Tenant likely to go bankrupt- what should landlord do?

[dafttart]

If you had a tenant (couple) with whom you had rented your property out to them for nearly 6 years, had never had problems with the rent being paid on time etc etc ...

if you found out that the person who the tenancy agreement is in the name of, was possibly going to have to go bankrupt, would you decide to not renew the tenancy automatically (even though the couple would in theory be more financially secure).

Would you prefer to be told this information now (when you could decide not to renew their tenancy), or be told after the tenant has gone to court, or find it by looking in the paper?

[Tweedle Dum]

Under the circumstances you have mentioned I wouldn't have an issue with it unless the rent dried up. As long as the rent was paid then I wouldn't consider it any of my business.

[Tiggy]

Given that the rent has never been a problem then I would not worry about it - i have a tenant who is in this situation and she still pays the rent no problem - their problems came about due to self employment - he now has full time job and financially they are better off - suppose it depends on why they went bankrupt but as said previously as long as rent still paid does it really matter

[P.Pilcher]

It certainly wouldn't hurt to contact the tenant and enquire whether the impending bankruptcy would affect their ability to pay their rent. It probably won't. If they have been in residence for six years they probably wouldn't want to loose their home and will be fully aware of the need to pay their rent as they have in the past. They mnay just need a paying in book from you to enable them to pay their rent into your bank account by using cash instead of the direct debit or standing order that they may have been using up to now.

P.P.

[Tweedle Dum]

I'm reading that maybe it's the poster that may be going bankrupt.....

[jai]

methinks you are right Tweedle dum...

[DianeB]

Daftart, I'm with the others in thinking it would not make any difference. Would like to think that after 6 years I had a good relationship with tenant and could chat to them about a potential bankruptcy situation. I do look at Public Notices in my local rag and wouldn't particularly like to see my tenant's name appearing in it without fore warning.

If it is you who is considering bankruptcy, I really do feel for you as it is most probably a very tough decision you are having to make. Do you think that being made bankrupt would affect your tenancy in any way from your point of view.

[Ericthelobster]

Daftart's previous posts indicate she's indeed a tenant... I don't know what the point is of trying to conceal this in the query or at best make it ambiguous: you get much better answers if all the facts are presented clearly.

I don't see any need to tell the LL about an impending bankruptcy per se; if it's going to affect your ability to pay the rent them maybe, but not otherwise.

Having said that, if as you say you'll be more secure.... do you have "evidence" or "proof" of this in some form? I'm thinking that if you do, it might be worth discussing it with the LL to reassure him/her that you'll still be able to pay the rent, just to prevent a panic "knee jerk" reaction by the LL if they were to find out about the bankruptcy by other means.

If you've known the LL for 6 years, then you'll know better than anyone here can guess as to how they are likely to take the news.

Hope it works out for you.

[DianeB]

Well said, Eric!