Harassment

Comms69

karenjdot said:

Thanks numbercruncher8 that is what I am beginning to think is what’s happening here, he is chancing his luck. He called the police when he changed the locks and they promptly arrived saw that there was no disturbance (whilst elderly neighbours were looking on) and told him to change them back as this is an offence and asked if we wanted to press charges, which we said no. He cowered behind the door whilst changing the locks. There is a lot more I can say but suffice to say he told us he would not be paying rent during lock down as he had no money and we initially took pity on him until we found out that he had been sacked from his pub chef job due to repeatedly being told not to smoke marijuana whilst in the kitchen, since we discovered this the relationship broke down irreplaceably and we just want shot of him. 

Just fyi it’s not an offence 

karenjdot

Yes, I was surprised they told him to change them back!
However, it states in his contract that any changes to the property or locks, he must first ask for permission, he has made small adaptations to the property which have been a surprise when doing an inspection. He really has no regard for the contract and we have since decided it’s not worth the paper it’s written on, that they both signed.

Scotbot

I would hazard a guess the £45,800 figure and the breakdown including car spray costs may have been concocted after a joint or 3. Making the question what have you been smoking legitimate....

karenjdot

Yes, I did wonder 🙄

Rural_Puppy

Double check that any notices you have served on the tenant are absolutely correct and watertight. Best of luck.

SpiderLegs

I think he has a good case. OP you should offer to settle for 15k.

karenjdot

Thank you Rural-Puppy, I paid a solicitor to do this solely for that reason, couldn’t bare it if it was invalid for any reason. He stated that he will not be paying his rent due on the 17th August as he plans to vacate on the 18th September and anticipates not getting his deposit back. 

DoaM

SpiderLegs said:

I think he has a good case. OP you should offer to settle for 15k.

I'm hoping that's sarcasm 🙄

greatcrested

Ignore the claim- no need even to respond. In fact better not to.

Serve a S8 (G8 or 11 depending on the arrears)

Check and double check that your S21 is valid.

S21 checklist (Is a S21 valid?)

[Deleted User]

karenjdot said:

Thanks numbercruncher8 that is what I am beginning to think is what’s happening here, he is chancing his luck. He called the police when he changed the locks and they promptly arrived saw that there was no disturbance (whilst elderly neighbours were looking on) and told him to change them back as this is an offence and asked if we wanted to press charges, which we said no. He cowered behind the door whilst changing the locks. There is a lot more I can say but suffice to say he told us he would not be paying rent during lock down as he had no money and we initially took pity on him until we found out that he had been sacked from his pub chef job due to repeatedly being told not to smoke marijuana whilst in the kitchen, since we discovered this the relationship broke down irreplaceably and we just want shot of him. 

Why would the tenant call the police when he changed the locks to his own home? Were you trying to enter his home without the required 24 hours notice? 

I’d be tempted not to respond at all to the tenant’s letter before action or whatever he has sent you and just proceed with the Section 21 and Section 8 notices. 

I am curious as to why he thinks he’s entitled to a rent refund. The property isn’t in an area with compulsory landlord licensing is it and you don’t happen to have a licence? That’s the only scenario I can think of where a tenant might be entitled to a rent refund. 

ETA: Actually there are a couple of other scenarios that would lead to a rent refund as well. 

https://www.landlordlawblog.co.uk/2018/11/13/rent-repayment-orders-work/