Rules on evicting problem tenant

Hoblands

Forgive me if this is on the wrong forum, and would appreciate being re-directed to the correct page if this is the case...

Complicated one.  Over the last few years, I've been building a portfolio of lock up garages for rental / investment as an alternative to paying in to a pension.  Currently have 6 of them, 5 of which have good paying tenants that give me no problems.  The most recent purchase however is causing me a major headache.

I had advertised it through Facebook local selling pages (as I have with previous rentals).  and was approached 10 months ago by a person who was happy to take the garage on immediately.  I always supply contracts (generic) for the security of both parties that also contain my bank details for setting up of a standing order.  Unfortunately I was a bit too trusting on this one and handed over the keys in exchange for 1 months rental (cash) together with a blank contract that I'd been assured would be returned to me by post within the week with contact details / address ECT.  I wasn't overly concerned until I realised that over a month had gone by with no contact and no second months rent coming in.

Here's the complicated bit - All I have for this person is a facebook profile that he isn't responding to when trying to contact by messenger (messages showing as not read), and a mobile phone number that doesn't connect.  I have visited the garage a few times with my spare key in the last couple of months and it is full of furniture and other items that obviously have a monetary value, but the weeds growing over the door suggest he hasn't been there for a good while.

I need to remove his belongings and take the garage back as I'm loosing a lot of money, but how do I do this legally when I don't have the first idea how to get hold of him??  Leaving a notice on the garage is no use as he wouldn't see it.  I have sent messages to his facebook account (which, by the way has high privacy settings so I can't get any clues or other contact info from it) and also to the mobile number he gave me stating my intentions but beyond that I'm stuck! 

Appreciate this is partly my fault for being too trusting in the first instance, but looking for advice rather than being reminded that I'm an idiot! 

Many thanks in advance for any ideas...

sevenhills

You could send him a friend request on Facebook to allow you to see more info, it's quite easy to miss messages from nonfriends, can you see his friends, any same as you, does he have lots, is it definitely a real profile, get a friend to send him a request?
Google his name and town, maybe a registered company in his name or something, Google knows about us all.

Hoblands

sevenhills said:

You could send him a friend request on Facebook to allow you to see more info, it's quite easy to miss messages from nonfriends, can you see his friends, any same as you, does he have lots, is it definitely a real profile, get a friend to send him a request?
Google his name and town, maybe a registered company in his name or something, Google knows about us all.

Thank you.  I have just sent him a friends request.  (One of the few things I hadn't thought of doing)

From the limited info I can see on his Facebook profile, there's no friends in common, and unfortunately he has a very common surname that Google hasn't yet thrown up any clues for!

Jonboy_1984

What resolution would the contract you provided allow for in terms of non-payment? 

The last self-store contract I had (admittedly in a secured building) allowed the landlord to apply further locks in the short-term for non-payment and disposal/sale of goods after so long.

By paying money, taking the contract without query and filling the garage it could be argued he has agreed to the terms - civil debt matters are a balance of probabilities rather than a guilty/not guilty case at court?

Hoblands

Jonboy_1984 said:

What resolution would the contract you provided allow for in terms of non-payment? 

The last self-store contract I had (admittedly in a secured building) allowed the landlord to apply further locks in the short-term for non-payment and disposal/sale of goods after so long.

By paying money, taking the contract without query and filling the garage it could be argued he has agreed to the terms - civil debt matters are a balance of probabilities rather than a guilty/not guilty case at court?

 There is provision for this scenario, but the way the contract is worded is that I need to serve notice before taking any action.  Without an address to write to I can't do this unfortunately...

silvercar

Hoblands said:

Jonboy_1984 said:

What resolution would the contract you provided allow for in terms of non-payment? 

The last self-store contract I had (admittedly in a secured building) allowed the landlord to apply further locks in the short-term for non-payment and disposal/sale of goods after so long.

By paying money, taking the contract without query and filling the garage it could be argued he has agreed to the terms - civil debt matters are a balance of probabilities rather than a guilty/not guilty case at court?

 There is provision for this scenario, but the way the contract is worded is that I need to serve notice before taking any action.  Without an address to write to I can't do this unfortunately...

I wonder if you can serve notice to the garage. Put a note taped to the outside of the garage door.

ProDave

Can you put an additional padlock so he can't get into the garage without it being removed, and instructions next to it to contact you to discuss access?

HampshireH

Anything in the garage with his name and address on.boxes for example?

Also you can phone people through Facebook messenger try that.

caprikid1

Surely with the existence of no contract and a cash payment how can he possibly demonstrate he had a contract ?

Throw his stuff outside ?

aoleks

caprikid1 said:

Surely with the existence of no contract and a cash payment how can he possibly demonstrate he had a contract ?

Throw his stuff outside ?

I’d say the existence of a contract is problematic, it gives the renter some rights, you can’t just throw his stuff away.

without a contract, you pretend nothing happened. “Who are you, mate? We never rented this garage”.

propertyrental

What exactly does the tenancy say? Please quote.
No address on the tenancy agreement? Why on earth not? And nothing on any of the belongings inside?
Then having tried all other methods to locate him (social media etc), post the appropriate notice both on the garage door and on a box/whatever inside, either in accordance with the contract, or 'reasonable' notice, specifying rent owed.
Ultimately, you could remove his goods but you still have a duty of care under the Torts (Interference with goods) Act 1977. See also
https:// www.landlordzone.co.uk/information/uncollected-goods/
(remove the space in the link)