Tenant has left without letting me know what are my rights?

AnotherJoe

Cakeguts wrote: »

Go to court and get a possession order and then there is no risk. Then sell the house if you are not going to live there again. What you have is a house that is not suitable for letting. I assume that you didn't buy it as a rental but as somewhere to live?

Lots of people make the mistake of thinking that a house that they have bought to live in will make a good rental property. Sometimes they do but often they don't. You can tell that what you are letting is one that doesn't make a good rental by the fact that you got unreliable tenants who were from a poorer EU country. There is nothing wrong with this but it is better to have a business model and property that is suitable for this part of the rental market. It doesn't sound from your OP is if this is the case. It sounds as if the property was always just a bit too expensive for the tenants. What you need is cheaper property where you can ask for a lower rent if tenants from poorer EU countries is going to be your business model.

That's just plain silly. The logical follow on is that no properties priced right for rental will ever have problem tenants and that all low priced properties will never have issues because the tenants can afford it.
The house next to me has had one set of problem tenants and I suspect a second one coming up. Reason : LL too cheap to pay for proper referencing and not using a bit of basic common sense eg how can someone in what is a low paid profession afford such a house without getting additional tenants in whatever the references say ? Prior to that with a different LL it had no problem with tenants.

Cakeguts

ftsos wrote: »

Thank you for your advice. I know you are right. You seem like someone who either works in the property market or owns properties.

You are right, I originally brought this to live. I never intended to become a landlord. However, life happens and one thing led to another, and I was torn between different situations as I was self-employed and I couldn't have the benefit of a big company pension. Like many people I didn't trust the pension market, so one thing led to another and I ended up buying 3 properties, and I live in one and rent 2 out. I have been letting this particular property now for 15 years.

I am sympathetic towards tenants (I mean it), and I try and charge around market rates. The last or current 2 tenants have not had a rent increase in 4 years. There are thousands of people like me who don't own many properties so they can't do it as a full-time job and don't often have the full knowledge. There are good as well as bad landlords and the same goes for tenants. Things are not as black and white as it sometimes seems.

The reality is I am now at an age, and some health issues mean that I would be pensionless without these houses. I will take your advice on board and try and safeguard myself going forward.

In the past, I have been a member of NLA. However, the worst aspect of the letting market for my opinion is the referencing. Landlords will often always give a good reference to get rid of even a bad tenant.

I work in technology, and I was hoping someone would create a platform that allows people to review landlords as well as tenants. I don't care if its non-profit or for profit. If I found enough like-minded landlords I would love to create or get involved in such a system with them. Right now the way it works is terrible even if you credit check someone, it is hard to know.

I will tell you how I know about this. When we started out we let a house that we had been living in. That house was never as good as a rental as the ones we have since bought to be let. We had endless problems with tenants in that house and in the end we sold it. The ones that we had bought with letting in mind rather than living in them were never nearly so much trouble as that one. It is something to do with you being more inclined to compromise when you buy a house to live in than tenants will when they go to rent somewhere.



Once we had done enough research we realised that there are certain areas which make houses better as rentals. The first house we let the one we had been living in was too far from a station and too far from shops for a rental it also didn't have enough offstreet parking and was in a road that was a bus route so parking in the street was awkward.



Once we had done some research we came up with a type of house that would let well as well as the part of the country that was less hassle. So the first house, the one we had lived in was in North West London and it was continual hassle. The second one in a different part of North West London was no hassle at all.



Since then we have sold the London ones and bought in Greater Manchester in an area that we also know. In that area we have gone for more modern houses which are in a desirable area and are close to shops and a train station. The semis and the detached house are hassle free. The modern 3 bed mid terrace which has a down stairs toilet, ensuite bathroom and family bathroom has been a bit of a problem in the past. So even the type of house can make a difference and it doesn't seem to make a difference even if it is modern.



What lets best in the area we are letting in are modern 3 bed semis and modern 3 bed detached houses with off street parking that are close to shops (walking distance) and a station as well as bus routes. We also have a 2 bed terraced cottage in a private road that has been let to the same tenant for around 15 years. One of the semis has had the same tenant for about 13 years. Voids are short and we don't have many of them.



If you want to live off the income or use it as a pension you don't really want lots of hassle and times when the house is vacant. This is why I suggested that you sold that house and bought one that your research told you was in the right area and was the right type of property for as little hassle as possible.



