Tenant dispute

Joskat

:(
Our tenants vacated the house 3 months before the end of their lease. No notice was given. We are now at the ADR stage in getting the deposit as part payment of the rent owed. However the tenants will not agree to ADR, so as I understand it, the only way for us to claim outstanding monies is through the court. My question is: if we decide not to bother (we've heard in the grapevine that they are in deep deep doo doo financially), and take the financial hit what happens to the deposit? Will they automatically get it back?

anselld

If neither side agrees to a resolution it will remain in the DPS.

FBaby

They will however release the deposit upon request of the courts, so that's the way to go.

G_M

Joskat wrote: »

:(
..... However the tenants will not agree to ADR, so as I understand it, the only way for us to claim outstanding monies is through the court. ?

/???

That's the only way to claim the outstanding money whether or not the tenants agree to ADR!

Go to Small Claims Court assuming you know where they are. In fact I think you can serve court papers at the property since the tenancy is still valid. Or is it? have you agreed to Early Surrender? (in which case on what terms?)

I'd sue even if getting the money from them might be impossible. They'll get a CCJ against them, and learn something (hopefully) too.

Joskat

Will I need written proof from DPS that the tenants won't agree to ADR?
The LA is worse than useless, and trying to get info from him is frustrating to say the least. Looks like Court action - as the saying goes "don't get mad, get even". It may cost but I will have the satisfaction of knowing that I have done everything possible. We inherited the tenants as they took up the tenancy during the house purchase. We were aware that they were moving in - what we didn't know (and the LA didn't tell us) was that they had been in arrears at their previous address, the property check referred to (and had photo's for) a 2 bedroom house and it was 3 bedrooms so a whole room was omitted from the report!!??? They had a guarantor that we weren't aware of and now the LA doesn't seem at all interested. Hey ho, it won't stop us trying to let it out again........

theartfullodger

Pursue ADR and/or court for the deposit & money owed: And ensure they get a CCJ if they won't pay. That CCJ should then warn other landlords (who bother to credit check them) and make it v hard for tenants to get credit or mobile 'phone contracts etc etc/.//

When you credit & reference checked them were they fine??

G_M

Joskat wrote: »

We inherited the tenants as they took up the tenancy during the house purchase. We were aware that they were moving in - what we didn't know (and the LA didn't tell us) was that they had been in arrears at their previous address, the property check referred to (and had photo's for) a 2 bedroom house and it was 3 bedrooms so a whole room was omitted from the report!!??? They had a guarantor that we weren't aware of and now the LA doesn't seem at all interested. Hey ho, it won't stop us trying to let it out again........

So you permitted them to move in during the purchase period? Without doing proper checks?
I'm afraid you have brough this on yourself by allowing the seller to install tenants who you were about to inherit! What were you thinking?

They had a guarantor? Where? In your property or their previous one? If the previous one, why is this relevant? If yours, why are you not pursuing the guarantor?

What checks did you do before selecting the LA?


* Letting agents: how should a landlord select or sack?

Joskat

No we didn't permit them to move in - they had already signed the contract and moved in a day after we unexpectedly had our low offer accepted, so had no say about them. They had a guarantor with the tenancy so we will be pursuing them, but thought we needed to get the deposit sorted first as that will have a bearing on how much we claim back from the guarantor.

jjlandlord

What will happen if you do not 'bother' depends on the scheme. Which scheme is it?

If you go to court (and you should) you must also request that the court direct the scheme to release the money to you as part of the judgment.
Otherwise, the scheme will still refuse to hand over the money!

G_M

Joskat wrote: »

No we didn't permit them to move in - they had already signed the contract and moved in a day after we unexpectedly had our low offer accepted,.

You chose not to buy a property 'with vacant possession' but to buy a tenanted property.

You chose not to do due diligence on the tenancy/tenants, but simply to accept them and buy the package (property plus incumbants). You took a gamble and are reaping the rewards.

I trust that when you go to court the tenants will not be in a position to enter a defence on the grounds that you have not complied with the Landlord & Tenant Act 1985.........??

More constructively, send the guarantors a 'letter before action', giving full details of what the tenants owe, and making clear that if neither the tenants nor guarantor make good the debt, both will be sued.

When you go to court, make the guarantors co-defendants.

That of course assumes you have checked the guarantor agreement is valid and binding.

silvercar

ADP is evidence based, submit the evidence of rent arrears and let the process take its course.