You are absolutely right and I applaud your integrity. I agree not all benefits tenants are bad eggs. But I do feel you are being a bit over sensitive.
You need to appreciate there is a considerable majority of bad Benefit tenants, which I know from personal experience, which is where the vitriol you witness comes from. It may appear imbalanced, but you must understand that a lot of topics on this forum revolve around people’s problems, so are not always evenly represented. Landlords come on this forum to find solutions to problems and problem tenants, not to praise people. Likewise a lot of tenants post on here, who have had bad experiences with landlords.
As John points out, we landlords have to suffer the insults and unjustified titles of rogue, greedy and blood sucking individuals, which I also believe is not a majority.
Tenants seem to forget that landlords have to take all the responsibility for their properties and bear all the costs of a bad tenant, whereas a tenant who feels aggrieved can simply walk away.
In many cases landlords have invested huge effort and large sums of their hard earned money to, in most cases, provide clean, comfortable and safe homes for tenants to enjoy, and it is soul destroying and financially crippling, in some cases, to have that abused, and the government continually legislating to protect tenants at the landlords expense. Consider also that a lot of people would be homeless if it weren’t for private landlords, as the government sell off their housing stock and are not replacing them.
I have rent insurance on my tenancies, if I make an agreement with my tenants how is that affected, would it nullify my insurance. Am I better to let my tenants not pay then claim against my insurance.
You can’t use it! I’ve got same situation. You have to serve an eviction notice first. They have to be at least 1 month in arrears.
You can serve notice for three months time. But Rentguard pass everything on to another company called ArcLegal (www.arclegal.co.uk)
who decide on whether you have a case or not for eviction. They have terrible reviews as do Rent Guard. If they decide you don’t have a case for eviction then basically it’s tough cookies. You can then evict them yourself but that insurance money was basically for nothing. And it’s an incentive I guess to not pass it because they’re the ones who fight the case. Though I’m not clear on this.They are the one to get all the paperwork together for the eviction notice et cetera. At least that’s how they explained it to me.They have to agree that there is definitely a successful case. In order to have a successful case, you have to show that you have tried to help. I actually reached out to my tenants pre-empting them being in touch with me, because I genuinely cared. But then they turned around and said they wanted 35% off the rent and I went Back to the tenancy agreement and Was reminded that they have a guarantor in place who is equally responsible for the rent. This was done because one of the tenants didn’t pass the credit checks and was unemployed at the time but assured me that he Would pay the rent. So now he is using losing a job as an excuse to not pay his rent. The lead tenant is fully employed with over for 45K Double what I’ve ever earned in my life. And another one has significant savings. So I think I have a good case and Arc would Agree that this is pursuance, But I don’t want to evict them. They have been good tenants. The only reason I’ve looked into eviction is because I’ve been told that the only way that my rent is insured is if I evict them. I had no idea that the insurance that I got. I thought that if the tenant ran off without paying rent I would be covered, but no. We are not covered on this policy. I’m fairly disgusted. Anyway, I am choosing to help the two unemployed tenants by way of a partial rent holiday and a payment plan. These are difficult times. This is my sole income so I am not in the position to offer them free rent of any sort. If I had known all of this before getting Rentguard insurance to cover loss of rent, I never would’ve got it.
Actually, there’s not much out there to help landlords like me. I’m very ill. I had to move out of my own flat because it was on the fourth floor without a lift. I am not able to work because of my illness. This is my sole income. Why should landlords Be forced to give free goods? The only help we have is a mortgage holiday in which we still have to pay the interest. Not all landlords are filthy rich with tons of properties. If I were, I’d be giving my properties to nurses and key workers
Hi. The Govt has just issued a new 21 page Coronavirus Act guide to Landlords and Tenants which might be worth reading if you haven’t already. It does actually say that due to generous benefit offers and an extra monthly payment on top of the current UC rate this is meant to help tenants not get behind on the rent. Perhaps your tenants need to be a bit more proactive in trying to look at other options rather than relying solely on you to bail them out. Even before all this, it’s like having dependent children rather than adult, worldly, intelligent people.
