Noisy tenants

[magic.genie]

I have a 2 bed nice terraced house in Manchester. I'm not presently in the UK and it's Agent managed. They're good tenants to my knowledge, pay on time etc, been there around 11 months. I've received no emails prior to the one below, so i'd be interested in your advice regarding this problem.

Letter from Agent:
< We have received another complaint regarding noise at xxx, in terms of the dog and the tenants arguing in the back garden. They have also complained that they are not cleaning up dog mess in the back garden.


We have sent them two letters regarding this, the last one dated 13th January 2007. This letter requested that the tenants keep the noise down, and that if we received further complaints we could begin court proceedings towards eviction. It states in the tenancy agreement (Section 3(a)) that the tenants should “not do anything to annoy the landlord, neighbours, or other tenants or occupiers.”

Would you like us to take this matter further, i.e. begin proceedings to evict the tenants? A standard notice to quit is 2 months.

Please advise. >

I'm slightly peeved that I've only just heard about this. However.
Would really appreciate your advice on the next step you would take.

Thanks for reading, hope to hear from you, kind regards
Alex

[magic.genie]

He he, nice one Wickerman.
Nothing like a funny line, to lighten up the stress of the problem.
Alex

[Tenantzone]

I would want to know what they mean by "another complaint". Is this the second? The 102nd? Are the complaints all from the same (fussy?) person or are they annoying a few neighbours? I think you need these answers before you can preceed.

[CoffeeCup]

The complainant must be pretty close ie. next door if they are aware of the dog mess in the garden.

Why hasn't the agent ever identified dog mess as a problem in their quarterly inspections?

Dog mess in your own garden isn't very pleasant but is that really a major concern of a neighbour?

I think that's covered the dog mess

Arguing in the garden - How comes the complaint is only when they are in the garden? You mentioned that it's a terraced house, Is the sound insulation on the party walls really that good? It's highly unlikely that they only argue in the garden. It just seems strange to single out the garden.

Has the local authority been contacted regarding the noise? I think I would like an impartial assessment before eviction proceeding were considered.

Did you meet the tenants at any point? I would be inclined hear their side of the story. It's not uncommon for an incumbent neighbour to take a dislike of tenants for a whole host of reasons which would not justify an eviction. How well do you know the neighbours?

[Paragon]

Magic -
It's not your responsibility. The neighbour needs to complain to the Enviromental agency, not your agent or you.

[DianeB]

Looks like Jeffrey has got a rival in Wickerman with his sharp wit

This thread may be of interest to you.
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums...ighlight=noise

[magic.genie]

Thanks ever so much everybody, good to hrat your opinions, it's very good advice.
I have emailed this to the Agent, so we'll see...

< To my knowledge the tenants are good and pay on time. I do not want the expense of eviction/non payment of rent/an empty house etc etc

Having said that this is not good, I don't want the tenants upsetting the neighbors.

So... Please give me some more information in order to make an informed decision:

1. EXACTLY how many complaints have been made and on what dates.
2. WHO made the complaints.
3. WHEN was the last inspection of this property and what state was the garden in AND was the garden filled with dog mess.
4. WHEN was the first letter dated.
5. HAS a complaint been made to the local authority to your knowledge.
6. WHEN is their AST due for renewal. >
Alex