Help with problem tenant who wont leave

Snooze

saviola wrote: »

Thanks for everything to everyone.

Amazingly I talked her into leaving, no heavies involved, and she took the money and finally left.

Great I thought

Than I went to show someone round and the house has been 'burgled' by someone.

Turns out that even though the house was empty, that pipes and old carpets and radiators are actually worth stealing. Amazing.

That coupled with damage to the doors which mean major repairs are required.

At least she's gone though eh

Yep, but as advised a few weeks ago, you knew that she was going to wreck your house one way or another out of spite.

As least you've got your house back and ocne you've spent your £1500-2000 for new GCH (presumably they've taken the boiler as well?) and carpets you'll be able to rent it out again hopefully.

Rob

Burlesque_Babe

I've been lurking and following this thread. I've very pleased for you she has gone.

Although the place has been 'trashed' in that stuff has gone, I think, to be honest, you've got away lightly and should breathe a sigh of relief (and use the experience to ensure everything is done by the book in the future!!!!!)

Seriously though, it was a very difficult situation you were in and I'm glad she has decided to leave.

PasturesNew

It's a pity it was trashed. I suspect you're suggesting she did/arranged it. So she'd have done that/more/worse the longer she was there if she'd been awkward to shift.

Glad you got early resolution.

While things are sh1tty at least you're just living with the aftermath, which is easier to deal with than a long drawn-out standoff + the aftermath.

scorpio_princess

Glad you got this mess sorted OP.

It really does astound me how some tenants behave. I've been given notice to leave my flat in 2 months time as the LL wants to sell, and while i'm upset and annoyed about having to leave, I wouldn't dream of halting my rent payments or staying longer than I should - it is his right as the owner, whether I agree with it or not. There really are some scumbags out there.

Hopefully your next tenant will be more like me (and the countless other tenants who pay on time and leave when they're supposed to). I'm sure the LLs on here will tell you this, but you really should be doing a credit check (only costs about 30 quid or something like that), as well as insisting on employer and previous landlord references. A little leg work and expense now will more than likely save you loads of hassle and money in the future, should it all turn sour again.

Good luck!

m1ntie

I have followed this thread with interest, having had a similar experience the OP myself - 17 years ago at the time of the last property crash.

I was living in South Devon at the time and unfortunately lost my job. Luckily I quickly managed to get another well paid and secure job, the only problem was it was 250 miles away - to far away to commute so I had to rent accommodation close to my new job.

I was unable to sell my house in Devon as the property market was similar as today - not much selling. After paying my mortgage and rent on the 2nd house for about 3-4 months I was really struggling financially, so reluctantly decide to let out my house in Devon.

I had an AST drawn up and let the house to an apparently respectable lady who worked for a national charity and had excellent references from employer and previous LL.

All seemed to be well, 1 months rent + small deposit paid in advance and tenant moved in. The next month the rent did not arrive, I chased it up and found that the tenant had moved out after about a week and moved her 25 year old son in. I advised him that he would need to sign an AST and pay the rent - he laughed in my face.

I then did what several people on this forum advised the OP to do and threatened him with a forced eviction and lock change etc. The very next morning I received a letter from his solicitor ( on legal aid )accusing me of harassment and threatening me with criminal proceedings if I contacted him again.

To cut a very long story short I ended up having to pay him the equivalent of 3 months rent to bribe him to leave, in order to avoid a 6-12 month wait to get him out through the courts. like the OP I was also faced with large bills for new carpets and redecorating the entire property + legal fees.

These people were obviously professionals and new exactly what they were doing.

So the moral of the story is beware, there are plenty of sharks out there even when you take up references, also the law offers more protection to the sharks than the LL.

Anyway OP I am glad it is all sorted out now it must have been a very stressful time for you.

scorpio_princess

m1ntie wrote: »

I have followed this thread with interest, having had a similar experience the OP myself - 17 years ago at the time of the last property crash.

I was living in South Devon at the time and unfortunately lost my job. Luckily I quickly managed to get another well paid and secure job, the only problem was it was 250 miles away - to far away to commute so I had to rent accommodation close to my new job.

