Furniture left in house by tenant and now asking for it back !

Reply to the comment left by "Queen Victoria" at "28/02/2015 - 08:47":

i agree with queen vic and ian. we are on first names terms with all our tenants from the mo we meet and i am a scruff most of the time. that dont mean our tenants take advantage of us. and to not give a reason for decisions is just rude and a power trip. each to his/her own but IMO the sort of behaviour mr clement advocates is rather old school and sure to alienate tenants without fail.
just my opinion but i am highly suspicious of people who are overly smartly dressed, i.e. like agents! who are they trying to fool with their sharp suits?

I am probably far to accomodating to my tenants but like some of the folks posting here I to like a friendly relationship with them. I think at the end of the day you need to be a good judge of character in this game. I think Christines tenants sound a bit disfuntional and when things don't go well for people they usually look around for someone to blame or to ask unreasonable favours. In essence her tenants are trying it on!. My tenants are professionals very smart and switched on. The only thing I have to watch out for is their business acumen. Like arguing over minute details in the rental agreement at time of renewal. - They had a problem with tesing the smoke alarm weekly instead of monthly for goodness sake, but that said they keep the place nicely and have paid rent on time for 3 years.

Christine, I can't believe that the loft was not insulated. Yours must have been the last house in the UK without the warm cuddly stuff. If they didn't take that with them then it HAS benefitted you.
I wish I had tenants like yours. Mine usually leave with a smoking gun behind them:)

Reply to the comment left by "Christine McCluggage" at "25/02/2015 - 15:22":

In the great words of the honourable Judge Judy " No good turn goes unpunished "

Reply to the comment left by "philip allen" at "28/02/2015 - 13:13":

Thanks all,

Reply to Philip Allen, The tenants were on benefits and got the loft done free, Before they moved in we had full central heating put in and double glazing replaced at our cost, when the tenants came to view the said " Oh if we had of moved in before you did all this we could have got it done for you at no cost" ! Wow if only we knew how to work the system as well as some it would have saved us 6k !

I think what happened is, we charged them for the extra days and they didn't feel that was fair, they thought we should sell furniture to pay for the days they took! I have messaged them and told them that we disposed of the furniture as the new tenant, who is now in the house, didn't want it so it was in the way.

Thank you all for your replies been a great help, at least I know were not in the wrong 🙂

Reply to the comment left by "Peter Hunter" at "26/02/2015 - 19:43":

you are right,Please always get signed by tenants ,that if you not collect in 7/10/15 ...working days furniture/personal belongings will be disposed.And do so.even if you have kept ,never say you got few items.And refuse for any payment.I am landlord for 28 years and had all problems and learnt my lessons from that.

Hello Queen Vic. I bought my first rental property in 1973. I've seen landlords come and go. I've seen lovely husband and wife landlords loose everything including their own family home. I've made every mistake possible. And one thing I have learnt is tenants are not your friends. Be very careful with the ones that try to be , as they are the ones that take you to court and can bring your little rental business crumbling down. I was simply giving Christine some very good advice that works.

Reply to the comment left by "brian clement" at "03/03/2015 - 01:26":

Brian. 1973 ! Congratulations, that is a long time in the business. Yes I agree with you. Your advice on maintaining a professional distance is sound, I think. My only argument was on the small point, because that is how you set the first comment out, on forms of address. I don't think a formal Mr and Mrs is necessary after the first meeting, not in this day and age. We used to call our boss Mr or Mrs didn't we and generally this is not the form of address in the workplace nowadays. But on the point of not confusing the relationship and mixing being friendly up with being friends, I am with you 100%. I wish you many more happy years of landlording - if that this what you wish for yourself of course. QVic.

Reply to the comment left by "brian clement" at "28/02/2015 - 01:31":

Many years ago, early in my working career, I read the book "When I Say No, I Feel Guilty".

This helped me to say no without feeling guilt about not giving someone what they wanted.

It still works, and the book is still available.

Hello Michael Barnes. Thanks for your reply. I don't think many readers agree with my way of thinking. The two most important things I ever learnt to say to unreasonable tenants is "No" and "This is my decision and I'm not prepared to discuss it with you". It works every time. Brian.