UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi everyone !
I'm a newbie today to this I was wondering if anybody had any answers to my position ,
basically, I'm a new land lady with little to non experience, I have rented my a house to ( I know first rule of thumb)
a friend. She hasn't paid me a deposit or rent which was due on 1st of each month . She moved in on 24th August we agreed payment date she said
yep that's fine. Well rent day came and nothing I text her a reminder she told me she had hurt her knee so couldn't make it to the bank.
she told me she would pay today the latest today has come and I'm worried she wont pay :/ .
We have a contract which she signed, I didn't and it wasn't witnessed.
If anybody has any advice it would be much appreciated

Thank you
helop897.

Well... first - let's see if she pays today.

Your friend may be treating this arrangement in a more informal manner than you are willing to do yourself. If there is no rent paid today then it will start to look like you're in for a pretty bad time... but, if the rent is paid today, maybe the pressure will be off and you can take stock of where you are and where you should be.

A contract does not need to be witnessed, but you would usually expect both parties to sign it and both to get to keep a copy.

As Hippo says - wait until today is over first.

Renting to a friend as you've eluded to is a bad idea, they become ex friends very quickly 

How long is the initial contract for?  Did you do a proper check in inventory?

Thank you both for responding . Still no payment as yet , the contract was one I downloaded and printed off doesn't really say about
Length of time tenancy is . I didn't do a inventory .

Many thanks
Helen

Quote from: helop897 on September 09, 2014, 04:31:56 PM
Thank you both for responding . Still no payment as yet , the contract was one I downloaded and printed off doesn't really say about
Length of time tenancy is . I didn't do a inventory .

Many thanks
Helen

You're really setting yourself up for a fall.  The AST should state how long the initial rental period should be for - 6 months absolutely maximum, no more.  You need to get a proper one done and signed.

You need to do an inventory/condition report NOW and get her to sign to say she agrees with it, with photos to back up the inventory.  There is a sample inventory on the main site here.  Please tell me you've at least taken meter readings aswell?

Is there gas at the property?  Have you had a gas safety certificate done?

Is the property with a mortgage, is it a residential one and do you have consent to let?

Do you have Landlord's insurance?

These, and what Riptide said, are things you really need to have had done. Of course, at the moment, you might also have a non-paying Tenant on your hands, so this will be top focus, but it doesn't mean the other stuff can be ignored or you will open yourself up to potential further trouble.

Check your bank account tomorrow and let's start from there...

Sorry I did reply but not sure what happened ..
I inherited the house from my mum when she passed away in feb.
My partner and I renovated it and it had new wiring and gas done all with certificate .
I took metre readings too. I have landlord insurance for the property.
The latest is rent was transferred in the bank the same as mine at 3 today . But I rang my bank
Who told me no payments were pending. she said she would go in the morning and see what's going on. I think it's a bluff to bide time.
She told me that her previous land lady couldn't give her the deposit for a couple of months.

Many thanks
Helen

Payments should be more or less immediate these days.

It your friend is lying to you, you're going to have some tough decisions ahead. At least you seem covered on most of your Landlord obligations and there is no deposit in this case... yet.

Your friend will be caught-out very soon if what was told to you about rent being transferred yesterday is a bluff. It sounds like your friend has possibly bought another day to either deliver the rent (hopefully) or come up with another interesting excuse.

I advise that you remain patient for this extra day... it can't mean that much to you, but it could be provided later. If it is, then I'd be asking the Tenant to set up a standing order for the rent. It not, you're going to have to decide how hard you want to play this (it is not clear to us how good a friend the Tenant is supposed to be, nor how pressing the rent being on time is for you)... you appear to have done a few things in a relaxed manner, so far, maybe this relaxed approach is rubbing-off.

Deposits from previous tenancies should, normally, be returned in around 10 days (certainly not months) but a) that is not your problem or of interest to you and b) I assume it's a separate issue from the rent?

I had a Tenant change the bank account they paid me from and they paid on the normal date, but it did not appear as expected. I queried this, they queried this and the bank said a new account / new payee thing could add a few days to the transaction. I took it all at face value. However, to be clear, the bank also said that yes, they could see the pending transaction.

Hi,
Thank you hippo , am I in my right if rents not in today to serve a section 8 .
I have been to relaxed I didn't think for one minute she wouldn't pay .

Many thanks

You can serve a Section 8... if appropriate. Please take a look at the 17 Grounds and decide what is appropriate - at the moment, you have not received 1 rent payment, if I have read things correctly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_8_Notice#Grounds_for_Eviction

I'd assume you're looking at Ground 10.

Section 8 can be defended against, in certain circumstances, and you might end up in a Court having your request denied by a Judge. If the property has any disrepair, for example.

I think this is all going to come down to the relationship with your friend and their circumstances.

I would think talking is the first option open to you... trying to obtain an understanding of why rent has not been paid. I said before that it's nothing to do with the deposit issue with the previous property as the Tenant would have been paying rent wherever they lived... so why is rent not being paid to you? If you get a satisfactory answer then you may decide on one course of action, if you feel you do not get a satisfactory answer then a completely different course of action.

Your expectations should be set that if you serve a Section 8 then that is only the beginning of the road for you. You will not recover possession in the click of a finger.

If your friend is truly your friend and is suffering some kind of temporary monetary crisis, then I would think you might want to be more lenient than going in with a Section 8... maybe all this can be recovered amicably and everything gets back on track. Your friend might be terribly embarrassed by the whole thing and be putting their head into sand instead of being open and honest with you. Shame might have a part to play here. I think these are some of the "gotchas" from letting a property to a friend... if this was someone you didn't know then it's a different matter.

Your friend appears - on the face of it - to be acting badly... but are you willing to sacrifice your friendship over a late rent payment, or would you prefer to be a bit softer / understanding? I'm not advocating one over the other... as I would stop myself from ever letting to a friend... I'm just asking the question. At the end of the day it's quite a simple problem - what's more important to you - the friendship or the £s? Of course, I expect trust has also been damaged here as well.

I am really sorry to say this... but the more people that read your thread will learn that letting to friends and family is a recipe for disaster. At least your exploits may serve as warning to others. It doesn't matter how many times this advice is given, people still always end up doing it... so you are certainly not alone here.

And, after all that... rent may be in your bank account today... fingers-crossed. I'd be talking to your friend at a reasonable time today if it is not - say midday.

Hi,
Well payment was made today this am , I did state tm that the next payment will need to be
On the 1st of each month as before. So at least today I've been paid.
On the grape vine I've heard her deposit has been kept by the ex landlady for leaving the previous place in a state , so I am a little concerned.
But I will chat with her as I think she has some money issues we need to progress for this to work well.
Just hope now that she will pay on time .

Many thanks
Helen