Abusive tenant will not budge

Abusive tenant will not budge

16:36 PM, 26th August 2014, About 10 years ago 41

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I’d appreciate any advice regarding the situation I’m in with a tenant of 3 years. She had informed me a few months ago she’d be leaving as she was struggling to afford it any more, which I agreed to despite the fact that her lease ran out in January 2105. Abusive tenant will not budge

I still had to renew a gas safety check on the house as it had expired and the gas engineer who carried it out along with fitting a new bathroom suite as her son had broken the basin, had switched the gas off saying the cooker was at risk as it was too close to the kitchen units above it, along with 2 other points that he said needed updated on a brand new boiler which I had fitted a year ago & 2 others on cooker which had never been mentioned in last 3 gas safety certificates.

After this happened the tenant became extremely angry, shouting, swearing and being verbally abusive to me along with her mother to the point that I don’t not want to enter the house while she’s there now.

The next day I phoned gas health & safety & they told me the cooker was not to current standards as with all the other points but absolutely NOT at risk unless there were signs of scorching to units which there’s not. So I told the gas engineer this and to put gas back on. I still owe him £300 for bathroom fitting but due to the situation and abuse it provoked I have withheld payment.

I also text the tenant to say that after her abuse it would be best all round if she moved out as soon as possible and she replied saying that unless I wrote her a letter to the council so she could get a council house then she wouldn’t pay me another penny.

Despite being uncomfortable with her threatening me, I decided that this would be the quickest route for her to leave. I provided her and the council with all the necessary eviction forms and part of that included a document stating what the rent arrears were and a repayment plan to be maintained for at least 3 months which was £10 per week, of which she has paid nothing from the £415 she owes for 3 weeks.

Her leaving date is the 8th September and she has already told me that if she doesn’t have a house she won’t be going.

I have spoken to the Scottish Landlord Association who have basically said all I can do is take her to court if she doesn’t leave by then and also for the outstanding rent arrears. She has another £495 due to pay next week.

It all seems very unfair and that instead of being the person in charge of what happens here, I feel more like the victim which just isn’t right as I have been very accommodating with her persistent late rent payments & various breaches of contract she had.

Ultimately I want her to leave as soon as possible and avoid court proceedings which puts me in the vulnerable position of not wanting to antagonise her any further which could prolong her staying.

What is the best course of action here for me to honour myself and have her leave soon as and also am I within my rights not to pay the gas engineer/plumber the £300 for his part in all this and to cover the unpaid rent due to his incorrect diagnosis & unnecessary grief?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Gillian

 


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gillian copes

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21:55 PM, 4th September 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Rosalind Beck" at "31/08/2014 - 17:32":

Thanks for the info Rosalind, i'll be sure to check that out 🙂 Good for you getting something extra back - from what I've been learning most things seem to go in favour of the tenant so it's great and reassuring to hear something going in favour of the landlord for a change.

Wishing you all the best 🙂

Dr Rosalind Beck

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13:31 PM, 5th September 2014, About 10 years ago

Hi Gillian.
Yes, I just dropped off another 50 smackers at the bank. I make that approximately 19 of my daily large soya lattes. They taste all the better! I'm also now awaiting a new monthly payment due to start of £100 per month from a guarantor who guaranteed the rent and then when we asked him to pay never answered one letter or telephone call...
All the best.

gillian copes

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11:11 AM, 9th September 2014, About 10 years ago

Thanks for your advice. Yea I'm getting a solicitor to handle it now as there are so many aspects to deal with. The tenant should have left yesterday but hasn't and it turns out i'l need to wait til there's 3 months rent arrears before court action as I didn't give her an AT5 :-0 So the decision to rent my house out after moving out from it has not been the simple procedure I expected and like so many other landlords i have been naïve and not got clued up on how to do this properly until now - a hard lesson to learn!

Dr Rosalind Beck

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13:13 PM, 9th September 2014, About 10 years ago

Gillian. I haven't got time to read the whole thread, but I just saw the words 'Housing Benefit.' If she's getting housing benefit she only needs to be the equivalent of 8 weeks in arrears for you to demand to receive the money direct. I would get onto the Housing Office today and explain over the 'phone and then follow this up with a letter enclosing a rent schedule which shows her in arrears - tell them to immediately put a stop on the payments and to pay no more to her. Sometimes the Housing Officers don't know their own rules: so, if her rent is due on 1st August and she doesn't pay by 2nd September, this IS equivalent to 8 weeks in arrears and they have to pay you direct. If I didn't read things right, then this may be information someone else finds useful. All the best.

gillian copes

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13:41 PM, 9th September 2014, About 10 years ago

Hi Rosalind, yes I knew about that thanks, but I've been told by SAL that because I didn't give her an AT5 prior to lease agreement it's now an assured tenancy and I need to have 3 months rent arrears before I can take court action to repossess MY property, so if I tell council now then it ill only be 2 months, so I'm just supposed to sit with it. I've contacted a solicitor today so just waiting to hear back with what my next step can be as absolutely something needs to be done in the meantime, My plan is to sell the house now, so want to find out if that speeds anything up with removing her - so frustrating!

Alan Loughlin

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13:43 PM, 9th September 2014, About 10 years ago

best to avoid all HB tenants, we do.

gillian copes

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13:52 PM, 9th September 2014, About 10 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Alan Loughlin" at "09/09/2014 - 13:43":

yes indeed..... you're absolutely right!! If only I'd known before.

wanda wang

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16:46 PM, 13th September 2014, About 10 years ago

We have bad tenants at the moment. A couple with 3 kids. They play the gas leak story over and over again even though two fitters both tightenened the same compression nuts on separate occasions over 2 days. refused the gas enginees entry and went to the council demanding rehousing in a council house. Finally we had a Gas Safe inspection which confirmed no gas leak and no fault with appliance(cooker).
The CAB advised them that they are entitled to all their deposit and rent already paid back. .
Now after we said as their is no leak let us put the gas back on for you she said no there is a leak and major work needs to be done on the property.
I might add that the council have said that as there is no leak and she will not allow the gas to be turned on then she only has herself to blame and as far as we are concerned the case is closed.
We have served a section 21 notice which will expire 31st October. We would like to ask how do I find out if they are going or not as If i go round to ask I could be accused of harassment.
We need to have a system to expose these bad tenants so that other landlords do not unwittingly let their property to them. The law protects them more than us. It is as though we are the wrong doers.

wanda wang

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16:53 PM, 13th September 2014, About 10 years ago

I have put the tenants deposit under the insured deposit scheme. I intend to use accelerated proceedure to regain my property. However under this scheme when the tenancy agreement ends 31st October the deposit is then not protected after that date.
I have asked the deposit scheme where it should be put during the court proceedure. They said it would become periodic but I do not want the court to think I have given them a periodic tenants agreement.
Can anyone give me any advice on this please.

Alan Loughlin

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19:05 PM, 13th September 2014, About 10 years ago

3 suggestions; first relates to this issue, try bribing them to leave voluntarily, I did this recently and it worked, people in desperate need of money find it difficult to resist a wad of cash flashed in front of them, and it works out much cheaper. but make sure you have a signed and dated release form and the keys first.
the other two are, don`t take deposits, this avoids most issues (read the posts here, almost all relate to deposit problems) and do not take any HB tenants.

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