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My friend, the amateur landlord

2

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  • greendoor665
    greendoor665 Posts: 126
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    edited 19 September 2017 at 10:42AM
    Interesting point about the holiday agreement. I should think my friend just gave him a standard AST but without seeing the document I don't know. I'd ask him but I doubt he knows the difference!

    As far as I know he didn't get any references or contact the tenant's employer.

    The tenant selling the furniture was another possibility I considered...
  • As one last try I am going to send him an email with a list of things he needs to do to protect himself and links to back it up. Our last conversation was after a few beers just before he left the country so perhaps an email which he can read while sober may wake him up to the facts.
    I wouldn't bother. If neither him or his wife could be arsed to do any research beforehand then I doubt they'll be sensible enough to try and do anything now.
  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    Interesting point about the holiday agreement. I should think my friend just gave him a standard AST but without seeing the document I don't know. I'd ask him but I doubt he knows the difference!

    As far as I know he didn't get any references or contact the tenant's employer.

    The tenant selling the furniture was another possibility I considered...
    It doesn't matter.


    The court would look at the wider implications.


    e.g. the landlord has registered with the council and pays business rates, advertises the property as a holiday let - basically runs a real business.


    It would quickly be obvious that this wasn't the case.
  • eddddy
    eddddy Posts: 16,241
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    Guest101 wrote: »
    Just because it says holiday agreement, doesn't make it a holiday agreement......

    Yep.

    And like I say - just because he says he's an 'overseas contractor' doesn't mean he's an 'overseas contractor'.

    He may be a rogue who intends to exploit the Housing Act and Protection from Eviction act to stay in the flat as long as possible.

    He may be a squatter who intends to move all his friends in, change the locks and barricade the door.

    He may be a terrorist who plans to make bombs in the flat. (If there's an explosion, many freeholders don't have terrorism insurance cover, so the OP's friend might be left owing millions in damages, for invalidating the freeholder's insurance).

    There are many, many possibilities!
  • Guest101
    Guest101 Posts: 15,764 Forumite
    eddddy wrote: »
    Yep.

    And like I say - just because he says he's an 'overseas contractor' doesn't mean he's an 'overseas contractor'.

    He may be a rogue who intends to exploit the Housing Act and Protection from Eviction act to stay in the flat as long as possible. - exploit a legal right? Not sure how that works...

    He may be a squatter - how does that work if he's a tenant? who intends to move all his friends in - legally entitled to do that. , change the locks - legally entitled to do that.and barricade the door.- legally entitled to do that.

    He may be a terrorist who plans to make bombs in the flat. (If there's an explosion, many freeholders don't have terrorism insurance cover, so the OP's friend might be left owing millions in damages, for invalidating the freeholder's insurance). - by being foreign? Better ring my landlord up to let him know...

    There are many, many possibilities!
    There are, but a certainty is that he is a tenant, not a squatter, nor a guest.
  • Thrugelmir
    Thrugelmir Posts: 89,546
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    My friends has now left the country and the tenant is in the flat, but it's not too late to fix most of the issues.

    If the rent doesn't get paid and/or damage is caused. Then far too late.

    Hopefully the property won't be sublet either.........
  • csgohan4
    csgohan4 Posts: 10,587
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    ACG wrote: »
    I had 2 tenants in a property I let out:
    1) Not too bad, bit of a PITA calling for daft reasons but burnt the carpet with an iron. When he left I billed him for it. He told me it was there when he moved in. I then sent him a copy of the receipt showing it had been fitted the day before he moved in - why would I have an iron in a house I do not live in? He backed down and paid it.

    2) In the cellar, she made a hole in the wall for ventilation for the cannabis farm she had going on. She replaced the carpet with crap laminate flooring (without permission), she did the shoddiest painting job in 2 rooms I have ever come across and then left without telling me. Thankfully I was only out of pocket by about £500 - new carpet, paining and replacing 4 bricks.

    It was at that point I realised being a landlord was not for me. People just do not give a ***t about other peoples property.

    Both of these people were credit checked, paid a deposit, had decent jobs (the cannabis lady worked for a solicitors and had 2 young kids!).

    I think your friend is going to learn a very valuable (and expensive) lesson in 6 months time. I assume he has not watched nightmare tenants and slum landlords? That could be a bit of an eye opener for him.

    Hope they left you some to make up for the damages. Hope your not too high
    "It is prudent when shopping for something important, not to limit yourself to Pound land/Estate Agents"

    G_M/ Bowlhead99 RIP
  • Boring/uneventful update: my friend returned from travelling and the tenant moved out on the agreed date having paid in full and causing no damage other than 1 broken wine glass which he fully admitted to and offered to pay for...
  • Comms69
    Comms69 Posts: 14,229
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    Boring/uneventful update: my friend returned from travelling and the tenant moved out on the agreed date having paid in full and causing no damage other than 1 broken wine glass which he fully admitted to and offered to pay for...

    9/10 this is the outcome. - just don't be that 1/10 :)
  • Thanks for the update. Very glad to hear it.
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