UK Landlord Forum / Life

Where to start? 
My late brother lived abroad but rented out his UK home through a letting agency.  The agency went bust in Nov 2014, about the same time as my brother became ill,  and a new agency took over but without inheriting all the necessary files from the defunct agency.  In late Jan 15, knowing that he was probably too sick to work again, my brother decided to sell the UK property in order to buy  a retirement property in his country of residence. The tenants were served a Notice to quit which expired on 30 April 2015.   Sadly, my brother died in Feb 2015, which is when I became his representative and the nightmare began.  He made no will, he was not married to his non British partner and the laws of two countries were going to be involved.   Just before the notice to quit was served the married tenants separated, he moved out and left the wife with no means of paying the rent.  She completely ignored  the Section 21 Notice and I could do nothing to evict her as I had not got probate.  When the Gas Safety certificate expired an engineer condemned the boiler and the tenant changed the locks so that I could not have it rendered safe while I figured out how I was going to afford a new one as I still had no legal access to my brother's  assets.   I finally got probate this Feb, a full year after my brother's  death, and commenced accelerated repossession proceedings immediately.  To cut a long story short, the bailiffs attended this Monday to find she had gone but left no forwarding address, the house and garden in a filthy state and most of her possessions locked in the garage.  I have obviously changed the locks.  My solicitor tells me I can only have the belongings removed, not sell them.  Because of the change of letting agency it has been impossible to trace any deposit and the tenant declined to provide evidence of having paid one.  The house was on the market and I had an immediate  offer almost 12 months ago but the buyer understandably withdrew because of the delay in the two countries deciding under whose law I obtained probate without which I couldn't legally evict the tenant or sell the house. So now she has gone, owing thousands in rent plus the costs of removing her plus the costs of getting rid of her belongings plus the costs of making the house presentable etc etc. I have only this week discovered her husband has gone to prison so I can't  help having a little sympathy with her and her children, whose bicycles are among the stuff left behind. She was probably advised to stay put by her local authority. My question is, is it worth tracking her down and getting a county court judgement for all the money she owes my brother's estate, knowing that she has no means of paying. Added to the pain of losing my brother at 57, this past year of legal wranglings has been pure hell.  I was in blissful ignorance of how the law is totally weighted in favour of tenants.

Your last line would be a little incorrect, but we'll forgive you in the circumstances. Imagine how you can turn the statement around completely when a Landlord has the ability to evict a Tenant from their home for no reason whatsoever - that's a Section 21. Imagine that a Landlord can turn up at a property at any time, on giving appropriate notice, and perform an 'inspection' - that's intrusive.

Now... is it worth chasing? I would say it's always worth chasing - if at least just to get the person 'marked' with a CCJ... plus they may come good later, get a good job, inherit some money... whatever. Plus the CCJ will alert other Landlords (which we understand you're really not here). However, you have concluded that there is no chance of the Tenant paying, so you might have reached a different conclusion.

It's correct that you cannot sell the tat left behind. You must safely store it and make reasonable attempts (document these) to inform the Tenant that they can collect them. If, after a reasonable time, they have elected not to - then you can dispose of them. If there are costs of disposal, then you can add those to the overall debt.