Tenant broken boiler, refusing me access to check it
Discussion
Flumpo said:
Couldn’t sleep last night and read this from start to finish.
I think your post I maybe a bit unfair on the OP. Reading it as one it’s clear that the OP has been honest all the way through he isn’t cut out for this, doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing and is a conman/woman’s soft touch dream.
He’s also had conflicting advice shouted at him that follow the main strands:
1- sell the property ASAP you idiot
2- don’t sell the property get another tenant you idiot
3- get the UC direct and keep this tenant you idiot
4- evict tenant at all costs you idiot
5- background noise of other rubbish advice/insults/f sausages
He doesn’t have a clue who here is talking nonsense, probably confused by usernames and the fact several people all vehemently support one of the above as the ONLY course of action and think he should ignore all other options.
The only person who seems to be talking sense is this goat guy, but for all the OP knows this guy is a wind up - although I suspect not.
The only advice the OP should have taken is to contact a f
king professional like a solicitor or the guy off channel 5 and not expect to get a consistent or reliable answer off a sub forum on a motoring website know to be full of argumentative s.
Thanks for that, I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. I think your post I maybe a bit unfair on the OP. Reading it as one it’s clear that the OP has been honest all the way through he isn’t cut out for this, doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing and is a conman/woman’s soft touch dream.
He’s also had conflicting advice shouted at him that follow the main strands:
1- sell the property ASAP you idiot
2- don’t sell the property get another tenant you idiot
3- get the UC direct and keep this tenant you idiot
4- evict tenant at all costs you idiot
5- background noise of other rubbish advice/insults/f sausages
He doesn’t have a clue who here is talking nonsense, probably confused by usernames and the fact several people all vehemently support one of the above as the ONLY course of action and think he should ignore all other options.
The only person who seems to be talking sense is this goat guy, but for all the OP knows this guy is a wind up - although I suspect not.
The only advice the OP should have taken is to contact a f
king professional like a solicitor or the guy off channel 5 and not expect to get a consistent or reliable answer off a sub forum on a motoring website know to be full of argumentative s. So, where we stand at the minute is;
- awaiting a response from UC to see if we can somehow get some form of payment while the tenant is still in the property
- we initiated LandlordAction to issue a section 8. That has been issued and we can't initiate court proceedings until the 11th May. Sadly, given court delays, we understand that it could be some time before we can get to court and the tenant could still remain in the property. We are hoping that the tenant will do a moonlight flit before or around the 11th May.
Once we have the tenant out, no idea what we're going to do. We've continued to make the interest payments on the mortgage, and we've overpaid each month to reduce capital, but we're still sitting at £32k. We've had a rough valuation from an estate agent, and based on the condition before this tenant moved it, they've advised a sale price of around £20k. If the property is in a state, then I guess we're looking at closer to £15k. The loss is going to end up going onto the mortgage for our home where we've got around a 32% LTV, so have scope to absorb the loss into that and take the LTV to 38-40%.
loskie said:
Good grief Binary.
I'm sure all of this crap would make me ill, and for what? Nothing.
For your sake get out of it.
That's easier said than done. First I need to get the tenant out. I need to remortgage our home to pay the other mortgage off, and then finally I need to sell the bloody thing. It could be along drawn out process and I suspect could take us until the end of the year to sort it out (depending on the courts).I'm sure all of this crap would make me ill, and for what? Nothing.
For your sake get out of it.
Groat said:
This is not destined to end well. Sell it. You will make a loss. Everyone in business does sometimes. With that loss will come a feeling of relief. In a years time it will not feel nearly as bad. In 10 years it’ll be forgotten.
Meh easy said that, I know the loss I made on property still winds me up to this day. When i think about it gets me wound up lolNoticed this thread updated, and having followed before I've just had a catch up. Good god, the way some of you are speaking to the OP is shameful IMO. Lines such as 'do you realise how incompetent you are?!'
Would you speak to people this way face to face? He's struggling, he's admitted being a landlord may not be for him, he doesn't need this level of vitriol.
OP, hoping the situation improves.
Would you speak to people this way face to face? He's struggling, he's admitted being a landlord may not be for him, he doesn't need this level of vitriol.
OP, hoping the situation improves.
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
Noticed this thread updated, and having followed before I've just had a catch up. Good god, the way some of you are speaking to the OP is shameful IMO. Lines such as 'do you realise how incompetent you are?!'
Would you speak to people this way face to face? He's struggling, he's admitted being a landlord may not be for him, he doesn't need this level of vitriol.
OP, hoping the situation improves.
Thanks.Would you speak to people this way face to face? He's struggling, he's admitted being a landlord may not be for him, he doesn't need this level of vitriol.
