Issues with problem tenant

Amandaluke

Hi guys
I am in need of some advice please.
I have a flat which is rented out , we are by no means professional landlords so pretty clueless, the tenant was having his rent paid by the universal credit, they were only paying £50 per week and tenant was meant to top up the other £30 the has been going on for a year and he will not pay the top up amount , in August his rent stopped altogether universal credit wouldn't tell me any thing and advised me to talk to tenant , he told me there was an error and it's getting sorted but still we have had nothing. In addition to this he has compleatly trashed the place . The Council have been out and told us we need to do work on the place , they want a new gas safety certificate which is a problem as he doesn't use the gas at all and has built up £300 worth of dept on the meter for service charges , they have also asked for a energy efficiency report which I haven't got a clue what it is. There are other issues they want us to mend which I am not prepared to spend money on when he is about 6months behind in rent and we are unlikely to get any money from him. We want to get him out and just sell up as it's became more trouble and hassle than its worth . 3 times he has smashed a window and we have had to replace it and once he changed the rent from our bank to his and we had to wait 8 weeks to get it moved back needless to say we didn't see the money for those 8 weeks at all, when i asked him for the money he thretened to smash my face in . He has sold some of the furniture provided , dragged the sofa in to the yard and set fire to it , kicked the gate in to peices and smashed up the fence. The Council have said I can't serve him with notice till the new gas safety certificate has been done . I think I need to give him a section 8 notice but I filled on in on a Web site I had to pay to use but it says on the notice that he will get a court order ordering eviction after the section 8. How do I get a court order and does any one know how much they cost. Also does Any one know if it is true that I can't give him a section 8/21 until I have paid off his gas depts to get the certificate.

Thank you so much in advance , this is really getting me depressed and the less I have to actually deal with him the better, I just want to get him out fumigation the place and sell it. Estate agent has said we will make quite a loss due to the poor state it is now in but I don't care I just want to get rid of it. X x

Pixie5740

What does his arrears on his gas account have to do with you having a valid gas safety certificate? One is not dependent on the other.

If he pays his rent weekly abc is 8 weeks or more in arrears then you can issue him with a Section 8 notice using Ground 8. If he doesn't move out at the end of the notice period you'll need to go to court to get an eviction notice. If he still doesn't move out you'll need to appoint bailiffs.

If this tenancy started after 1st Oct 2015 then I think you'd struggle to evict using the Section 21 route if the tenant has requested repairs and there's no valid GSC.

Read G_M's guide to Tenancies in England & Wales because you sound completely out your depth. If you want rid of this tenant you'll need to get all your ducks in a row.

G_M

It's hard to know where to start.

we are by no means professional landlords so pretty clueless,

you're right there!

but it's no excuse. As landlords you have many legal oblications, some of which could result in criminal charges if ignored, and you clearly have no idea......

To get an idea of what you should have been doing, read:

* New landlords: advice, information & links

As for what to do now, pixie has pointed you in the right direction, though the link should have been:

* Ending/renewing an AST: what happens when a fixed term ends? How can a LL or tenant end a tenancy? What is a periodic tenancy?

(not that the deposits link is not relevant/useful for you too)

I'd simply add that once you've got rid of this tenant, do NOT get another.

sell.

[Deleted User]

When I moved into my place, I found there had to be some credit in the prepay meter to allow the engineer to run some gas and complete the safety check. I assume the tenant's gas has been cut off due to debt or its a prepay meter that's at or beyond the debt limit. But without knowing which is the true situation, can't advise (I had all sorts of problems with my energy provider and in the end, they extended the normal credit - temporarily - provided by the meter just so I could have the safety checks run and the gas uncapped). I suggest the OP phones the energy provider to discuss options.

It also sounds like conversations need to take place with the council to find a way forward.

I would advise the OP goes to a specialist eviction agency that deals with evicting tenants. None of this is going to be cheap. But it sounds like the OP has no choice.

FBaby

Did you take a deposit and if so, did you protect it properly. Unfortunately, you are learning too late that being a landlord is a running a complex business (until you know what you're doing).

Before you take any further steps, do your research as otherwise, it will bite you back, and you'll have to start all other again. I wish you good luck.

csgohan4

To those reading being a LL is by no means a quick buck and easy as the OP has found out.


It costs money to evict a tenant and time as well, easily at least a few thousands in unpaid rent and bailiffs e.t.c


If you ever seen Can't pay? we take it away, the states people leave the house in after eviction is shocking. Laminate flooring with cat pee on it making it soft laminate flooring lol

ognum

It is clear you are not a professional LL but you don't need to be to know what you have to do legally for your tenant. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

You do need to have an up to date Gas safe certificate so get it as soon as possible.

Evicting a tenant is a slow process. I began the eviction process of a tenant in May ( no problems with the property but I wanted to sell). I gave her a statutory 2 months notice , she stayed as she wants council housing.

After her two months notice I applied and later went for court hearing and got possesion the judge gave possesion two weeks after the court date ( this is the fastest you can be allocated, the judge could make it 6 weeks) she stayed and I now have a bailiff appointment next week to get possesion.

Note - I do not blame my tenant for any of this, the system is set up this way for those who are seeking council housing but the same can happen for those who are not they just don't want to move.

In court the judge will consider if there are unfinished repairs and may throw your case out until the repairs are completed. Equally if any forms are wrongly submitted they will be thrown out.

My tenant has paid rent throughout this process, if they had not I would now be 6 months down.

The costs I am giving you are approximate I don't have the exact details in front of me.

Court cost approx £330
Bailiff cost £121

I have not used legal representation, in a case where you have repairs and no gas safe certificate I would probably take legal advice.

Are you a member of a LL body, they will help.

Browntoa

Some people shouldn't do BTL

No idea of basic legal requirements they need to adhere to

I'm betting the deposit is not in a scheme

jimmy_cricket

Does the op need to get a gas safety Cert? It seems from the information given that the gas supply has been cut off

csgohan4

jimmy_cricket wrote: »

Does the op need to get a gas safety Cert? It seems from the information given that the gas supply has been cut off

Will this matter?? the property Is supplied by Gas

jimmy_cricket

csgohan4 wrote: »

Will this matter?? the property Is supplied by Gas

Not if the gas bard have cut the supply through nonpayment