Yes, ideally the tenancy agreement should permit the immediate disposal of perishable goods, but the reality is that no court is going to side with the tenant if a landlord throws away items that are becoming a heatth hazard.
Whilst I agree with the sentiment that landlords shouldn’t take unnecessary risks with tenants stuff, a degree of common sense does have to apply.
Thank you all so much for your advice and input … i really really appreciate it so much. It really is a minefield. No one seems to give a definite answer on how long i need to save things left behind by a tenant. … It does all seem ery unfair with such huge losses and extra costs with court costs and bailiff cost … and the whole house still being used as a storage depot for this stuff … By the way - i did contact Landlord Action – but they said that they can not advise on this … you would think that they would give advice on any aspect of Landlord advice ?
You would think that there should be some common sense David
Thanks so much for your reply … much appreciated. Can i ask – so if 28 day period is law … and it has already been 21 days since she left … does this mean that giving a further 7 days is sufficient ? … and why is it all so vague when you try to find information regarding this?
Thank you A_Z for your reply … can you let me know the date of your previous post about this last year? I am interested to see this, but can not find it ? …
Do you have set clauses in your contracts to specify how long a tenant has to collect belongings ? Do you also have a set clause saying that you can trace the tenant … by whatever means is necessary ?
Regarding her new address – it seems that she is living with her mum and so whe will not appear to any tracing agent at this address ? … So if any landlord knows the tenant place of work - why is it not acceptable to contact them or write to them there … if this is the only known address.
I contacted the n r l a for advice .
They guarantee their clause , though it’s fourteen days. When I contacted my solicitor he said his clause may not stand up in court so I followed the legislation. ( TIGA 1977) and Tessa Shepperson’s advice from landlord law.
In hindsight I should have asked my solicitor to guarantee his clause through his insurers, after all I paid for his contract .
David Smith and other housing solicitors are well versed in this.
Landlord action are eviction specialists and it was set up by a non legal person for that purpose.
28 days is from the day she receives your recorded delivery letter.
I gave 28 days plus a week .
Ps she may not sign for the letter . Royal Mail will open the letter and return it back to you if that’s the case .
Instruct a tracing agent ( nationwide tracing ) . Call them and explain your situation.
You may be given more than one address. You will also be given their new phone number and alternative email address that they start to use .
Use all phone numbers emails and addresses to contact the tenant . The tenant may create new emails phone numbers etc serve it to everything .
If she is at her mother’s abode the tracing agent will confirm ( they have access to all her digital data band details credit cards etc) .thats how they give you an accurate abode . Some tenants operate through several abodes at this point . Keep the information as evidence .
You don’t need a clause to trace her . Your data information sheet will contain information that you hold data to conduct business ( this is business ). If you look up abandonment and possessions you will see every legal page tells you to go through extreme measures to contact the tenant ( including social media Facebook etc ) . You need as much evidence as possible that you contacted the tenant by any means possible .
The tenant may block your email phone watts app facebook etc keep evidence of blocking too ( it all stacks up in your favour that they are playing a game ) .
Hence why you are advised to hand deliver the letter too.
It is a lengthy expensive process.
Unless your contract allows you to contact the tenant at work it is not considered service ( a fellow ll told me her rent arrears claim was rejected by the courts as the letter had gone to her work but the contract did not allow for it ).
Contact the tenant guarantor and anyone else whose chattel may be in your property by recorded delivery letter with an inventory of belongings.
Tessa Sheperssons website , landlord law, has a format of the letter as does the n r l a .
Also post it by hand if you think the tenant won’t sign for the letter and video yourself doing it .
Then give 28 days .
You need to see if other persons belongings are at the house . If they are contact them too . Their belongings are worth twice as much if you dispose of them without due process. If the belongings are sentimental values they will be considered an exponential amount by the courts .
Read your contract thoroughly for a clause regarding chattel . Speak to the person who wrote your contract. They are liable if the clause is inadequate.
I now use the n r l a contract and they specify 14 days . However if a judge rules against 14 days ( which has happened ) they said they guarantee their contract .
if you look up abandonment I posted several times over the last few years
Honestly she’s had upteen chances to get rid of her stuff so she clearly isn’t interested so get rid and get the house cleaned.
You can get landlord insurance for the house in advance I don’t know if you have.
Also you can get guaranteed rent insurance for situations like this together with legal costs and prevents you from tenants like this.
