Current tenant forged my signature on AST

Landlord Discussion Legal
1

My current tenant in England , I recently found out , they have made new tenancy agreement and forged my signature as a landlord. Property address is up in Scotland, where I never been there.

I have secured documents. Can anyone advise what should I do?

thank you

2

erā€¦ England or Scotland? You canā€™t have a property in Scotland and the tenant live in England!

Who is ā€œtheyā€? An agent? If so, your contract with them allows for them to sign on your behalf (although using your signature would be a bit cheeky).

Not sure what you mean by ā€œsecured documentsā€ either.

Why is a new tenancy agreement a problem for you anyway?

More detail and clarity would allow us to help you better.

3

I have only property in England. I am managing myself. (They) my current tenant living in my property and they claim UC. My tenant wanted copy of current tenancy agreement. That I always give them but they are not organised so , I went to the property to give them copy as they have a review for UC with local authority.

My tenant gave me all other papers to look for her copy of tenancy agreement (currently where she live in England in my property) because she need to give copy of agreement to local authority to review her UC and I found forged documents which was my name as a landlord and her name as a tenant , addressed in Scotland. I ask and she denied everything.

4

You looked through papers she gave you and found a forged document? A tenancy agreement? With her address in Scotland or your address in Scotland? If she had lost the original AST, how did she create the new one she forged? Why did she give this to you and then claim she didnā€™t have an AST?

really trying hard to understand your situation. Any chance you could use Google translate?

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5

@Damini

So if I ve understood correctly you are concerned because the tenant in your property in England has faked your signature for a fake tenancy agreement somewhere else (Scotland). Is that correct?

  1. Firstly did you keep or take a photo/copy of the fake documents and know the Scottish address? Is that what you meant by ā€˜secured the docsā€™ ? If not do you still have any evidence? Also keep copies of any communications about the matter with your tenant. They might deny they even gave you the fake document and claim you produced it.
  2. It may be a criminal offence ie if the tenant has forged your signature on a tenancy agreement; the tenant may also be using the fake Scottish tenancy agreement to try to claim rent/benefits from the Scottish council/UC
  3. Itā€™s up to you whether you report the matter to both the police and the local authorities in both England and Scotland but Iā€™m sure they will be interested ; you can consult a lawyer and check your England tenancy agreement on whether this would be grounds to evict (ie conducting criminal activity from within your property) or just serve s21 now (before 1 may) against the tenant while you still can - you really really dont want somebody who misuses your trust by forging your signature living in your property do you? What else will they lie about? There are plenty of good honest tenants who will be happy to rent from you instead. You should also ask your insurance company who may not be willing to insure the property if tenant is behaving fraudulently so they may tell you the tenant must be evicted asap.
  4. You can consult a solicitor to potentially sue for fraud, forgery, or to have the fake contract declared invalid. But if they are on UC are they likely to pay up (legal costs etc) even if that happens

Good luck

6

Thank you for your advice. I am equally skeptical that they have forged tenancy documents and are claiming benefits in Scotland too.

7

@Damini

so what other explanation /hypothesis do you have for why the tenant would forge a tenancy agreement with your signature for a property in Scotland? So they can pretend they live there and sublet it to somebody else? So friends of hers squatting there can pretend they have her permission? Something suspicious if not illegal is either happening there or was planned to be..

Good luck

8

Hereā€™s what I think your situation is:

You have a tenant who is paying you rent via UC and who has a valid tenancy agreement with you in England.

This tenant seems to have also created a false tenancy agreement in Scotland using your signature on that tenancy.

You said ā€œI have secured documentsā€. If that means you have the forged documents, then I would search for ā€œReport benefit fraud onlineā€ and complete the form there. If you have the address in Scotland, I would also contact the local authority there and report the fraud to them as well.

Apologies if I have not understood your situation correctly.

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9

Oh, I should add that if you want rid of this tenant, you need to serve a Section 21 immediately while they are still enforceable ā€¦ if the tenancy terms allow this.