agent has a signed guarantee. If they have not, do you have anything in writing from the agent stating that the rent would be guaranteed? Because you might be bringing your case against the agent.
Also were there any deductions against the deposit for damages etc?
No damage, actually the one thing they did get right was to keep the place in good order..... but there is a shortfall between the deposit held and the rent owed. We didn't have the rent guaranteed although we now have cover for this with the new tenants which the agents have provided free of charge as I think they are a bit embarrassed about what has happened although i can't help thinking they could be doing more to get the situation rectified.
What would the signed guarantee be called, is this a standard thing signed by the guarantor? I would have thought they should be putting the squeeze on him but they don't appear to be....0 -
The guarantor document needs to be signed and witnessed as a deed.
Get a copy of the document and, if you're not sure, post back on here.
If you left it to the LA to organise the guarantor deed, and there's a problem with its enforceability, I'd consider trying to get the money back from the LA as their incompetence will have led to your inability to take the guarantor to court.0 -
1) Get the original guarantee deed and check it is valid- many agents get them wrong
2) chase the guarantors.
3) do you have addresses for both tenants? If so, chase both.
3) Letting agents are not solicitors- they will not/cannot take legal action on your behalf. If suing via courts (whether the tenants or guarantor) you will have todo it yourself or employ a solicitor.0 -
Thanks all,
Since posting yesterday, I have spoken with the letting agent who appears to be messing around a little due to being 'busy'.
They have promised to be in touch today with a solution although I'll believe it when it happens. I'll give them until 3pm and if the situation remains the same I will be requesting the above info/guarantee and from them in order to take it up myself,
I appreciate the advice...0 -
Start a single claims process. This will either force the tenant to be pro-active or result in the deposit being returned to you. Takes a few weeks though!0
-
Eh? In your opening post you said the man's employer was the guarantor?No damage, actually the one thing they did get right was to keep the place in good order..... but there is a shortfall between the deposit held and the rent owed. We didn't have the rent guaranteed although we now have cover for this with the new tenants which the agents have provided free of charge as I think they are a bit embarrassed about what has happened although i can't help thinking they could be doing more to get the situation rectified.
What would the signed guarantee be called, is this a standard thing signed by the guarantor? I would have thought they should be putting the squeeze on him but they don't appear to be....You might as well ask the Wizard of Oz to give you a big number as pay a Credit Referencing Agency for a so-called 'credit-score'0 -
Eh? In your opening post you said the man's employer was the guarantor?
I think what OP means is they didn't have a "guaranteed rent" scheme through the agent on the first tenant, but have since signed up for this now.
OP, you didn't need such a scheme at the time as your first tenant had a guarantor! You only need one or the other - that is if the agent signed up the guarantor correctly so the agreement is binding ... many aren't.0
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