Tenant uncontactable

Murphybear

I concur with the advice suggesting you change the lock back.  Locking him out as you have done can be taken as harassment which is a criminal offence.  

sorry if that’s harsh, but you have to be realistic.

i used to run an ARLA letting agency and this issue was covered in detail when I did my ARLA advanced legal training.  

RHemmings

Reading through what the OP says, it seems that it is not yet known what the tenant meant by 'tak[ing] the rent'. E.g. whether the tenant meant to claim that the rent was inside the house. 

I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice. But, I think that the first visit being without explicit permission from the tenant makes things more difficult. If the landlord/OP had entered the house clearly legally (e.g. there was an emergency), then changing the locks and offering the tenant a key would seem to be not entirely unreasonable. (Though, case law seems to all be situations where the intention of the landlord changing locks was to deny the tenant access to the property.) 

However, the first visit by the landlord/OP being without permission does make things more difficult and I agree with others that changing the lock back again is a good idea. Also, it seems from a look around I did, that if the tenant ignores that communication, returns to the property and is unable to get in, and experiences a loss due to that, then possibly (non-lawyer alret) the landlord will then be responsible for that loss. Again: put the lock back, in my non-expert opinion. 

Hopefully the property is now secure and in a safe condition. Even if the way that was achieved was not entirely above board. 

It seems possible that the way this will have to go is eviction through non-payment of rent. And the OP should start putting their ducks in a row to do that. Just in case. 

GDB2222

The sensible way to deal with this is to give the tenant a chance to work out what he wants to do. He may not know yet, so all your messages are just an embarrassment for him. He may eventually let you know whether he wants to retain the tenancy. 

If you simply assume he has abandoned the place, you would presumably want to let it again. What happens when he turns up and demands, perfectly reasonably, to get into his home?  

MCT56

My second post on this topic. Is there anything in the rental agreement allowing the tenant to change the locks without the landlords permission ? There is in mine - it’s not allowed and neither is making spare keys, lending them out, or leaving them under bins for anyone else to find. 

Mr.Generous

Op, I'd have changed the lock. Tenant isn't there and you don't know who else has a key. Therefore not secure. The key left under a bin means property was left unsecure in any case, you can secure the property to protect it. Worst case is someone else moves in, absolute nightmare.

Every tenancy agreement I've seen has a clause about how long house can be empty - as does landlord insurance.

All this "Could be illegal" or "Could be considered a crime" - so what? How many tenants who leave without paying rent and leave the key then message the landlord do you think go on to take court action? If the absolute worst happened and the tenant took you to court for locking him out until he asked, and you explained the circumstances and shared the messages what do you think a court would do? Award a weeks rent in compensation? Your going to lose more than that anyway. Renting to someone from another country always carry's this risk.

Not having an email address is a mistake, because you can't easily serve notice. I guess I'd send a message giving 7 days to contact you or you'll assume it's an abandoned tenancy.

All those saying sit tight aren't the ones getting no rent, and potentially being left with council tax, gas and electricity unpaid which although not liable for you will end up having to deal with the companies.

A pain in the .... neck.

No easy answer, and whatever you do will either cost you more and more money if you just wait.

Bookworm105

Mr.Generous said:

All this "Could be illegal" or "Could be considered a crime" - so what? How many tenants who leave without paying rent and leave the key then message the landlord do you think go on to take court action? If the absolute worst happened and the tenant took you to court for locking him out until he asked, and you explained the circumstances and shared the messages what do you think a court would do? Award a weeks rent in compensation? Your going to lose more than that anyway. Renting to someone from another country always carry's this risk.

...

No easy answer, and whatever you do will either cost you more and more money if you just wait.

always amusing seeing the stance posters on here take when it comes to promoting breaking "the law" for some things, but they'd be less generous on other things 

yes he will lose money
yes that is why he is asking what he can do to limit that 
yes he has been given answers from both ends of the spectrum
shall we now play guessing games as to OP's moral standing?

