Runaway Tennant

[Nallen]

I have had a tennant for 18 months and he has always paid his rent promptly. I told him that I wanted to sell the apartment, and he said he would be happy to arrange viewings.This was in December. He paid Jans rent, but defaulted on Febs. He wont return any calls emails or texts messages.

He was aparently running an escort agency from the flat and the estate agents have struggled to get keys for viewings, as I no now that his girls worked Monday to Friday. I had enough and went round to apartment and let myself in, as there was no reply.

He has deserted the apartment and left it empty, apart from a dirty old bed and matress.. lovely!!

I still have his deposit though.

How do I stand legally?? He is obviously not coming back. Should I go down the section 21/8 route anyway, just incase. Shall I change the locks now and reposess my property?? - as I need to get it viewed and sold.

Can anyone offer any advice please.

[pugsy]

You should probably take photos or video of the place, including the inside of the fridge as this is a good indication of whether someone is still living in a place, take them on separate dates. Then you need to put up a sign of Notice of Abandoned Property up on the door of the property, noting your intention to change locks, etc. Take a witness and record everything on camera with a date recording facility. You'll find an example of one of these forms and advice on letlink.co.uk. For the record get your witness to sign an affidavit

You have to be really thorough.. to protect yourself. But if I were you I'd be doing cartwheels, you've just had a good 18 months out of him, okay so ditch the bed. But be very glad he's not still there and not paying. I'm in the process of evicting someone and I'd love for him to have abandoned my flat!

[Nallen]

You should probably take photos or video of the place, including the inside of the fridge as this is a good indication of whether someone is still living in a place, take them on separate dates. Then you need to put up a sign of Notice of Abandoned Property up on the door of the property, noting your intention to change locks, etc. Take a witness and record everything on camera with a date recording facility. You'll find an example of one of these forms and advice on letlink.co.uk. For the record get your witness to sign an affidavit

You have to be really thorough.. to protect yourself. But if I were you I'd be doing cartwheels, you've just had a good 18 months out of him, okay so ditch the bed. But be very glad he's not still there and not paying. I'm in the process of evicting someone and I'd love for him to have abandoned my flat!

Thank you Pugsy, you have been very helpful, I feel a lot happier with the situation now. This was my first let. Hopefully my next ones will go a little smoother. Good learning curve I suppose. Thanks again.