I have never seen my tenants as “dependent children.” And I find that quite offensive & demeaning. They have always been very good tenants except for 1 who was like a spoiled child. They are incredibly responsible young adults and have worked hard to be where they are, and it’s really tough for them in these days of high rents & difficulties getting their foot on the ladder.
Hi Amy, I am sorry for any offence caused.
I too am very ill and have done a lot for our tenants since day one which incidentally I have always been very happy to do, but unfortunately in our case it would appear to be to our detriment. However, I agree that not all are like ours and not all landlords have put in as much effort as myself.
Just for the record our tenants do not have a high rent, not least in part because we have reduced the rent and have never put it up, in order to assist them to get a foot on the ladder. They also live in one of the lowest rent areas in the country so get a lot for their money.
Hi Amy
Thanks for your reply.
I have same case don’t want to evict tenants as they are good people. Lead teanats is self employed and her husband is on zero hrs contract.
Now both loose their income.
In my agreement lead tenant father is a guarantor and currently He is gettng only 80%
Don’t know what can I do??? Rent is already overdue a week
Thanks
K
They need to sign up for benefits. You need to enquire if they have done so . We ALL need to cut down on our spends. So there are 3 potential payers? Try offering a temporary reduction
I agree with Colin, they could sign up for,Universal Credit online anyway, even if they don’t qualify. They have nothing to lose by being assessed. You need to ask them to do so and forward you the proof. Also ask them if they can make any payment right now. They have probably heard that landlords can get ‘mortgage holiday’. Doubt they understand that it’s no ‘holiday’ as interest will continue to
accrue and ultimately will increase your expenses and long term, your ability to keep the rent low.
If their employer can pay them, simply ask for 80% of the rental due until they go back to work, and if you wish to be harsh, for the 20% difference to be repaid at an agreed rate, to be determined at a future date when they are back at work.
If their employer CAN NOT pay them, then that 80% will not be available until the end of April at the earliest, providing they have not lost their job, and then they will get it back-dated to when the employer placed them on ‘furlough’, which may not be when they stopped paying the rent, but later. So be patient, wait until May if no payment can be made, and hope they will give you at least 80% of back-dated rent when they do get paid.
If I recall correctly, the “one week late” that you refer to, which I think is harsh if it were not for insurance or legal reasons, may be a Rent Guard policy condition, to be confirmed, at which point you need to notify Rent Guard and initiate eviction if I recall correctly - I do not have this policy. As Amy8 implied, don’t bother with making a claim, especially as I think you cannot evict during the current crisis, although I note that several commentators have said you can but it is a three month notice period now. I think it is not permitted to evict, but that needs to be confirmed.
Share the burden with your tenants - both you and they need to cut back, and have already done so due to lack of travel, and you both need to cut back even further - don’t expect them to keep paying you the full amount.
Can I just say that some people are putting in for eviction now, so as to make sure they can get rid of a non paying tenant once the 3 months is up though the process will take much longer. You STILL CAN put in the paperwork NOW. You just have to give them 3 months notice or whatever time taking you to the end date of the COVID-19 eviction policy. Rentgaurd isn’t worth Anything. I’ve learned a lot through this. They are a joke. They send you to Arc legal. Look them up. Scam. You will ONLY get your rent if they decide they will win your case. Because they don’t actually want to spend the money dealing with the case of fighting it, they almost always turn them down
I just want to make clear that I want to work with my tenants & have already offered a huge rent holiday for the month of April providing we agree a payment plan. I’ve also required last 3 months pay slips and proof of benefits. It’s been over a month since all this started & they still haven’t sent me documents I’ve required. So it will stand at rent needs paying in full until that agreement is in place. There is a guarantor on the contract so I’m actually covered if they do not pay. You need to show you are willing to help them. It’s up to them to get the evidence & paperwork you request to assess their financial situation & ability to pay now and in the future. There was a really good phone in on radio 4 Money Box Live https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000h1md