Flugelhorn

what is in the locked room? is that a room that was lockable when you let the place?

[Deleted User]

I think changing the lock was reasonable as a key was left outdoors under a bin which is not secure. Furthermore a window was left open. You have instructed the tenant how to obtain a key. Perhaps put a note on the front door to further explain how they can obtain the key. Take a photo as evidence. You are not attempting to evict the tenant with these actions, for example by removing their possessions and installing another tenant. So I would stand over those choices.

I do not believe that you have acted in an insensitive manner regarding his family issue. There is nothing insensitive in communicating with a tenant concerning their important obligation to pay rent on what is their home.

As another said, I would at this stage be tentatively forming the view that the tenant is not coming back. I would message the tenant explaining this interpretation, and inviting them to either make the payment of rent or for them to clearly state that they are surrendering the tenancy if they are not coming back. I would outline why this may be in their interest.

Personally I wouldn't get bogged down in terms of the tenant owing you money per se. If they have abandoned and don't communicate, it's going to be many months and unpaid rent to properly evict. They will end up owing you a lot, which won't be paid.

Apart from the tenant surrendering the tenancy only a court can end it, which is going to be a reasonably lengthy period of issuing notices etc. 

toni2014

I've sent another polite text message advising the tenant that I've obtained the keys underneath the bin and that they are in my possession.

I've also requested if they could let me know when they are planning on returning or whether they have no intentions of returning. The phone is still off.

As the key was underneath the bin, if someone saw the tenant placing the key underneath the bin they could've have easily made a copy of the key, waited x amount of days and raid the house. Unlikely I know but still in the realms of being possible. I'd rather be safe than sorry hence why I changed the lock.

I live around the corner so could easily return the key to the tenant if they were to return.

I've inspected the house, there was not much I could see in terms of food items in the kitchen cupboards and the fridge.

One bedroom is locked (it has always been lockable) which makes me think the tenant is intending to return. However if he doesn't what concerns me is that I have no idea what's in there and whether I should notify the police.

The other bedroom I could only see a few items of clothing.

The dining table, sofas and TV is the property of the tenant, however I can't see them taking any of these if they have no plans on returning back.

The tenant is Lithuanian as said they've always paid the rent on time. I only have their contact number, no email address.

In light of the above, to be fair and to give the tenant the benefit of doubt, I intend to wait 2 weeks, max 1 month if still no response received I think it's safe to say the tenant does not intend on returning and therefore I will advertise the property to other potential tenants. I think this is more than fair and reasonable on my part.

[Deleted User]

toni2014 said:

I've sent another polite text message advising the tenant that I've obtained the keys underneath the bin and that they are in my possession.

I've also requested if they could let me know when they are planning on returning or whether they have no intentions of returning. The phone is still off.

As the key was underneath the bin, if someone saw the tenant placing the key underneath the bin they could've have easily made a copy of the key, waited x amount of days and raid the house. Unlikely I know but still in the realms of being possible. I'd rather be safe than sorry hence why I changed the lock.

I live around the corner so could easily return the key to the tenant if they were to return.

I've inspected the house, there was not much I could see in terms of food items in the kitchen cupboards and the fridge.

One bedroom is locked (it has always been lockable) which makes me think the tenant is intending to return. However if he doesn't what concerns me is that I have no idea what's in there and whether I should notify the police.

The other bedroom I could only see a few items of clothing.

The dining table, sofas and TV is the property of the tenant, however I can't see them taking any of these if they have no plans on returning back.

The tenant is Lithuanian as said they've always paid the rent on time. I only have their contact number, no email address.

In light of the above, I intend to wait 2 weeks, max 1 month if still no response received will advertise the property to other potential tenants.

It's all reasonable up to the last paragraph. Personally I would not take the view after 1 month that there is an implied surrender of tenancy. A Court would deem it illegal eviction. You would be taking quite a chance on my view.