what are my options of evciting my tenant after 1 month or 2. He was bit dodgy from the start but he was the only potential tenant claiming he worked gov job.we did comprehensive check through openrent and passed. He chose to pay the deposit through Reposit. He is in now arrears of 1 month. First he said he had a surgery and living in his parents house. Now he just stopped replying and completely ghosting us. Please help as I am an accidental landlord and it really puts me in a difficult place of losing my own home
They must be at least two months in arrears to start eviction proceedings. You need to speak to an eviction specialist for help.
If you don’t have the knowledge, don’t try and do this yourself.
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You may have accidentally gained a property but you didn’t accidentally advertise it for let or accidentally sign a tenancy agreement. Now that you’re in this pickle, I would recommend you do as Karl suggests and find a specialist so that you don’t accidentally end up doing something illegal.
If you intend to continue letting after this experience (and I wouldn’t blame you if not), then I heartily recommend joining a landlord association and doing their training. It costs money to do, but it’s a lot cheaper than hiring an eviction specialist.
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Can I ask if I can contact the current landlord of the tenant and inform that he had signed an agreement and had breach of contract?
You said it was your tenant. Are you now saying that he’s abandoned your property and signed an agreement with someone else and therefore has a different landlord?
Technically, he is still my tenant as he signed a contract with me and its still in place. He didn’t pay the first rent and he cut the communication with me. So I contacted his previous landlord ( housing association) and they confirmed that he is still their tenant and were confused. They have been told by the tenant that he doesn’t not give them permission to give me anymore information. Also, looks like he is subletting my flat. I will be serving section 8. But my wuestion is can I let the other landlord know that I am pressing charges against him?
Boy, that’s a mess. Well, there’s nothing stopping someone from being a tenant of two properties.
How do you know he’s subletting?
What benefit would it bring to let the other landlord know?
What did the eviction specialist you contacted recommend?
You also need to read the Reposit details to see when & how you need to contact them.
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You are going to need help with this, but if he is not living at your property, then his tenancy is no longer assured and you could serve a Notice to Quit and re-take possession when it expires. Hoeever, if he moves back -in to your property this option may not be available. I would suggest a housing solicitor or eviction company.
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I considered that, but under the rircumstances may it be tricky to establish that he has actually left? I didn’t want the OP to risk creating an illegal eviction.
Its always tricky to establish that unless the tenant admits they’re not living there, but the subletting and the other active tenancy is reasonable evidence if provable. I would never suggest a landlord do this on their own though as the penalties for a mistake can be severe. Illegal eviction is a criminal offence.
Suggesting you join the landlord union. They have free lawyer advice.
I would hire a lawyer regardless to guide you on your options.
The good news is you do have options.
When i get ghosted i will visit the property and do an inspection of something and see whats going on. Take a witness if you want just give 24 hrs notice. Sometimes tenants just abandon the property. Its happened to me many times, they dont pay, they go quiet, no response so you go round , theyve gone, you write and e mail to say they have abandoned the property and you will now relet the property unless you hear back in x days. Then get on with reletting.
Tenants rarely get legal they usually have just moved on. You are stressed out because you dont know whats going on, sometimes all it takes is a polite chat to resolve. Oh and expect to lose a months rent in exchange for peace of mind
Hi @Michael175
sorry to hear about your problems. Worth checking if your landlord insurance includes any legal advice or costs of eviction; ditto you dont say whether you have rental insurance but sounds like not.
I dont think the fact you are pursuing action against somebody is information you would handover unless you can show it is part of your normal business of being a landlord [so if you were asked about them as part of landlord referencing by another LL, it would be fair to disclose]. Will it help in any way with the eviction - you have already established they are a tenant elsewhere, so [unless tenant supplies evidence that they are living at both places] is likely not at yours. So what does disclosing the extra info that you are taking action achieve?
Strictly you should already be registered with ICO if you are handling any personal info about tenants [just like any other business]. If there is a legitimate reason to share the info then ideally you would send tenant an ICO privacy notice saying how you will use personal info about them, as part of the tenancy, and include the use within that [google ‘landlord privacy notice template’ for examples]. You could tell ICO what you plan to do and why, and ask if it would be legal from their perspective.
Good luck