OP, hoping the situation improves.
This one of those situations where it felt like a good idea at the time. We originally bough the other house back in 2005 as our first home and lived in it for 4 year. In 2009 we bought another home and thought it would be a good idea to keep the old property on as a rental. The first few years were ok, but then the area went downhill and the calibre of tenant dropped through the floor, and that's when we started having problems. It then got to a point where the value of the property had dropped so much and left us in negative equity that we felt forced to keep it on. As time has gone on it's been more and more of a burden on us.
On top of all of this, we know the local council have been trying to put plans together to sort the area out, including pulling some of the houses down. Which leaves us thinking, do we sell now at a loss, or hold it out and sell at a later date when property prices might increase.
We kick ourselves regularly, because we could have sold the property for a profit when we bought our new house, but we didn't, and it's gone down as the worst decision we've ever made.
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
Noticed this thread updated, and having followed before I've just had a catch up. Good god, the way some of you are speaking to the OP is shameful IMO. Lines such as 'do you realise how incompetent you are?!'
Would you speak to people this way face to face? He's struggling, he's admitted being a landlord may not be for him, he doesn't need this level of vitriol.
OP, hoping the situation improves.
+1 Would you speak to people this way face to face? He's struggling, he's admitted being a landlord may not be for him, he doesn't need this level of vitriol.
OP, hoping the situation improves.
I got a response from UC
"I’ve just checked the account and the claimant’s circumstances changed on February 10th and the payment was stopped as a result. Since then the rent has been paid to them.
The payment can be set up again, but to reclaim the rent for the months that have not been paid you would either have to fill out a UC47 form again or contact the tenants directly to reach an agreement with them. "
Sweat Jesus. So the payment was successfully setup on the 29th January, then stopped on the 10th Feb.
"I’ve just checked the account and the claimant’s circumstances changed on February 10th and the payment was stopped as a result. Since then the rent has been paid to them.
The payment can be set up again, but to reclaim the rent for the months that have not been paid you would either have to fill out a UC47 form again or contact the tenants directly to reach an agreement with them. "
Sweat Jesus. So the payment was successfully setup on the 29th January, then stopped on the 10th Feb.
TheBinarySheep said:
I got a response from UC
"I’ve just checked the account and the claimant’s circumstances changed on February 10th and the payment was stopped as a result. Since then the rent has been paid to them.
The payment can be set up again, but to reclaim the rent for the months that have not been paid you would either have to fill out a UC47 form again or contact the tenants directly to reach an agreement with them. "
Sweat Jesus. So the payment was successfully setup on the 29th January, then stopped on the 10th Feb.
That reads as “Client can make up any old s"I’ve just checked the account and the claimant’s circumstances changed on February 10th and the payment was stopped as a result. Since then the rent has been paid to them.
The payment can be set up again, but to reclaim the rent for the months that have not been paid you would either have to fill out a UC47 form again or contact the tenants directly to reach an agreement with them. "
Sweat Jesus. So the payment was successfully setup on the 29th January, then stopped on the 10th Feb.
te and have the money almost immediately redirected back to them”. Unbelievable!You’ve my sympathies OP and this why I’d never consider becoming a private landlord!
TheBinarySheep said:
Flumpo said:
Couldn’t sleep last night and read this from start to finish.
I think your post I maybe a bit unfair on the OP. Reading it as one it’s clear that the OP has been honest all the way through he isn’t cut out for this, doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing and is a conman/woman’s soft touch dream.
He’s also had conflicting advice shouted at him that follow the main strands:
1- sell the property ASAP you idiot
2- don’t sell the property get another tenant you idiot
3- get the UC direct and keep this tenant you idiot
4- evict tenant at all costs you idiot
5- background noise of other rubbish advice/insults/f sausages
He doesn’t have a clue who here is talking nonsense, probably confused by usernames and the fact several people all vehemently support one of the above as the ONLY course of action and think he should ignore all other options.
The only person who seems to be talking sense is this goat guy, but for all the OP knows this guy is a wind up - although I suspect not.
The only advice the OP should have taken is to contact a fking professional like a solicitor or the guy off channel 5 and not expect to get a consistent or reliable answer off a sub forum on a motoring website know to be full of argumentative s.
Thanks for that, I think you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. I think your post I maybe a bit unfair on the OP. Reading it as one it’s clear that the OP has been honest all the way through he isn’t cut out for this, doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing and is a conman/woman’s soft touch dream.
He’s also had conflicting advice shouted at him that follow the main strands:
1- sell the property ASAP you idiot
2- don’t sell the property get another tenant you idiot
3- get the UC direct and keep this tenant you idiot
4- evict tenant at all costs you idiot
5- background noise of other rubbish advice/insults/f sausages
He doesn’t have a clue who here is talking nonsense, probably confused by usernames and the fact several people all vehemently support one of the above as the ONLY course of action and think he should ignore all other options.