Everyone is going to get a bad tenant it can't be avoided but I think trying to reduce that risk as much as possible is good business sense.

ftsos

To answer some of your questions, I saw the tenant on FaceBook in the past and I cannot search and find him on there anymore. Either he has blocked me or he has deleted his account.

Also I have called his number from other mobile numbers, and he doesn't not answer.

@Cakeguts you are obviously experienced on this. However, I have rented 2 properties for 15 years. At one point I was renting all 3 because I moved abroad. In the 15 years I had 2 incidents and all in all I think I may have lost 2-4 weeks rent. Thats not bad for an amateur. Some of it is luck but some of it is because I keep an eye on some things. The main issue has been the last 2-3 years due to other things has meant my work personal life has been less organised, which has had an effect on things. What you say makes sense, but I won't get into the details right now. Thank you for the advice.

ftsos

UPDATE EVERYONE.

I just received a WhatsApp message from him finally, a few minutes ago. He confirms that he has left. Then he went on a personal attack about how I am a greedy landlord etc. They were really personal attacks. Anyway, I responded by thanking him for finally letting me know and wished him and his family the best for the future and told him that I do not wish to respond to personal attacks.

Anyway, to anyone who knows tenancy laws, I assume this message is enough for the law to accept that he has left. Can someone confirm this for me please?

Thank you everyone for your helpful input.

AdrianC

ftsos wrote: »

I just received a WhatsApp message from him finally, a few minutes ago. He confirms that he has left.
...
Anyway, to anyone who knows tenancy laws, I assume this message is enough for the law to accept that he has left. Can someone confirm this for me please?

The only time the law will need to "confirm" is if he comes back and tries to launch proceedings against you for illegal eviction. Then the message is your defence.

Make sure all the circumstances are fully documented, and file them somewhere safe. Get the place ready for your next tenant or for sale, and get on with life.

Claim his deposit from the protection service, and write the rest off. It's not worth trying to go after him internationally.

G_M

ftsos wrote: »

UPDATE EVERYONE.

I just received a WhatsApp message from him finally, a few minutes ago. He confirms that he has left. .....


Anyway, to anyone who knows tenancy laws, I assume this message is enough for the law to accept that he has left. Can someone confirm this for me please?

I can't read his message. You want a definitive legal answer? Provide a definitive quote.

Crashy_Time

Cakeguts wrote: »

Go to court and get a possession order and then there is no risk. Then sell the house if you are not going to live there again. What you have is a house that is not suitable for letting. I assume that you didn't buy it as a rental but as somewhere to live?



Lots of people make the mistake of thinking that a house that they have bought to live in will make a good rental property. Sometimes they do but often they don't. You can tell that what you are letting is one that doesn't make a good rental by the fact that you got unreliable tenants who were from a poorer EU country. There is nothing wrong with this but it is better to have a business model and property that is suitable for this part of the rental market. It doesn't sound from your OP is if this is the case. It sounds as if the property was always just a bit too expensive for the tenants. What you need is cheaper property where you can ask for a lower rent if tenants from poorer EU countries is going to be your business model.

Not sure what you mean here, one tenant deciding to disappear doesn`t make the property unsuitable? They may have had other reasons apart from money for going, and even if they couldn`t afford it someone else can, the next tenant could be fine. If no one rented to tenants from "poorer" EU countries the BTL sector would have collapsed long ago.

phoenix1837

AdrianC wrote: »

The only time the law will need to "confirm" is if he comes back and tries to launch proceedings against you for illegal eviction. Then the message is your defence.

Make sure all the circumstances are fully documented, and file them somewhere safe. Get the place ready for your next tenant or for sale, and get on with life.
.

Just to echo this, and as it is a Whatsapp message, make sure you have your messages backed up to Google in case your phone dies and you cannot recover the messages. At least then you can connect from another device and will be able to recover the messages that way. Mine are set to back up daily overnight so I never lose a message.

Bexgrossman

phoenix1837 wrote: »

Just to echo this, and as it is a Whatsapp message, make sure you have your messages backed up to Google in case your phone dies and you cannot recover the messages. At least then you can connect from another device and will be able to recover the messages that way. Mine are set to back up daily overnight so I never lose a message.

How can messages be saved to a search engine? Don’t you mean The Cloud? I would print out all messages and also send them to email.

[Deleted User]

Bexgrossman wrote: »

How can messages be saved to a search engine?

Google is not just a popular way of searching the interweb, but also a provider of accounts where personal data, such as photos and WhatsApp messages can be stored.

What will they think of next, eh? Amazing.