I have a new family of five in my house and since they entred they have inundated me with complaints about the state of my ‘broken’ house. The lead tenant entred the property and wanted a new sofa, new dining chairs, fencing and a new bathtub. They asked to take some furtnture out in a couple of days they were there and asked me to replace the items. The they brought in their own furniture without permisison whch I called them up for. The lead tenant claimed his family is a refugee family when they have been here for 11 years plus and has lied in emails about my conduct towards him when I went round the other day. He has claimed that a number of items are broekn when they are not and now wants me to accommodate the fact they are a family of five. The tenants have come from an agency and I am the landlady. I told them they saw the furniture and the house before they signed. I told them if the house was not fit for their needs then they should not have signed. He then sent a really dishinest email to the agency sking for his deposit back, in the email he calimed, I had shouted at his children and that I had threaned them and that they should leave. This is all made up drama to add to his case to want to leave and gain his deposit back. At the monent, he has lied, demanded changes and now accused me of all sorts. What to do???
He wants to leave ? Tell him when he is out he will get his deposit back. Then you are shut of them. Do not let it furnished again ?
The deposit is in a government scheme. I am fearful that if he does that I will not get my commission fees back for the time they have not been in as tenants. Yes, definately rent out with no furniture.
If that is your real photo, delete it. Don’t let tenant identify you here.
Going forward personally ANY interaction with tenant should be recorded let him know you are either videoing it or recording it for your and his own protections. Have you spoken to the agency about them and explained what is going on
You also state “he wants me to accomodate the fact that they are a family of 5” were they not when they signed (only thinking if they wernt is this not breech of contract on HIS side and a negotiating tool from your perspective)
Sounds like you are better issuing them notice and getting them out i appreciate you may loose commision fees but from the sounds of it it could affect your mental &/or physical health and NO tenant or amount of comission fees are worth that get the property vacated and start anew hope it goes well
Not siding with him him here, but if you’re a refugee, then you’re a refugee. It doesn’t matter when you were granted asylum. The vast majority of refugees won’t ever be able return to their original homes.
Further, his status as a refugee has no bearing at all on the situation. Once granted refugee status, he has the same rights as any British citizen in housing law - and the same obligations.
he might well be but he has used this to gain extras.
How has he used this, and what extras has he gained?
Oh my! This is almost similar to my new tenants also from abroad. Let them leave and explain the rules about deposit…they get it back like any other tenant…after inspection and agreement of amount. Then look for new tenants
Simply respond that the house was let “as seen” in his/her viewing inspection and that the rent level agreed reflected the condition of the property …
You might wish to say you will negotiate to accept a new tenancy agreement for a higher rent to match his additional demands for a higher standard of accomodation if he wishes to do so - this willl involve him formally revoking his orignal agreement and and signing a new one .
Of course if he or his family have broken any fixtures and fittings since he moved in (other than wear and tear) then HE needs to pay for it anyway.
But make clear you WILL pay for repairs and items that fail (but are not broken by them )
But being a landlord means being fair - but having a thick skin. It hurts when someone calls your house “broken” or implies you
But you do not intend to undertake any “improvements” within the initial period of the agreement (6 months / 12 months ?)
But welcome to the world of being a landlord. Be as fair as you can. Be just and treat people well. But they won’t always love you, or be nice to you . Most of my tenants (maybe 2/3) have been good and I would give them an excellent reference and do my best to be generous to those and keep their rents as low as is reasonable and make improvements where I can. But some others lie to you, or try to cheat you ! You have got to be fair but tough.! In my experience about a third of my tenants will “try it on” or “have a go” but usually back down when they realise I don’t respond to that sort of pressure and emotional manipulation. but maybe around one in 10 would rob me blind given half the chance and are a total nightmare…
This is hardly surprising when you understand 27% of working age adults in the UK have had a criminal conviction!
So be fair , be kind . be a good person and the best landlord you can! We need excellent landlords. But be tough too!
I have learned I can keep rent low as possible and keep in business for my good tenants by having a thick skin but being tough as nails with the rogues and the manipulators.
But if I’m soft with them it drives up my costs massively which drives up rent for my other tenants! And that is not fair! .
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Very surprising, far higher than i imagined.
While the latter stat is true, far fewer than 27% would have been convicted for robbery, theft, fraud GBH or other crimes that trouble LLs. Having a driving conviction doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll rob your LL blind… and then we have to adjust for particular sectors of the population too.
Wise to be cautious though…
Clearly you have to interpret the figure’s and allow for the fact that .not all criminal convictions impact landlords. You should note however I have already taken this into account which matches the the observation that while 27% have a criminal conviction my observation is that only 10% of are likely to be dishonest with their landlord.
A good number of those may not actually have a criminal conviction (up to now they may have got away with underlying dishonesty. For example I know one person (not a tenant of mine) who told me they deliberately poured buckets of water into the corner of their flat to create damp and to then complained to the environmental health about damp conditions. They were trying to avoid eviction due to non-payment of rent …and prolong the period they were living rent free.
Common minor convictions, like driving offenses , (especially those related to drink driving) drug abuse , and shoplifting while not 100% linked to landlord problems do raise the risk of tenants indulging in anti-social behaviour , or bending the law to their advantage with their landlords. While they ultimately lose in a court - it costs us lots of money and stress on the way to that place. .
In my personal life I choose to have a general attitude of trust towards people - but in matters of law when i sign binding contracts then I tend to be a bit more cautious .
And as I said be fair and be kind - but be realistic - people will cheat their employees , employees cheat and steal from their employers , consumers cheat the people they buy goods and services from, the people who sell them goods and services cheat them too.
I choose do deal honestly and not to cheat. I try to be fair. as do most tenants and landlords. But there are a significant minority of both who don’t !
So both tenants and landlords need to keep their wits about them. Tha is life i’m afraid .
10% of those are for not having a tv license so not all “criminal” cases are equally serious