SMF - Just Installed!

Deposit

Started by tommo194850, April 08, 2017, 11:02:49 AM

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tommo194850

Hello, this is my first post here. I've been letting out a house for a few years now to a great tenent. However, my circumstances have changed and I need to sell the house so I've gone through the right channels. The tenent isn't overly keen as it means uprooting etc but she's accepted it.
Problem we have is she can't afford the deposit on a new house, until she gets the deposit back on this one, which is currently protected.
I was wondering if there is any way I could pay her deposit back out of my money (recently seen property and it needs a lick of paint as you'd expect but otherwise no issues) and then she somehow signs the protected deposit over to me? I'm going to ring the deposit scheme on Monday but just wanted some advice from you guys. If it was possible to go ahead I'd obviously go through my agent so it's done officially etc.
It would benefit her greatly but also benefit me as at the moment she can't afford to move.

Thank you in advance

Hippogriff

You may make whatever arrangements you want with your Tenant. If you are both trustworthy and there's a quid pro quo it shouldn't be a problem. However, the Tenant has you in a position, if the truth be told, as you want something from her - your house. In this case, it is often good practice to offer a sweetener. What you are proposing doesn't necessarily feel like much of a sweetener, to be fair. The upside is that the Tenant moves on, relatively happy, without it getting all legal, and you get your property back, to do with as you wish, avoiding those, oh so unnecessary, costs.

So, giving her funds to act as a deposit now and then treating the actual deposit as you would anyway, e.g. you may wish to retain some, she may have some returned, is a much better sweetener.

tommo194850

Hi thanks for the reply :-)  totally get what you're saying and I hope she just moves out without issue. I understand the idea of a sweetener too but paying someone hundreds of pounds to move out which legally they have to anyway by one means or another seems principally wrong.

Hippogriff

Sure. And if she stays (as she is legally entitled to do, too) and you incur costs, and time, and hassle by following the another way? Hundreds of Pounds will be a drop in the ocean. If the relationship sours completely and she stays and trashes the place, and steals the copper piping, and you have no chance of getting the money back, what then?

I also hope she just leaves. I just wish to point out a different path. I'm sure you've seen the Landlord / Tenant programmes t'telly.

tommo194850

I avoid those programmes for fear of becoming paranoid :-) point taken though mate! Still totally disagree on principle but in the long run might be better to bite the bullet and it could potentially cost a lot less money and time.

heavykarma

I would consider Hippogriff's suggestion as a last resort.The tenant sounds as if she is a reasonably sound person,who will move out provided she can have her deposit back sooner rather than later.I agree that paying someone what amounts to a bribe is preferable to going through lengthy court proceedings.The fact is though,they can still shaft you if they are that type of person.She could accept the sweetener,and still refuse to go.I think Tommo is being both fair and realistic in what he is proposing.I am assuming she is on a periodic tenancy,so why would she have the right to stay longer than 2 months? Offering a lump of money just sends the message that the landlord is desperate,and a pushover,if she is manipulative.

Hippogriff

I suppose it's the law that gives her the right, strictly speaking. Yes, you can follow the book and serve that Section 21, but it's a rare person who will leave with nowhere else to go when they can stay. In that scenario the law protects a Tenant, obviously,and all the Landlord has obtained at that juncture is the right to start possession proceedings. I do not mind how the law is - but if we're talking a few hundreds of Pounds vs. the time and costs of Court and Bailiffs then I know which way I would go. I try to be pragmatic... it's not where the money goes that matters as much to me, it's how much money is departing my pockets.

Obviously this Tenant has not looked after their own interests... every Tenant must be prepared for the situation where they're asked to leave a property and they should have been saving up another deposit. In reality, Tenants need to have enough cash for 2 deposits to be 'live'. Tough world.