cinders

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I've been away in Australia studying for the past 7 months and had to come back to the UK to visit my Grandfather who is dying from cancer.

I have a house in the UK that I let out via a letting agency. The first tenants were great, they signed a 6-month short hold tenancy and paid the 6 months rent up front. Great.

Now I have only just found out on my return that the next lot of tenants have paid the bond (£500) and one month rent but have failed to pay two months rent now. The tenants are not on income support, they both have jobs and have given references etc.

The letting agents are completely useless so I'm trying to sort this out myself.

I gave the tenants a written 24-hour notice that I would be visiting and went round yesterday. There was no-one in, so I let myself in with my key and inspected the house. The house is fine, no damage and they are definitely living there. However I did state no smokers or pets and the place stinks of tabs and I was surprised to find a dog in the house (luckily tame and not a Rockweiler!)

Now before anyone suggests... I would love to send a few of my dodgy friends round to evict these people quickly and efficiently. However the law is on their side and I don't want to end up at the wrong end of a lawsuit! I'd like to do this all legally.

Basically I want them out as soon as possible so I can sell the property. They have signed an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement.

Can anyone help or suggest the best course of action?...

Cinders.

AudiLover

Id sit down with them, and kindly ask them to pay up. Then If they dont play ball id **** them up. Stick a gun in theyre mouth and see what the bastarrtds are saying then.

There was a astory about this in the papers, the legal route takes ****ing ages, so id just get mates or hire someone to throw them out. And if they call the police deny any knowledge of the ongoings.

sti-04!!

Dont think they would say anything with a gun in there mouth

paulwrxboro

as above
they know what they are doing and they are taking the ****
short and sweet is the only way imo
and yes i am a landlord

cinders

Hey Paul, funnily enough the house is in the Boro.

My friends are all local door lads who would be happy enough to remove them from the house and give them a fist full of warning...

Unfortunately it would be a bit obvious who'd arranged it... and I don't really agree with violence or intimidation any more...

I'd rather go the legal route and have it done properly with no come backs... Behaviour breeds behaviour... I left the UK to leave a lot of that stuff behind, it's great to have a good nights sleep without worrying who's going to knock on your door....

At the end of the day I'm not annoyed or angry about it, some people take the p*ss, it's a fact of life.

dpb

dangle them by the feet from the upstairs window

mattsan

I thought this is why you pay a letting agency,for them to sort things like this out?

paulwrxboro

make love not war...thats me
but never let ppl take the ****

if it was me id give them one week to leave then go round and put there stuff in the garden...with them

anyway good luck hope it all gos well

KiwiGTI

Surely because they signed a shorthold tenancy agreement, they are in breach of this with smoking and the dogs so you should be able to evict them quickly and cheaply. As well as that aren't there notice periods on both side stated, and clauses for when you want to sell the house etc.

Just let the legal process take it's course, if they don't move after the eviction notice you have the law on your side and can get them forcibly removed with the police in attendance etc.

cinders

Matt, that's what I thought I paid the agency for, they're completely useless so I'm going to do it all myself.

Can't wait to get the house sold, money in the bank and get back to travelling.

paulwrxboro

who give these muppets references ?
ring them up and let them know

James Neill

iTrader: (1)

Found this

http://www.tenanteviction.org.uk/html/faq.html

Other info on the lnks page too

David Lock

Agree. They must be your starting point although you say they are useless. I would be inclined to put something in writing to them about the situation and demand to know what action they will take. Is there an Association of Agents or something? I wonder if CAB would help you or would they tend to side with the downtrodden tenants? You can only ask and it's free.

Sorry to hear of the circumstances of your return. dl

Posted before I read that excellent link posted by James Neill.

unclebuck

Have they paid the Council Tax? You are liable for that as well if they haven't.

David Lock

Just a thought but have you checked out the tax situation (I expect you have). Avoiding any Capital Gains Tax when selling perhaps by living there for a short period. Not my field but worth checking. dl

negri

dont think thats right .

as long as the council were told who would be living there at the time .
the tenants will be liable for council tax

TimmyboyWRX

im not sure its any help, but i have infront of me here a copy of a shorthold tenancy agreement, similar to the one your tenants will have signed, and they appear to be in breach of a number of parts, including this one:

It shall be lawful for the landlord to re-enter upon and take possession of the Premises or any part therof and the furniture or any part thereof or any substituted Furniture in the name of the whole at any time after the rent or installment or part thereof is in arrears for twenty one days next after the same has become due and payable whether formally demanded or not or if there is a breach of any of the covenants and agreements by the tennant herein contanied.

