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Tenant is now letting house get dirty
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It's their house.0
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There is no "friendly" way of approaching your tenants to tell them their housekeeping is not up to your very high standards.
If it's not adequately cleaned at the end of their tenancy they get charged for it out of their deposit. Until then, this is none of your business.0 -
OP, I'm glad you've taken the feedback from this thread on board. You have a right to expect that the tenant hand back a clean house at the end of the tenancy. You have a right to verify that with polite inspections at a reasonable interval with advance warning. Apart from that, you have a responsibility to stay out of it. I know that must be difficult if you're emotionally invested and there's no shame in deciding that landlording isn't for you.0
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Well, what a hornets nest I seem to have stirred up. I wanted some advice, I have been given it, some of it fairly abusive but I have taken it on the chin.
One or 2 more questions as I am a novice Landlord as you can all tell.
Someone on another thread was told that the landlord is responsible in law if the house is used as a cannabis factory or a brothel? Well how would a landlord know that this was taking place in the house if he didn't go and inspect it periodically? If he did find it was being used for such purposes then what should the LL do? inform the police presumably.
So my being told to but out and that it has nothing whatsoever to do with me what state the house is in until the tenant decides to leave seems to be a bit of a difficult thing to do.
A last question. If a tenant has to give one months notice of intention to leave and the landlord has to give 2 months of intent to gain back the house, then why is it that the landlord then has to go to court to get the necessary re-possession?
Just asking a question, there really is no need for abuse.
Tricky Wicky, I have lived in the real world for 66 years and I am not your mate. I was thrust into the position of having a house to rent or sell because of the very untimely death of my darling daughter who lived in this little house. I have so many memories of our happy times spent there together with her dad and her friends that when she died I just felt that I couldn't let it go. I thought that renting it out would give me time to grieve and decide if I could actually live there myself and downsize from the property I live in. I am mortgage free so am not letting some poor couple pay my mortgage for me and my tenant and his wife are professionals who are probably earning more in a year then my hubby and I earned in 10 years in the jobs we worked in. We are in the position of being home owners by hard work and we do have very high standards of cleanliness. The neighbours on either side of our rental house are also renters and they keep their properties spotless. I was naïve enough to hope I might have the same luck with my tenants.
As I said, I will leave well alone for now, but I am a bit surprised that my rights as a home owner/landlord possibly wanting to take back possession of a house don't seem to be quite what I thought they would be.
Thanks for all the helpful replies, very much appreciated, but I could have done without the abuse.0 -
bjbyorkshire wrote: »Someone on another thread was told that the landlord is responsible in law if the house is used as a cannabis factory or a brothel? Well how would a landlord know that this was taking place in the house if he didn't go and inspect it periodically? If he did find it was being used for such purposes then what should the LL do? inform the police presumably.
People say all manner of things, that does not make them true. If you're really not sure and concerned it's always best to consult a legal professional. I can find no evidence of a landlord being held liable for tenants criminal activity.bjbyorkshire wrote: »So my being told to but out and that it has nothing whatsoever to do with me what state the house is in until the tenant decides to leave seems to be a bit of a difficult thing to do.
Totally different situation. There is no law against a Chicken Korma supper.bjbyorkshire wrote: »A last question. If a tenant has to give one months notice of intention to leave and the landlord has to give 2 months of intent to gain back the house, then why is it that the landlord then has to go to court to get the necessary re-possession?
A landlord is a business operator. Tenancy law favours the individual, because it's their home. The worst a landlord can lose (if they run their business properly) is some money... the worst a tenant can lose if they are evicted... well, they could end up homeless. The alternative is allowing landlords to evict... I don't want to imagine how that would play out!
Also the abrasive replies you got here aren't from people trying to be confrontational, it's just a lot of people here are either landlords that are very protective over their reputation and bad landlords reflect poorly on them, or they are tenants very protective over their own rights and the rights of their fellow citizens. A lot of people would be upset if they read your post if it was about them.
You need to become professional in spirit asap, join a landlords association and get reading0 -
bjbyorkshire wrote: »why is it that the landlord then has to go to court to get the necessary re-possession?
You don't. You serve two months notice and they leave. If they don't leave THEN you go to court to get a court order for reposession and can get the bailiffs in etc. Unfortunately not all landlords give a to$$ about that and like one of mine once, threatened to break in and evict me charging me for the damage. Thats actually illegal and a landlord can be prosecuted for it - especically if the tenant is physically removed. Only a court appointed bailiff can do that.
I'm sorry if i offended you but to be honest, you are like most landlords, expecting it all. I AM sorry to hear of your daughter but that doesn't really change much as far as your tenants are concerned (Oh and these days all tenants are also professionals didn't you know? - Thats all the agencies ever accept - another hurdle the poor have to deal with.0 -
Firstly, a successful landlord treats this as a business venture and does not have the kind of emotional attachment to their property that you have, ans your last post makes clear. So it is inevitable that everything is going to be more difficult for you than for other landlords...
Anyway, you are paying an agent to take care of things. You are doing the right thing in chasing up the next inspection: I suggest that you let the agent know that you were concerned about the state of the kitchen and ask them to check that carefully, perhaps taking photographs. If the inspection indicates that there is still a problem then you could draft a note about your concerns (to be sent from the agent). A less drastic solution than giving them notice would be to arrange a cleaner.
Finally, is there any possibility that the griddle in the kitchen could represent a fire risk? If so, then that is something that you do need to act upon.0 -
I had a LL who was so emotionally attached to the house that he did want to come in and clean, and the house was immaculate, so immaculate in fact that he used my photographs to sell the place !!!!!
Anyway, I feel the same, if I owned a house and rented it out it would worry me all the time, and if it was a deceased relatives I don't know how I would cope with itBlackpool_Saver is female, and does not live in Blackpool0 -
I have rented my property for over two years now.
Initially the landlord kept 'popping over' to check the property was ok, but after a few months, without actually saying too much, I made it clear he wasn't welcome to keep popping round (I said I was busy and only opened the door a crack, he didn't argue lol). About 9 months ago, he did come round saying he needed to do inspections every 3 months because one of his properties had been turned into a marijuanna factory. While I sympathised.., I also felt that after 18 months, I wasn't a high risk candidate (two young children etc) and I sort of went quiet when he made this suggestion. Thank goodness he hasn't 'inspected' the house since (although I have made sure the property is actually in better decorative order and cleaner than it was when I moved in).
So I can sympathise with a landlord's need to inspect.., but lol.., I am the tenant and I value my privacy.
I do sympathise with your feelings about the greasy kitchen.., I have seen properties in this state but well, I'm afraid if its left that way when they leave, u'll just have to take it out of the deposit. Of course, once their tenancy is coming to an end, you can 'no fault' evict them but you may end up with them needing to be evicted by bailiffs and all the strife that causes.
It doesn't mean u shouldn't be a landlord, it just means you need to allow for these situations. You shouldn't lose out as you'll be able to take the cleaning costs out of the deposit at worst.., or you could possibly have a quiet word with the tenant on it being worth their while to save you having to do that if they do need to leave. It'll obviously cost them a lot less to do the cleaning than have to pay a contractor to do it through loss of part of their deposit. I just hope you have a comprehensive check in inventory.0 -
A few years back my nutty landlady was inspecting our rented property up to several times a week and threatening to evict us on the spot unless we tidied up.
I now understand my right to quiet enjoyment.0
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