abandonmenthi all,

[jan1]

hi all, my tenant has not paid the rent for 2 mths now she was working but im not sure she is now. she is on a periodic agreement and she has caused damage to the property. i have served her a s21 but have found out she has moved out but is picking up the post from my house. "someone" went round the back of the property to have a look and found the back door was not locked but they did not go in. there was no furniture in the back room but in the yard there was an interior door of mine a mattress and other items she has thrown out. i looked in through the front window and could see 2 settees but nothing else. i only served the s21 on 28th sept and she has until after 14th dec but she is not there and will not aknowledge any of my letters she wont answer the phone to me and wont reply to any text. she still has the keys what can i do? any help will be very much appreciated. thank you. Jan1:(

[Mortitia]

Your tenant has a right of tenancy until she ends the agreement formally in a Deed of Surrender or the courts/bailiff carries out a repossession warrant.

If you enter or change the locks the tenant could accuse you of harassment. I would do nothing at this time infuriating as it is.

Mortitia

[caravanj]

I think you're entitled to secure the back door.

If you have a set of keys then you can lock it from the outside.

If it means fitting a new lock but you must leave a note at the property saying where the tenant can collect her new key. This way you can prove that the lock change wasn't done to exclude her from the property or deprive her of her tenancy. ( It'd be a good idea to text & or voicemail her as well. Also set your phone to report that the text's been received.)

If you do need to change the lock I'd get it done by a locksmith who can be an independent witness if needs be.

[Carryon Regardless]

Try and find evidence that the property is abandoned.

If you have reasonable grounds to believe abandonment you have good reason to retake possession. This is all ambiguous and as said without documentation there is always a risk of a claim of sorts by a T.

By now I guess you will have written off the unpaid rents. I would consider a 'back hander' in exchange for a signature of surrender. Unless you have a guarantor in which case you go on the offensive against them and hope they cause resolution.

[Richlist]

This should show you the correct procedure to follow:-

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/legal/abandonment.htm

[jan1]

hi everyone, thanks for the advice, i served the s21 on 28th sept and that is when i found out my tenant had left, is it not possible to get the court forms now to gain possession as she has left. if not then when i do get the possession order what's the point in it as she is not there to recieve it and therefore wont know anything. (the s21 runs out 14th dec) i find it very long winded having to wait 2 months before i can fill in forms etc and when i get the order what do i do with her 2 settees she has left am i allowed to throw them out? someone said i can put a notice to quit on the door but i thought this was the same as s21, it's all very confusing and my house is empty and not secured properly which means it will be like that until well after xmas with no heating and lots of dog mess everywhere as she left the dog there for just over a week before she picked it up.

[Carryon Regardless]

The house isn't secured, I would chance replacing all locks and post a notice (photographed / witnessed) of how access can be obtained.

The worst for you is a claim of illegal eviction, the notice should take care of such a claim, for belt and braces inform the local housing enforcement officer as that is where the T should go to claim the eviction. If the officer has your contact details prevention of access is only for a short time so any claim for alternative accom would be offset by your counter claim for unpaid rents etc. The same applies for any claim for the sofas. Here you should store for (I think) 3 months after attempting to inform the T. As the cost of storage + is likely to be more than their value there is no bloody point.

If you consider that to return the house to a habitable state will take some time as new locks are fitted and if the T doesn't make contact there is fair demonstration that the property is no longer used by the T. Globe trecking for 3 months is always a possible bs statement.

Cover your backside where you can, but I would just get on with it to avoid further losses.

If you have no way of contact you must accept the losses or the risk of claim, my choice would be risk of claim.

BTW Before letting to a new T some caution is needed. There is some wording for the new AST that is designed to cover you from having responsibility for 2 simultaneous tenancies at the same property.

[jan1]

thank you cor, so i have to wait the two month's before i can fill in court forms and send them in. when i say the house is not secured what i mean is she has just left it unlocked so anyone can walk in so would i be right if i went in and locked the back door then left?by the time i get the court order it will be more than three months so i take it i can throw her settees out then.

the only way i have of contact with her is mobile but she wont answer it to me so i can only text her, i know she will read it but won't reply to it. she has also left stuff outside for me to move so i will need a skip which isn't cheap not to mention new carpets and the cost of getting court order then by the time i have it she will owe 5-6 months rent ffs its gonna cost me a fortune.

[Carryon Regardless]

You can wait till post 14th December to apply for repossession through the court. This ignores use of a S8, possible mistakes of the S21, status of any deposit. You have 2 good chances of getting all lost rents, a cat in hells, and no frickin.

You then wait for the court to deal with your claim, and then the assumed 14 days of court notice to the T.

