Mortitia Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Hi Maz, What a pain this one is. The bailiff is wrong. What does it say in your tenancy agreement about good left in the property? It may say keep for 28 days or one I saw this morning said 14 days. Bag up as much as you can and shove it in a shed maybe until the time is up? Have you got a relatives contact details maybe? If you don't keep the stuff for a 'reasonable time' she may bring an action against you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted March 13, 2015 Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Change the locks. Bailliff's notice on the front door. Bag up as much as you can. If you can store items so much the better for 14 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad_maz Posted March 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2015 Thank you both for the replies. Unfortunately we had nothing in our tenancy agreement about Tenants possessions, so I have amended our template so that any future tenancies are covered. I have sent this tenant a text message to say that we will store possessions for 28 days, though she hasn't replied, and I do not have a forwarding address for her. We have attached a notice to the front door advising that the locks have been changed and to contact us for collection of furniture. I will photocopy the bailiffs notice now and we will stick that on the door too. Many thanks Maz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Yes, I highly recommend updating tenancy agreements on template as you learn something new. Big thanks to Richlist on here who has given us loads of ideas in the past. I was comparing the agreement of a local agent to mine yesterday and so many items that are crucial were not covered by that company. Maz - you could have an 'eviction sale' at the property later if anything is worth selling - might pay towards her debts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fionaf Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Talking about amending Tenancy agreements as you learn, I heartily agree. Recent changes I have made incude: - making it clear about charging tenant in the event of them locking themselves out and the landlord having to attend to let them in (we had one tenant who locked herself out about once a fortnight and although live 2 miles away it was petrol, time and a pain in the proverbial, as soon as she knew she was going to get charged if more than twice in a year she suddenly became a lot more organised! ) - expectations about minor repairs including changing lightbulbs - tenant is liable for storage costs if they vacate the property and leave possessions, with clear guidelines on the amount of time you will keep it in storage - implications of not maintaining the garden - i.e. after two warnings you will instruct a gardener to do it for them and they will be liable to pay - legal costs such as court fees, I had this in my tenancy agreement fortunately, but I know a friend who didn't. - if the names on the tenancy agreement change (e.g. partner split up) then I will charge an admin fee for amending as it can take quite a while to get both sides to sign relevant documents and re-sorting out deposits etc. It may sound as though I am mean, but far from it, sometimes having been too soft in the past makes you want to clear up any ambiguity possible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resident Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Hi guys, Don't forget if any of you need a outline assured shorthold tenancy agreement there is one available to download for free on Residential Landlord. http://www.residentiallandlord.co.uk/tenancyagreement.html Best wishes, Resident Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Thanks Resident.............and yes, I have used it. ...... but I do doctor it here and there to suit me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mortitia Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Me too - downloaded it years ago and added to it all the gems others have generously provided us with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 Free Ast's are all well and good but most free ones including this one don't cover as much as they should and as you are using it to help protect £1000's of your assets wouldn't you want something that was more that average. I'M not saying it wont do the job and with a well referenced tenant and an experienced landlord you could make it work. Also encouraging users to edit it and put it their own clauses is a recipe for disaster. There is a certain skill to drafting clauses and I have seen many, some draw up by "professional" agents that are garbage and unenforceable. I also have a issue with the abandonment clause as it gives the impression to landlords that they can just take possession of a property under certain conditions. Well most of us here know the risks of that route but any newbie landlord wouldn't and could end up with a big fine. "re-enter the premises and bring the agreement to an end" mmmmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richlist Posted March 26, 2015 Report Share Posted March 26, 2015 I agree. Just because there are free documents available on the web....and let's face it, they are available from numerous sites, ....one should satisfy themselves that they are suitable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carryon Regardless Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 My personal, and cynical of course, view is that our AST contracts are near worthless for legal purposes. For the majority of us, if not all, it wouldn't be worth going to a real court where legalities are truly considered as that would be cost prohibitive. In the County Court the judge finds justification for deciding as his sympathies predict, and we have a good idea where that is most likely to be. We can of course appeal if he lets us and we wish to spend the dosh. The best I hope for is for T's to actually read the document and use it as guidance. Where, for whatever reason, this doesn't happen at least I can cite a clause to point out their errors, in time I hope. But if not it's then used to try and cause a G'tor to settle up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melboy Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 Obviously I don't put in clauses that are in direct opposition to current housing law but when it comes to say smoke alarm batteries or keeping the garden clear of rubbish and similar type clauses........ and especially for me a cleaned oven on vacating!! I think it spells it out crystal clear who does what between landlord and tenant. The other thing I do is ensure that my tenants initial each page at the bottom of an AST as having read and understood what they have read. Avoids confusion later on. To be fair though I do get minimal problems and there has to be a certain amount of flexability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grampa Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 My personal, and cynical of course, view is that our AST contracts are near worthless for legal purposes. I do agree to a point and with some tenants no matter what you put in the contract if they decide to ignore what's in it they will but I find clarifying certain points such as vermin, garden waste, smoke alarm batteries and tube lights to name a few can make being a landlord or agent so much easier. The bottom line though is if the tenants doesn't do as they should you either accept it or evict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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