A tenant of four years found and contracted via openrent with a guarantor, has now moved out without formal notice and won’t answer calls or return messages.
They fell behind with rent so there are significant arrears owed.
We have just been round there today having given a 24 inspection notice over the weekend, after discovering on Saturday that they moved out two weeks ago when we went to deliver a section 8 notice.
We want to recover as much as we can, we know where they have moved on to as an address has previously been discussed and their car is outside the address.
The relationship was very good up until recently, so being left ££££ down hurts, especially as we had a new boiler installed very swiftly for them a few months ago when it failed and always provided everything they wanted to maintain the house.
This is our first time in this situation so would like advice on how to play things so they can’t wriggle out of the debt if possible.
So in summary, they have given notice, haven’t returned keys, have left the place with repairs required, owe rent and will not respond. What is the best course of action here to avoid ending up with nothing.
Do we notify openrent immediately, or even open a case with them? Is small claims the best route? We are conscious about taking the wrong action and it negatively impacting the possibility of recovering funds.
You have written they did not give notice in your first paragraph
Towards then end in your summary you wrote they have given formal notice ?
Could you clarify please?
Firstly you need to establish if the tenancy is abandoned.
At the moment it’s not
Just write to them politely asking them to confirm if they have departed whilst letting them know that they are liable for all bills whilst the contract is open including council tax
That usually gets you a seat at the table .
Then if they confirm their departure ask them to return keys
Your biggest problem is that until you are confident that the tenancy has ended you cant re-take possession to carry out repairs or re-let. If the tenant reponds confirming theyve left or is willing to sign a surrender, then fine, but otherwise you have to see whether there is enough evidence that the tenant has abandoned the property and the tenancy ended by “operation of law”. Google ‘David Smith property abandonment video’ to see the housing lawyer give you clues on the way forward.
I feel it is illegal for you to open the door and get in, it has to be done legally with police involved, or you will be faced with a crime for trespassing, it can bounce back. thats what i would have done. Please take legal advice.
were you renewing the contract every year? because there is a clause in the open rent cotract that says after the initial term, it then goes on a monthly basis, with a months notice.
Now that you have the keys, that is effectively their notice.
If the tenancy agreement has rolled over onto a monthly periodic tenancy all Council Tax liability is now with you.
I was caught out with trying to do the right thing for my previous tenant and I was landed with all of the Council Tax liability. I have just been to tribunal and lost, so I now have to pay back the council the debt owing due to my tenant not handing in their notice properly. I’ve lost a lot of money and learned a lot in the process!
The fact you now have keys is a good thing. It helps you establish abandonment.
Take photographs of such.
Speak to your solicitor or the landlord association and get their advice if they agree or do they require anything else .
The local authority usually have a tenant liaison officer. They, or the police, can confirm abandonment . So speak to them.
The Tenant liaison officer can speak to the tenant to confirm abandonment directly . They essentially act as a mediator in such situations .
If it goes to court having income d a government body carries a lot more gravitas for you.
My solicitor advises to tape the door ( with a caveat ) for three weeks to see if caveat is disturbed as evidence of return.
Document it in an email, with photos of keys, to the tenants that the keys have been received and that is the day you consider abandonment.
What does your contract say regarding chattel ?
Do not dispose of them for the specified period and email the tenant offering them the opportunity to collect.
You could actually bag it all up and drop it off where they live. That way you cannot be accused of disposing of a sentimental sock worth thousands of pounds !
If you know where they live you can determine the landlord and see if you can determine their new tenancy start date. Keep a record of this too.
You stated at the start that they had a guarantor as farvas i am aware a guarantor is a guarantor for the life of the tennancy so surely if there are monie due the guarantor would be liable for them
That’s a very good point .
Speak to the guarantor and ask for confirmation of abandonment explaining that they are liable for the contract whilst there is ambiguity.
I have edited my previous post to include getting the tenant liaison officer to speak to the tenant directly and returning chattel to tenant .
We called the council tax office, they have received no notice of end of tenancy but we suspect that this is an effort to continue to receive housing benefit, which has not been passed on for months.
The tenant may not know how to shut accounts down , a lot have no idea.
I would write to the tenant to ask them to confirm in writing they have abandoned the property ( and use that word) so you can shut accounts down for them and not put the tenant and guarantor under unnecessary financial burden .
I have done that before .
If no luck …
Email the guarantor and contact the Tenant liaison officer at your local authority.
Both can act as a mediator to shut your contract down .
The guarantor is financially invested and will want their liability to cease.
Alternatively you can write to the tenant to thank them for the keys and accept this as abandonment and you are closing the council tax down and providing their new forwarding address to the local authority.
You could write to DWP and let them know you received the keys to the tenant has departed from your address.
Make sure your contract permits sharing data with third parties though.