Any private landlords out there?

[crazy about cars]

OMG... not sure how I've missed this but apparently the agreement is from August 2012 to (and including) 30th February 2013!!! I've just sent an email questioning this. The fun just keeps piling in...

[crazy about cars]

mk1fan said:

You terminate their instruction to act. Your contract with them may have some terms regarding minimum term or a notice period, so read that.

Yes this is correct. Mine is on a rolling contract after the 1st year. I have the options to only opt for "marketing only" package though where they will advertise and also manage viewings and background checks. However after the contract is signed you are on your own. Initially I was going down this route but rather let the agents have a cut after recent experience.

What I am thinking to do after being advised is to let the contract continue under a rolling basis. This was I don't need to wait to serve notice. 2 days to go to find out if this time they have setup the DD correctly. Noticed their Nissan Qashqai is now been replaced by spanking new A Class too so hopefully the payment come on time this time...

[crazy about cars]

northwest monkey said:

What you'll find with tenants is some you'll never hear from - they'll pay on time & never really bother you at all & the other ones you need to keep on top of. These are the ones that moan about every little thing they can.

It can be stressful though, I can appreciate that. Can you go & see them & introduce yourself? Maybe phone them today & remind them the rent is due tomorrow & then phone them again tomorrow?

I've got a tenant like that in one of our places. He's a pretty good tenant to be honest, but if I don't chase him a couple of days before & then on the due day, I won't get paid on time.

I've actually gone over once during the first month of their tenancy to fix some minor faults for them. Dad seemed nice enough and was going on about how an honest tenant he is... Since I have an agent I'll let them handle this until my involvement is needed. My first tenants always paid on time (direct debit) no excuses and even hired professional cleaners when they moved out. The current tenant I spent £££ connecting their extra dishwasher for them and also sorting some lights for them which on hindsight I'm massively regretting now!

[crazy about cars]

FUBAR said:

E-B said:

I spoke with my lettings agent.

They informed me that to terminate my agreement with them would cost me £600.

I hope new landlords reading this will in future read their contract with agents. Negotiate this crap out. I once got stung for annual renewal fees even if the tenant goes periodic and the agent did diddly squat (tenant find only agreement). Never again. I insist its removed from any agency contract I sign. And I say this as a former (sales) agent. All this sneaky stuff wasn't there back in the day. If you weren't performing you were got rid of, and rightly so. No making the client jump through hoops or pay you money just because you aren't doing your job properly!

Yes, very shocking indeed. My contract is pretty straight forward and I'm billed every month with invoice. £600 just to cancel is shocking! WTF...

[crazy about cars]

Well the time has come to collect rent and guess what... no money in account. This is after all the kerfaffle and tenants "promising" that this time the direct debit is properly setup.

I told his agents to serve notice if payment is not in my account by this Friday (rent due 29th Nov but apparently need 5+ working days for money to transfer over). Enough is enough!

What really boils my piss is seeing them in spanking new Merc - why can they afford a new car but can't afford paying rent? I am hoping for them to vacate by end of contract but I am bracing myself for further problems...

Edited by crazy about cars on Tuesday 4th December 13:23

[crazy about cars]

FlashmanChop said:

Oh, and I cant understand why people are paying 15% “management” fees. What are the agents managing? Payments? Nope. Tenants? Nope. Whats the 15% for? The management of the money? Nope.

I would be paying them 0% and getting someone to put their shop window through.

To be fair I pay around 10% and this covers everything from advertising, placing signs, background checks, 3-monthly property checks, collecting payments,making sure gas+leccy+council tax updated, contract signing, property inspect etc etc. Sure, there are some frustration with the agent but as a busy person (and first time landlord) I find their service mostly helpful. It's just the current tenants now that are major pain in the arse!

[crazy about cars]

FlashmanChop said:

Does the 10% include finding a new tenant, and signing them up? Rather then 10% management, and as Months rent as the fee?

There's a one-off fee of around £300 + VAT charged when finding new tenants (This includes advertising, background checks, contracts, transferring utility+council tax, and moving in sign off and is deducted from first month's rent). If the contract rolls on there's no charges bar the 10% of rent + VAT every month.

Edited by crazy about cars on Wednesday 5th December 13:26

Edited by crazy about cars on Wednesday 5th December 13:27

[crazy about cars]

Quick update... as I've expected the rent never came again this month. I've really had enough of them and have asked the agents to serve 2 months tomorrow.

I've done some reading and apparently the tenants can deny knowledge of being served notice? What is the best thing I can do at this stage to ensure that I've taken all the steps possible so that the tenants vacate property in 2 months?

I have the feeling they will not go easily. Out of the four months I've only got 1 full month's worth of rent in my pocket so far after all deductions so I'm very pissed off to say the least ...

[crazy about cars]

Thanks for the reply guys. I have bought the recommended book off Amazon and have been on the forum suggested. I am just very nervous (and stressed) now due to Christmas approaching and finances are killing me.

The are not the typical chav or scum but of a certain demographic. Seemed nice enough when I met them and both their sons have jobs at a major manufacturing company. I just suspect they are doing this because they can! Both their sons have cars (one of them is the Renault Megane 225) and the dad recently upgraded his Qashqai to the new A Class so I don't think they are hard up. Their actions and lies are just rubbing it in my face!

I guess this is a good awakening for me as my first tenants were lovely so I wasn't prepared for the worse...

As for the agents, to be very fair to them they are doing what they are paid to do. It might not be top class but for my budget I think they cover everything I needed for a rental management agent. I will be communicating more with the agents now to ensure everything is done to get the tenants out by February!

[crazy about cars]

A little update if people are still interested. Current tenants has now reached the < 2 month mark. After speaking to senior management (well her manager :P) things finally go into gear. Section 21 was served via recorded post as requested and I'm pressing to serve Section 8 as soon as it's possible.

Agent phone me today and told me they finally got through the tenants (well their daughter). Apparently they have been rejecting calls from agent so she(agent) tried using unregistered number which got through. Apparently they are pretty shocked that they have to vacate and promise to keep payments up to date this time. All sorts of excuses under the sun were given to agent but enough is enough. Hopefully they will vacate without much fuss in Feb but I'm not counting on that...

Current agent is a big franchise and they have a tie in with local property solicitors so I'm deciding to stick to them for now until this whole nightmare with current tenant is over.