A tenant has placed a holding deposit on our property, and signed the contract. She has since ‘ghosted’ us. The deposit and first months rent have not been paid, and she didn’t turn up to collect her keys. She’s not replying to messages or phone calls. We’ve held the property for her for several weeks, so I don’t really want to surrender the tenancy and lose the holding deposit. But equally I can’t wait for two months to serve an eviction notice.
What do I do?! Can I just put it back on the market?
she has not turned up for several weeks? I would not even have waited for several days. Sounds as if she has moved on, and is not bothered.
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Write to her politely
Explain she’s liable for council tax and all utilities under a signed contract and will be accruing debt
If she could inform you of her status so you may cancel these accounts accordingly
Don’t mention anything else
That usually gets a response
Also did you sign the contract or just the tenant
If she doesn’t have your signature she doesn’t have a contract
It may be nothing but you don’t want her to accuse you of eviction if it’s entrapment
For your future reference take a signed contract but don’t sign it till the day the contract starts so you are not left in an ambiguous situation
If shes only placed a holding deposit then she doesnt have a contract with you. Even if she has signed a contract, she doesnt yet have a tenancy. There is no need for eviction. You should be able to keep the holding deposit, but if youve done all this through Openrent, you should ask them what their process is for moving on from a no-show.
This is one reason why I a) only get them to sign the contract at check in and b) keep the property on the market until check in.
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