Landlord - Tenant Died

Neilos9

trouble is, for last 2 years, no one has been able to access the house........

Slithery

Neilos9 said:

trouble is, for last 2 years, no one has been able to access the house........

Why not?

Also why didn't you increase the rent when you wanted to? By serving the correct notice you could have evicted if they didn't agree to the increase...

What training have you done to make sure that you're being a decent, law-abiding landlord?

turnitround

Neilos9 said:

trouble is, for last 2 years, no one has been able to access the house........

Oh dear, then you have not had the gas checks done? Time to start being nice to the mother as very little hope of being able to evict.

canaldumidi

So no current gas safety certificate? Is there gas in the house?

For a S21 to be valid you will have to convince a court that you made all reasonable efforts to gain access for the gas inspection. Even then the S21 may fail if the judge decides he has no discretion. See https://www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/faqlandlord.htm

A landlord has to show that they took all reasonable steps to comply with the law. HSE recommends the following best practice in these circumstances and strongly advises that a record be kept of all correspondence with the tenants:

• leave the tenant a notice stating that an attempt was made to complete the gas safety check and provide your contact details;
• write to the tenant explaining that a safety check is a legal requirement and that it is for the tenants own safety. Give the tenant the opportunity to arrange their own appointment;
• HSE inspectors will look for at least three attempts to complete the gas safety check, including the above suggestions; however the approach will need to be appropriate to each circumstance. It would ultimately be for a court to decide if the action taken was reasonable depending upon the individual circumstances.
• It is a good idea to include arrangements for access in the tenancy agreement.

Have you checked?

S21 checklist (Is a S21 valid?)

FreeBear

canaldumidi said: So no current gas safety certificate? Is there gas in the house?

Not forgetting that an EIRC is also a legal requirement now, and has been since April 2021.

canaldumidi

FreeBear said:

canaldumidi said: So no current gas safety certificate? Is there gas in the house?

Not forgetting that an EIRC is also a legal requirement now, and has been since April 2021.

Good point - I don't think the checklist above has been updated with that.

theartfullodger

Neilos9 said:

theartfullodger said:

Neilos9 said:

Anyone help with a tricky situation.

....................
Land registry, shows me as owner, i have 7+ years of bank statements showing rent, and Mother has this month paid rent....
.............

Unless mother paid making it very clear from her side that she was paying on behalf of the estate, I fear by accepting that rent you've agreed a new tenancy: A new AST, with mum, but without all the paperwork needed to evict.

Tricky.

Done any training in landlord/tenant law in those 10 years, please?

how can you stop someone paying into your account?

Close the account then don't inform whoever you don't want paying you of the details.  A sensible bank should help with this ...

Is at least one option that springs to mind 

user1977

theartfullodger said:

Neilos9 said:

theartfullodger said:

Neilos9 said:

Anyone help with a tricky situation.

....................
Land registry, shows me as owner, i have 7+ years of bank statements showing rent, and Mother has this month paid rent....
.............

Unless mother paid making it very clear from her side that she was paying on behalf of the estate, I fear by accepting that rent you've agreed a new tenancy: A new AST, with mum, but without all the paperwork needed to evict.

Tricky.

Done any training in landlord/tenant law in those 10 years, please?

how can you stop someone paying into your account?

Close the account then don't inform whoever you don't want paying you of the details.  A sensible bank should help with this ...

Is at least one option that springs to mind 

Or just respond to such payments along the lines that the OP appears to have used already.

Quite common for commercial property rent invoices to include a disclaimer about payments from other entities not being deemed to prove landlord consent to assignment.

sourpuss2021

When you say that the rent has fallen behind other properties in the area, are you really comparing like with like?

In many instances where there's a long-term tenant whose rent has fallen below the average, it's deservedly so because the property has never had any serious money spent on it.  It's cheap but should be cheap, unless the landlord gets into a different game and spends vast sums on it.

There may be properties on the same street with the same floor space that you will see estate agents advertising for 30, 40, 50% more.  But it's really not comparable unless you've spent what their owners have spent on high-end bathrooms, kitchens, double-glazing, landscaped gardens, etc.

Also I bet there's more turnover with middle and top-of-the market tenants, with all the costs that will entail   I wouldn't be surprised if the landlords spend more, yet earn less.

Neilos9

yep, its 100% lower than market, as it is on the same rent as day 1.  In terms of condition its was in very good condition and i am 99% is same as Tenant who died was treating it as his home.