Tenant has left with no notice

[rootleheed]

I had a tenant renting a small 1 bedroomed flat who was in to the 6th month of a 12 month shorterm contract. She contacted me to say she had the chance of a 2 bedroomed flat and was interested in it. I explained that to get out of the contract she would have to recommend a suitable tenant to take on her tenancy, or if I could find someone we would go down that route.

I have now been told by a third party that she has left and is now living in the 2 bedroomed flat, but she still has the keys for my flat. I have spoke to the local housing benefit people and they assure me they are only going to pay for 1 property and as she had notified them of her move to this new flat that is the one they will pay for.

I have had no formal notice that she has left, she has not returned my keys, there is still some remaining furniture in the flat and I still hold her deposit. Legally where do I stand as regards going into my property and changing the locks if she is not forthcoming with the keys and retaining her deposit for rent I am missing out on due to the hounsing benfit not paying her rent??

[Melboy]

Here we go again! Dealing with the Numpty's from the Local Authorities!

Does it never occur to these Dimwits that the Landlord is entitled to a bit of respect when they are the innocent party.

Yes, they should pay one lot of rent only .......yours!

I would take the Tenant AND the Local Authority to Court for Breach of Contract.

[rootleheed]

Melboy, Cheers for the advice!

But are you telling me that I can take the local Authority to court and have a leg too stand on?? I was of the understanding that the contract was with the tenant and not the local authority. She is the person that has signed the contract and basically she has nothing worth pursuing.

I hope you are correct because I sent the local authority an email regarding their intention to set up a landlord accreditation scheme. I asked if they would also set up a tenant accreditation scheme to save us landlords getting crap tenants from them!!

[Melboy]

Dealing with Local Authorities is always a nightmare. Ever tried getting Council Tax sorted out? Left hand never knows what the right hand is doing!

It got so bad for me that I had to get my Solicitor to write to the Chief Exec. and Director of Finance about my problems with Council Tax. Obviously I was the innocent party in the problem. It was sorted out in 1 day after 4 Months of harrassment and Court Summons. I never even got an apology!

This is one of the reasons why I don't do DSS Tenants.

I have lost count over the years whereby Landlords have taken Tenants to Court for a whole variety of reasons,won their case and then receive absolutely nothing by a Defaulting Tenant. It is wholly wrong in my view. I also think the pendulum has swung too far in favour of the Tenant and not enough to protect the Landlord against Scumbag Tenants who think that honest, hardworking Landlords are fair game to be ripped off.

[jam]

You should serve a Notice to Quit on the basis that the tenant is not using the property as their only and principal home. Therefore the tenancy is ended. The Notice to quit gives 4 weeks notice. At the expiry of this you should be able to lawfully claim back the property - if you are certain the property as been abandoned. You should also still hold the tenant liable for rent until you relet it . You cannot enter the property until the Notice is expired - unless there is an emergency - burst pipes etc. Regarding the deposit - what was this for - was it for unpaid rent? or danmage to property. You could use to offset the lock change etc and new keys.

You may wish to seek legal advice.

[rootleheed]

Jam, Cheers for your help. The good news is that she returned the keys on Sunday 6th August, with a letter of appology for not returning them sooner and pointing out we still hold her deposit. This is over 1 month since she left that she has returned the keys.

Unfortunately she has treated the place with no respect bearing in mind we had just totally renovated this property and she was the first tennant. Damage to new kitchen units, broken toilet seat, smashed electrical socket and she has never heard of James Dyson.

We also have not been paid by the local DSS since May due to her not filling in some additional forms they sent to her. Lesson learned, NO MORE DSS FOR US!!!

Thanks to Jam and Melboy for your help.

[Melboy]

I've been renting out properties now for 16 years and during that time I have heard some real horror stories regarding nearly all DSS Tenants, in fact, I have a couple of my own stories which I could relate.

I have already had my wrist smacked for going on about DSS Tenants and yes I agree there are some decent people about who will treat the place as their home and not as some glorified doss-house that they can wreck at leisure and accept no responsibilty for because 'that's what we pay rent for innit '....... and in some cases don't pay any rent at all!

However, it is increasingly obvious that an awful lot of DSS Tenants do abuse the system and the sad thing is the Local Authorities seem unwilling to help or intervene on the Landlords behalve which is probably the main reason why Landlords like myself do not want DSS Tenants in their properties.