UK Landlord Forum / Life

Firstly, my congratulations on this site and thank you for accepting my membership. Possibly like many out there - it may seem like all of the 'rights' seem to apply only to tenants sometimes.

I would appreciate any advice on the following and my thanks in advance for any responses:

1./ I have 'problem' tenants who have been given Notice to Quit by 27th of this month. The flat is approximately 100 miles from us. The tenants have refused to contact us and ignore any contact we make. (Including having their Legal Aid solicitor email us to say that we are not allowed to text them.). Should they move out (see 2./) we require to know their next address, as we may well have to contact them Re: Claims against them, damage to the property etc.

If they will not contact us, does anyone out there know if I have a legal method by which I have to be provided with their next address details? (eg - from the Job Centre/Housing Benefits team?) Thank you

2./ The tenants advised us months ago that there was damp around a bath and going up the walls, which was not present immediately before they moved in (indeed, we fully sealed around the bath etc before they moved in, approx 1 1/2 years ago). When I contacted contractors to go in and investigate/do any works, the contractors just get fed up trying to arrange access with them, so nothing gets done. In the lease, they agreed to keep the property aired - and to dehumidify if required. It looks like this hasn't happened and there is strong suggestion that there is now a lot of condensation based damp in the property (The tenant, when they spoke to us many months ago, stated in writing that they had installed a dehumidifier - but when asked for evidence of this/the model details, they went quiet).

So - if we get the flat back soon and it's got a whole lot of condensation based damp in the flat, could this be considered their problem to have rectified, as it was their negligence that caused it - or is it porobably just another issue that the landlord is responsible for - despite it being down to tenant negligence and not adhering to the signed lease?

Many thanks

No, No, No.

This is not the civil service or posh business, this is the grubby end of life.

Tenants will not air, bath seals fail in a week let alone 80 weeks. Fat men Bath, bath legs move, two fat people try and have sex in the bath and they cause damage.

You have a choice, carry on with your blame game, per suing people with no assets on legal aid, or get the keys, get on with sorting it out and get more people in paying you a large proportion of there monthly income to you for the privilege of living in your house.

You could try and claim some deposit back to rectify, and indeed I would do that, if only to piss them around a bit, and stop them getting there money back as quickly as otherwise.

But Social will give them another deposit and months rent up front so they can go and ignore clauses in other signed leases, whilst you and I work our nuts off to try and make a Penny for our kids future. Thank Gordon Brown for that......

Sorry Barrach if that sounds a bit harsh, its just I fail to understand this desire to take people to task, when the time and costs involved, and with me also personal anger issues, when the quicker option is to "man up with the Marigolds" and go spend a romantic weekend with your new love Bleach.

It's a fair and honest response. I'd rather get that from someone who's been there - so, genuinely, thank you

Is their deposit in escrow or insured?
If you have their money, and are going to return it, you'll need their address.

How do you know their solicitor is "legal aid", how they're paying isn't normally included in a message?
On what grounds did the solicitor say you couldn't text them?
You have a legitimate commercial connection (they're a customer) so you have a right to contact them.
They don't have to give you their mobile number, however.

Ref your 'damp issues'

This is a common problem, many tenants just don't understand the concept of ventilation. I lived in one of my properties for 4 years without problems before renting it, within 6 months they were complaining of serious damp problems.

My advice is....

Fit 'trickle vents' to all your windows, and remove the little flap that allows them to be closed.
Provide an extractor fan in the bathroom and have it hard-wired to the lights.
Provide an externally vented tumble dryer - so they have no excuse for drying clothes on the radiators.
Fit an extractor fan over the cooker.

These all cost money, but if you're in it for the long run they'll all save you money in re-decoration over the years.

That's all good advice trouble is they will turn fan isolator off , tape up air vents because they don't like fresh air ,say the dryer costs too much to run ,oh and probably pinch it when they leave.

I have been speaking to a tenant about this.

The main issue that rented houses are mouldy is they rather spend heating money on beer and fags and large screen TV's

You want proof show me a flat with mould and it will be with 10 feet of a 10 feet wide TV.

Small TV, warm house, no mould...... Definitive.

So before you let a place, make sure you ask the size of the TV, anything over 42 inches is going to be trouble

Am I the only one who does regular inspections every three months? I don't just go and see them to spy on them but I also ask whether there's anything they need so that I can get ready with all the required bits and pieces. Don't get me wrong: I've had issues with damp from one tenant to the next and yes it's down to their living style. Lima7 made some good suggestions. But tenants are like teeth: leave them unchecked for too long and fixing them will be painful and expensive.

...tenants are like teeth: leave them unchecked for too long and fixing them will be painful and expensive.

I love that analogy! I shall be using that myself 

I have condensation building up in a fitted wardrobe on an external wall, I have bought an airbrick to be fitted this Friday as keeping the sliding doors slightly ajar to allow circulation of air is too hard for the tenant to cope with.

The next step will be removing the wardrobes as I am not obligated to provide them 

Quote from: boboff on February 10, 2014, 07:57:38 AM
I have been speaking to a tenant about this.

The main issue that rented houses are mouldy is they rather spend heating money on beer and fags and large screen TV's

You want proof show me a flat with mould and it will be with 10 feet of a 10 feet wide TV.

Small TV, warm house, no mould...... Definitive.

So before you let a place, make sure you ask the size of the TV, anything over 42 inches is going to be trouble

.    I don't think that's fair some spend it on drugs and gambling .

Many thanks for the above folks. Most appreciated