Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

[bb41]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

It's good to have someone so knowledgeable but without prejudice, as as much as my personal feelings say one thing , I know in reality I have to stick to the rules

[bb41]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

Try to console yourself with the fact that the cost of the works could be offset against tax.

I'm a Landlord (well Landlady to be more accurate ) and one of my tenants is putting me through a similar drama. I've avoided an Improvement Notice by agreeing to repair and/or replace the damage she's caused - ironically to the kitchen.

Once that's done I'll be able to serve a section 21 Notice without fear of her claiming 'retaliatory eviction'.

The council pay her LHA direct to me but it only covers 50% of the rent so the arrears are mounting up.

The overall problem has been caused by the change from Housing Benefit to Local Housing Allowance causing rent shortfalls for the Landlord.

Most BTL mortgages have a clause stating no Tenants on benefits. In my case she lied to the letting agent.

I understand how upsetting this is for you since I too am an ethical Landlord so it's a slap in the face when a Tenant takes advantage.

Di

Diana , I really feel for you , it's a horrid position when you do everything morally correct and you are thanked by a proper slap in the face ... Follow this thread and hopefully both of us will come good xx

[Crazy council]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

Hi

By the numbers, residential lettings usualy work well, i use to advice LLs to save around 12% of the income PA to cover refurbs and loss of rent in the long term. On averidge in our area ( quite low property prices ) i used to advise that for every 2 years ( 24 months ) you could expect 22 months rent.

Ths averidge used to work well when looking at accounts of over 100 pr0pertys at a time. taking into account empty months and general tidyups I fully understand though the strain it causes, and how difficult it can be when a person ( TT ) is acting like your the social fund for there houseing, thinking that they can treat a normal LL like a council housing association.

For court, To help counter some of there arguments that they might use, get the dates ready that you was formaly notifed of the required repairs, if they are after the dates that the arrears started to build up, that helps. Dates that you made enquires with builder, dates you got quotes, show that you have been doing stuff to sort them out,

just on another note
[MENTION=87380]Diana M[/MENTION]

The overall problem has been caused by the change from Housing Benefit to Local Housing Allowance causing rent shortfalls for the Landlord.

My area did that years ago, and we have been one of the trial areas for the new universal credit, we have been doing it for a year for some tenants ) and its rolling out to all in december. UC, means that teh TT gets all the money in there bank, once a month, as it works out, its in arrears

Initialy, like when they changed direct payments to TTs ( they did that many years ago around here, only under some curcs does the LL get it ), it will shake some TTs out of the system, but, it will also stop the small portion of TTs thinking that the council pay there rent. When people get in a good pattern of paying there own rent, then as a LL, you get much less problems if they in and out of work or change Curcs.

So, i generaly think its a good idea to pay TTs direct, its stops reclaims being dealt with by the LL, and lots of hassle with the HB, and, gets them in a pattern of paying all the time.

[bb41]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

CC yes you are right and this afternoon I penned an email to explain what is happening with section *8 and how the overpayment of HB is being recouped by me , the problems I seem to be encountering by EO etc etc

I know I keep off loading on here but unless you have been in the position yourself no one knows how stressful it is... family just can't comprehend it , whereas here I have a wealth of experience rather than advice that certainly isn't legal .

Also after years of being in letting but industrial and only in the last 10 years dipped my toe into residential I'm gobsmacked by the way landlords to HB tenants are treated.

I had the law more on my side in industrial in regards to non payment of rent, but in over 20 years of industrial never once encountered non payment of rent ever.

I'm even more aghast at the housing officer asking me that after the removal of the tenant, would I consider re-letting the property to the council .... my reply was polite but in my head I wanted to say a phrase that had lots of "F's" in it

[Diana M]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

Try to console yourself with the fact that the cost of the works could be offset against tax.

I'm a Landlord (well Landlady to be more accurate ) and one of my tenants is putting me through a similar drama. I've avoided an Improvement Notice by agreeing to repair and/or replace the damage she's caused - ironically to the kitchen.

Once that's done I'll be able to serve a section 21 Notice without fear of her claiming 'retaliatory eviction'.

The council pay her LHA direct to me but it only covers 50% of the rent so the arrears are mounting up.

The overall problem has been caused by the change from Housing Benefit to Local Housing Allowance causing rent shortfalls for the Landlord.

Most BTL mortgages have a clause stating no Tenants on benefits. In my case she lied to the letting agent.

