Removal of Fixtures & Fittings - Urgent Advice Needed!

LynnF

Evening everyone,

I am at my whit's end and need some urgent advice.

I'm the Landlord of a property on which my current tenant has given notice. She leaves on Thursday this week. However, I have discovered that she has destroyed the carpet and all free-standing and fitted wardrobes and replaced them with ones that total over £6,000 and is now expecting me to pay a 'contribution' to the total cost (I have no idea how much as she put the phone down).

I have of course explained that this goes against the tenancy agreement as it is the removal of fixtures and fittings. She is threatening to take them with her and if she does then I will take her to the small claims court to recoup any losses but will need to replace the items myself first!

The part I'm really concerned about at the moment though is that she is paying them both off in instalments. Whether she takes them with her or not if she defaults (which she is likely to) then it will be on my address.

She has also refused to pay the last month's rent as she is retaining this to get her deposit (she obviously isn't getting that back!!!)

What should I do? It's all a complete mess and she will be gone by this Thursday coming.

BitterAndTwisted

Did you give permission for her to dispose of your fixtures and fittings?

Was there a dual-signed inventory noting the presence of the items she has disposed of?

Debts are attached to people not properties, so if she absconds with debts outstanding and leaves no forwarding address they will not and cannot be claimed from you. it'll be a PITA dealing with her creditors, but that's just time used not your money.

dimbo61

Are you a member of a Landlords association ?
Did you get a guarantor? References from her employer ?
You have to take this tenant to court and get a ccj against her for theft of your goods

BitterAndTwisted

Do you know where your tenant is moving to on Thursday? If not, you are going to have a heck of a job chasing her through the courts for the money you are owed.

Remember, regardless of how much the new furniture and carpeting will cost you, you will only be able to claim from her the value of the useful life of the items she has deprived you of. i.e. the depreciated value given how long you would expect such items to last in a rental property minus the actual age when they were disposed of.

bitsandpieces

What's the replacement furniture and carpet like? If it's neutral enough to be OK for the next tenant and of a similar/higher standard to what was there before, perhaps you could accept this rather than looking to take money for replacement out of the tenant's deposit. Of course, if they're expecting payment for this and try to take it with them, this may not work!

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Debts are attached to people not properties, so if she absconds with debts outstanding and leaves no forwarding address they will not and cannot be claimed from you. it'll be a PITA dealing with her creditors, but that's just time used not your money.

This is correct, though on the off-chance the tenant has the goods on a hire purchase scheme (rather than another type of credit agreement) they may not strictly speaking be allowed to give away/sell these items...

LynnF

Thanks for the quick response. I wasn't aware that she had disposed of the fixtures and fittings until after they had been replaced.

The Estate Agents only let it out and then I managed the property. However I expect they would have Guarantor details so I will contact them on Monday morning.

Unsurprisingly she hasn't given a forwarding address yet and I doubt I'll get one. The frustrating thing is she is still in the property until Thursday.

LynnF

I haven't got a forwarding address - I know her full name, her telephone number and know that she is moving to Northampton as she has a new job there. I guess they help but not as good as it could be. Although maybe the Estate Agent holds guarantor details? I'll have to contact them and see what they say. I assume I should have been passed this info at the time though but haven't.

Thanks BitsandPieces. The trouble is that she hasn't paid for it yet. She's paying £53/month by DD. Although if she leaves them there and defaults on payment I guess I can quite simply say that she doesn't live there any more and I do not hold the items either. The only trouble is at £6,000 I very much doubt she will leave them.

bitsandpieces

LynnF wrote: »

I haven't got a forwarding address - I know her full name, her telephone number and know that she is moving to Northampton as she has a new job there. I guess they help but not as good as it could be. Although maybe the Estate Agent holds guarantor details? I'll have to contact them and see what they say. I assume I should have been passed this info at the time though but haven't.

I imagine that *someone* would be able to track her down based on that info, unless she does a very good job of hiding her address. A landlords' association could likely advise - there are companies that can do this type of thing, for a fee.

Thanks BitsandPieces. The trouble is that she hasn't paid for it yet. She's paying £53/month by DD. Although if she leaves them there and defaults on payment I guess I can quite simply say that she doesn't live there any more and I do not hold the items either. The only trouble is at £6,000 I very much doubt she will leave them.

If she takes the items with (or leaves them and stops paying, but has bought them on e.g. a store card or credit card) that's not your problem. However, if you keep the items and they were bought hire purchase then they're technically not hers to give to you - though this is unlikely to be an issue unless she stops paying...not sure if it will cause you problems if she does stop paying.

Odd, anyway - she'd be paying back the £6k over, what, 5yrs? Strange thing to buy for a rented place (I can understand spending on things you can take with you, but as it seems like she can't...)

BitterAndTwisted

Oh, she will be taking them away with her. Of that I have no doubt. Most especially if the OP declines to accept and pay for her cheap rubbish in place of the decent stuff she has disposed of without permission.

The tenant is obviously an idiot who thinks she is shrewd and smart. Such people are often too stupid to understand how not to leave tracks.

LynnF

I just come off the phone to a friend and have said exactly the same thing. I think she is now only just realising what she has done and is trying to make me remove the problem for her.

My friend has suggested I offer to pay £500 which I will give her on her last day (as I need to pick up the keys etc..) but only after meeting at the house and carrying out an inspection first and then on the day saying that I will then give her a further £350 by cheque but she would need to give a forwarding address for me to send it to her. Then at least I don't have to go to the hassle of getting new carpets or fixing any damage that has been caused by removing the fitted wardrobes (or any other damage!)

bitsandpieces

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Oh, she will be taking them away with her. Of that I have no doubt. Most especially if the OP declines to accept and pay for her cheap rubbish in place of the decent stuff she has disposed of without permission.

Ew, I wonder how rubbish a set of wardrobes etc. you can manage to buy for £6k :eek: OP - have you seen them? Might be worth thinking about how they compare to what was previously there...

£850 is a lot to pay for 2nd hand furniture, unless it's really good quality stuff. But then I guess there is the issue of the damage she might do by removing them A landlords' association might be able to advice, or point you towards someone who could.