Rental property damaged

gingercordial

Peter_Williams wrote: »

The landlord is related to me and my cousin.
The tenant's have been giving my cousin the cash, when the landlord is away.
Until the electricity issue.

If your cousin has been handing that money over to the landlord in full he (your cousin) may also be in trouble with HMRC for making payments to a non-resident landlord with no advance clearance in place. Your cousin could be personally liable for 20% of the rent. HMRC may (and probably will) choose to go after him because he's here in the UK so easier to get at than the landlord himself.

Advise your cousin to stop being involved too.

Peter_Williams

Comms69 wrote: »

So you speak Czech?

No. But the occupants who speak a bit of English all tell me they speak Czech.
I have a colleague who speaks Czech - but I'm not sure if I really want to get him involved.

I'm was going to limit my involvement to identifying the occupants. They understand the word passport. I could take my own passport to point to.
I could photograph their passports with my phone, if they let me. Then leave it at that.

I mentioned this to my cousin today. He doesn't really think there's any point in obtaining these occupiers identities, because he doesn't see what the LL will do with that info.

I don't think the LL really cares too much about the rent money at present. He just wants an easy life and that means someone sorting out the electricity issue.

It seems the original tenants were just a couple of guys who were happy to maintain the property themselves. They had a van with tools etc, so I think they were ok. But they seem to have left and this large family has moved in.

My cousin thinks the best option is to find the original guys and ask them to come back and sort the situation (by offering them the house rent free).

Peter_Williams

gingercordial wrote: »

If your cousin has been handing that money over to the landlord in full he (your cousin) may also be in trouble with HMRC for making payments to a non-resident landlord with no advance clearance in place. Your cousin could be personally liable for 20% of the rent. HMRC may (and probably will) choose to go after him because he's here in the UK so easier to get at than the landlord himself.

Advise your cousin to stop being involved too.

There are no records. It's been cash only. No receipts or bank records etc, for obvious reasons.

grumiofoundation

Peter_Williams wrote: »

My family are involved in property investment.
My only property is the one I occupy.
I have only advised others to be cautious.

Seems to me that unfortunately your family are involved in breaking multiple laws and you are being dragged in.

I wouldn’t be touching any aspect of this situation with the longest barge pole you can imagine.

Comms69

Peter_Williams wrote: »

No. But the occupants who speak a bit of English all tell me they speak Czech.
I have a colleague who speaks Czech - but I'm not sure if I really want to get him involved. - Just curious how does that conversation go?
Hi!
Hi, we all speak Czech



I'm was going to limit my involvement to identifying the occupants. They understand the word passport. I could take my own passport to point to. - Go for it, in for a penny, may as well implicate yourself further
I could photograph their passports with my phone, if they let me. Then leave it at that. - yep, complying with GDPR wont be difficult on the secure server that is your mobile phone...

I mentioned this to my cousin today. He doesn't really think there's any point in obtaining these occupiers identities, because he doesn't see what the LL will do with that info.

I don't think the LL really cares too much about the rent money at present. He just wants an easy life and that means someone sorting out the electricity issue.

It seems the original tenants were just a couple of guys who were happy to maintain the property themselves. They had a van with tools etc, so I think they were ok. But they seem to have left and this large family has moved in.

My cousin thinks the best option is to find the original guys and ask them to come back and sort the situation (by offering them the house rent free).

Nope. I don't believe this story. the circumstances and the proposed solutions are ridiculous.

Peter_Williams

Comms69 wrote: »

Nope. I don't believe this story. the circumstances and the proposed solutions are ridiculous.

That's a good point about the phone photos.
I'd forgotten that phone photos are probably uploaded and saved on a database somewhere and there's probably a link to my identity somewhere. We all leave so much digital footprint these days - without thinking about it.

I don't think I'll bother with it now. Glad I discussed it on here.

Yes, I asked what language they speak and they said Czech.

Peter_Williams

grumiofoundation wrote: »

Seems to me that unfortunately your family are involved in breaking multiple laws and you are being dragged in.

I wouldn’t be touching any aspect of this situation with the longest barge pole you can imagine.

I agree. I'm going to try and tactfully avoid getting dragged in.
But obviously I don't want to fall out with my relatives, as we all rely on one another.

Comms69

Peter_Williams wrote: »

I agree. I'm going to try and tactfully avoid getting dragged in.
But obviously I don't want to fall out with my relatives, as we all rely on one another.

Most people don't.

AdrianC

Peter_Williams wrote: »

Yes, I asked what language they speak and they said Czech.

"Yes, we speak an EU language that you certainly won't understand... Honest. No, it really is an EU language. Definitely not Albanian or Ukrainian or... Would we lie to you? Illegally here? Heaven forfend, Sir!"

Peter_Williams

Comms69 wrote: »

Most people don't.

Well in this case we do.

I would like the LL to sell all his rental properties, as they are more hassle than they are worth.

I'd much prefer he spent the time and effort working with me on my house and a few others to do a good job.
But life's not always that easy or simple and you need to be tactful and helpful and compromise etc.

If you upset people or act like you know it all, you'll just irritate them and then they won't be willing to help you in the future.
I know how little I know and how useless I am on my own. But that doesn't mean I can't be useful to others.