UK Landlord Forum / Life

I have tried so hard to cut him some slack,but he is just taking the ****.There are no other properties in the same price range currently available in this area,with a private garden (he got a dog without permission weeks after moving in,it is a ground floor studio flat) so he is going to have a real problem finding somewhere when his notice to quit runs out.He seems unable to grasp that he is harming himself untimately more than me,and the cost of reletting will be more than just paying off his arrears to me.

Sorry,this is just a moan,not a question.15 years of being a landlord has been challenging to my nervous system! 

Keep calm and carry on.  What's this notice to quit you've given him?

Quote from: heavykarma on December 30, 2015, 12:36:13 PM15 years of being a landlord has been challenging to my nervous system!

I worry about how you handle a real job, then. Being a Landlord is dead easy. Doing it for 15 years should make you the most chilled and relaxed person ever... and completely unflappable.

Slapping your customer is never a good idea. Maybe you've forgotten your Tenant is your customer and you've fallen into the Landlord trap of believing, mistakenly, that you're superior to your Tenant? Don't worry, many Landlords do this. Many Landlords start out like this and never change.

Section 21,issued  mid December.He is on a periodic tenancy.Should move out Feb.20th.By which time arrears will be around £2,500.Really worried about his poor dog,have several rescues of my own so can't take on another. I know I should count my blessings,no one forced me to get into BTL,but Oscar Wilde was right "No good turn goes unpunished"

Thanks Hippogriff,that's me told! I have never felt superior to the tenants.For the first years I put welcome baskets of beverages and milk in the fridge,bottles of wine,toiletries in the bathrooms.Sadly I might as well have put a sign saying "Kick Me" to some of them.There have also been some great people,still exchange Christmas cards.

By your reasoning,if I go to Waitrose (unlike the tenants I don't have to shop in Lidl!) and walk out with a few grands' worth of champagne without paying,I will still be a valued Customer? At what point will I become a common thief and shoplifter? 

Waitrose won't slap you, they'll follow the proper course to get satisfaction. I do reckon you should stop perceiving yourself as some kind of injured party... you got into BTL to make money, I assume, not to take in waifs and strays and become a charity. Exchanging Christmas cards with your Tenants? Crackers. Seems your lines are blurred. Surprising after 15 years.

Er,yes-I am actually following the legal route to get him out and possibly recover my lost rent.When I say "I want to slap my tenant" it is an expression of frustration,I am not actually stupid enough to do that.I am not seeking sympathy in the "poor innocent" sense. I am indeed a trustee of a household name charity,so you got me banged to rights there clever clogs.However,I am a tough  bird.I have found this website  to be really informative,stimulating and entertaining.Whoever does the landlord rants can really write,he's the P.J.O'Rourke of BTL.I thought I was among friends  and could get away with a little whinge.I obviously need to man up.Will I ever achieve your state of enlightenment or have I left it too late?
Hope you have good health and prosper in 2016.

Well, you sound like you've left it too late to me, but I'm no expert on self-pity. 

Good that you've recognised this isn't a place for whingers. You are among friends, you're being told to "man up", like a friend would say to you.

It hurts me to admit it,but you are right.I don't know if you used reverse psychology (I suspect you actually are totally lacking in human empathy and warmth) but it has given me a kick up the arse.I have wasted great lumps of my life that I won't get back feeling anxious and depressed when tenants behave badly.Lesson for this this year,if I really can't be more detached I will start selling them off.Thanks Hippogriff-you are a pal!

Ha! No-one likes to hear a well-off Landlord moaning about their lot in life. You want a shoulder to cry on, try phone The Samaritans... bet they also give you short shrift. Next on the list... ARLA? Not here.