Recovering Outstanding Rent

[ja99son]

My tenants have finally left my property, 2 weeks after they were due to leave.

They did not make the final rent payment nor have they paid for the time they overstayed.

The letting agent has moved them in to another property that he manages.

The LA promised the outstanding rent would be paid and he gave a personal guarantee to pay it out of his own pocket if need be. Indeed, he said it would be paid in to my account last Monday. Needless to say, it hasn't been paid.

Numerous calls to his mobile have not been answered and despite leaving several messages, he has failed to call me back.

Today, I spoke with his assistant who told me that the tenant had lost his job and would pay a little bit every week. No amounts were mentioned.

These tenants were recommended to me by the LA and he provided a reference for them saying that they had been his tenants for over a year and would always pay the rent.

They had 3 other families living in the house with them (unauthorised sub-letting) and have left the house in an awful state. The deposit they paid will not even cover half the costs of any remedial work. I have sent the LA a list of works that need to be carried out and stated that the deposit must not be returned to the tenants.

Given that:

There were 3 legitimate working people in the house (multiple income streams were a selling point for the LA when he put them forward);

Several working unauthorised stayers;

They have moved in to another property where they will have had to pay a deposit and a month's rent to the same LA;

the lost job is far from being a good enough reason to have not paid the rent and I have told the LA's assistant what I think in no uncertain terms.

She told me that she had received £100 so far (this was what she said several weeks ago as well) but I haven't seen any of it.

I am now considering my options to recover the outstanding rent and if possible, the costs required to bring the property back to its original condition. I also need to understand how the deposit system works and how I can recover that.

Can anyone advise what steps I could take either against the LA or the tenants. Is the LA now in some way liable after verbally guaranteeing the rent?

I would like to go after the LA for his commission as well as he has done nothing to chase or recover the outstanding rent whilst he must have received payments for the property he has now moved them in to.

Grateful for any advice.

thanks.

[Mortitia]

It will be very difficult to enforce the verbal contract with the agent who seems a bit flakey.

There is no guarantee that tenants who have been reliable in the past will go on doing so. It seems the agent gave you a recommendation to the best of his knowledge but now things have gone wrong. Was the agent doing full management, rent collection or tenant find only? is the agent a member of ARLA or NAEA - you can complain to these trade bodies if he is a member.

Where is the tenants' deposit? You as landlord are responsible for refunding the deposit so you can raise a dispute with whichever scheme it is with and recover the rent (or part of it) from that.

Personally I think you were lucky they left only 2 weeks later than scheduled. They could have stayed much longer, not paid rent and waited until you spent £££'s evicting them.

Definitely get a new agent or learn how to do it yourself and don't believe verbal promises.

Mortitia

[Chestnut]

I agree with Mortitia. Count your blessings that these tenants have gone so quickly and move on!

As you had an agent it might be worth a formal letter to the agent listing all your outstanding debts (outstanding rent and deposit etc.) from this tenancy as a claim on the agent, enclosing some proof of tenant's date of departure if you can. Add that you would consider court action for a money claim against the agent if their response is unsatisfactory after a given time (2 weeks?).

Don't mention that you won't use this agent again.

Don't bother to chase the tenant - use your energy to find a new one.