Tenant not giving enough notice

mum2boyz

Hi
I let my property out 18 months ago for the first time when I had to relocate for business and have managed it myself. My tenant was fine until she split with her partner and had to go onto benefits to pay the rent. I was happy with this as she agreed to have her father as guarantor and all went smoothly. November and December her rent was late. I went through to her dad and it was all sorted. In January I advised her I was going to be putting the house up for sale but as we were not expecting a quick sale I would not give her notice until we knew we had a buyer and I would obviously give her the full 2 months. She said at the time that she was happy with this, I was aware that she would start looking for property and said that if she found somewhere I would understand but obviously would expect normal notice to be adhered to.
Yesterday I received an email stating she would be moving out of the property subject to references at the end of this month, in effect only giving me 2 weeks notice. I cannot afford to pay the mortgage on the property and the rent on my current home at such short notice. I have emailed her back stating that as per her tenancy agreement if she gives notice now, and her rent due date is 1st of the month she will still need to pay Aprils rent and her tenancy will not end until end April.
She has not responded to my email and I am now getting references for her new property. I don't want to complete this until I know I am going to get my rent paid as I don't want to put anything negative on the reference until I have to, but I'm not sure if I can do this. Any advice please

delain

mum2boyz wrote: »

Hi
I let my property out 18 months ago for the first time when I had to relocate for business and have managed it myself. My tenant was fine until she split with her partner and had to go onto benefits to pay the rent. I was happy with this as she agreed to have her father as guarantor and all went smoothly. November and December her rent was late. I went through to her dad and it was all sorted. In January I advised her I was going to be putting the house up for sale but as we were not expecting a quick sale I would not give her notice until we knew we had a buyer and I would obviously give her the full 2 months. She said at the time that she was happy with this, I was aware that she would start looking for property and said that if she found somewhere I would understand but obviously would expect normal notice to be adhered to.
Yesterday I received an email stating she would be moving out of the property subject to references at the end of this month, in effect only giving me 2 weeks notice. I cannot afford to pay the mortgage on the property and the rent on my current home at such short notice. I have emailed her back stating that as per her tenancy agreement if she gives notice now, and her rent due date is 1st of the month she will still need to pay Aprils rent and her tenancy will not end until end April.
She has not responded to my email and I am now getting references for her new property. I don't want to complete this until I know I am going to get my rent paid as I don't want to put anything negative on the reference until I have to, but I'm not sure if I can do this. Any advice please

To be honest if she's on benefits she will have had a hard time finding somewhere... she can't afford to turn it down!

I dont know about the legal side of things, but it isn't the tenant's fault you've overstretched your finances.

Pixie5740

Wanting to keep your tenant until you find a buyer is trying to have your cake and eat it. Nobody in their right mind would start paying out for surveys etc until the property was vacant.

Yes the tenant should give you one full rental period of notice but from a sellers point of view it's better to sell an empty property.

If you go ahead with marketing the property whilst the tenant is still living there then she does not have to allow viewings. Furthermore, just because you give her 2 months notice does not mean to say that she has to leave after 2 months. She could drag it out for months and months especially if she decides to hold out for a council property if finding another private rental after getting a bad reference from you proves difficult.

mum2boyz

I appreciate that and normally it wouldn't be an issue however with only 2 weeks notice it is. Surely that is the whole point behind having a notice period and a tenancy agreement.

Pixie5740

I suppose you need to decide what's more important to you. Losing one month's rent or !!!!ing off a tenant who could make life difficult for you when you try to sell the property.

mum2boyz

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Wanting to keep your tenant until you find a buyer is trying to have your cake and eat it. Nobody in their right mind would start paying out for surveys etc until the property was vacant

I don't expect her to stay until I find a buyer and I have told her that, however I would expect her to give me adequate notice as I would do for her.

I am in no rush to sell the property and would happily re let the property should it not sell and I appreciate that she does not have to allow viewings, but I have tried to work with her regarding assistance she needed in the past, surely I am not being that unreasonable?

SerialRenter

Has the tenant actually said they won't pay for the month the notice is to end in?

They're allowed to move out any time they like as long as they keep paying. (subject to additional clauses about how long the property can be vacant)

Assuming they've not done this and do plan on underpaying you, it could be advantageous to yourself, and you could chase the additional money after they've gone. But as Pixie said, vacant possession seems like it would benefit you.

G_M

Legally speaking you can charge the tenant for the perood of time her notice should have run (you do not make clear what type of contract she is on).

You could deduct what is owed from her deposit, or ask the guarantor o pay, and/or sue one, or both, via the courtss.

However - you want her to leave and told her so, albeit without formal notice or timescale. She, sensibly, started looking for somewhere.

It is very hard to time the end of a tenancy and start of another (just as it is hard to time tenancy and sale!), but she is facilitating your needs by vacating the property.

You would doubtless be the first to come here for advice if you found a buyer, gave her notice and then found that because she had nowhere to go she stayed, forcing you to go to court, which can take months, during which time your buyer got fed up with you and withdrew from his purchase.

Let the tenant go, amicably, and then market your property seriously with vacant possession. You will find far more interested buyers.

thesaint

Forget all the irrelevant stuff members have responded with.

Tell her that she has not given the correct notice, and so still has to do so.
Tell her that if she was to give notice today, she is liable for all rent due until the end of April 2014.

Tell her that you will not be returning any references until she gives the correct notice.

If she does give the correct notice, wait until the 1st April to give the reference, or before if they pay the rent due on the 1st April in advance, as you don't trust her to do so.

You are running a business, and are fully within your rights to insist that you get paid subject to a contract that you have with your tenant.

You have no moral obligations, just legal ones.

DaftyDuck

Hang on, if you want to sell the property, the main problem you'd have (as most do when selling a tenanted property) is if she chose not to move out.... You even have her father as guarantor, and he's already sorted out 2 months worth....

Surely, let her move out, then chase pappy-dear for the remaining rent. Or, don't chase, just be thankful you now have an empty property, and don't have to fight for possession, whilst losing two or three sales.

Jenniefour

The dilemma is that if you insist, as you can legally, that she pay the two months rent and put her reference on hold until she complies she will lose the property she has found now. That would mean that she has to stay in your property for the time being. If she's savvy about her rights then you could end up in a position where you need to take her to court - months of hassle. And potential for any buyer to pull out.

Are you aware that there are lots of people who wouldn't even consider viewing a property with tenants still in - because they know tenants might not leave at end of notice period. Plenty of threads on here where LL's have found themselves in that position.

It seems that the only thing stopping you from letting her move now is your money situation. But going the other way could also have similar financial implications.