Inventory items missing of over £6k and deposit is 2k

propertyrental

You need to review your Goodlord legal /rent protection Policy, contact Goodlord and make a claim.

If you know where the tenants are (or where they work) you/Goodlord could make legal claims against them.

Your lost possessions and the T's abandoned possessions, are 2 separate issues. Irrespective of the T's wrong-doing regarding your possessions, you still have a duty of care to their possessions.
https://www.landlordzone.co.uk/information/abandoned-possessions/

You need to be sure the tenancy has ended. Have the named Ts (not some sub-tenant) written/emailed? What exactly was said?

As suggested, some LL's Buildings insurance policies include some contents cover- typically £5K to cover white goods, carpets etc). Have you read your policy?

It's worrying you don't know the law around tenancies eg the max deposit that can be taken. If you are going to re-let, you need to educate yourself. Join a LLs Association, go on a training course.....

*  https://www.nrla.org.uk/

Post 7: New landlords (1):advice & information :see links in next post

Post 8: New landlords (2): Essential links for further information

Post 9: Letting agents: how should a landlord select or sack?

Alderbank

Probably a silly question, but isn't the removal and keeping of items of furniture etc theft, and thus a criminal offence?

More knowledgeable readers can advise differently, but i would agree that simply removing inventory items from a rental without consent from the landlord sounds pretty much like theft and stealing. 

An essential requirement for theft is permanently depriving the owner of their property and this can be surprisingly difficult to prove. Evidence that the thief sold the stuff will do but in a criminal case it is for the police to collect that evidence and they will not spend hours trawling through facebook ads looking for your bed.

Even if the police trace the tenants and accuse them the tenants will claim that the sub-tenants actually occupied the flat and they must have removed the furniture, and that might well be true.
Did those sub-tenants leave a forwarding address?

user1977

Olinda99 said:

Probably a silly question, but isn't the removal and keeping of items of furniture etc theft, and thus a criminal offence?

Yes, which is why the police have already been mentioned in the thread. But (as also already said) it's unlikely they're going to be interested in pursuing tenants accused of stealing landlord's furniture.

Whether or not it's a crime doesn't affect the OP's rights against the tenants.

_Penny_Dreadful

BFYZ said:

Hello,

I am a landlord and after about 13 months of tenancy, my tenants have left by just leaving the key under the door mat.

Property was let out through an agent on fully managed basis with inventory done on check in and check out on fully furnished basis.

I have few point that I would your input on:

a) Tenants have left and owed 2.5 months of rent which they didn’t pay although it’s covered via Goodlord Policy that my agent took out at the time of inception of the tenancy. Don’t know how long will that take to come and I’m having difficult paying mortgage for past 3 months. Any experiences..??

b) There is furniture missing namely, bed along with mattress(£1600), coffee table along with 3 side tables(£1200), wardrobe(£600), 5 seater sofa set(£900), another metal bed frame(£200) with mattress (£300), dining table(£800), large living room mirror (180) and left with few damaged walls and 2 doors. Who is liable for this if deposit was only 2k and the damage is in access of 6k

c) I had buildings insurance and another insurance though agent to cover legal expense and rent protection but none of these cover contents. I was never told to add this cover or did any research in the beginning to identify needs etc. Do I have any recourse?

d) Did my Lettings Agent fail at any point on which I can pursue them for the missing items.

Short story of the tenancy is that the couple who rented it out from us never actually lives there and illegally sub let it to someone they knew and there are about 600-1000 unopened letters which I recovered from property after taking possession that were mostly demanding debt from the tenants. I since sent them all back to the sender.

Any help would be much appreciated. 

a) no idea as I’ve never used rent guaranteed insurance. 

b) That might be the cost of those items brand new but it’s not their current value and you’re not entitled to betterment. For example, say the mattress cost £1000, had a life expectancy of 10 years and is now 8 years old, you would only be entitled to claim £800 for the mattress. The tenant is liable for these missing items and since their value plus the arrears exceeds the deposit taken you could opt for County Court instead of the deposit scheme’s adjudication. You can use a tracing agent to locate the scrote if you don’t have a forwarding address. 

c) You’re the landlord, even when you use a letting agent the buck stops with you. You need to educate yourself before letting a property out. I realise you were in a rush to move overseas, I have been in the same position myself and you can bet I did my due diligence before entering into a contract with either a tenant or letting agent. The letting agent still turned out to be a turkey though. 

d) I don’t know about the missing items but I’d want to know how this tenant made it past their vetting. Tenants like this have done this all before. I’d file a formal complaint with the letting agent and then escalate the matter to whichever redress scheme they’re registered with if I was dissatisfied with their answer. 

