UK Landlord Forum / Life

So I've done everything that I'm legally required to do. My tenant, a young lady with a young child has not paid her first rent. She has a 6 month SHT. Do I just bite the bullet, play it nicely, and wait for the six months to expire, or do I issue her immediately with an eviction notice as well. Apologies if the same thing has been asked before.

It's not clear, at least to me, whether your Tenant would claim to have any intention of paying the rent - are you in communication at all or are you being ignored at this juncture? How many days late is the rent? Some Banks, believe it or not, still play silly buggers when a new payee is set up... it often going through systems to detect fraud, and doing checks and taking longer than expected. Has the Tenant confirmed she's paid, or tried to, or not? As I say, it's not at all clear... we're not mind readers (yet) (I am doing a course on it).

I would do neither of the options you have proposed. I would open a dialogue with the tenant so that you can understand where the problem is. The outcome of that is what will inform your next steps.

Thank you for the advice. The standing order was set up for the 1st of every month, so it's not that late. What is worrying me slightly is that until now her communication has been excellent. This is the first time she hasn't replied immediately. I'll give it a few days and try again.

She may have a genuine problem and be scrabbling-around, trying to resolve, it is not that late - you're correct. Be prepared, as you're thinking, but don't act too rashly. I always give Tenants a little leeway at the beginning, they've a lot on, right? Of course, your instincts could be on the money... I don't think there's anything wrong with a chaser now. It's not as if you're bordering on harassment... you're just trying to ascertain if there's an issue... if she is in receipt of Benefits you can bet there will be.

Quote from: misterhyde on June 05, 2019, 08:18:39 PMThe standing order was set up for the 1st of every month...

One follow-on question would be how on earth you could know that? I suspect you really mean the rent is due on the 1st of every month..? I have a Tenant who I've been trying to persuade to set up a Standing Order for, oh, a year or two now... she always agrees it's a good idea (for her, for me) but the payment will still come in ad hoc at some point during the day... obviously not a Standing Order.

The tenant sent me a screenshot of the set up, that's how I knew.
You were correct regarding the bank - they did hold the money, so everything is OK and I'll try to be less anxious next time