Always credit check tenants and if necessary get a guarantor to vouch for them and they took will be responsible for rent if she refuses!
Good luck get the house back to standard and breathe! 
Thanks Mel
It does all seem so crazy doesnt it
I have the house insured obviously … but not with rent guarantee etc. That is a good idea actually tbh
Thanks so much for your message
She would not gie me a forwarding address. I did try one tracing website online … but they could not find anything … i presume many of them take a long time to find people? And if she had only just moved i was told that it can take a while for any address to register for her being there ?
How long do Nationwide tracing take — to trace anyone, if they have only just moved, as no accounts etc will be registered there for a while ?
Also when you gave her this 28 days … did you continue to store all of their things at the property then … as this is hard isnt it with another months rent lost.
And the problem for me is that there is so much stuff … boxes piled really high and every room filled with stuff ! It would take days and days to move it all … and it would cost a fortune to store it all.
So it seems impossible
If ive understood @A_Z 's advice if you give the tenant the 28 days saying you will then dispose, you have done what is legally required and you wont have to store further, after the 28 days.
Sounds like you may have to organize the disposal of all the stuff. Take photos of each room ask some house clearance companies. Obviously youll need to tell them if some contents such as furniture or white goods are yours and need to be left behind
Meanwhile go in and remove anything perishable - you have every right to address health and environmental hazards and stop them getting worse
Just like rent arrears you can try to get back costs through small claims court and then debt collectors but if tenant has few assets and low earnings it may or may not be worth pursuing them
Good luck
The tracing agent I listed I called and told them everything
I paid for the 24 hour service. It was £50plus vat
He kindly gave me all the contact details for other people who’s belongings may be at the address FOC
I kept everything at the house for 28 days plus a week
Then I packed it and stored it . The whole house was infested. It was disgusting . I even had to wash all the dishes and pack them .
I do understand . You have to gauge your situation.
I asked for advice and was told that I should bin it after the 28 days but I want to get my arrears so I didn’t .
You know your tenant better than anyone . I reread all of my emails and realised the T was always difficult but wasn’t overt with behaviour so I let it slide. But it got worse. I realised there was a play when there was more stuff at departure than there was at the point of s21 and the neighbour told me a relative came with a van and dropped off stuff so I didn’t take the risk . You have to guage your situation .
Other tenants I’ve chucked it away but because of what the neighbour told me I packed it and stored it .
You can claim storage etc through the courts if it’s in your contract .
The reality she’s trying to collect her stuff in the eyes of the law . Although she’s playing you . I think you have to do this by the book.
What you see as rubbish the courts may not and it could cost you a fortune. It’s been done by tenants successfully .
Hi Jane,
I am a tenent myself but this is very disrespectful. Before you follow my advise, as I would act like this, ask them if a tenant leaves the tenancy by receiving the Bailiff, if it is legal to clean them. If the answer is yes, take a written confirmation as well. After these actions, whatever goes to the bin, bin it and whatever is possible to be placed outside, so people can take them.
But always consult a legal advise, and then act. I wish your nightmare have a happy ending eventually.
Thank you.
hi A_Z thanks — the huge amount of stuff is my problem here — honestly every room is crammed with stuff !! I did not know you could get so much stuff in to a terraced house!!
Trying to move all of this stuff will take so much money and time !! Its madness. To store it would cost a furtune !
Also as she has only just moved she is just not registered anywhere
Can i really not write to her at work ?
HI Loannis … thanks
You say to ask them if it is legal to clean them ? Do you mean clear ?
Also who do you mean to ask this ?
I also didn’t understand this. I thought the advice was to try to contact using every possible known address
You advised earlier
'[quote=“A_Z, post:67, topic:90409”]
If you look up abandonment and possessions you will see every legal page tells you to go through extreme measures to contact the tenant ( including social media Facebook etc ) . You need as much evidence as possible that you contacted the tenant by any means possible .
[/quote]
So if it’s ok to contact a former tenant on social media to make sure they know they have 28 days and then their stuff will be disposed of, why wouldnt it be ok to contact them by writing to them or telephoning at their workplace, exactly ?
Best
If you want to write to her at work I suggest you take legal advice .
If you send a recorded delivery letter to work who signs for it ? is it a large institution . They can claim they never received it . At home that is less likely . You may also be accused of harassment .
Why don’t you call the n r l and and ask for advice or post on Tessa’s forum .
