I let my flat out to a guy back in January who gave me a a months rent in cash since then i have had a few texts from him to ask about odd jobs but i have received no other payment. I tried contacting him April but had no answer from a text i left it a few days and proceeded to call with no answer his phone was switched off, i made several trips to the flat and his place of work where i was told he had been given the sack in feb/march i then popped a letter through the door stating he had not paid me and he had 14 days to get in touch with me before i started legal proceedings i had heard nothing so went round on tuesday of this week still no answer so i used my key to access the property, i found the property in a right mess but full of stuff and a huge pile of mail inside the door. i spoke to the neighbours
who said they had seen no one for A while and had thought he had gone to India.
Have you any advice?

My ex tenant left one of my properties a few months ago but left with £1527.10 in rent arrears including court cost of £75.

I have been to a small claims court and they issued a judgment to the tenant to pay back £60 a month. The tenant has ignored this judgement and has not paid a penny since it was served on 22 February 2011.

I have spoken to NLA in regards to advise on how I can take this matter forward and what my next steps maybe to recover my losses. They have advised that they do not recommend me pusuing this debt as the tenant is on benefits and that I would not be able to get an attachment of earnings from her benefits that she gets paid.

I was wondering what your advise might be. Is it best to just forget about it or is there a way of recovering my expenses?

Thanks in advance for any advise you may have for me.

You need to speak to neighbours, if tenant not seen, and you think the tenant has vacated , then you can serve a Notice of Abandonment, which needs to be served at the property.

If the tenant does’nt respond, then you change locks, take pictures inside the property for evidence to confirm they have left, then re-let.

If you need some help, call us.

I issued a Section 8, over 3 weeks ago, i have heard nothing from the tenant, who has damaged the property and owes todate 3 months rent.

I have passed the property and it is in the dark. There are windows open upstairs..

The tenant has not contacted me at all. The tenant came through the housing, can i make the Council liable for the repairs that need doing and the rent that has not been paid?

Regards
Janet

Kind regards,

Paul Shamplina | Founder
Landlord Action
t: 020 8906 3838 | f: 020 8906 0444 http://www.landlordaction.co.uk

He's never worked for many years and lives in a semi detached two bedroom house with a large garden and cellar he's about 66 years of on housing benefit.

This attachment is a letter that I sent this man I believe the reply my son got was "let your mother do her own dirty work". I usually send three letters as if I send one he says he never received it.

All for now

Ruth

The best and most effective course of action is to serve the Section 8 Notice, as your arrears and more then 2 months, this notice is a 14 day notice, get this done asap, opnce this has expired and the tenant has failed to pay or leave your property, you can issue possession proceedings which takes 6-8 weeks, to obtain a court order. If of course the tenant pays the rent before your court hearing YOU WILL NOT obtain the possession order.

If you wish to be on the safe said you could issue proceedings after the 9th June, under Section 8 and Section 21, to get guranteed possession.

The tenant not giving you access to a inspection and changing the locks, unfortunately is very common. You can not let yourself into the property, this is unlawful.

Your main focus is the possession action.

If you need some help call me.

regards

Paul Shamplina

I am a reluctant landlord and the problem I have now is making my life hell and full of anguish. I can live with the loss of the rent if I have to, but it’s the silly games that the tenant is playing that is causing all my stress.

I have a tenant who has not paid any rent since February and is not very communicative with my agent.
The agent & I were to have met with the tenant today so that I could inspect the property for my own assurance, but we have received an email cancelling the appointment. The email concerns me as it would appear that the tenant has changed the lock without consent and is looking to ‘hide’ the keys when he leaves.

He apparently lost his job and couldn’t pay the rent but has subsequently got another job but has still not given any indication of paying any rent even though the agents have chased him by phone (when he answers it) and by email, but he has not seen fit to make even a notional contribution. I have attached the contents of the last email that I received today and would appreciated your comments.

We served 2 months notice to terminate that expires on 9th June 2010, but he states that he will be gone by then. Can I ask for a firm date of his leaving so that I can get a locksmith to enter the house and change the locks the same day as he leaves?

What can I do and when.

Many thanks,

Shirley