I understand how upsetting this is for you since I too am an ethical Landlord so it's a slap in the face when a Tenant takes advantage.

Di

[Crazy council]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

Hi

the changes to the kitchen by the tenant, they would need writen permission from you ( the LL ) to do that. You still have to fix them whatever the tenant does, but make sure all involved know that te TT did the damage without permission.

You can literaly just do the basics that the notice says ( and i would recomend that, for a number of reasons ) , and when there out, get it ready for sale, Save you money incase they fight, i know you must be stressing, and councils can be a pain in the backside at times,

Word in the ward councilors ear might be worth while at this stage

[bb41]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

Ahh okay, I'll take your word for it then - I can imagine. I guess Kitchen installation can take a fair while.... eg remove, make safe, and don't install all the new doors etc ( the bits that would easily be damaged ) just the necessaries ? Or you never know a brand shiny new kitchen may instill some house proudness in the tenants? ( stranger things have happened )

Ha house pride?? I think that would be as probable as Elvis moving in...

I'm going to have a look at how to recoup some of my losses at a later date ...not sure if it will be worth it but I'll leave that for now .

[Amethyst]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

Ahh okay, I'll take your word for it then - I can imagine. I guess Kitchen installation can take a fair while.... eg remove, make safe, and don't install all the new doors etc ( the bits that would easily be damaged ) just the necessaries ? Or you never know a brand shiny new kitchen may instill some house proudness in the tenants? ( stranger things have happened )

[bb41]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

Amethyst... yes builder gained access because I reported to the EO that communication was very difficult due to numerous mobile numbers and each one gets cut off.
I managed to get 2 quotes on the same day , I'd show you pictures but not sure if that's allowed , but then you will see a makeshift job won't work... it's pretty horrific

[Amethyst]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

Good. Put that out of your mind now. Did your quote for the kitchen man get access to the property to quote you ? He might be able to suggest a way around installing a whole new kitchen that would make EO happy. You'd have to discuss with EO as well before you do anything or you might be wasting your time/more money if they decide it HAS to be a whole new kitchen.

[bb41]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

I have emailed the bloody section 16 to witch with knobs on now

[bb41]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

Yip. It's all well and good protecting tenants from unscrupulous and ar*ehole landlords ( still lots of them), but no one seems to protect the landlords from ar*ehole tenants. And we wonder why there is a shortage of decent private rental properties around ( and soon there will only be the ar*ehole landlords left as decent landlords end up dealing with this kind of stuff and leave the market) .

( Sorry I do TRY not to be opinionated ... but it annoys me )

It does seem the rogue landlords are hardly affected and I agree they should be hounded and never be allowed to rent to anyone again.... but as I agree with Amethyst there are some tenants who know the system, think that they need not pay for the roof over their head and certainly don't respect it

There needs to be a lot more protection for landlords like me who do everything right, have empathy with tenant and help provide a long term comfortable home, and then the tenant stops paying rent , I'm sorry, but then decides to have another child as they will be re-housed again.
Councils openly telling me that they won't re-house tenant until bailiffs are called.

This is the last time I will ever house HB tenants ever again

[Amethyst]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

Yip. It's all well and good protecting tenants from unscrupulous and ar*ehole landlords ( still lots of them), but no one seems to protect the landlords from ar*ehole tenants. And we wonder why there is a shortage of decent private rental properties around ( and soon there will only be the ar*ehole landlords left as decent landlords end up dealing with this kind of stuff and leave the market so decent tenants can't find anywhere decent to live) .

( Sorry I do TRY not to be opinionated ... but it annoys me )

[bb41]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

I have had an improvement notice, but the damage has been done by the tenants, I have always maintained the property .

So looks like the EO witch will receive all the info she needs ...and what a nasty taste it leaves too

[Diana M]

Re: Help ..me again . Tenant now 4k in arrears and trouble with EO

it basically asks who owns the property, who is the mortgage lender and anyone else have an interest in it

Have you been served with an Improvement Notice which can be entered on the Land Registry (and any mortgage company also made aware)?

Perhaps the EH inspector is seeking the information in the event of any potential enforcement.

You've no option but to complete the form if you want to keep the inspector onside. They do have draconian powers I'm afraid.

I think the tragic events of Grenfell Tower has made them acutely aware of the safety of tenants and whether a Local Authority can be held liable for any breach of Building Regulations if the breach has been made known to them particularly by the tenant.

(My apologies for not having read your thread from the beginning so don't know if a Notice has been served.)

Di