UK Landlord Forum / Life

Well I let her know this morning, needless to say she wasn't happy and kept insisting "I will give u the rent on Thursday" (don't think she got the point that having problems at first chance put me off her) and accusing me of making her and her child homeless. I then got a glowing reference about her from an unknown number. I just said Riptide and Hippogriff told me not to. Looking through the texts, even when she let me know she didn't have it, there wasn't one apology or even an attempt to excuse herself. I am just worried that the house may be attacked now.

There's always a risk of terrible things happening... but at least you did what you could here (in our opinion) to protect yourself and your asset (and your sanity) from further angst down the road. It's a difficult situation to be in, when you're on a forum, recommending that someone who thinks they've got a home, is turned-away because of their behaviour, but all you can do is recognise the warning signs and say it as it is. As you reviewed the communication... I would also feel satisfied I'd done the right thing if there was no acknowledgement that not having the rent (having spent it!) wasn't really an issue... that kind of assumption would surely have carried on for the duration of the tenancy. It would never have bothered the Tenant - water off a duck's back when you're a serial non-payer / excuser - but it would have bothered you and you might've ended up with a harassment claim further down the line once the system was played a little more. Just think about "what could have been" in the negative way... not "what could have been" in the positive way (in that she would've paid in full and on time every month - unlikely).

People may read this [whole thread] and think "these guys are simply too judgemental about someone they don't even know" and there is that danger, but I dread those threads that start - "Tenant has trashed my house to the tune of thousands of Pounds worth of damage and left without any notice and with 3 months rent owing".

Which is not to say your next Tenant won't do that either... but hopefully you'll get a better feeling from the outset.

Quote from: Ellis Rimmer on February 04, 2015, 02:03:01 AM
I am just worried that the house may be attacked now.

If it is then you definitely have had a lucky escape.  If they are capable of that be thankful you're not renting to them.

Aye, thanks for the advice guys, it would've been the easiest thing for me to just let her off and move in tomorrow and if you both were saying things like "it'll probably be alright, she might have had to pay something really important"  things like that, I would've almost certainly let her in-so using this forum has helped me dodge a bullet here.