Advice on problem tenant

Kashinoda

Hi Guys,

My mother runs a freelance letting agency and has run into some problems with a tenant.

The tenant has lived rent free for quite some time (we believe 2 years), he agreed with the landlord that he would spend money developing the property and in exchange would live there rent free for a certain period. This was a verbal agreement, there was no written tenancy agreement.

In August he had been in contact with the landlord regarding moving out. At this time the property was given to my mum to manage, and she has been in contact with the tenant from this point.

He initially refused to move out, saying he was £20k out of pocket and he wanted to be reimbursed.

He then said he would be happy with £10k.

He's now saying he's found a flat to buy and is waiting for it to finish, he thinks this will take 8 weeks and if he could stay in the property rent free for this period he will be happy to move out and that would be a 'good deal' for both of them.

We told him we're happy to deal with that and put a line underneath it if he can give us a date. Naturally he's come back to us saying it could be longer as there could be hickups etc.

Obviously this had reached the point of ridiculousness, the landlord is a friend of my mums who is currently in a bad way so this hasn't been a massive priority for him, a section 21 would be a bit too much for him right now I believe. He is happy to give the guy 8-12 weeks to get it over and done with but without anything in writing I can see it dragging out.

We cant do an assured tenancy for 3 months, what could we propose to the tenant in this case to get something in writing.

Thanks for any help!
Kashinoda

Pixie5740

Has the tenant ever paid rent?

A Section 21 would seem like a good solution. It will give the tenant 2 month's notice that the landlord wants to regain possession of the property again. If the tenant won't leave it can take a while to get a court date sorted to get an eviction notice. Better to start now than in 3 months when the tenant is still there.

When_the_going_gets_tough

mmm.. if the occupier hasn't paid rent is he actually a tenant - let alone a shorthold tenant for which a S21 would be valid? Not sure - unusual situation - may need specialist advice here.

fairy_lights

I have to say it doesn't bode well for your mothers career as a letting agent if you're having to post on here looking for help.

Hump

What is ridiculous is the idea that your mum can resolve a situation that has gone on for more than 2 years. With no written tenancy agreement proving the 'verbal' agreement will be an uphill struggle were this ever to get to court - I sense claim and counter claim. I know it's not going to feel right and some of the regulars on here will have other ideas but I'd sit it out and hope that the property comes back after Christmas in a reasonable state for relet. Just a quick aside - is there gas and is there a current landlord's gas safety certificate in place, if it's all been left to the tenant this might have been overlooked!

dancingfairy

At the very least I would do the tenancy checker on the Shelter website to find out what sort of tenancy he has and what his status is.
You will probably need to phone Shelter for specialist advice or to join a landlords association/go on one of their courses.
df

theartfullodger

Mum should fire the landlord & find client landlords who don't dig themselves such daft, huge, holes...

My letting agent told me in no uncertain terms she would fire me (a landlord) if she found me doing anything dodgy or stupid: At that point I decided they were the agent for me.. the agents you worry about are the ones who don't know when to say no...

What training in landlord/tenant law has mum done??

No offence but why hasn;'t she asked the question rather than you??

There are forums for letting agents, but I guess she knew that

G_M

theartfullodger wrote: »

Mum should fire the landlord & find client landlords who don't dig themselves such daft, huge, holes...

No.

Mum should not be running a letting agency. Nor should you, OP.

Which of the 3 legally required schemes has your mum (you?) signed up to?

Since 1st October 2014, letting agents in England have to sign up to one of 3 schemes:

* The Property Ombudsman
* Ombudsman Services Property
* Property Redress Scheme

Is the agency in question actually charging a fee from the landlord? Presumably on the assumption that they know what they are doing...........

kinger101

Why would a landlord already is a mess further complicate the situation by using charlatan letting agent? Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Kashinoda

Thanks for the replies guys.

My mum has it in her head how she'd deal with it but the landlord isn't very coorperative and the facts aren't there for her to do anything concrete. I'd thought I'd try to see if I could get some outside of the box advice before she drops the client.

Pixie5740

That's probably for the best. The LL sounds clueless and the T is a chump if he really has spent £20k on someone else's property. Best to leave them to it.