Help! Utilities broke into my buy-to-let...

Teslagirl

Can anyone offer advice?

I came back from my GP first thing this morning to see four men in my empty buy-to let house; a locksmith, a gas engineer, an electrical engineer and some sort of agent, and they were replacing the credit meters with card meters.

My tenant had defaulted on her rent by about £2000 and it took me ages to get her out (going through the courts etc). The problem was that I didn't know who the utility companies were as she had arranged her own, and as I'm not allowed to open her mail in law, I had no way to find out who they were.

Well now I know, because EDF broke in and replaced the meters! Not only that, but they've applied an overcharge so the meters will pay off her debt!

Can anyone give me any advice? If EDF think I'm going to keep them as suppliers after they've broken in, they probably have another think coming, so say the least!!

Please help!

Sarah.

kirkbyinfurnesslad_2

If these were in her name then it isnt your concern as the debt not in your name.

Simply advise the new tenant to set up their own account immediately so they are not paying of anyone's debt, or

Cardew

It should be an easy matter to ensure that you/new tenant have the debt removed from pre-pay meters; albeit EDF are not renowned for getting simple matters sorted out.

A bigger problem might be getting rid of the pre-pay meters, as I suspect they might deter prospective tenants.

[Deleted User]

Yet another transient tenant departing after a couple of years of free energy. In my opinion all let/rentals should automatically have prepays fitted whether the landlords like it or not. They will not have to pick up the bill. This sort of thing is rife . Landlords daft enough to rent out their properties with credit meters cant be complaining , they have given these people the means to steal thousands in free energy.

chanz4

sacsquacco wrote: »

Yet another transient tenant departing after a couple of years of free energy. In my opinion all let/rentals should automatically have prepays fitted whether the landlords like it or not. They will not have to pick up the bill. This sort of thing is rife . Landlords daft enough to rent out their properties with credit meters cant be complaining , they have given these people the means to steal thousands in free energy.

Fully agree, that many do runners. Also their is other ways of finding out who supplys.

PasturesNew

Teslagirl wrote: »

... as I'm not allowed to open her mail ...

You are allowed... the reason you're opening mail is the part that makes it legal/not. If you opened it with intent to cause nuisance/defraud/bad reasons, that's not allowed. If she's done a bunk you can open it to see if there's anything you need to know about.

jaybeetoo

sacsquacco wrote: »

Yet another transient tenant departing after a couple of years of free energy. In my opinion all let/rentals should automatically have prepays fitted whether the landlords like it or not. They will not have to pick up the bill. This sort of thing is rife . Landlords daft enough to rent out their properties with credit meters cant be complaining , they have given these people the means to steal thousands in free energy.

This would need a change in the law - can't see it happening.

Cardew

sacsquacco wrote: »

Yet another transient tenant departing after a couple of years of free energy. In my opinion all let/rentals should automatically have prepays fitted whether the landlords like it or not. They will not have to pick up the bill. This sort of thing is rife . Landlords daft enough to rent out their properties with credit meters cant be complaining , they have given these people the means to steal thousands in free energy.

The Utility companies have no idea if the occupant is an owner or tenant.

The problem is that there is a 'breed' of tenant who move from property to property leaving behind a trail of debts - rent, water, gas, Council Tax and there is little that can be done to stop them; they can play the system for months and then flit.

Teslagirl

The thing is, if you're trying to attract professionals, those people just won't tolerate card meters, which are seen as downmarket.

The house was obviously empty when they broke in and it had just been decorated. You would think this would have given them pause for thought. With not much research they could have discovered the legal owner (me) and my address (two doors away).

This woman had been evicted owning me £2500 and all the court costs. A simple check would have shown she had been evicted after a court order.

It's the lack of care which annoys me. It seems to me that EDF made insufficient attempts to uncover the true situation. So having been taken for a ride by the tenant, EDF are doing their best to make it worse.

Ironically I couldn't touch the house during the year-long eviction process, even though I legally owned it. But EDF can just break in on the basis of very little research. The power they have relative to that of the landlord is staggering.

Very annoyed now... Anyone know of a good property solicitor?

Incidentally, I only have the one buy-to-let; in effect it is my pension. I am not a rich landlord.

Cardew

Teslagirl wrote: »

But EDF can just break in on the basis of very little research. The power they have relative to that of the landlord is staggering.

I totally understand your anger, but of course EDF have to get a court warrant to break in to the property. Also you could live in Hong Kong for all they knew.

With a locksmith there shouldn't have been damage, and even if you had let them in, they would still have changed the meters(which you don't own) unless you agreed to pay the outstanding bills.

To protect tenants from unscrupulous landlords(after Rachman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Rachman) the law understandably was changed. However the pendulum has swung the other way and now it is landlords that need protecting from unscrupulous tenants.

lemontart

It is a simple thing to locate suppliers with a couple of phone calls, The owners of the meters in this case edf have a legal right of access to said meters and obtained a court order as well, which is normal in these cases.

It is not the suppliers job to find out who owns the house they have a contract to supply a named person - even when not a rental property that may not always be the property owner.

Provide edf with rental papers. leases court documents etc to prove 1. you are not the person that owes the money and 2, they have gone. then they will clear the debt on the meters.

Having rented houses out in the past, and my parents rented out caravans I know 1st hand there are those who will burn you financially given a chance - yes some unintentionally especially these days. But look at the card meters as form of protection for you.