UK Landlord Forum / Life

ive a tennant leaving here without paying her share of the joint bills for over a year now,  she has left a camper van here, can i withold her from collecting the camper van till she pays the £1,000 odd that she owes us now,

thanks in advance 

Has she left the property?
Is the camper van on your property.
If anything it will cost you to remove it from your property. There are scrap metal dealers who will come to your property and collect it for and pay you fee for its removal.
If she has left the property and its on our land and she is no longer a tenant remove it.

Quote from: welsh boy on April 22, 2019, 07:05:16 PM
can i withold her from collecting the camper van till she pays the £1,000 odd that she owes us now,

No absolutely not. 

It will have a value,as I found when getting rid of a tatty old caravan last year when it was "donated" to a charity.Dozens of responses and a quick sale/collection  from Gumtree.That said,you will need documents of ownership,so it may have no real value.I would not attempt to keep it,you will weaken your attempt to get money paid,and you could be prosecuted.Go to the small claims court,and at least get her lumbered with a CCJ. 

thanks for the replys hero members, small claims court it will have to be then i suspose...   you should see the mess she has left too , i didnt take a deposit either as she was a "friend" , she has been gone a few days now and the van is still here, how long b4 you can get rid of tenants possessions after they have left?......i can see ive made serious legal errors as she was a friend....... i do not have a signed letter from her agreeing to pay those bills..... we have minutes of community meetings where we discussed paying in to the bills pool together,  you can see she was in those meetings from the attending list, but its not like she signed and agreed things herself on paper....would this likely constitute enough grounds for a small claims case i wonder?

Are you the actual owner of the property,or is this shared accommodation with you as lead tenant? It is not clear if she ever paid anything.If not,she could argue you were just putting her up as a favour.Oh dear,you've learned a valuable lesson the hard way.Have you emailed or texted telling her to move the van within a given time (say 6 weeks) ? Do keep records of all communications.If she is a liar,I don't think her presence at the meetings would be on its own sufficient proof. Even small claims will not guarantee you get paid,but it may stop her taking someone else for a ride.

thank you heavy karma, i am the owner of the property, but we are an intentional community, she paid rent to live here. it turns out she has also stolen my cat (as she spent a lot of time in her chalet )the people at her new place have confirmed this, she is now coming here still to work on the van, it beggers belief that she just rocks up here.....she has "promised " to discuss the bills and clear up the mess which is considerable, but only after she has taken her van, we live up a lane, can i refuse her access to the property by locking the gate as she no longer lives here? would she be able to force access as its private property, my only intention is to force her to clear up the mess and discuss taking my cat now, i can see she is never going to pay up, i just want her gone now and having no right to walk in as we are so hurt by what she has done.

Can the van be towed or pushed to somewhere just outside your gates,which could then be locked? I would also place a notice on the van. It might be worth checking some points,including the cat, with the police.I doubt if she could force entry legally.I do hope you get your cat back.It sounds like a lovely set-up that you have there,and it is sickening that such a predator has taken advantage.Richard Dawkins would know the evolutionary reasons motivations  for toxic people like this.Be grateful that she has gone.Good Luck!