Landlord intimidation – now is the time for action

Reply to the comment left by "Iain Lettice" at "10/07/2014 - 13:09":

Hi Ian,

Letting property is not rocket science. All you have to do is find out what the requirements are, comply with the law and treat your tenants with respect. If they don't comply with any of your terms, or even if you just don't like them, use the procedure laid down by the law to remove them.

You can't do as you please and entering the property without the tenants permission or when the tenant is not there is an offence, a fact which the original post seems to have failed to recognise.

Reply to the comment left by "All BankersAreBarstewards Smith" at "10/07/2014 - 14:20":

I always put in tenancy that rent is to be paid direct to me, but as I have just tried to explain that will be another reason why LLs wont take DSS, As to the legal cost that's NOT a problem, as to living in cuckoo land greatest respect or not I will continue to run my business in any way I see fit,
They haven't got me yet & I do not to stick my head in the sand or run away when the going gets tough, It never ceases to amaze me how people come up with the notion that if you do nothing it will get better all by itself
I came on here to get support from other LLs which apart from yourself I seem to have managed to do if you however have not been thru the misery that this causes then you are a very lucky man, other than that I really cant see why you would try to discourage others. it reminds me of people that will not go on strike but when the unions get the pay rises etc that they have been fighting for those that didn't strike are first in line to accept the pay rise etc, good job we do have people out there that do defend what they believe or we would all still be in workhouses

Sharon & ABABSS - this is all getting a bit personal now. Please agree to disagree on this point and let's move on.
.

Reply to the comment left by "John Daley" at "10/07/2014 - 15:57":

Hi John, The original post did not go into detail of what happened but further down there is more information, however most seemed to understand that it was not really about complying with the law it is about the "advice" the councils are giving to people that are breaking the law.
First & foremost treating your tenants with respect is essential as you will maybe see on other comments I have made, treat people as you would expect to be treated yourself that bit is simple.
There are amazing tenants out there most of mine have been with me approx 10-13yrs but to clarify I rented to a family who later on took in other "tenants" & then called the council around for no reason, to be honest if they had told me they wanted to do that I would have allowed it but that's irrelevant.
However when the council turned up mob handed a person for every department approx 7 of them they then deemed the house HMO for which you do NOT have to give notice to enter the property for communal areas, however the council could not seem to decide what they was doing hence the bullying intimidation that seems to be going on.
So Ian letting property may not be rocket science but do your research, decide if you want to rent to a family or as HMO & don't be fooled into believing its easy money as it is not especially if you are doing the job right & looking after your tenants, my tenants live better than me but that is because I recognize that these tenants are paying for the roof over my head & I wish you well in your new venture....Sharon

Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "10/07/2014 - 16:38":

Sorry Mark you are right just having one of those moment .......Sharon

Reply to the comment left by "Iain Lettice" at "10/07/2014 - 13:09":

Good Luck Ian just please do your homework, lots of advice on here on various topics.......Sharon

Hi Sharon - it was never my intention to upset you. Maybe I expressed myself too bluntly here and did not recognise how vulnerable you still feel about all this mess and stress. I also have had some truly appalling experiences as a landlord over many years, (almost exclusively with benefit tenants) and what I have learnt, is which battles to fight and which to leave alone.

You will probably experience a huge sense of relief once you have taken some meaningful action - and when you can see a result on the horizon. Once you feel back in control - that is when you will begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Some of the suggestions I made were for possible ways forward, even though you may not have found them to your liking. Sometimes it takes a stranger to say uncomfortable things which your friends may not have the courage to say. Your own health, contentment and sense of well being are much more important than anything else. Is there a way you could borrow money to pay Paul Shamplina to end this situation - the stress will be taken from you by him and you can start to recover....What ever you decide to do, I do wish you well.

I'm definitely going to get some advice. My letting agent suggested going down the HMO route renting to Leeds LHA tenants who are 33+ so the higher rate. The house is a 4 bedroom that I was going to convert into 5 pods following advice from the Letting agent and a builder I know. I was going to get the property managed by the letting agent (at 10%+vat management fees) so no headaches as it would be done for me.

After following this conversation, it seems like it could all go beautifully, or I could be in a world of pain and that will just be the luck of the draw !

I'm definitely a win-win kind of person. I would want my tenants to love where they are living and to love me as a landlord, but I am still looking on this as a future 'career' as I want to build a portfolio of properties to make me financially independent (not bothered about getting rich).

I could not look at myself in the mirror if I know I hadn't done the best for my tenants.

I feel incredibly naive saying these things and get the feeling I will need to get myself battle hardened. I've read Simon Zutchi's Property Magic book and I'm starting to devour the information on here as well.

Sharon and John - thanks for the kind words and advice.

Reply to the comment left by "sharon underwood" at "10/07/2014 - 10:20":

Hi Sharon, Can I email you privately with some stuff / contacts that may help you. Is there a way to do this on this forum?

Reply to the comment left by "Iain Lettice" at "10/07/2014 - 22:26":

Hi Ian you sound like the perfect LL keeping your tenants happy & comfortable is the way forward, I had a 5 bedroomed house HMO & as i have said most have been there 10yrs or more so the use of an agent was not necessary for me, I treated them with respect & for the most part this has worked for me, although I have had 1 or 2 bad tenants & every time something goes wrong I say "never again" then when I calm down I think No why should the bad behavior of a few dictate how I treat the others.
All of that said HMO for 5 rooms was not cost effective for me BUT that was because I spent a small fortune getting it up to HMO standards & then they moved the goal post expecting me to rip it all out & put new system in doing the exact same thing (only difference was a panel at bottom of stairs) plus all bills & price of registration was the same for me as hostels etc with 20-30+ tenants, your local council may charge much less & they may not require the same systems I had to use, I was lucky in that because my tenants where there so long they watched the energy usage etc not sure that would be the same for you, that is the beauty of getting or at least meeting any future any future tenant.
You sound like you will make a great LL I wish you a lot of luck....Sharon