Benefits agency told me tenant they will only help her if the landlord evicts them

p00hsticks

ftsos said:

When I met her, she came to view, she came across as helpless, I felt bad for her. She had never rented (according to her), and she recently found her self in this situation of divorce and young child.

And there's the nub of it.

She's not used to fending for herself, and when things go wrong she is now calling you to do all the things she would have expected her husband to deal with when she was married.....

lookstraightahead

p00hsticks said:

ftsos said:

When I met her, she came to view, she came across as helpless, I felt bad for her. She had never rented (according to her), and she recently found her self in this situation of divorce and young child.

And there's the nub of it.

She's not used to fending for herself, and when things go wrong she is now calling you to do all the things she would have expected her husband to deal with when she was married.....

Really 😂😂😂😂

canaldumidi

The trouble with discussing whether the tenant is/isn't being unreasonable, has a medical condition, etc, is that the OP has not yet clarified whether the monthly calls relate to genuine issues or not.

For all we know, the property is run-down, the roof leaks, the boiler is past its use-by date etc etc.

So what exactly were the last 4 or 5 'issues' raised? Light bulb needs changing or roof tile needs replacing?

lookstraightahead

canaldumidi said:

The trouble with discussing whether the tenant is/isn't being unreasonable, has a medical condition, etc, is that the OP has not yet clarified whether the monthly calls relate to genuine issues or not.

For all we know, the property is run-down, the roof leaks, the boiler is past its use-by date etc etc.

So what exactly were the last 4 or 5 'issues' raised? Light bulb needs changing or roof tile needs replacing?

Agreed.

your comment about the light bulb reminded me of when I was a tenant back in the day. The neighbours said that the previous tenants had called the landlord out for everything, even lightbulbs (neighbour was friends with the landlord).  As tenants, we kept having lightbulbs go and found out via an electrician that the electrics were really bad.

I would like to know what the issues are as well. 

theoretica

One answer is an extra person between this particular landlord and this particular tenant.  A decent, sensible, handyman that the tenant calls instead of the landlord - or getting an agency to manage the property (after discussion of the issues) rather than the landlord doing it directly.  It will cost, but less than eviction.

lookstraightahead

theoretica said:

One answer is an extra person between this particular landlord and this particular tenant.  A decent, sensible, handyman that the tenant calls instead of the landlord - or getting an agency to manage the property (after discussion of the issues) rather than the landlord doing it directly.  It will cost, but less than eviction.

This is a good idea. 

elsien

Yes, my SIL would be very interested to hear it should be my brother getting all the jobs done. 

letsbetfair

Ramouth said:

You have a tenant who pays their rent and isn’t trashing the place.  Sound like a keeper to me!  Yes, a monthly request to fix something is irritating, but maybe a price worth paying?

Yeah - is this a good investment with this tenant in the property? If it's a good return after expenses, I'd tolerate an annoying monthly call! If you really don't have time for that, renting property is probably not for you.

It sounds like this tenant is making unnecessary calls, but a call a month isn't necessarily a sign of a bad tenant. I own my own place, and one month I had to get a plumber out twice and an electrician one for three separate random problems - sometimes stuff just breaks!

macman

Is one call a month really excessive if you choose to manage the property yourself? I would say not, though you've only given one example of these supposedly frivolous calls. If you are unemployed, then surely you have the time available to devote to managing your property? If not, then you should reconsider whether running a property rental business is the right thing for you.
One other important point: a landlord cannot evict a tenant, only a court can grant a possession order, and currently it could take 18m or longer. So, if that is your intention, you need to get on with issuing an S21, assuming that the tenancy is regularised.
The tenant has simply been advised of her legal rights re rehousing should you seek possession: there is nothing 'shocking' about that.

BikingBud

justwhat said:

If your tenant is wanting to move out via eviction route then they may stop paying rent. 

I would ignore the phone calls and only repair anything there is a legal requirement to do. Start eviction now or start it when the rent dries up..

Then i would not rent to DHSS(Popcorn). Perfectly legal to do an affordability test on prospective tenants. 

Private LL's  should NOT be thought of as charities or  social housing providers.

And similarly private landlords should not expect the taxpayers fund their private pension plan for no effort! 

If it's a business, be professional and treat it like one or sell up and move on!