I have let out my former home before….big mistake. I was too emotionally attached to the place and the fixtures, fittings and furnishings were too good for the AH who rented it. Lesson learned. I kept it empty until I returned from overseas. 

Grumpy_chap

pinkshoes said:

As the owner of the house, it was up to you to decide a deposit amount that you wanted and agree this with the agent. The agent works for you.

The deposit is limited to 5-weeks rent:
https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/tenancy_deposits/paying_a_tenancy_deposit

LegallyLandlord

As a fellow landlord, I do empathise with you. I have a very low opinion of letting agents, having been let down by them in the past, which is why I decided to take control and do it all myself. 

Yes do pursue them in the small claims court. There must be some way of tracking them down. Do also claim on your insurance. 

It does seem a breach of s1 Theft Act (appropriation with intent permanently to deprive) if you have an inventory and they didn’t leave what was there when they arrive. Insist the police do something. 

For the rest, put it down to experience. And let it unfurnished next time. Here’s guidance on the minimum you need to provide: https://theindependentlandlord.com/what-should-landlords-provide-in-unfurnished-properties/

Most tenants not in HMOs or city centres prefer unfurnished anyway these days. 

I’d also join the NRLA (the landlord association) as they have a helpline and lots of resources: here’s the link https://www.nrla.org.uk/join and here is a £15 discount code UYN-702

GDB2222

"Your lost possessions and the T's abandoned possessions, are 2 separate issues. Irrespective of the T's wrong-doing regarding your possessions, you still have a duty of care to their possessions."

 Whilst true, that point is often overdone on this forum. Supposing the T's possession have a value, they can sue the LL for that value. The LL can then counter-claim for lost rent, damage, etc, which will usually be vastly more money.  So, in practice, it is incredibly rare for tenants to claim.

user1977

LegallyLandlord said:

Insist the police do something. 

What would you suggest the police do, given nobody appears to know exactly who or where the culprits are? I wouldn't expect them to throw resources at trying to trace them.

SusieT

No point me adding to what you should/could have done. 
If it would make you feel better about having done something to make it hard for the tenants, you could consider a county court claim for around £75 or whatever would give the minimum court fee, use their last known address (your property) to send a 14 day letter, then if no reply send the court claim and if they have not set up forwarding it is not your problem. You get a judgement by default, they have a CCJ on their credit history for the next 6 years. Not something I would normally do (even with the bad tenant), but it may halp you feel a bit better at having done something. 

propertyrental

_Penny_Dreadful said:

BFYZ said:

Hello,

I am a landlord and after about 13 months of tenancy, my tenants have left by just leaving the key under the door mat.

Property was let out through an agent on fully managed basis with inventory done on check in and check out on fully furnished basis.

I have few point that I would your input on:

a) Tenants have left and owed 2.5 months of rent which they didn’t pay although it’s covered via Goodlord Policy that my agent took out at the time of inception of the tenancy. Don’t know how long will that take to come and I’m having difficult paying mortgage for past 3 months. Any experiences..??

b) There is furniture missing namely, bed along with mattress(£1600), coffee table along with 3 side tables(£1200), wardrobe(£600), 5 seater sofa set(£900), another metal bed frame(£200) with mattress (£300), dining table(£800), large living room mirror (180) and left with few damaged walls and 2 doors. Who is liable for this if deposit was only 2k and the damage is in access of 6k

c) I had buildings insurance and another insurance though agent to cover legal expense and rent protection but none of these cover contents. I was never told to add this cover or did any research in the beginning to identify needs etc. Do I have any recourse?

d) Did my Lettings Agent fail at any point on which I can pursue them for the missing items.

Short story of the tenancy is that the couple who rented it out from us never actually lives there and illegally sub let it to someone they knew and there are about 600-1000 unopened letters which I recovered from property after taking possession that were mostly demanding debt from the tenants. I since sent them all back to the sender.

Any help would be much appreciated. 

b) That might be the cost of those items brand new but it’s not their current value and you’re not entitled to betterment. For example, say the mattress cost £1000, had a life expectancy of 10 years and is now 8 years old, you would only be entitled to claim £800 for the mattress. 

My maths is terrible but even I can see that looks wrong. An 8 year old mattress with a life expectancy of 10 years, has only 2 years life left.

Remaining value is 2/10ths  (1/5th) of £1000 = £200, not £800.