HELP - tenant has done a moon light flit

oki_2

Just to clear things up - the letters were strewn amongst the rubbish opened! In all honesty if there were letters there that were unopened I would have opened them myself - whether thats against the law or not!

I am currently awaiting insurance company's response to the documents and claim form i have submitted to them.

As for pursuing the tenant - that will depend very much on the insurance company - although there is a space on the form that asks if I know who was responsible for the damage and if so their name and address - So I have supplied them with the name/ad of ex tenant.

The rent was £320 per month and the house is in Liverpool - it was just enough to cover my mortgage. Other properties in that area go for 300-400 per month.

skip hire would be a good idea - it costs £120 for a large skip - believe me it is needed. Then I would have to get someone to empty contents of house into it - thats where the problem arises. I am unable to do this myself.

prudryden

neas wrote: »

Isnt opening someone elses letters illegal?

Under normal circumstances, it isn't illegal. It only becomes illegal if you attempt to use any information derived from opening someone else's post for illegal gain. Source: Postal regulations

babe_ruth_3

Hi everyone & Oki (sorry to hijack your thread) I was just about to post a query on a tenant of mine leaving the house in an unsatisfactory condition and what the implications of not returning bond (or part of it) etc when I came across this thread.

I have told my tenant (Now left) that it is unlikly he will get all the bond back due to the property being in a VERY dirty state, walls painted without permission (previously mandatory cream) nail holes, door knobs missing, rubblish left etc etc...

He has come back to say that he has spoken to a solicitor and as long as he has been a good tenant and not trashed the place then I should return his bond in full. Now I realise that I only have his word for this but does anyone out there know if this could possibly be true? If so what would be the point of a TA?

We have a signed TA and Inventory although we didn't get witness's as we knew him already and trusted him to take good care of the property.

frank.hopper

we knew him already and trusted him to take good care of the property.

Rule 1 Don't rent to an aquaintance or someone you know.

He has come back to say that he has spoken to a solicitor and as long as he has been a good tenant and not trashed the place then I should return his bond in full.

Nah, he's spoken to his mate down the pub.............TRIPE!

I have told my tenant (Now left) that it is unlikly he will get all the bond back due to the property being in a VERY dirty state, walls painted without permission

Some LLs allow tenants to paint, some don't ! if a tenant decides to pick up a paint brush without your permission their deposit is doomed. TBH some people should have a brain scan before their sold a pot of paint.!! tangerine skirtings, door facings and a tangerine radiator, luvvly]

Tinsle

prudryden wrote: »

Under normal circumstances, it isn't illegal. It only becomes illegal if you attempt to use any information derived from opening someone else's post for illegal gain. Source: Postal regulations

We were getting dodgy mail sent to our house for the old owner and the police told me it was an offence to open it.

mlz1413

babe_ruth wrote: »

Hi everyone & Oki (sorry to hijack your thread) I was just about to post a query on a tenant of mine leaving the house in an unsatisfactory condition and what the implications of not returning bond (or part of it) etc when I came across this thread.

I have told my tenant (Now left) that it is unlikly he will get all the bond back due to the property being in a VERY dirty state, walls painted without permission (previously mandatory cream) nail holes, door knobs missing, rubblish left etc etc...

He has come back to say that he has spoken to a solicitor and as long as he has been a good tenant and not trashed the place then I should return his bond in full. Now I realise that I only have his word for this but does anyone out there know if this could possibly be true? If so what would be the point of a TA?

We have a signed TA and Inventory although we didn't get witness's as we knew him already and trusted him to take good care of the property.

If he signed the inventory then that's enough, you can't charge him for bettering the property but you can charge him to replace and repair.

With cleaning it's more difficult to prove without photos unless you had a professional clean prior to moving in and stipulated it was returned to this standard. But get photos of how he left it and see if you can get him to admit freely it's not the way he took it over.

Painting without proir consent is as frank hopper said deposit doom!

oki_2

Dear all - just an update and hopefully pick your brains again!!!

Sorry if its long winded - believe me its the shortened version

I wrote to the ex tenant at his new address - basically stating that he had breached his agreement and that it was unacceptable to have left the house in that state. I gave him 7 days to respond - to discuss things so that we could resolve the issue in an ammicable manner. That If I did not hear from him I would be taking legal action. The letter was sent yesterday by registered post. Well I received a call today - at first he claimed he had no contract and it had ended in 2006!! I explained that we had not renewed the contract and it was running month to month - as stated on the contract. He did not dispute the fact that bills had not been paid or the state of the house said if I provide him with estimates we could sort something out. Up to this point it was all fine.

He then claimed that he had spent 'around £700 to sort the heating system out and a gas leak!' He has never informed me of any problem with the heating or the fact that there was a gas leak. He was not willing to listen when I tried to tell him this. I pay a monthly premium to cover for these so called problems! Not sure how to respond - any help much appreciated. PS not heard from insurance company as yet.

olly300

oki wrote: »

Dear all - just an update and hopefully pick your brains again!!!

Sorry if its long winded - believe me its the shortened version

I wrote to the ex tenant at his new address - basically stating that he had breached his agreement and that it was unacceptable to have left the house in that state. I gave him 7 days to respond - to discuss things so that we could resolve the issue in an ammicable manner. That If I did not hear from him I would be taking legal action. The letter was sent yesterday by registered post. Well I received a call today - at first he claimed he had no contract and it had ended in 2006!! I explained that we had not renewed the contract and it was running month to month - as stated on the contract. He did not dispute the fact that bills had not been paid or the state of the house said if I provide him with estimates we could sort something out. Up to this point it was all fine.

He then claimed that he had spent 'around £700 to sort the heating system out and a gas leak!' He has never informed me of any problem with the heating or the fact that there was a gas leak. He was not willing to listen when I tried to tell him this. I pay a monthly premium to cover for these so called problems! Not sure how to respond - any help much appreciated. PS not heard from insurance company as yet.

You can take him to the small claims court for the damage he has done. You need to send him a letter before action giving the total of the amount of money he owes you and state you will be taking him to court in 14 days and he will be liable for costs* unless he pays you within this time. Wait 14 days then submit your claim via moneyclaimonline.

If he does pay you then you have to pay the insurance company back any money they have given you.

You need to be able to prove on the balance of probabilities he caused the damage and use your quotes for the repairs.

However you are unlikely to get the money back but you can get a CCJ against him which will harm his future ability to get credit. This is particularly damaging for the normal person and more so if you are self-employed.

However unless you know where he works as well he is likely to do another moonlight flit. He is also not likely to turn up for court.

*You must clearly say how much money he owes you and tell him he is liable for costs otherwise you may not be able to claim them.

oki_2

He is saying his happy to pay so long as I provide the estimate - this is no problem. The problem is he claims to have done £700 worth of work on my house - there is no sign of this alleged work (have not looked under the floor boards!!).

tbs624

Call his bluff - keep all communication in writing, as above. If he knows it will go through to a court and he has to be able to back up his assertions, he may think again.

Just as a LL has to keep the property in good repair and gas/electrical installations in good/safe working order, a Tenant has an obligation to notify you of any repairs issues.Why would any Tenant undertake such major work on a LLs property without first mentioning that there was a problem? If he's CORGI registered he'll know that you have a legal obligation as far as gas is concerned.
Has he got any receipts or dates for when he is supposed to have done this work?

Presumably you have your own gas safety certificates/ servicing records etc?

You've made an attempt to reach conciliation and he probably isn't go to meet you even halfway - Olly's right, your next step is LBA .