Do landlords have any rights?

mlz1413

Three months later, she still hasn't paid any rent, with no intention of making a Housing Benefit claim and will not answer the phone or door to discuss it. In Scot's Law am I entitled to check for frozen pipes etc, since I'm not even sure she's still there. Any advice would be appreciated.[/quote]
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I'm a bit confused that you say 'no intention of making a HB Claim' when you can't get hold of her.

Do you live near the house can you see if it's lived in (lights on/ rubbish in bin?) I do not know Scotland rules but you are allowed access for emergencies in England - I'm not sure how you would justify an emergency if house is empty.

But this was my circumstance: I used to rent out a house and the tenant didn't pay for 2 months and then stopped answering phone / letters, I went round one day and found the front door had been smashed (double glazed door) with a paving slab ripped out of front garden! I was really worried, I knocked for ages (about 30 mins) back and front of house and still no answer, I considered this an emergency as I thought someone could be seriously injured/dead inside.

I called a relative to act as witness to go in with me, knocked again for another 5 mins and shouted through letterbox before entering. Everyone was Ok, but I found out then that people banging on doors / windows / shouting was perfectly normal as she had 7 people living in a 2 bed house!
(She vacated house overnight shortly after)

Heather25

We asked Housing Department if the lady had made a Housing Benefit appication and she hasn't. There is a light on upstairs in the evening but no-one answers the door. I don't like intruding but what's the option - ask the police to enter?

mlz1413

tough call, do you have the mothers or the husbands address/telephone numbers so you could contact them and ask them to advise you?

Good luck!

Doozergirl

What about the neighbours? Have they seen her going in and out?

Does www.landlordzone.co.uk cover Scotland? They know what they're talking about. You could join a landlord's association for their legal advice if she is indeed still living there.

lynzpower

Heather25 wrote: »

We asked Housing Department if the lady had made a Housing Benefit appication and she hasn't. There is a light on upstairs in the evening but no-one answers the door. I don't like intruding but what's the option - ask the police to enter?

er I wouldnt class this info as truth to be honest.

I used to work with social services, and I used to help people fill in HB forms, we used to physically take them into the HB office and get a recipt for them. Time and time again they would tell us that they havent put a claim in when i knew damn well fine that they had, and had the receipts in the file to prove it. WHat they ACTAULLY tended to mean is that there is no record on the system and they havent logged it, its sat in some dusty tray somewhere in some outsourced land of never-never.

I would try and make contact again and again. Pop round. KNock on. They might answer the door you never know.

clutton_2

""the millions of tenants who have to put up with bad landlords"" - and where pray have you got this fact from ????

or have you perchance spoken to each and every one ?

guppy

Serve the relevant notice under Scots law. I don't know which one, I'm not in Scotland. Look up the info on the internet or pay a solicitor.

No offence, but you really shouldn't create a tenancy if you don't know what you are doing

PROFESSIONAL_LANDLORD

Heather25 wrote: »

For 2 years a married couple rented a house from us. The gentleman left and the woman wanted to stay on. We explained Housing benefit wouldn't cover all rent but she insisted her mum would make up the difference so subsequently gave her a 6 month Short Assured Tenancy lease. Three months later, she still hasn't paid any rent, with no intention of making a Housing Benefit claim and will not answer the phone or door to discuss it. In Scot's Law am I entitled to check for frozen pipes etc, since I'm not even sure she's still there. Any advice would be appreciated.

Absolutely not


You can issue an AT6 form along with a "NOTICE TO QUIT" it is important that the wording is legal,and the dates are entirely correct, an AT6 can only be issued when a AT5 has been issued at the beginning of a lease, and a LL has a receipt/signed copy of the same document, assuming an AT5 is in force I always advise using Sheriff Officers to serve these documents, rather than recorded delivery, some tenants will not open their door to anyone, their fee is around £60. If the tenant remains after the 'date' you will be forced to go to court for a possession order which must be given on mandatory grounds.


If you have not provided an AT5 form, the lease is not a Short Assured Tenancy, in law it is an Assured Tenancy, ( less right's for LLs )once a tenant is 3 months in arrears you can issue proceedings against them for their removal, although this action will be taken on discrectionary grounds a sheriff will decide whether or not to grant a possession order, time to take legal advice.


All LLs must be registered in Scotland BY LAW with their local authority, and any properties owned by them.


Is she living there ? ask about, if your SURE she's not, then enter the property using your keys, observe, touch nothing , then leave go back a few days later , if nothing has changed ( ' dishes in the sink etc.' ) CHANGE THE LOCKS! tell neighbours , put up a notice on the door, no point in taking action if she's done a runner.

Heather25

Thanks for that, there is an AT5 in force. We've never had any problems with tenants until the last few months. It's a case of wishful thinking that the lady will do a moonlght flit before we have to go down the court proceedings route. I've prided myself that for the past several years we've even had xmas cards from our tenants and repairs are done within 48 hours but there's always got to be the exception and our's is now living in a good 2 bedroom house rent-free.