Tenant uncontactable

toni2014

housebuyer143 said:

Do you know where he works? Not too encourage you to harass him but you could anonymously call and just say is xxx available? They will say no and then ask if they know when he's coming back. Suppose it depends what job he does as to whether that would work. 
If you do it and they say "xxx doesn't work here anymore", then you can probably assume he isn't coming back and can tailor your next actions to that. 

No idea where he works unfortunately

Marvel1

The only worry for me is the lock change.  He may have a key with him and the spare was the under the bin, returns early hours and finds himself locked out.

youth_leader

I went to NZ and wasn't too sure about phone charges so switched my phone off.  Do you know what country he has gone to?  He might not understand the 'roaming charges' either and switched off too?

Kim_13

Was there a book under the bin - if so, did it contain a signed check out form? Or just the key? Was the letter he covered it with a random letter to conceal the key while it was left under the bin or a letter that he had written to you giving more information?

Took the bag is an odd thing to say if he was coming back, but against that, the first part reads as though he was hopeful of an improvement in his father’s condition and would be back. Opened the door is an odd thing to say, if there are no other doors that he could have left open I would guess he probably meant to say window, opening it so as to help ensure the property did not get damp in his absence if the temperature drops.

Like you I would have assumed the rent would be on the table - do you usually collect the rent in cash from the property? If so, possible that he put it there as usual and then took it as it was the only way he could get to his father at little notice, and that that was what he was referring to. 

His being uncontactable is likely down to a) his father has taken a turn for the worse b) his father has passed away or c) he isn’t planning on coming back and thinks if he doesn’t reply he won’t have to pay the rent. He may also be using a local SIM to contact relatives as the family wait for news.

He could also come back and claim he left the rent on the table, and that someone must have found the key, gone in and taken it. If he does that, you would argue that the text he sent you said that he took the rent from the table and that he chose to take the risk of leaving the key outside. You didn’t ask him to do that, since if you needed to access the property in an emergency, you could have hired a locksmith to gain access and then made the new keys available to him.

dannim12345

He might be using another sim while he is abroad hence the phone not going through?  Maybe try WhatsApp or email?   

toni2014

dannim12345 said:

He might be using another sim while he is abroad hence the phone not going through?  Maybe try WhatsApp or email?   

The number he's messaged me from is a UK mobile number, he is Lithuanian. 

Not found on WhatsApp and have no email address 

toni2014

Kim_13 said:

Was there a book under the bin - if so, did it contain a signed check out form? Or just the key? Was the letter he covered it with a random letter to conceal the key while it was left under the bin or a letter that he had written to you giving more information?

Took the bag is an odd thing to say if he was coming back, but against that, the first part reads as though he was hopeful of an improvement in his father’s condition and would be back. Opened the door is an odd thing to say, if there are no other doors that he could have left open I would guess he probably meant to say window, opening it so as to help ensure the property did not get damp in his absence if the temperature drops.

Like you I would have assumed the rent would be on the table - do you usually collect the rent in cash from the property? If so, possible that he put it there as usual and then took it as it was the only way he could get to his father at little notice, and that that was what he was referring to. 

His being uncontactable is likely down to a) his father has taken a turn for the worse b) his father has passed away or c) he isn’t planning on coming back and thinks if he doesn’t reply he won’t have to pay the rent. He may also be using a local SIM to contact relatives as the family wait for news.

He could also come back and claim he left the rent on the table, and that someone must have found the key, gone in and taken it. If he does that, you would argue that the text he sent you said that he took the rent from the table and that he chose to take the risk of leaving the key outside. You didn’t ask him to do that, since if you needed to access the property in an emergency, you could have hired a locksmith to gain access and then made the new keys available to him.

When I looked underneath the bin all I found was the key underneath a scrap piece of cardboard.

Other than letters on the table and on the doormat no rent money was found. The way I read the message was that he's taken the rent, but why would you say that if you were going to be malicious, just doesn't make sense 

He talks about a 'book' and 'bag' no idea what he meant by that.

I've messaged him again stating I have the key in my possession from underneath the bin and to let me know when he intends to return so I can give him the key back at the same time I've also asked if he could let me know if he doesn't plan on returning 

bobster2

You are going down a rabbit hole now - contacting employers?? Going through his personal possessions?? 11 days after a rent payment was due??

You need to follow the advice of @Bookworm105 and wait. And read this...

https://www.lettingaproperty.com/landlord/blog/tenant-abandonment/

Otherwise you may do something unlawful.

pinkshoes

Personally I'd change the lock back. I don't understand why this made the property secure. The only insecure bit was a window open which you closed. 

The key under the bin was probably the spare, he had every right to change the lock (very sensible when renting - who knows how many key copies have been made!!) and no doubt has a copy himself which he used to lock up when he left. I'd be really annoyed if I returned to find the locks changed and no instant access. If he returned late at night and couldn't access his property, then it would be fair for him to bill you for the cost of a hotel for the night!

Logically, it's not been that long at all. The guy has gone to see his sick father and things have not improved so he has stayed. I'd give it until the next rent date. 

Kim_13

bobster2 said:

You are going down a rabbit hole now - contacting employers?? Going through his personal possessions?? 11 days after a rent payment was due??

You need to follow the advice of @Bookworm105 and wait. And read this...

https://www.lettingaproperty.com/landlord/blog/tenant-abandonment/

Otherwise you may do something unlawful.

While I agree with the need to tread carefully to avoid doing something unlawful, OP hasn’t done anything wrong except unnecessarily change the locks (which isn’t breaking any law given she (apologies if I have assumed the wrong gender from your username) is prepared to supply this to the tenant if he gets in touch.)

OP isn’t contacting any employer - it was a suggestion made by another poster which OP explained was not an option. Even if it had been attempted on the basis of being worried about a tenant that hadn’t been heard from, I suspect they’d have said nothing on the grounds of data protection/confidentiality.  

OP also received a rather unclear text from the tenant. Leaving a door open presumably translated in reality to having left the window open, so it wasn’t unreasonable for them as a LL to look for rent on the table on the basis that taken the rent might therefore have meant left the rent. 

The current situation might very well end in the OP being left out of pocket so in my view she had every right to look for anything that might amount to an implied surrender. Finding someone’s letters doesn’t mean that you have read them - a quick glance is all that’s needed to see if something is a check out inventory etc, which would be OP’s business.

If the tenant isn’t returning, this situation isn’t in the interest of other tenants currently looking for a home either.

Did the tenant secure the property through an agent and might they have any other contact details for him?