My patience is being tested – Should I evict?

Reply to the comment left by sam at 17/04/2018 - 10:45
This forum helps and advises all landlords - some not as experienced or battle weary as others. If the responses become 'Facebook style', it'll put some of us off. No question is unreasonable. We're in this together.

Ensure you have all the paperwork correct then issue a Section 21 so the clock starts ticking for the tenant. Then have a friendly chat with the tenant to see what is going on. Perhaps he's working through universal credit or whatever in which case you can be sympathetic and if you see he is progressing back towards normality you don't have to enforce the notice but if he's spinning you a line you haven't wasted any time.

Reply to the comment left by Siobhan Southern at 17/04/2018 - 11:06
Whilst we are all in the same industry, we are not 'all in it together'. You should ensure you have sufficient foundation of knowledge to do the job first rather than holding a sense of moral entitlement to assistance from others, merely because they are in the same line of work and you have chosen to get into BTL.

Of course there will be a certain amount of incredulity when a landlord is lacking in the very basics and seemingly assumes their hand will be held (moaning when it's not).

If the OP is so stressed and, I'd guess, close-to-the-wire monetarily, they should not be in this game. Playing so dangerously leads to irrational/poor decision-making, which in turn leads to bad press for the rest of us.

Learn to fly the plane, THEN apply for the airline job -don't claim it's not your fault that you don't know what you're doing and lose control, blaming the other pilot for failing to show you what's what. There job is not to carry you. You are not entitled to be a landlord...certainly not an ill-informed one, just because you got yourself a property!

Wow tha''s a bit harsh!

Reply to the comment left by Paul Shears at 17/04/2018 - 11:42
But right on the nose.

But then you get some very helpful people in the world

If you want a reasonable cost Possession service, post your email address and I might be able to recommend one.

It’s time to evict, especially if your tenant has stuck his head in the sand.
He will still be entitled to his day in court, If you use the section 8 route, with section 21 you will get possession, but will have to do a separate claim for a money order.

As for being a Landlord, only if you are wealthy enough, i’m of a different opinion to Luke.

It isn’t your fault that your tenant has gotten into difficulties, it isn’t your fault that people have an opinion of your right to be a Landlord.
But this can be a lonely industry to be in and you won’t find many friends outside of it.

The beauty of the BTL industry, is that anybody deemed able to rent to a certain standard can join it and become successful.

You can avoid costs of eviction with rental insurance and employ agents with the necessary knowledge as you learn the ropes, so all possibilities can be covered.

That is true ‘social mobility’, instead, it is becoming a “closed shop”, for those who feel entitled because they can project their wealth and keep newcomers out, with their ideas of who can and can’t be in their realm.

So Luke, I will have to disagree on your comments, it’s bad enough that the World and his granny attack landlords, he doesn’t deserve it from people within the industry.

Luke, your not being helpful, you are dismissive of someone trying to learn how to deal with rent arrears.

That’s why this forum exists, long may it stay that way.

Reply to the comment left by Gary Dully at 19/04/2018 - 07:19
Gary, I could not agree more. Very well said.

Reply to the comment left by Gary Dully at 19/04/2018 - 07:19
I didn't say you should be wealthy, but you should ensure that you have a reasonable knowledge of the basics and not run a on a shoestring. Six weeks of arrears (seemingly for the first time too), especially as a fraction of the overall income of an HMO, should not cause the communicated level of stress. It smacks of complete naivety, but

Asking the question isn't a problem. Expecting tenants to pay their rent on time isn't a problem. Not having enough working capital to sustain an realistic level of arrears (<1.2% of the annual rent in this case), being aghast when it happens is and not furnishing yourself with a reasonable level of knowledge to either deal with it (what is probably lesson 1 of BTL...arrears) and expectation is a problem. It makes you and the rest of the industry look like amateurs, which is not what we want.

In a perfect world all tenants would pay their rent in full and on time. In reality that doesn't happen. You should know this *before* getting into this game and reasonably prepare for it.