I was unable to sell my house in Devon as the property market was similar as today - not much selling. After paying my mortgage and rent on the 2nd house for about 3-4 months I was really struggling financially, so reluctantly decide to let out my house in Devon.

I had an AST drawn up and let the house to an apparently respectable lady who worked for a national charity and had excellent references from employer and previous LL.

All seemed to be well, 1 months rent + small deposit paid in advance and tenant moved in. The next month the rent did not arrive, I chased it up and found that the tenant had moved out after about a week and moved her 25 year old son in. I advised him that he would need to sign an AST and pay the rent - he laughed in my face.

I then did what several people on this forum advised the OP to do and threatened him with a forced eviction and lock change etc. The very next morning I received a letter from his solicitor ( on legal aid )accusing me of harassment and threatening me with criminal proceedings if I contacted him again.

To cut a very long story short I ended up having to pay him the equivalent of 3 months rent to bribe him to leave, in order to avoid a 6-12 month wait to get him out through the courts. like the OP I was also faced with large bills for new carpets and redecorating the entire property + legal fees.

These people were obviously professionals and new exactly what they were doing.

So the moral of the story is beware, there are plenty of sharks out there even when you take up references, also the law offers more protection to the sharks than the LL.

Anyway OP I am glad it is all sorted out now it must have been a very stressful time for you.

Blimey, what an awful story. I really feel for anyone in this situation, the stress must be unbelieveable. It's such a shame these pondlife tenants give us all a bad name (just like bad LLs give them all a bad name). I just can't believe the law seems to protect wrongdoers while the honest, decent people get shafted. No wonder people are so jaded and suspicious these days. I have to say if I ever had any dreams of renting a property out, there's no amount of money that would persuade me to do it!

WTF?_2

Does anyone remember a TV documentary a few years back, I think it was called 'Tenants from Hell' or something similar.

Quite a few cases of 'professional' cheating tenants who basically played the system to get free rent. I remember there was one case of a woman who was going on spending sprees (seemed to have a passion for Jimmy Choos) whilst refusing to vacate her rented apartment. Meanwhile, the owner was on the verge of losing it as she couldn't meet the mortgage payments.

It really would put you off renting out a property. One thing that stuck out was that if you really wanted to play the system, you could get away for about 8 months (not paying rent of course) before you could be forced out by the law.

scorpio_princess

!!!!!!? wrote: »

Does anyone remember a TV documentary a few years back, I think it was called 'Tenants from Hell' or something similar.

Quite a few cases of 'professional' cheating tenants who basically played the system to get free rent. I remember there was one case of a woman who was going on spending sprees (seemed to have a passion for Jimmy Choos) whilst refusing to vacate her rented apartment. Meanwhile, the owner was on the verge of losing it as she couldn't meet the mortgage payments.

It really would put you off renting out a property. One thing that stuck out was that if you really wanted to play the system, you could get away for about 8 months (not paying rent of course) before you could be forced out by the law.

But what I don't get is that being allowed to stay somewhere rent-free for months because you refuse to pay and refuse to budge is essentially theft, is it not? So why isn't it treated as such? I know there are some people that have genuine difficulties with paying, but the rest know full well what they're doing. I think the whole system needs an overhaul.

WTF?_2

The old saying 'Possession is nine tenths of the law" rings true here.

Sure, you aren't entitled to be living there rent free but once you have 'possession' of the property it's so much time and hassle to get you out that you are in a very strong position.

I'm surprised that more LLs don't pursue tenants for owed rent after they are finally evicted by court order. Also, I'm surprised that we don't hear more cases of ex-tenants being pursued for criminal damage if the house is left in a bad state (ie. stuff like pipes, radiators, carpets etc have been nicked).

I know if I'm ever renting a property out I'll be sure to have reserves to deal with this sort of thing.

m1ntie

!!!!!!? wrote: »

I'm surprised that more LLs don't pursue tenants for owed rent after they are finally evicted by court order. Also, I'm surprised that we don't hear more cases of ex-tenants being pursued for criminal damage if the house is left in a bad state (ie. stuff like pipes, radiators, carpets etc have been nicked). .

I think professional landlords are more likely to pursue former tenants. Casual LL tend to be so traumatised by the experience of bad tenants - they just want to draw a line under it.