Tenant say they will not pay rent ,if carpet not change

landlord2016

I am a new landlord .Tenants move first October 2016.

Before they move ,I told them I will change carpet of one bedroom . After one week, they demand change of carpet of all floors.Now they said they will not pay rant if I do not change carpet .

What my reply should be ?
Dear x,

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FBaby

Reply to say you have bought the carpet for the bedroom and can then tell you what would be a good day to come and have it fitted.

Remind them that if they are only one day late paying rent they are breaking the term of the contract and you could take them to court to evict them. Say you are prepared to consider replacing the rest of the carpets but that will need to be offset by an agreement to increase the rent.

Hoploz

You should do as you promised and replace the bedroom carpet.

They should do as they promised and pay the rent.

Beyond that is open to negotiation which will presumably be better for everybody if you all stay on good terms.

csgohan4

Landlord say they will evict ,if rent not paid

Rain_Shadow

I wonder if they are more interested in new carpets or an excuse to not pay?


Do you think the carpets in the rest of the house need changing?

AdrianC

Do you want them to stay in your property as long-term tenants?

If so...
Change the entire carpet, and have happy tenants.
If they turn out to still not be happy then issue s21 once their fixed period is up.

If not...
Do what you promised to do before they moved in.
If they don't pay rent then - when they get to two months arrears - issue s8 notice.
Once they're out, issue a court claim for any arrears they still owe.

csgohan4

AdrianC wrote: »

Do you want them to stay in your property as long-term tenants?

If so...
Change the entire carpet, and have happy tenants.
If they turn out to still not be happy then issue s21 once their fixed period is up.

If not...
Do what you promised to do before they moved in.
If they don't pay rent then - when they get to two months arrears - issue s8 notice.
Once they're out, issue a court claim for any arrears they still owe.

Do LL not have difficulty in getting the arrears back as you need to have a forwarding address for the CCJ and subsequently high court writs? Been watching too many Can't pay, take it away

AdrianC

csgohan4 wrote: »

Do LL not have difficulty in getting the arrears back as you need to have a forwarding address for the CCJ and subsequently high court writs?

You can issue the claim against the last known address.

But, obviously, enforcing the claim might be difficult - although there will be a CCJ against them for the debt.
http://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2016/06/06/can-serve-legal-proceedings-tenants-left-leaving-no-forwarding-address/

Still, the tenants' references should give plenty of clues as to how to trace them, right...?

Pixie5740

Before the tenancy started you agreed to change the bedroom carpet. As for the other carpets if there was something wrong with them, for example they were threadbare trips hazards, I'd say consider it. However, this tenancy only started 20 days ago, the tenants knew what condition the carpets were in before they moved in, the condition cannot have deteriorated that much in under 3 weeks. Combine that with the "change the carpets or else," and I'd be inclined to tell them to jog on.

If they are just one day late with the rent you can issue a Section 8 on ground 10 (discretionary). If they are 2 months in arrears (I'm assuming rent is paid monthly) then you can issue a Section 8 ground 8 (mandatory).

See New Landlords because you seem a bit out your depth.

Pixie5740

csgohan4 wrote: »

Do LL not have difficulty in getting the arrears back as you need to have a forwarding address for the CCJ and subsequently high court writs? Been watching too many Can't pay, take it away

I think the arrears can be dealt with at the same time as the eviction order if the Section 8 route is used.

FBaby

Change the entire carpet, and have happy tenants.
If they turn out to still not be happy then issue s21 once their fixed period is up.

And then what? Replace the whole kitchen otherwise they don't pay? Tenants visited the place and agreed on the rent based on what they saw. They negotiated replacement of carpet in one room and there's what they should get. Why should the landlord now spend £100s on a tenant who knew what they were getting for their rent who only weeks into it is making threats not to pay? Different if they'd been there for years but blackmailing after they have just moved in sends real alarm bells. I would do nothing but what I'd promised for tenants like this who are highly likely to never be happy no matter what.