UK Landlord Forum / Life

I am a new landlord, one of my tenants is short of money , has stopped paying rent and appears to have sold two of the sofas in the flat (a van was seen coming round and sofas have gone). Any advice will be gratefully received.

Seek a possesion order and evict him.

You need to provide a lot more info for a fuller/complete answer e.g. what type of agreement, started when, period, deposit taken/protected, inventory, cost of sofas, current relationship etc etc etc

...........

It is a 6 month AST which has moved on to a week by week basis. it started in June 2015. A 2 week deposit was taken put with the DPS. The sofas cost £400.No cuurent relationship - tenant does not answer calls.

Have you served a section 21? If so when?
You need to get cracking and evict this person...start proceedings to get possesion of the property NOW.

If my tenant has sold my sofas do I have let them stay in my property so that they can potentially  sell some more things?

No you could bring a civil case through the courts which may cost you more than the sofa's are worth (Innocent till proven etc)
meanwhile you would still need to get a possesion order to get your property back.

You didn't clarify whether the sofas are on the inventory?
If they are (or if the tenant agrees) you can claim against the deposit.

Maybe you are trying to see if there is a way to get the tenant out quickly/without court order...answer, no.

Best of luck

Thanks for the advice.

The sofas are on the inventory. I was thinking  that the tenant  has committed  theft and that  I should call the police.  I was hoping that there was some protection for landlords from having a thief as a tenant.

Well you could drop in at your nearest police station and ask but I expect they will say it is a civil matter.
I live near London and the police are too busy for such things
Maybe if you live in a quaint village with a " local bobby " then he might pay a visit but I doubt it


Best of luck