Tenant owing 6 weeks rent

Cakeguts

I don't understand the bit about she is the only name on the contract? Did you get her to sign a new contract with her as the sole tenant? How can you give her a new contract 3 months after you have just given her one?

Could you please explain exactly what you did after the partner left because what you have written doesn't make sense.

G_M

1) What date did the original tenancy end?
2) Did you end it properly? Was the deposit returned?
3) What date did the new tenancy start?
4) Did you take a new deposit (and protect it etc)?
5) Did you provide the new tenant with an EPC? Gov leaflet etc?
6) Did you consider asking for a guarantor given that the new tenancy was for a sole tenant?

If any of the above was not done properly, you have put yourself at risk.

7) What dates do the arrears relate to? (old or new tenancy)?

You cannot impose another new tenancy on the tenant without her consent (& I fail to see what it would achieve). If the tenant is struggling to pay rent, how will increasing the rent help?

If rent is due monthly, and 2 payments are overdue, a S8 ground 8 could be served.

You could, of course, simply write off the arrears and allow the tenant to continue paying with a clean sheet.

Your choice.


* 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?

tony541

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the responses, they have been very supportive and helpful. I think I will go along the route of asking if she is willing to pay extra on her rent each week and also give her a section 21 dated to coincide with the 6 month of the new contract if she defaults again.
In her favour she has been in employment for a few months now and seems has kept the house clean and tidy.
Thanks again
Tony

ThePants999

If you must do this "a little extra each week" thing, then to be fair to her you need a paper trail that makes it totally clear that she's paying "£X rent plus £Y arrears repayment", and be ready to produce a full statement at any time.

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Well, if she's just signed a new AST then he's got 6 months to see if she remains as reliable a tenant single as she was when she was in a couple!

Yeah, that's true I guess I'm a bit late with this advice, that was the time to do proper checks on her!

G_M

tony541 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for the responses, they have been very supportive and helpful. I think I will go along the route of asking if she is willing to pay extra on her rent each week and also give her a section 21 dated to coincide with the 6 month of the new contract if she defaults again.
In her favour she has been in employment for a few months now and seems has kept the house clean and tidy.
Thanks again
Tony

Fair enough.

Whether your S21 will be valid of course depends on the answers to the questions in my post above.........

agrinnall

tony541 wrote: »

She says that her bank paid the money into the wrong account and that they cant get the money back.

This bit is unlikely to be true, because the bank does what she tells them to do. If she made the payment online then any error is her fault, if she did it by telephone banking or over the counter it's just about possible that the bank mistyped something but even then she should have checked. So either the payment was never made or it was a mistake that she made. If the latter there are now procedures in place where her bank can liaise with the receiving bank to get the money back. So you can either give her time to pay or play hardball and insist she starts paying you now.