Open rent and I was trying to contact tenants regarding late rent, after a week later I received a WhatsApp message from tenant that he will like to end the tenancy and already moved out.
After that I tried to contact tenant but he is not reposing to my emails or calls
My question is, based on his WhatsApp message , can I enter the house or should I wait for tenant to reply and hand over the keys and If so how long ?
Contract was started in mid of September so it’s only been 3 months and he ended the contract after December rent was due without prior notice and stop responding. We are using reposit for rent deposit and did not ask for guarantor .
Not sure what should I do next. Any help or advice will be helpful.
There are clauses about late rent and early termination in a standard OpenRent contract. It is very unlikely that your contract would allow an early termination with such short notice & within 3 months into the contract, so there is a breach of contract if they terminate it early from their side.
I can’t remember exactly what is the contractual/ legal late rent period (in the range of 7-14 days) that you need to wait to confirm that the tenant is breaching the contract and therefore you can pursue further action such as eviction (which is irrelevant to you now) or taking away the deposit etc.
There is also a legal/ contractual requirement about giving enough (e.g. 24 hour) notice to the tenant about property visits. So if you have given enough time and delivered your message (have you got their “blue tick” on your whatsapp?), you should be able to visit anyway?
Taking a step back, do you know why are they moving out early? Are they citing any reason of breach of contract from your side?
I have sent an WhatsApp to ask if the house is empty but I think tenant blocked me as message is not been delivered however I have sent an email and given them 42 hours notice to reply back to me and hand over the keys.
Post a notice of inspection through the door giving 24 hrs notice. The following day let yourself in with your own keys and record what you find. Photographs and notes. You are looking for evidence that the tenant has abandoned the property. Watch the video below before you go.
There is no completely risk free way of taking back possession in this circumstance becsuse in theory the tenant could try to claim that you illegally evicted them. However, you have their text message and if there is good evidence that theyre not living there, then I would probably take the risk in your shoes and email the tenant again at that point to say Ive taken the property back and believe their tenancy has now ended. If this is not their intention then they should contact me within 48 hours. After that if there is still no contact I would re-let.
The maximum deposit for an AST is 5 weeks rent. I don’t understand how you were able to charge 8 weeks without the Deposit Protection Scheme not flagging it up.
