Tenant from Hell= penniless and destroyed house

mrsmumbles

Am aware that I am going on a bit now, but I really do feel for you. It is tough being along distance landlord. I was an accidental landlord and my place is local,and my god I have learned a lot, mostly the hard way! You end up with all this information and I just want to share some with you and hopefully help you and your OH make the best decision for yourselves.

In brief
1 Accept that this tenant was an unusually bad bit of luck..you will never ever let someone get away with this sort of thing again.
2. This scumbag must be chased down. Go after them in small claims. as other posters have said, report them get a crime ref number. Jojn the landlords association and give them this tenants name so they can go on all the unofficial blacklists. better still, call the council and all local agencies and warn them off her. I did this with mine....free revenge!
3. the money but. people are understandably reluctant to do work themselves and we are all time poor. But if you can get the cash somehow, within two months, you could be looking at a much nicer, highly rentable place.I believe the rental is still the way forward until you've milked some refurb costs back from the house, something for the parent who owns the place...then sell.The only ways you can save are in weekend labour as it doesn't look like you two can be on site mid week....I wouldn't give up my job to do this no way! And the jobs provide the cash flow. You're going to have to pay for the tradesmen to do the first fix on the place, then I fear it's a month of you two reprinting the house, laying flooring, and maybe tiling. I've suggested good suppliers. personally I wouldn't fit a bathroom or kitchen myself, but I would leave that until the boiler is replaced or checked, and get the one firm to do all the fittings at a fixed cost, unless you know a plumber who can do you a better deal.
4 the bank bit..you could send them an awfully polite letter explaining the situation, reassuring them, with detailed cost breakdowns, that it is I. Hand, and asking for a mortgage holiday. You might get one, but the best chance of reimbursement is through small claims and that insurance policy. But neither gets you cash upfront. personally I would avoid the banks as they are untrustworthy gangsters and I've heard of them forcing a foreclosure on a person who owed a few hundred. it might affect the credit rating of the person whose name is on that house's deeds.
5 the marketing bit....I think you can market the house for cash buyers only using upad. Might be cheaper than auction, definitely cheaper than an estate agent!
6. The family bit....what has happened to you is so unfair. There are unscrupulous people out there who do this for a lifestyle. Your poor parents don't deserve this....but they won't want to see you stressed either. In the end, you need to decide if you want to get hands on in getting the house back up to rental standard. Hands on could mean cash, time, labour, or chasing through the courts. For me, I realised that dad needed his house converting to one floor living, or else face thousands in unnecessary care home costs. So I had to sort it, and we did it. Solving a problem like this for a parent, and knowing that you did all you can to resolve it in an affordable way is a good feeling. Talk to the owner of this house and make your decision with them if you can, but I'm afraid that sometimes the right thing is never the easiest thing to carry out!

GOOD LUCKxxxx

mrsmumbles

fairy_lights wrote: »

That's not a scam though, that's the law, and should be pretty basic knowledge for any landlord.

yes, but THEN what the tenants do is claim that it's not their signature! Unbelievable, but true!
There are a lot of accidental landlords out there who do their very best for tenants, who get very good quality accommodation yet complain, complain, complain....
And no, tenants do not have the right to !!!!! on at me because my two year old bathroom suite is in the wrong arrangement, or because I do t have the money to build her a second car bay....this poster has suffered from an extreme version of this sort of arrogant tenant, and I just wanted to check she was ok with the prescribed information, which, as you point out, she needs to have been if she if going after that tenant in court.

Marktheshark

At least obtain a CCJ against the tenant.
They will fail the credit checks and not be able to rent private again.

bupe

Ok i did not intended this forum to start arguments, people are allowed to voice their opinion and for it to be challenged yes and i think the points have been made. I have been very open and I would not like to think that I am (or that anyone else ) being judged as the point of this specific discussion is for advise as I am very aware much has gone wrong and we made mistakes or i wouldn't be on here.

Guest101 and Mrs Mumbles you are both humans as are the tenants, some are good and some are not but that is life - however when something bad happens and you have had good intent it is incredibly disheartening. you have both been very helpful and actually can see you have good intent with advising me.

I_have_spoken

I don't know what to do anymore, can anyone offer some advice

Declaring yourself bankrupt would be an option

bupe

Bankruptcy, that sounds scary!

GwylimT

First if you can't afford to maintain a property such as having a working boiler you should have taken policies out to recover repairs etc. Why have you only just considered it to be unsuitable not to have damp proofing, you were clearly happy for people to live like this before.

If a tenant, or anyone causes damage to your property it needs reporting to the police so you can gain a crime number, for some insurance policies this is a requirement for any payout.

Looking at the house you certainly don't need a new kitchen, you just need to replace one drawer front, if you're really that adamant that you must have a brand new kitchen just buy a set of new drawers and draw fronts.

Again with the heating system, it should have been insured, but if it isn't you don't need a complete replacement, just replace anything that is damaged beyond repair. I myself took a radiator off my own wall, I did then replace all of them, I just had me radiator re-piped.

You can do a redecorating job well but it doesn't have to cost the earth, something plain but not boring as unless you give tenants permission to paint it needs to match furniture etc. If you have a grubby carpet hire a carpet vac, it's worth a try as its far cheaper than repairing a carpet, and really it's something that should be done to carpets anyway.

Look on places like free cycle and preloved, my tenants struggled with the small fridge freezer I had provided, they now have a double door one with a water/ice dispenser for £150, when I bought it it was still on sale new for over £700.

A rental property is a business and like any businesses it will only be successful with both investment and hard work.

Go through each room and write down what realistically needs doing, not things you merely want, like the new kitchen. You need to split this into things you can do yourself, really the only things you can't do are large plumbing jobs or large electrical jobs.

kinger101

Guest101 wrote: »

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32088927.html?premiumA=true

It's difficult to see the damage from the photos, but I'd say the place was already a very dated when it was let. Hardly likely to attract the best tenants to begin with.

I'd also change estate agents. The ad needs to be factual. It's a complete load drivel.

GwylimT

Any buyer would also not be interested as there are only pictures of two rooms, no one will waste time with a viewing unless they can actually see all or at least the majority of the rooms.

mrsmumbles

Best of luck with it all...it's always hard advising on a forum, but you sound very aware of what needs doing, and I am sure that you will get there. Hopefully you can get a bit of good info from all of us!