The only person who seems to be talking sense is this goat guy, but for all the OP knows this guy is a wind up - although I suspect not.
The only advice the OP should have taken is to contact a f
king professional like a solicitor or the guy off channel 5 and not expect to get a consistent or reliable answer off a sub forum on a motoring website know to be full of argumentative s. So, where we stand at the minute is;
- awaiting a response from UC to see if we can somehow get some form of payment while the tenant is still in the property
- we initiated LandlordAction to issue a section 8. That has been issued and we can't initiate court proceedings until the 11th May. Sadly, given court delays, we understand that it could be some time before we can get to court and the tenant could still remain in the property. We are hoping that the tenant will do a moonlight flit before or around the 11th May.
Once we have the tenant out, no idea what we're going to do. We've continued to make the interest payments on the mortgage, and we've overpaid each month to reduce capital, but we're still sitting at £32k. We've had a rough valuation from an estate agent, and based on the condition before this tenant moved it, they've advised a sale price of around £20k. If the property is in a state, then I guess we're looking at closer to £15k. The loss is going to end up going onto the mortgage for our home where we've got around a 32% LTV, so have scope to absorb the loss into that and take the LTV to 38-40%.
I don’t want to offer any advice as I haven’t got a bloody clue. But what I would say is this really doesnt seem worth the stress and hassle to you.
Although it could all be a lot worse, you could be the bloody idiot who’s removed all his staircase banisters on the other thread! So there is always someone worse off and don’t let this s
t take 5 years off your life through stress.Flumpo said:
The only person who seems to be talking sense is this goat guy, but for all the OP knows this guy is a wind up - although I suspect not.
The 'goat guy' allegedly owns most of Scotland and, allowing for any differences in law, would be my guide in this situation.It's sad that when Honest Bloke meets Scheming Scumbag, Honest Bloke comes a cropper. I was there too once - but my (first and last) tenant did a runner leaving two garages full of junk and a £4K debt. I sold the house and invested the proceeds. Much easier.
Edited by Simpo Two on Tuesday 27th April 13:47
I’ve been a landlord for the last 15 years and have had enough. I’m selling up now . . The general public are getting harder and harder to deal with . Trust me, I’ve seen / heard it all. .
OP - try not to dwell on it daily, serve the eviction papers then try to put it to the back of your mind, it’s hard but you need to not let it take over your thoughts - the tenants will owe money all over the place and, trust me, they will sleep soundly every night.
Good luck with it all and remember - it WILL end
OP - try not to dwell on it daily, serve the eviction papers then try to put it to the back of your mind, it’s hard but you need to not let it take over your thoughts - the tenants will owe money all over the place and, trust me, they will sleep soundly every night.
Good luck with it all and remember - it WILL end
itcaptainslow said:
TheBinarySheep said:
I got a response from UC
"I’ve just checked the account and the claimant’s circumstances changed on February 10th and the payment was stopped as a result. Since then the rent has been paid to them.
The payment can be set up again, but to reclaim the rent for the months that have not been paid you would either have to fill out a UC47 form again or contact the tenants directly to reach an agreement with them. "
Sweat Jesus. So the payment was successfully setup on the 29th January, then stopped on the 10th Feb.
That reads as “Client can make up any old s"I’ve just checked the account and the claimant’s circumstances changed on February 10th and the payment was stopped as a result. Since then the rent has been paid to them.
The payment can be set up again, but to reclaim the rent for the months that have not been paid you would either have to fill out a UC47 form again or contact the tenants directly to reach an agreement with them. "
Sweat Jesus. So the payment was successfully setup on the 29th January, then stopped on the 10th Feb.
te and have the money almost immediately redirected back to them”. Unbelievable!You’ve my sympathies OP and this why I’d never consider becoming a private landlord!
TheBinarySheep said:
I got a response from UC
"I’ve just checked the account and the claimant’s circumstances changed on February 10th and the payment was stopped as a result. Since then the rent has been paid to them.
The payment can be set up again, but to reclaim the rent for the months that have not been paid you would either have to fill out a UC47 form again or contact the tenants directly to reach an agreement with them. "
Sweat Jesus. So the payment was successfully setup on the 29th January, then stopped on the 10th Feb.
Okay. Here's what happened. "I’ve just checked the account and the claimant’s circumstances changed on February 10th and the payment was stopped as a result. Since then the rent has been paid to them.
The payment can be set up again, but to reclaim the rent for the months that have not been paid you would either have to fill out a UC47 form again or contact the tenants directly to reach an agreement with them. "
Sweat Jesus. So the payment was successfully setup on the 29th January, then stopped on the 10th Feb.
