UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi Everyone.

Im new to the forum but have come in search of some answers and Im clearly not getting anywhere with my tenant.

Until 3 months ago I thought I had the ideal tenant, 5 years in, rent never paid so much as a day late, minimal involvement from me, baring a few minor washing machine/dishwasher/boiler call outs etc.

3 months ago I got a call from my tenant in tears, telling me how she expected I might get a call from surrey police and as such she wanted to explain what had happened first. Shes a single mum of 2 (now 17 year old son and 20 year old daughter) who works full time, whos father stood as guarantor but who's rent is topped up by housing benefit. Sounds pretty good so far.

The council had cut her benefit and not wanting to leave her home she had taken in a lodger to fill the spare room. She has never paid a rental increase since the day she moved in as she had a spare room and the council wouldnt pay her increase and she hadnt had a payrise herself so couldnt afford one. She had never caused a problem before so we froze it. Anyway, she had taken in a lodger who had made her feel uncomfortable in her own home and so she had thrown him out and changed the locks, he was now stalking her. I cant believe  actually felt sorry for the woman and gave her advice on reporting him to the appropriate authorities. She promised not to take another lodger as was in breach of her contract and that was the end of it for a few days I then got the call to say she couldnt afford the rent so was giving notice, I asked her when she was planning to go and she advised me she would let me know in a week. A week later she said the council had revised her benefits and she could stay after all,, would it be ok for her to stay? IF ONLY I knew then what I know now!

Literally 3 weeks later I have a letter arrive from the council advising me of anti social behavior at the property. I called thinking it was nothing only to be informed there has been a 5 year rein of terror on the local neighborhood, not so much by my tenant but by her trouble daughter who is well known by surrey police etc etc etc etc. Neighbors kids unwilling to sleep in their own rooms because they are so scared, restless nights with 24 hour parties and 12 separate disturbances reported by 6 different families in a 12 week period.

The issue it appears is that dear daughter is a nightmare, she has been thrown out of home by mother before which has meant any action has been halted at whatever stage it had reached in the past because the issues would for a short time at least be resolved. Unfortunately the issues had once again arisen however the problem now (and for the last 3 years) made even worse by mums new relationship which far from bringing her closer to home had seen her go from living at the property to spending weekends at the new boyfriends to not living at the property at all despite still "officially" living there.

So mum has abandoned her kids in a house to go off and live her life with new fella who obviously doesnt want the baggage. Parties ahoy, arguments in the street whenever mum returns, all paints a lovely picture. Oh, and the one off lodger that she got in through desperation is actually a list of 4 that have ALL resulted in police involvement. Those poor, poor neighbors have been tormented for long enough.

So (and in hindsight I could have dealt with this sooo much better) a section 21 notice was served via the letting agents to leave the property following the usual 2 months notice. She made a fuss, said the neighbors were victimizing her etc etc etc. I was left saying that as much as I was personally sorry I had been left in no uncertain terms that if I failed to take action the council were only 3 months away from being court ready which would have seen the property closed down, boarded up and no one able to cross the threshold for 3 months (not a prospect I wanted). She wasnt happy put continued to pay rent and was due to move out on Monday (coming).

I realise it doesnt sound that bad yet. She was awkward but allowed viewings for new tenants. We only got 4 viewings in the end but we accepted a low offer on the basis they were a nice family and would have moved in only a few days after our old tenant moved out. She was due to move out Monday, they should be moving in Friday.

So to the problem, she has moved out, some of her belongings remain but she wasnt really living there anyway so whats the problem. Son has apparently moved to grandma and grandpas and hasnt been seen in almost 4 weeks. She paid rent when it was due including her last months, has given the place a fresh coat of magnolia and its currently very clean. NO work was required by the new tenants despite her having lived there for 5 years.

So imagine my surprise to get a call from the agents at 4.55pm Friday saying they had had an email from T at 4.40pm stating that she wasnt trying to be difficult but that she had nowhere to go and as such would NOT be vacating the property on Monday and would be staying at the property for the foreseeable future. WTF!

Unsurprisingly she wont take my calls, wont take the agents calls (the phone just rings out), her mother (the guarantor) hung up on me yet she nor her son has returned to the property and the only one currently in residence is.... you guessed it, the daughter.

Now from what Surrey Police have told me the daughter has alternative accommodation somewhere not far away. She now lives with the BF and the sons with the grandparents, so HOW can she say she has nowhere to go. 2 months ago she was worried about getting her deposit back, she has never paid rent late and even paid her last month on time so what the hell is going on. She just wont talk.

She works full time and both kids are over 16 so forgetting the fact that she has alternative accommodation shes not going to be homes by the council so I really dont get it.

Anyway, that leads me to my question. Currently Im furious but not toooo worried, we have an 1800 deposit to cover the legal costs of eviction and as much as I could cry over the lost rent Im not going to get irate over it. I was worried she might trash the place but then again both her and her parents have money so weather I recover the money or not I will still take all parties to court to make sure they have ccjs for the next 6 years unless of course they would be so kind as to pay the costs. Anyway, Im praying thats not going to happen.

Im aware I cant take rent off her now but once I get her out can I claim the lost rent for the period she overstayed? So for example if she was due to leave on Monday but I dont get her out until February can I take her to court for the period Tuesday until I get her out?

All the jargon talks about being unable to recover costs and I doubt I will but I will still enjoy trying but its implied on other searches that you cant claim the costs of eviction back from your tenant only court appointed costs if they are made?

What Im worried about (and can see happening) is her waiting for me to get a possession order and then leaving scott free. The eviction wont show on her credit file so unless I call every agent in the country (which I will most certainly have a goo go at) it wont appear in a normal search. Unless I can claim the lost rent for the period she overstayed I have nothing to take her to court for as she paid her rent until leaving so no CCJ. It just seriously looks like she is just being an ultimate cow for a reason thats totally beyond me other than to cause the most people, neighbours included the most amount of headache.

Any advice about what I can do to recover costs and what costs are recoverable would be greatly received.

I havent ruled out the fact that daughter might want the eviction to get a council house but Im struggling to see how that would work when daughters registered address was with her mum and brother for so many years surely the council will want to know why she cant live with either of them anymore?