You have duty of care for T's belongings left by them. You give notice to the T and then dispose of later. The T can claim the value from you (sale cost or such like), you deduct costs.

OR, as above change the locks, facilitate entry if / when requested by the T.

Be aware of professional T type claims and how to 'hopefully' protect against criminal and civil results.

Protecting your property (new locks, due to open doors and no available keys) and demonstrating willingness and ease of new keys being available should defend unlikely criminal possibilities.

The git owing you far more than any value the T claims for, and there being little inconvenience to compensate for, should make any civil claim pointless.

[jan1]

THANKS AGAIN COR, SO I MAY AS WELL JUST WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR THEN WHEN THE HOUSE HAS BEEN WRECKED BY VANDELS (AS LONG AS HER ITEMS ARE SAFE) I THINK I MAY GO IN LOCK THE BACK DOOR AND JUST WALK AWAY BUT I REFUSE TO KEEP HER ITEMS SAFE FOR THREE MONTH, IF SOMEONE WANTS THEM THEY CAN HAVE THEM. I THINK SHE'S JUST LEFT THEM THERE ANYWAY. I'M GRATEFUL FOR ALL THE ADVICE THANK YOU. JAN1

[Richlist]

I've aleady posted you a link to information on abandoned properties.......which you don't appear to have read.

However, in spite of that, here's another link on uncollected goods. My advice is read them and act on their contents.

I'm out.. Good luck.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/uncollected_goods.htm

[jan1]

HI RICHLIST,

I AM SORRY YOU THINK I AM NOT LISTENING OR LEARNING FROM THE REPLIES I AM RECIEVING BUT REALLY I AM, I HAVE READ BOTH OF THE LINKS YOU HAVE SENT ME WITH INTEREST, I WAS JUST HOPING THERE WAS A QUICKER AND EASIER WAY AROUND ALL THIS. I DO APPRECIATE ALL THE INFO I RECIEVE OFF PEOPLE, I JUST THINK IT'S WRONG THAT SHE SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO ALL THIS TO ME BUT I HAVE TO SIT BACK AND PROTECT HER RUBBISH, THIS IS THE FIRST AND LAST TIME I RENT OUT THIS PROPERTY AND I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT TO ANY ONE. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME. JAN1

[jan1]

could i also ask anyone, if she has told "council tax" people and utilities she has left, but has not surrendered possession, is she still responsible for those bills? i remember when i moved twice in 6 weeks because i had a key for the second place but was still in the first place i had to pay full tax on the one i lived in and half on the second. does this apply to her? i'm just thinking if i was to get tax bill because she has said she know longer lives there but she has not told me she was leaving how am i suppost to pay up when i am not in possession of the property. she could have left the heating on full for all i know and i don't see why i should pay for it when i am not allowed access.

[Richlist]

I AM SORRY YOU THINK I AM NOT LISTENING OR LEARNING FROM THE REPLIES I AM RECIEVING BUT REALLY I AM, I HAVE READ BOTH OF THE LINKS YOU HAVE SENT ME WITH INTEREST,

Excellent. They are written by people who know about these things.

I WAS JUST HOPING THERE WAS A QUICKER AND EASIER WAY AROUND ALL THIS.

There isn't.

THIS IS THE FIRST AND LAST TIME I RENT OUT THIS PROPERTY AND I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT TO ANY ONE.

You should never make a decision on a single experience especially when you, yourself have probably made many mistakes / taken wrong decisions whilst letting that property.

[Richlist]

If she is living elsewhere she is not liable for council tax on your property.

In my council district, unfurnished propery is zero rated for 6 months. If the tenant leaves, the property then becomes unfurnished and unoccupied and falls into the zero rate band for up to 6 months or until a tenant moves in......so in your case no council tax would be payable. I suggest you talk to your local council tax people to understand how THEY interpret the rules.

[Carryon Regardless]

RL, not really important but your link is pretty much what I wrote.

The general, although maybe Grampa has a different view from good experience. T tells HB there is a new address, usually due to a new claim for the new place.

Council Tax take this as gospel and charge you the owner of the old place from that date. My experience is that any T responsibilities due to contract / notice periods are ignored.

It becomes your task to recover from the T, like your rents really.

The sofas- Just leave till the last for disposal. As they seemingly have little / no value, support by attempting to sell and failing, ditch 'em. Any claim offset by the monies the T owes and you 'aint gonna get anyway.

OR follow the correct route and throw more money and effort away.

Just an opinion, not designed as definitive advice, written by someone who sometimes thinks they know a little bit and believes legislation is increasingly causing more honest people to find their own resolution and sometimes be naughty.