Nightmare tenant - compensation claims

I have a clause that I have to be in attendance when washers are installed. I actually install them myself for free, if its not part of the deal with the supplier.

On the contrary you should look into whether they are in breach of the TA by not taking proper care

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If you get any tradesmen in to make repairs make sure they state the reason for the repair on their invoice especially if it is due to
Tenant misuse. Example would be blocked dishwasher filter etc
Tenant is liable for this invoice.

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hi Tony

before serving a section 21 please be aware of the process in what you need to have in place and what to provide with the notice.
regards

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We are in a similar situation to you Tony. We rented our house out to what seemed like the perfect family. They pay their rent on time but we have had to repair far more than you’d think could reasonably go wrong in a property. It was at the point that something needed fixing every month and it was almost as if they resented the fact they were paying us rent so were going to make darn sure it cost us money. In total I think we’ve spent around £6k on repairs since they moved in.

Thankfully they do seem to have settled a bit so there is hope and they do pay their rent on time so we are ok with them at the moment.

We have talked about serving a s.21 while we still can but I’m paranoid that they will then stop paying the rent and prove difficult to get them out so for the time being we haven’t done anything.

Good Luck, hope all goes well :neutral_face:

Can I offer a controversial view, just for contemplation?

When a property is put together at the beginning and everything is new (assuming this was the situation) a tenant or two down the line and things are getting older there can sometimes be clusters of things that go wrong as things age.

It may be everything was new for them, but perhaps this is just an unfortunately timed cluster of events as part of the natural aging of appliances? Had it been a longer term tenant and you’d know each other for longer it might have been differently attributed by both parties?

Depending on how young they are and their previous experience they may not have noticed how much their parents fixed things and maintained things. Perhaps there is a conversation to be had about reasonable expectations, whether they stay with you or not. It might also be that literally nothing else happens, you’ve had your flurry of bad luck and it’s all fine now. I hope that’s the case!

yes i understand where you coming from but I know they have lied about a few things already. Thanks

Do you have proof they are breaking things from the repairs done to the boiler etc.

If this were me I would serve a s21. Tenants can have breakages but the fact it comes with demands of compensation and unnecessary harassment is a major red flag. Get it in now before the RRB comes in and you are stuck. This kind of behaviour is difficult to define under the new legislation and it is the behaviour that most landlords have served a s21 for before it is too late.
There is no ground for emotional strain under the new act and all eviction grounds will need to be evidenced.
I am in a similar situation. I know that some of the issues are being created just by the nature of the damage and the contradictory emails. I received the same kind of intimidation but actually responded to it firmly telling them they contradicted themselves in three consecutive emails. They then backtracked and gaslit me into believing that I had misread the emails. I went back and read the emails carefully and realised I was being manipulated. They even managed to blame me for their shortcomings. I don’t engage in unnecessary conversation with them and everything has an email trace.
The damage, subsequent to the first, are tenant created ( drain blockage etc) but I have clauses that protect me so I have saved myself time and money.

I am in two minds as whether to serve a s21 or not as I do have clauses to protect against the cost of tenant negligence this but am still undecided. If I had a s21 I would wait it out but the deadline is impending.

Moral of the story never trust the reference or a person with charisma ( cluster B)

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