Tenant left country, not paid rent, house a mess

[Jenniferbrown]

Could do with advice please. My tenant left to go to Dubai few months ago, did not inform me, only found out Xmas eve when rent was overdue went to house to find his mother there 5 dogs and basically living like a squatter. What can I do? Have changed locks today. Thinking section 8 but advice needed and greatly received ......

[jpkeates]

Change the locks back and start the proper (and legal) eviction process.
The tenant's mother (almost certainly) has a right to be in the property and you have (almost certainly) just broken the law.

Do it now and then we'll think about what to do next.

[Wannadonnadoodah]

Did you change the locks and lock her in it or completely illegally evict her?

Not the smartest move on your part. Advice or even Internet research before doing something would have been much better.

[Jenniferbrown]

Hi thanks for your response. The dogs have ruined the house. Carpets are all ruined, kitchen cupboards damaged, walls ruined. and we didn't give authorisation for anyone to stay in that property other than the tenant. We changed the locks at this stage to prevent further damage and stated we would grant access for anyone until tenant is back. But The tenant, his father and mother are ignoring all attempted communication. I think we now want to issue section 8 under ground 13 - property neglect which would result in us changing the locks back anyway. We just can't confirm he'll confirm receipt of it. We only have tenants email address from AST at this stage.

[Wannadonnadoodah]

Hi thanks for your response. The dogs have ruined the house. Carpets are all ruined, kitchen cupboards damaged, walls ruined. and we didn't give authorisation for anyone to stay in that property other than the tenant. We changed the locks at this stage to prevent further damage and stated we would grant access for anyone until tenant is back. But The tenant, his father and mother are ignoring all attempted communication. I think we now want to issue section 8 under ground 13 - property neglect which would result in us changing the locks back anyway. We just can't confirm he'll confirm receipt of it. We only have tenants email address from AST at this stage.

To put it bluntly you don't seem to have a clue. You rent a property out to someone and it becomes their home, they do not need your 'authorisation' to allow people to stay in their home.

You changing the locks on a tenants home is illegal.

Read this from Shelter

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad...legal_eviction

You simply cannot do what you have done regardless of your intentions.

Damage, further damage is irrelevant. This only becomes a problem when you take the house back and it's not in the same state that you let it out.

You don't need to confirm that the tenant receives the notice just that it has been served. You can then go to court, have your case heard, be given a possession order BY A JUDGE then get the bailiffs in to act on the order THEN YOU CAN CHANGE THE LOCKS. You seem to have skipped some pretty much crucial and legal parts of this whole process.

Your story, to put in simple terms is "Tenants gone on holiday, his mum was there, I've changed the locks"

[jpkeates]

Hi thanks for your response. The dogs have ruined the house. Carpets are all ruined, kitchen cupboards damaged, walls ruined. and we didn't give authorisation for anyone to stay in that property other than the tenant. We changed the locks at this stage to prevent further damage and stated we would grant access for anyone until tenant is back. But The tenant, his father and mother are ignoring all attempted communication. I think we now want to issue section 8 under ground 13 - property neglect which would result in us changing the locks back anyway. We just can't confirm he'll confirm receipt of it. We only have tenants email address from AST at this stage.

They can defend your section 8 simply by pointing out you've illegally evicted them.
Ground 13 is a discretionary ground and I'd not expect to win unless the place was a health risk to others.

If you attend court to try and progress the s8, you might find yourself charged with the illegal eviction which would save everyone some time.

You can't change the locks to prevent further damage.
You can repossess to prevent further damage, which is a proper legal process.
You can't decide who goes in and out of the property.
You can contract with the tenant that only they live there (which may or may not be a fair clause), but if they breach it, you need to go to court to enforce it, you can't just start taking matters into your own hands.

[Jenniferbrown]

Locks now changed back thanks for advice. The mother wasn't being made homeless she had a place to live - but couldn't take 5 dogs there so using this house instead to keep them.

[Snorkerz]

The process for eviction is not a quick one so the first thing you have to do (and should have done before you became a landlord) is accept that getting your tenant out will take around 3 months, that you may not get more rent from them and further damage may occur. That can't be changed, so live with it and, if necessary, work out how you will deal with the consequences of that.

While ground 13 is certainly a possibility, indeed imho likely, it is not your only option. How about you answer these questions http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums...ll-new-posters and we will see what advice can be offered.

In particular I would ask how much is the monthly rent and how much is currently unpaid?

[mariner]

Your T is the son, so do not accept rent from parents unless it is being paid on son's behalf.
If he vacated (abandoned) property without Notice and is unlikely to return & occupy, he no longer has an AST for the property, so s8 & s21 no longer can be used but an NTQ for imm Court Order for Possession should br valid after allowing 14 days for expiry from date of Service (LBA?)
I would also serve a valid, 2 month s21, just in case NTQ gets thrown out.

Please complete & paste http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums...ll-new-posters in respect of this Tenancy.

[Snorkerz]

Your T is the son

Agreed

If he vacated (abandoned) property without Notice and is unlikely to return & occupy, he no longer has an AST for the property, so s8 & s21 no longer can be used

also agreed - but judges will often accept them through their own ignorance unless a defendant uses it as a defence.

NTQ for imm Court Order for Possession should br valid after allowing 14 days for expiry from date of Service (LBA?)

This depends on what the tenancy agreement itself says to eviction process is. The idea of an immediate order for possession (if that is what mariner means) is a little optimistic. The actual process is identical as s8.

I would also serve a valid, 2 month s21, just in case NTQ gets thrown out.

Hmm, didn't mariner just say a s21 was invalid However, I agree AND a valid s8 which can be actioned at the same time as the NTQ.

[mariner]

Having never used a LL NTQ I only reiterate suggestions made by others here, ie that an NTQ has no expiry period, other than the 14 days reqd .of an LBA. No additional cost to serve s21 at same time. Judge could throw out NTQ for wrong process, but should then allow subs valid s21 (why I askes OP for Tenancy details, deposit, dates etc) but OP seems clueless on LL7T Law, so should seek help from local specialist lawyer, as actions so far could be very expensive for OP

If s8 has same time scale as NTQ but easily defended on a discretionary ground, my preferred option would be for the greater certainty of a valid s21. 6-8 weeks later.

[jjlandlord]

A NTQ must comply with the standard requirements to be valid. Assuming the tenancy is monthly periodic this means at least one month notice and expiry on the last day of a period.

[Snorkerz]

This depends on what the tenancy agreement itself says to eviction process is. . . . The actual process is identical as s8.

Seem to contradict myself there. What I meant was the court process has the same timescale as s8 i.ts just the 'reasons' (grounds) for the eviction are different.

[Kay Powell]

I haven't been on this forum long, and have only just read this thread. I was wondering if the OP had managed to get possession of her house yet.

BTW, I think that animals generally do less damage than humans!