(excuse the lack of punctuation, its a contract thing...)

but presuming the shorthold tennancy you have drawn up with your agents and tennants is similar to mine then the tennants are in breach of the 21 day rule for rent being in arrears, and have broken the covenant on no pets or smoking and therfore you arein right to seize (their) property to the value of the the rent, or to take back possesion of the property itself

i.e quite in your right to sling them out as they have failed to fulfill their side of the agreement

unclebuck

Bottom line. You own the property. You are liable and it's you they will chase for the arrears.

KiwiGTI

I don't believe that is correct at all, you cannot seize anyones property in lieu of rent owing. Just because something is in a contract it does not mean that you can ignore laws and tenants rights. Try taking any property and you will probably end up in jail.

Any eviction from the property needs a court order full stop. You serve a notice seeking possession and then apply to the courts.

KiwiGTI

Rubbish.

unclebuck

Got any evidence? I'd love to see it. The property solicitor I get advice from tells me that if you are the owner of a property then you are ultimately responsible for the council tax if the tenant does not pay it.

TimmyboyWRX

well to be honest kiwi you are probably right, im not a lawyer and dont have a great understanding of legal things, suffice to say that the law is most likely on the side of the tennants....however i was just trying to make the point that the tennants have signed an agreement that they are now in breach of, and they have no way of claiming they didnt understand what they were getting themselves into becasue its all written out for them in a similar contract.
therefore it should be (id have thought) reasonably easy to get a court order seeking eviction/property seizure as the tennant is in unreasonable breach of contract

Brit_in_Japan

They are in breach of the Agreement, therefore you can take legal action to evict them. However don't expect this to be a quick or easy job. It could take months as the courts don't like to throw people onto the streets, even if that's what they deserve.

Do not, I repeat do not throw their stuff out onto the streets and change the locks, despite the temptation to do so. If the gits consult a solicitor then they would discover they can sue you for big compensation for an illegal eviction. And I mean BIG compensation, the type that might force you to sell the property just to pay for it. A friend of mine took the risk of an illegal evistion and visited his tenants with baseball bat in hand. He got away with it without it coming to violence, but he was taking one hell of a risk.

Therefore the best initial approach is to try and deal with it without resorting to legal action. Go round there when they are in, talk to them, reason with them without getting too emotional or aggressive and ask them to leave. If that doesn't work, tell them that you have legal insurance to pay the solicitors costs and you won't heistate to set the legal wheels in motion.

I take it you took out landlords insurance when you let your place out, did you take out the legal cover too? If so, let the solicitors deal with it. You might also like to ask your solicitor whether you have a case against your lettings agents if they didn't do the background checks properly.

David Lock

I'd kick *** at the letting agency before giving up on them.... and drop them right in it with their trade association (if there is one?). dl

negri

as long as the council tax book was in the name of the tenant the owner is not liable for arrears .

whos ever name is on the book is responsible . as long as that has been done the owner should have no fear

KiwiGTI

http://www.westminster.gov.uk/counci...nance/faqs.cfm

dpb

Is a leting agency legally responsible for ANYTHING at all - including extracting the cash...????

unclebuck

Doesn't really clarify much TBH (no surprise there then - government website). The key words are 'normally' and 'ultimately'.

Tenants doing a runner without paying CT I'm sure would no longer be regarded as a 'normal' situation, in which case a new set of regulations could come into play in order to recover the arrears that would 'ultimately' come back to the property owner.

Why should they waste time and resources chasing people when they can simply tap the owner for the cash?

David Lock

Found this

http://www.arla.co.uk/info/landlords.htm

imlach

Council Tax (in Scotland anyway) is not liable by the landlord if the tenant doesn't pay. Simple as. Full stop The contract is between tenant & council - it's the tenant's name on the electoral roll, not mine.

Same applies for leccy, gas, phone, etc. In these cases, the contract was signed up by the tenant, so any arrears cannot be sent to me.