Advice required on removing tenant who called the police!

Advice required on removing tenant who called the police!

11:42 AM, 20th April 2015, About 10 years ago 18

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Joint tenants signed 6 month AST, before the 6 months were up (November time) the couple broke up and the wife remained in the property. The husband was asked to write to me expressing his wishes to be removed from the AST, he never did. After the 6 months the wife stayed in the property but I never got her to complete a new AST and let it roll over. Prior to knowing they had split up in November I had already sent a section 21.

The wife was having trouble with the husband and what with having the children put into care, I allowed the wife to stay but we had lots of discussions that her 3 bed house was too big for just her and she assured me she was looking for a smaller house, I knew she was also fighting to get her children back.

Recently the council suddenly decided that she had been overpaid at her last address and have been taking the overpayment off me. She was supposed to be making regular payments to bring her rent up to date, she is now in arrears of over £800.00. whenever I wrote to her to complete an inspection she was rarely in and I would always have to rebook, the letters were always hand posted and I took photos as proof, though she always denied having received them.

There was an issue a couple of weeks ago, she was keeping a rabbit in her bedroom, AST states no pets. A couple of weeks before that she had a dog, a neighbour complained that the dog was barking all night and I had to intervene.

February 10th I issued another section 21 and advised her that wanted her out for good this time, she was due to be out 17th April. Last weekend she messaged me and advised that she was in hospital having an operation and needed several weeks to recover and needed to stay at the address. I advised that if she paid all the outstanding rent she could stay a few weeks until recovered, but she must then vacate the premises. I heard nothing.

I turned up at the address today hoping that she would have gone, I banged on the door and shouted her name time & time again, nothing so I let myself in. All her stuff was still there and I heard somebody upstairs so I sat down in the front room and waited, after 10 minutes the police turned up as they have been advised that there was a burgulary in progress. Tenant came downstairs with a new boyfriend and another person.

Boyfriend said she didn’t receive the section 21 dated February and the copy I posted a few weeks ago is invaild as I wrote over it ” Lorraine Copy” and a few other details.

The police were great and advised that it was a civil matter and they wouldn’t be getting involved. They also advised me that the tenant knew what she was doing by calling them. They managed to gain a phone number for me (tenant had changed numbers and stated that she didn’t have a phone) They also advised me to seek advice as the tenant had stated that she wasn’t leaving.

I received a letter from the Council on Friday stating that all payments to me were being stopped from 13th April.

Anyway I left and now need to get them out as quickly as possible, as I have given her so much of my time and energy. I want to know If I go to high court, how quick can I get her out and start afresh with a new tenant and is this the best option.

I always wanted to give her a chance in life and knew that she and her husband were in financial trouble and that’s why the council were good at paying me direct, that is until they recently decided to take the overpayment of the last property from me.

The bond is protected but is only for £540.00, I will do my best to get it paid to me.

I’m not disheartened with property and have no feelings for the tenant, I will not put myself in this situation again and will never take on another vulnerable tenant. This is a business after all but I need advice how to proceed for the quickest result and don’t want the courts to take her side.

Many thanks

Ltenant


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11:10 AM, 21st April 2015, About 10 years ago

Mesne profits is an optional device the landlord can choose to charge or not. The key here is regaining possession, not totting up theoretical money owed. A CCJ can be obtsined if desired and left to marinate for a few years until one or other has assets if that's at all likely.

If the S21 is clean and already expired use it. Otherwise serve another as a back stop, go for the notice then enforce on expiry.

wayne carson

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11:16 AM, 21st April 2015, About 10 years ago

Employment or not. It is not what the courts consider when proceedings relate to an attachment of earnings. They need to do an assessment of income, If the subject falls below the threshold of disposable income you will fail to obtain an order = time and money wasted.

Going to court is like gambling, you have to accept there is a risk and normally the table wins. It's all about stacking the odds in your favour. Obviously the better the level of employment the better your chance of recovering something, but really if you lose and they have representation you not only lose your court fee but face potential costs of up to £6k from the defence attorney and thats for a basic case. Its a;ll about risk versus reward. Me i guess i'm risk averse and look to the future, concentrating on my investment and getting tenants in that pay the rent. The moment they do not conform to my wishes in relation to behaviour. There is a system that will support me in removing them. Always have insurance and rent protection. simple!

Lorraine Steele

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6:46 AM, 22nd April 2015, About 10 years ago

Hi Thanks for all your advice. The ex is in full time employment and I'm in the process of tracing him. If I can get him to give me a letter with one months notice (she recently advised that she has a restraining order on him since they split up, for assault) am I able to speed up the eviction process.
I'm not looking to spend too much time on recovering the loses and am more than prepared to put this down to bad judgement and a learning curve.
I've been reading the questions and answers on this site for more than a year and find it most informative.

wayne carson

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10:13 AM, 22nd April 2015, About 10 years ago

If he did not surrender the tenancy in a manner that is within keeping with the AST terms then simply serve section 21 to the address for both named tenants. He won't get a criminal record, nothing is recorded against him it doesn't cost anything more in court for one or multiple tenants (i'm actually waiting for the courts to realise this missed opportunity!). The time it takes for you to get in touch with him, negotiate and then serve the S21 you have lost a month off the section 21 waiting time. Its a long enough process as it is without adding to it.
Keep the trace going but the results will only last for 6 months and you will need to do it again for purposes of debt recovery.

Lorraine Steele

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23:04 PM, 22nd April 2015, About 10 years ago

Wayne C Thanks for you reply, great help

Neil Robb

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21:28 PM, 26th April 2015, About 10 years ago

Hi Lorraine

Just a couple of points you state no more housing payment will be going to you from the 13 Apr 15. I would contact housing benefit and explain she is now 8 weeks in arrears and demand the rent be paid direct to you if any is being to your tenant. They have the right to stop the payment going to the landlord and go to them direct.
This might be worth checking out.

Second DHSS claimed an over payment of £800.00 for a previous house. Did you ask for a review of this decision. The housing are not allowed to put the tenancy at risk by none payment I believe. Then go to an appeal and state that this money was never paid to you there for why should you be repaying money that was paid to someone else. They will say it is the tenants money and not the landlords. If that is the case they should pursue the tenant for the money. Push it all the way. You may be out of time but it is worth the try. There is someone on here called Bill cant remember surname and people say he is brilliant at fight this kind of thing. paid

Lorraine Steele

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21:36 PM, 26th April 2015, About 10 years ago

Reply ro Neil, Thanks for the information, I've gone back to fight the overpayment that they've taken off me, but it doesn't look as though they will budge. They state that they can take the payment off the new landlord, if the tenant owed the money through being overpaid on their previous residence. It's a case of getting the tenant out asap and cutting my losses.

Neil Robb

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22:08 PM, 26th April 2015, About 10 years ago

After that request did you go to the appeal stage.

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