My Tennant as left but her boyfriend hasnt

[Krisgo]

Hi All can you help

My tennant as left my property one month before she was supposed to leave end of Jan But she tells be her ex boyfriend is still living there. I've tried to contact him by phone but he dosnt answer. Ive also vistited the house and also nobody comes to the door

I have an assured shorthold tennancy contract with her and Its says in the contract not to assign or sublet the property.

Rent payments have been met up to the end of Jan. But she as canceled her utilss bills. I'm just worried now that the tennant as gone and I have sombody living there who I think shouldnt be ?

Do any of you know my rights in this situation

Regards

Kris

[MrShed]

I have an assured shorthold tennancy contract with her and Its says in the contract not to assign or sublet the property.

First things first. This is an unfair term as defined by the OFT. As such, the term is null and void, so in fact your tenant can do either of these things. In future, only deny one of them(probably subletting).

Have you ever accepted rent off the girlfriend?

[Krisgo]

Sorry the girl was the tennant and she paid for the 6 months rent full cash. Contract and everything was in her name. I didnt know anyone else was staying there untill she as told me she as left (and canceled the utils) but her boyfriend hasnt

The line in the contract said Not to assign, or sublet part with possesion of property, or to let any other person live at the property.

Is this incorrect then because I paid and downloaded it from a Landlord website

[MrShed]

Oh sorry my apologies mis read it. Well if you have not accepted any rent from this guy, then he cannot be considered a tenant. As to getting him out you would have to wait until someone else posts, as I am really unsure! He is possibly classed as a squatter. I would do a search on these forums, as this question has definitely come up before.

With regards the agreement, yes this term is invalid - it is unfair as it removes basically any option the tenant has to get out of the agreement if needs be.

[davidjohnbutton]

The "not to asign or sublet" term is not exactly unfair - it is in the way that it is put into this contract because as you say, it removes a choice of the tenant - but if the words "without the consent of the landlord which will not be unreasonably withheld" were added, it would make it a fair contract term.

However, the tenant cannot simply ignore it as it stands. If a tenant were able to do this, he or she could move any undesirable into the property and simply say "I have assigned the tenancy to Bertie the Tramp - collect the rent from him". Any reasonable landlord would not accept Bertie the Tramp as his or her tenant - the landlord does have a right to choose who will live in his property and the unfair contract term legislation does not remove this right.

The rent is paid until the end of January - I would be inclined to leave things until then to see if the boyfriend moves out. If he does - all is well -if not, then since he is not a tenant or licensee, then he could be ejected under the speedy possession process for squatters. However, if he claims to have an assigned tenancy, then possession will have to be sought in the normal way OR you could regularise the tenancy and accept him as a new tenant.

[Andy Parker]

I would get the tenant to confirm that she has ended the tenancy in writing.This may help if the boyfriend claims that he is a tenant by assignation.

[Krisgo]

Thanks for all the good advice guys.

Just one last thing Andy. Would an sms text message be adequate. That is what she sent me to say she as left. I can't get old of her also when I try to contact her

[attilathelandlord]

Firstly, if you only have the original tenant on the AST, her boyfriend may have limited rights at the property but is not a squatter. Effectively, the tenancy hasn't ended because she has not given you vacant possession of your property at the end of any written notice from her/you.

You don't have a contract with the person now in the house, so your original tenant remains responsible for the rent/damage to the property until you regain vacant possession. Make sure she knows this and that you will pursue her for all outstanding amounts. This may make her shift the boyfriend.

Serve a S21 notice in the name of your original tenant only (you must use the details on your original AST) also serve a S8 if she is 2 months in arrears.

Don't take any money from the ex boyfriend otherwise you may well be creating a new AST.

If the ex boyfriend doesn't move out on hearing all this, then you will have to proceed to the courts for eviction, but you do this all in the original tenant's name. If it goes to bailiffs they will remove anyone at the property at the appropriate time.

If you don't know what you're doing then get someone like Landlord Action to do it for you. They advertise on this site i believe.