What’s views on abandonement if all belongings are gone and rent arrears but tenants not communicating. Change locks or possession order
There’s advice on landlordzone Google ‘What to do when tenants abandon your rental property: a landlord’s legal guide’
And ‘Tenant Abandonment and the Law’
Also YouTube
’How can you determine if a tenant has left a rental property for good?’ by property lawyer david smith has advice on the specific steps to take (letters to the address emails to all know addresses 2 weeks wait etc etc
Tracing agents for 30 quid would be good to get more evidence -see previous thread Abandonment issues
get eviction specialist advice. If you have legal advice as part of your landlord insurance they should be able to advise?
You don’t say how long they’ve not been communicating or if there’s other evidence they aren’t living there - have you spoken to neighbours? Or if they left keys behind. If there are pre payment utility meters has the credit on these run out? Is there post piling up?
Clearly serving a possession order /s21 would be safest. Not obvious why you wouldn’t do that. The high fines and crriminal offence if you illegally evict aren’t worth risking
Unless you have a reason the keys need changing, dont do it yet- there’s no reason why in the meantime you couldn’t clean the place up if needed, schedule some visits for viewings and give tenant notice of these and do viewings exactly as if the tenant was still there. If you do change the locks document your reason for doing so and be ready to give tenant a spare key immediately if they should return.
You could visit the property regularly in the evening or early morning to check no longer living there and document it. Maybe switch off the electricity at the fuse box then if you return and find its switched on you have evidence tenant has been back. Build up and document the evidence that they have left
You could contact tenant’s employer or guarantor to find out if they have an address to the tenant
If over 30 days notify your insurarers
Good luck
Many thanks for in depth reply , they have changed locks so could I get locksmith so I can check interior and do viewings whilst going through eviction process
How do you know they have removed their belongings if they’ve changed the locks?
1 Like
Have you got your keys ?
Have they shut down their council tax ?
Have they spoken to you about deposit
You need as much evidence as possible to exclude illegal eviction
I wrote a post on my experience
Tracing agents give you details eg if they shut down their internet
Have they started akin a new address
You can get their new address and write to them Thor or visit them
You need good evidence that they have left and you are not caught in an entrapment snare like I nearly was
If there is a doubt serve s21
If the locks have been changed you really need to ensure you are not causing an illegal eviction
1 Like
can you smell what seems to be gas or a leak at the property, is so you can enter for safety reasons
1 Like
Get an eviction specialist if they changed locks how can you be sure they removed all their possessions. They may just have moved things away from windows/view. Lack of response could be they are on holiday without signal or in hospital.
I would book an inspection visit with the tenant (by emailing, whatsapp, txt, letter by recorded delivery and letter put through door and by contacting guarantor and employer and any other contacts you have for them - friends family) - give a week notice and in the meantime talk to neighbours and keep checking back for signs of whether they are there (lights on/off in evening etc), use tracing
and then take locksmith and eviction expert with to inspection-they have to let you (or your contractor) in so long as you give sensible times and notice - see Shelter page (Google ‘ Tenancy agreements: When your landlord can come in’)
If they are there they have to let you in. If not I ‘think’ as part of the pre announced inspection visit it may be ok to gain entry via locksmith, enter and look for evidence they left eg belongings gone, post piling up etc - in which case maybe change lock. If evidence they are still there don’t change it. But this is why you need an eviction expert
Ps is there a back door you could access eg over a fence via a neighbour’s garden - they might well have only changed locks at the front?
Good luck
I can see through windows it’s empty
I would still book in inspection visit in an official way not just turn up with a locksmith.
You need to contact the tenant before changing locks
You can find out where they are within 24 hours from a tracing agent and then go and speak to them directly and record the conversation
The agent can tell you if they have shut down internet etc and transferred to a new address
Speak to them and tell them the council tax is in their name until otherwise notified and it’s double charging on two homes
Don’t mention anything else
That will usually get the tenant to the table
1 Like
What is it that a tracing agent can do, that we cannot do. I mean how does he do it?
OK, but landlords changing the locks is the most commonly cited evidence in claims of illegal discrimination brought by tenants, so its a much bigger step than being able to let yourself in with your own key.
I would agree with A_Z. Look for other evidence of abandonment first, such as terminating council tax and utility contracts, living elsewhere etc. See if you can get them to acknowledge that they’ve left and if possible, even sign a deed of surrender. You may have to promise not to pursue recent arrears.
EDIT: Above should say illegal eviction, not illegal discrimination.
1 Like
They have access to your digital data
Eg
My tenant told the council he left in month x but his noticed expired two months later
He shut down his council tax early
I didn’t get a response if he left so I went to the property
His belongings were there. I contacted the council to say he was still resident. He then said I shouldn’t have gone into the property without notice and the council made an error….
Fortunately window was open so I went to secure a potentially empty property because it was a theft risk etc
In month y he did not communicate departure or leave all the keys or remove his stuff
He actually dropped off more stuff ( including valuables )
I contacted a tracing agent
He was using three different addresses for the period between month x and month y
They told me where he was living and when
He shut his internet down when he moved to a fourth new address
They follow your digital money trail , how you pay your bills , which emails and phone numbers you are using ,
When and where you move in and out of addresses
Because he’d used so many addresses in the interim it was suspicious
He’s trying to dodge his credit score legitimately
I contacted the council to ask if he shut his council tax down and he did in month y
He released his custodial deposit towards rent arrears
This is good evidence when I spoke to the ll association to make sure I wasn’t being accused of an illegal eviction
2 Likes
Amazing. Worth paying then to get the result
1 Like
Yes I think it’s £35 plus vat
I rang to get all the additional info
If you explain your situation they are very helpful
you need to tread carefully here… I’d get legal advice or you could end up in a right mess
One I used was amazing, they even told me the tenant visited his Mother every Sunday at an address.
2 Likes
Which tracing agent do you use?
1 Like
Nationwide tracing . co. Uk
I called them after I got the first bit of information to ask for the rest of the information
2 Likes
That is very good . Wonder if they can tell me where my cat got to last night?
3 Likes