You got told that your request for rent direct to you was accepted. You further got told that your request for payment to be made to the agent was accepted too.
Then - like any normal person would do - you went about your business quite happy that all was sorted and money would soon start arriving.
What you didn't do was get a date for the payment and what you also didn't do was continually monitor the matter every few days with a "hi. Is all still in order with the arrangement? Is there anything further you require me/us to do"? email etc etc.
What happened was a "change in circumstances". Most likely the cow didn't do one or other of the piffling things they have to do to keep their journal in order, so 'change in circumstances' = claim stopped. It also stops the income claim and requires the cow to re-claim like a new startup, which she did. And one of the sad holes in UC is that following restart, the FIRST payment goes to.....you know who. Again, alerted by non-receipt, if nothing else, you should have been all over this like a rash. Making certain that you knew the first payment date for the restarted rent so that you could very quickly report it unpaid and request payment direct to you/the agent
again, and stage repayments of the stolen rent via sanction on the cow's income benefit.
So you're now at the stage of doing what you should have done when the restarted rent remained unpaid by the tenant recipient.
So DO IT!!
I hate to use the phrase "should have". And in this case it's really the agents - known to UC as the requested recipients of the rent as managing agents - who should have overseen all of this. That they didn't is probably evidence of ineptitude and inexperience of UC processes.
These are useless agents. I wouldn't trust them to be able to oversee this UC process.
You haven't taken the advice to get rent suspended, so there's no certainty what'll happen here. But if you don't check in with UC every few days once your new application is in place, then if it goes awry again it'll only be you to blame.
I really feel for you, having been an accidental landlord in the past I know how stressful it can be.
It just boggles my mind how someone can legally be allowed to live rent free in your house that you're paying for, for this length of time. Bonkers.
You might not have handled everything perfectly, but I really admire the fact you've kept calm and professional about it. I hate any sort of conflict and I'm generally very chilled but I think I'd have snapped by now and dragged them out of the house myself. Which wouldn't help anything.
It just boggles my mind how someone can legally be allowed to live rent free in your house that you're paying for, for this length of time. Bonkers.
You might not have handled everything perfectly, but I really admire the fact you've kept calm and professional about it. I hate any sort of conflict and I'm generally very chilled but I think I'd have snapped by now and dragged them out of the house myself. Which wouldn't help anything.
Probably wouldn’t hurt to sack the agents off now also seeing as they have the same (lack of) powers as you and have been able to do nothing to take the stress away apart from being another expenditure and link in the stress chain.
It’s only £40 odd quid a month, but I’d be cancelling and taking that ‘saving’ as a bit of an accomplishment now.
It’s only £40 odd quid a month, but I’d be cancelling and taking that ‘saving’ as a bit of an accomplishment now.
Simpo Two said:
Flumpo said:
The only person who seems to be talking sense is this goat guy, but for all the OP knows this guy is a wind up - although I suspect not.
The 'goat guy' allegedly owns most of Scotland and, allowing for any differences in law, would be my guide in this situation.It's sad that when Honest Bloke meets Scheming Scumbag, Honest Bloke comes a cropper. I was there too once - but my (first and last) tenant did a runner leaving two garages full of junk and a £4K debt. I sold the house and invested the proceeds. Much easier.
Edited by Simpo Two on Tuesday 27th April 13:47
eldar said:
Alternatively, get shot of the tenant by whatever means necessary.
Then treat the landlording bit as a proper business. Understand the legislation, find a good competent agent to manage the day to day organisation and tenant management.
You've found the pitfall of amateur property investment. Learn from it.
Unfortunately, regardless of the hassle it's caused, the OP isn't the type of person to deal with this tramp the way it really needs to be dealt with. And the tramp knows this. So it'll be a long drawn out legal eviction process even if he gets lucky and the tramp doesn't get a parasite to "represent" her with a defence at no cost to her. Then treat the landlording bit as a proper business. Understand the legislation, find a good competent agent to manage the day to day organisation and tenant management.
You've found the pitfall of amateur property investment. Learn from it.
Finding a competent agent may not be easy for OP. But if it can be done then this is 100% the 'answer' and always was.
And unfortunately managing this type of tenancy - including all the ins and outs of the UC process - isn't what they teach on the ARLA residential letting course, even although this experience could be used by the OP as a manual for the future and help him to avoid any such problems arising again. Let's face it, most of the adept UC landlords know what they know from experiencing what the OPs going through or similar.
If it was me I'd keep pushing and sort it. You probably would too. But (and this is just an opinion) I don't think the OP either suits or enjoys being a landlord so he's far better to cut his losses and boost.
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