How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought please

[PlanB]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

If the tenants are on Housing Benefit then you can ask the council to make the rent payments direct to your bank account once they are 8 weeks in arrears (sometimes earlier). Call the council today and report the situation. If the tenants are in receipt of HB (always paid 2 weeks in arrears) you may find the benefits' team will stop their benefit if they're not passing it on to you. Grass them up immediately.

But is there a possibility that the tenants have lost their entitlement to HB which is why they can't/won't pay you any rent?

[PlanB]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

I can confirm that the T's deposit is in a deposit scheme.

The S21 Notice expires this month and the T has not paid December rent, and has stated in writing that he won't pay.

If you've got the tenants' deposit then in effect you've already got the tenants' rent. I'm guessing you took the equivalent of one month's rent for the deposit. That's why I think your MCOL claim will fail.

[Tigs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Thank you PlanB.

For clarification, the deposit is a lot less than the rent bearing in mind that the arrangement was on the basis that I have known my retired neighbours for a long time - and one wouldn't ordinarily expect retired folk to be deviant. The garden is in an absolute mess, and the tenants refuse me access into the house. So the upshot of that is I am going to be massively out of pocket when the tenants leave eventually!

[Tigs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Thank you PlanB. No, the husband works; they have two young kids...so I'm not sure if they are on low income supplemented by some type of benefit. I only picked up on the fact that they have some type of benefit when they wanted me to agree to have cavity wall insulation installed for free - in return for a reduction in rent - and I refused because although the house already had insulation, I would want to pay for it myself.

[PlanB]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

The S21 Notice expires this month and the T has not paid December rent, and has stated in writing that he won't pay - he says I breached the tenancy Agreement. I've asked for specifics so I can remedy the issues, but he won't say - except write long rumbling e-mails using offensive language (I will cite these as examples of his demeanour in court).

Ask yourself what you may have done to cause this current nastiness and what you can do to remedy this. You're at war with your tenant and you won't win. They can stay put until bailiffs evict them in five months time. If they don't pay you any rent during that period you can then take them to court. You will get a CCJ against them. They will provide the court with an I & E Form (you say they're on benefits) and the judge may order them to pay you £1 per month. They're not in employment so you can't go for an Attachment of Earnings. They have no assets so you can't get a charging order on their property.

My personal opinion is you need to make friends with your tenants as quickly as possible. You gave them notice to quit and move out of their home (they currently have legal possession not you) over the Christmas & New Year holiday which has probably triggered the bad feeling.

Forgive me for saying this but when I've read your other threads I sense you resent them living in your home. You're not a Landlord by profession you are an Accidental Landlord. This may mean you take everything personally instead of seeing it as a business. You want them out and you want the money they owe you so you need to find a way to make peace with them.

Stop resenting them for paying below market rent. That was your decision not theirs. You sourced these tenants privately so you didn't have to pay an estate agent commission and all the start-up fees so you've not really lost out that much with the low rent. Maybe their suggestion of getting free cavity wall filling installed was a good one. They weren't to know you already had it. I feel you were angry that they should have meddled with your property when it's possible they were trying to do you a favour.

Tell me the gist of the long rambling emails and I'll see if I can help you to psychoanalyze what's really going on. I've been a Landlord for a few properties for years. I have never fallen out with any of my Tenants even though I have loathed some of them. I make a point of keeping a line of communication open between us and I always send Christmas cards.

[PlanB]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

the deposit is a lot less than the rent bearing in mind that the arrangement was on the basis that I have known my retired neighbours for a long time - and one wouldn't ordinarily expect retired folk to be deviant.

Your retired neighbours are not being deviant, it's your Tenants who are causing you grief. Is there any way you can repair the relationship with your neighbours? Tell them this situation is causing you financial hardship and you may get your home repossessed if you can't pay the mortgage due to the lack of rent. Try to get their sympathy not alienate them. Ask them how they think you should handle the situation or whether they would help you to calm things down by acting as a go between. Blood is thicker than water so if you've said mean things about your Tenants to your neighbours (their grandparents) then they will go on the defensive.

When you issued that MCOL summons you threw down a gauntlet. It may have made you feel better at the time but in reality it wasn't the wisest move. Added to that you can only claim what you have put in the POC and I don't think you can add any further rent arrears that will accrue. What is the rent due date on the AST and what is the date on the MCOL summons? How much are you holding as a deposit?

[PlanB]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Things were OK for some time, until about July when the tenant asked me to reduce the rent (already below market price) in return to them using their benefits status to have cavity wall installation installed - I said NO! . . . . that's when the trouble started. I expected my neighbours to mediate but they just flipped and turned against me - sending me ridiculous and offensive e-mails which I have kept.

There must be something more to this than the incident over cavity wall insulation. Did you reply to those "ridiculous and offensive" emails? Did you attempt to pour oil on troubled water or did you meet fire with fire? The Tenants carried on paying rent from July until this month when you gave them Notice to Quit so they can't have been too bothered by the cavity wall drama.

They only stopped paying the rent this month after you gave them notice so I'm wondering whether they got the impression that they could stay there longer when they first moved in and now feel miffed that things have changed. Of course you're entitled to take back possession of your property but I fear you'll have to pursue this through the court if you can't reach an amicable solution.

You need to avoid a situation where your Tenants turn on you and start to make trouble in the outside world. Make sure you have declared all the rent to HMRC and make sure you've told your mortgage lender (if you have a mortgage) that the property has been let out so that you're not in breach of your loan's Ts & Cs. You don't want your Tenants to report you.

If you only relocated because of your job and now that has come to an end, will you be homeless if the Tenants don't move out next week?

[PlanB]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

I've gone back to your other thread and I can see you were planning to issue a summons on or after 10th December so this must have been only a few days after the rent was due. Did you send your Tenants a formal Letter Before Action before you issued the summons?

I also note that that you said the Tenants were complaining about mould in the property. Maybe this is what they mean by you breaching the terms of their tenancy agreement whereby a Landlord has to keep the property in good condition under Health & Safety rules etc. If you issued the summons on December 10th (or later) they still have time to acknowledge it and then file a Counterclaim against you in relation to those damp issues.


Here's your other thread for reference http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...320#post394320

[Tigs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Thank you for taking the trouble to read my posts and for responding PanB, and thank you for sharing the wisdom. I also appreciate the analysis some of which is spot-on.

I do not take your help for granted and the same applies to all those who have chipped in with comments, observations and help.

I will post some clarifications and respond to your queries later this evening. In the meanwhile, many thanks once again PlanB.

I thank you all for making a difference!

[CleverClogs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

It's a pity you didn't get the neighbour to sign the tenancy agreement as a guarantor.

[Tigs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

It is indeed a pity CleverClogs, you are right. But if only you had known the belief I ahd in the neighbours - but still, that's no excuse when doing business.

Thank you CleverClogs - and Many Best Wishes for the New Year!

[wales01man]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Tigs you are just like the majority of us ,when dealing with people we tend to trust them sorry to say in your case and for most of us who are trusting it turns sour but then that's people for you

[CleverClogs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

It is indeed a pity CleverClogs, you are right. But if only you had known the belief I ahd in the neighbours - but still, that's no excuse when doing business.

Remember the old motto - "In God alone do we trust."?

There seems to be an implied corollary: "Everyone else pays cash!" :rofl:

[Tigs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

I thank you for this detailed piece of advise Tools which has been a useful point of reference for me.

[Tigs]

Re: How do I end an expired Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement?....advise sought ple

Thank you to all Members who have contributed to helping me with advice.