The law is you give them 28 days to collect their belongings not to sort through them . You need to speak to counsel to see how to get around her agenda .
If this was me I’d pack everything into bags and boxes dispose of rubbish ( plastic bottles etc ) not their belongings and have it in the lawn for her to collect or stacked by the front door so she can’t get in .
I would not let her back into the property .
Hi Jane,
Yes, if you will clear them you will clean them but keep it as remove. And ask a lawyer, that what legal advice is more likely stands for. Also, ask OpenRent if they are willing to assist you on this matter.
Keep in mind on thing. The English law is generic and liquid, also people are trying to abuse it as much as possible to be benefited the most efficient way for them, very important to keep it in mind and at all times. So, by removing personal belongings from someones property without his/her concest is an ofence. This is the ground your previous tenent can use, nothing more. The Bailiff only delivers the eviction notice, is just the messanger. The moment the delivery is completed the law says: “OK, we have done our job”, and the landlord is in vein, if the situstion is like yours.
Also you said that you have try to contact at work. NO, this is a huge no not just a no. The reason behinde, is that you are abusing her. You will say now, “what should I do”? And the answer is, work fast and smart, NOT SLY. If OpenRent cannot help you, go to a lawyer and pay £50 -£70, show the pictures you have attached here, the eviction notice, and the pictures of the property before you rent it. Now back to contacting her. Send at least 3 emails, if there is no email address you should send sms.
You should also aware, that there are records of situations like yours where tenants change their phone numbers to avoid the landlords. This is a pocker move, if the tenant inform the landlord, previous or current, and you don’t contact this number you are in adverse position, but if this is the only contact number you possess, then this is in your favour. So, three email / sms and they all should say which attempt is. That means the final attempt should say final notice after eviction, and all notices should have the suffix after eviction notice xxxxxx, all evictions/orders have a number. The communication indicates that you are NOT willing to act inhumanly despite the tenants behaviour.
Now, in relation to what A_Z is describing; I will oppose to neighbours, stories etc. The landlord is always alone, like the tenents. The agreement should be clear and not foggy, and the character is always a character, but the behaviour is related in accordance to the environment. So, I am sorry A_Z but this is businness, no room for emotions. To pack and claim money. No, is an unstable situation and a capital lose. The eviction notice is ordering the tenant to leave the premises, also the personal belongins have to be removed with the tenent, if this is the wording of the eviction then the actions are clean and clear. If not, the landlord should have the right to remove them as per eviction’s requirements. And this is the foggy part of the eviction, as if a tenant leave the premises and come back after 10 days to two months to collect its personal belongings you must have them, but it doesn’t clarifies what is happening if personal belongings abandoned in the premises.
The ground to remove this mess is the propery abuse/misuse, but not very accureate by law. The law can call it goods left in situ by the former tenant following execution of the possession warrant — landlord now in possession as involuntary bailee. Okay. I do know that the law became a bit stricter for the landlords, but there is a ground behinde it for all those years. So, from the moment she has received the Bailiff this is the first move, the second is the contact, and the third a lawyer’s advise. If you think, that still is not feasible for you to understand what I am saying, just print this message of mine and give it to the lawyer/legal adviser. He/She will understand immediately to what I am refering to.
And the law hands her the TIGA 1977 exit ramp: notice, deadline, then lawful disposal — after which the tenant’s rights are extinguished. A few weeks of minor inconvenience, then freedom with zero liability.
I hope this will help you the most possible and efficient way. Good Luck!
The tenants belongings are protected by civil law. . You can’t just dispose of belongings .
Following Torts is not emotion it is business.
Emails are not part of Torts and you do need to deliver letters to her new address. If she blocks all digital communication or alleges she didn’t get emails or texts you won’t have a leg to stand on.
Digital communication should be done in addition to letters
If what the neighbours allege is substantiated ( I had photographs to support the neighbours allegation ) then it is fact not emotion . In my case it made me realise the tenant was playing a game .
Emails are not following Torts and what lawyer advised for £50 -£70?
thanks for this — Open Rent say they can not advise ! … They recommend Landlord Action but they say they can not advise. An online tracing agent says she is not registered as living anywhere at all … so i still have no address.
So it is impossible to send her letters ! – So work is the only address that i have.
I had thought that as a landlord with such huge losses ------ you are allowed to trace the T in any way that you can ? In order to be able to write to contact them / make a claim