Former tenant

whitewing

Did you raise concerns about the child to social services? You should do so if it was that bad.

[Deleted User]

I can tell you don't understand, but you are onto a loser here.

The house was for her use until 31st October. You changing the locks before that date WAS unlawful eviction.

Did you honestly expect her to respond in any different way when you criticised how she keeps her daughter? What was this supposed to achieve except justify your position? As above, if you had genuine concerns, report them to social services.

Having a dog, leaving the place in a mess does not change the illegal eviction. You could claim back something against her deposit., for damages. Nothing to do with the unlawful eviction (just in case you didn't read this in the other posts or here).

Not sure what you are saying about the carpets. You'd have to have proof, why she was supposed to remove them, that she agreed etc for you to even claim any money from the deposit.

Was the deposit protected, did you send the prescribed information to the tenant. If not, she could possibly have a claim for up to 3x deposit.

Was there a signed inventory made before she moved in? If not, you can't prove any damage was caused by this tenant. Photos would be good too.

As others have advised, you desperately need to discover what being a LL involves. You also need to figure out how to check out a prospective tenant before they move in. It sounds like your tenant saw you coming from a mile away. Don't let this happen again, but its up to you to protect yourself.

Ronaldo_Mconaldo

I'm wondering who the nutcase really is here. Reading the meters isn't offically the end of a tenancy agreement, i'm pretty sure.

Cissi

To reiterate what others have said: a tenant leaving the property does NOT automatically end the tenancy. Did she give notice in writing? And did you agree to an early surrender of the tenancy (again in writing)? Unless both of these happened then you have evicted her illegally which is a criminal offence. In your shoes I would return the deposit in full immediately. If it wasn't protected in one of the schemes and the prescribed information served correctly she could still sue you for up to 3x the deposit but is probably less likely to do so.

I also don't get why you expected her to get rid of the carpets unless they were hers which seems strange - what does your dual signed inventory say? But taking the carpets to the skip yourself seems like a minor hassle compared with the problems that a savvy tenant could cause to a naive accidental landlord, which it sounds like you are...

Claudiab251274

Yes she gave 2 weeks notice in writing to see she would leave on 13 oct before her contract ended which she dutifully did. We've not been allowed access to the house in 2 yrs so had no idea how she lives. We've been renting it through a management company for 20 years this is the first time we did a favour for a friend and let it out privately. Took no deposit off her. We're not suing for anything were cleaning the house up.

Claudiab251274

We had wooden floors she got carpets fitted of her own accord and glued them to the floors. She agreed to remove them when she left

Cissi

If you're not pursuing her for anything then I don't think you have too much to worry about. You may still technically be guilty of illegal eviction - unless early surrender was mutually agreed in writing - but I doubt she'd get very far with it in court as there was no deposit. I take it she only paid rent up to the day she left?

Edited to add that if course illegal eviction and deposit are separate issues, but in this case I don't think a court would rule that she has suffered any loss as a result of illegal eviction - but I may be wrong!

You may want to be careful with disposing of the carpets if they are hers - she sounds upset/vindictive enough to claim that she wants them back...

Claudiab251274

She's getting her knickers in a twist and saying she'll go to court over a gas bottle kept in a permanently open garage. She moved out a month ago and has only started this in weds and even opened a crime report...about the gas bottle

Pixie5740

This all seems to have started when you contacted her and told her that she had left the house in a disgusting state. In hindsight not the smartest move.

How did she give this notice in writing? An actual letter? Email? Text message? Facebook? Did you acknowledge that you had accepted her notice? Assuming she had an AST then she is contractually obligated to give more than just 2 weeks notice to end the tenancy unless you agree other terms with her.

For goodness sakes join a Landlord Association and don't use a tenancy agreement from WH Smiths. Also get references, get a deposit and never rent to friends or family again.

Claudiab251274

She gave her notice via text messages and like I said in 20yrs we've never rented without a management company. Never again will we do it this way and do someone a favour again