Landlords Revenge

Landlords Revenge

11:30 AM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago 41

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A landlord who came out and told BBC’s The One Show of her troublesome tenant has now had further problems. 

Broadcast on 2nd May, the landlord Mrs Trivedy was featured on the show in an item about rent-arrears and the difficulties landlords are having with tenants on benefit who are not passing on the rent.

Mrs Trivedy was shown getting the help of Landlord Action when her social tenants stopped passing on their housing benefit yet refused to vacate the property, leaving her £4400 in rental arrears. After the case was broadcast on the BBC, the tenants moved on which may have been a good result.

But the tenants left with much of the landlord’s furniture. And they have wrecked the home. Mrs Trivedy says “Wear and tear in a rental property is inevitable but what I was faced with, even given the tenants previous behaviour, was completely unnecessary. Not only is there damage to every room, they have stolen two sofas, a wardrobe, a chest of draws, a fridge-freezer, curtain poles as well as numerous smaller items. What remains was a complete mess and totally unliveable.”

The Condition of Schedule following the tenants’ departure describes the property as in poor condition with damage, missing items and a lack of cleanliness reported in every room, in addition to the garden being littered with dog mess.  Mrs Trivedy says she has made a statement to the police in regards to the missing items but was advised that it was unlikely to be taken much further as there are varying degrees of theft and it is her word against the tenants.

Mrs Trivedy says “I am obviously thrilled to have regained possession following the notice served by Landlord Action which has avoided further rent arrears and additional court fees, but I still face being thousands of pounds out of pocket.  I will have to make-over the entire property and replace furniture in order to let it again. I think the tenants should be made to pay.”

Paul Shamplina, Founder of Landlord Action says this is not an uncommon scenario. Tenants can feel aggrieved after being asked to leave. But he adds, “In this case it seems the TV exposure may have made these people more upset”. Even though the house in Bracknell was shown on screen, the tenant was interviewed and the landlord is very shocked at their behaviour.

Shamplina also advised that in these cases landlords have to be careful not to throw good money after bad. The potential outcome of further action has to be weighed up against the costs and time involved. Firstly, is it possible to track down the tenants to recover the rent arrears and if so what is their financial position? Secondly, when you regain possession, what state is the property in and how much will it cost to put right? An inventory is paramount to proving this.”

Landlord Action has a busy rent recovery department for landlords who will act on behalf of Sandra Trivedy in helping her locate her ex tenants for a fixed fee. However Mr Shamplina says “in a case such as this, we must take a view as to whether the landlord really wants to spend money and enforce a money judgement if the tenants do not have a job or any assets. Obtaining a CCJ and trying to get a court order for monthly payments off such tenants is likely to take years to clear. Many landlords wish to do so out of principle but we advise landlords to weigh up their options before going down this route.”

Contact Landlord Action

Specialists in tenant eviction and debt collection. Regulated by The Law Society.

Landlords Revenge


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Comments

16:00 PM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago

I had a similar case to this and was left considerable damage to property and furniture, plus the arrears, leaving me thousands out of pocket. The council in this advised the tenant not to leave otherwise they would be making themselves intentionally homeless, and the CCJ is worthless as these people have intention of ever paying the judgement, which runs out anyway in six or seven years. We hear a lot about rogue landlords, but the law in definitely on the side of the bad tenant. About time it was changed but don't hold your breath.

Industry Observer

17:01 PM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago

Landlord's word against the tenant?

What Plod think the LL may have stolen her own stuff in an attempt to fit up her tenants do they?

Heaven help us

Andrew Taylor

17:03 PM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago

If they were LHA why did she not go for direct payment once they were 2 months contractually behind?

I've been through a section 8 eviction this year, I like to think they call it a section 8 as it takes 8 months to go through it!

Puzzler

17:04 PM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago

I have always been advised to let unfurnished. Second hand furniture has no commercial value so if she really wants to replace the furniture she could use local project or charity shops. For clearance there are firms that clear and clean at reasonable rates if she is unable to do it herself.

I suspect she will not get her money even if she is successful in court. Put it down to experience and move on.

Andrew Taylor

17:15 PM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago

Just read this...

http://www.landlordaction.co.uk/site.php/blog/landlord_issue_gets_bbc1_attention

reading between the lines, this seems a disaster of a tenancy waiting to happen.

AnthonyJames

17:49 PM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago

Poor woman: I've had the same experience. The English system for recovering bad debts is utterly hopeless. Even if one does get a CCJ against a former tenant, it is extremely difficult actually to retrieve any money, and debtors have all sorts of ways of running rings round the courts.

In my case, the tenant - who is putting two children through private school and his accountant declared he was earning £80K a year - has never paid me a penny because he is self-employed. You can't do an attachment of earnings order when someone is self-employed, it is nigh-on impossible to identify his assets as he appears to have none and always rents, and there is no mechanism for the debt to be added, say, to his HMRC tax code. I would willingly pay 25% of the money I'm owed to HM Government if they offered me a viable mechanism for debt retrieval - after HMRC themselves are paid, of course!

When I threatened this ex-tenant with bankruptcy proceedings, he basically said go ahead - I will be doing him a favour as he will be clear of all his other debts in a year, and it won't stop him earning a living.

andrew townshend

17:58 PM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago

complete waste of time reporting to police, todays police not fit for purpose, only interested in their monthly pay cheque & fat pension, best just to get in there, clear up ,repaint & let unfurnished next time, most tenants are good people, you were just unlucky , it happens sometimes.

18:03 PM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago

And such is the outcome of a welfare state that supports dole scroungers that are bone idle and expect! other people to support them
Do politicians actually care about anybody other than themselves!!!!!!! NO

Siobhan Southern

18:04 PM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago

I had a similar experience and I wonder, could landlords set up a type of database where rogue tenants are listed and this information be shared? Surely this would be an incentive to some tenants to be honest, allowing them to move freely from one rental property to another, confident that they have a clean record. What is wrong with landlords supporting each other and sharing valuable information like this. After all, letting agents know who to avoid when choosing tenants - it's not illegal is it?

Anon

18:28 PM, 3rd July 2013, About 11 years ago

Let's be honest these type of people (tenants) are just rubbish. Debatable whether or not they can even be called human. To make matters worse the law is totally on their side and against the landlord, from biased deposit protection laws through to universal credits and everything in between. There is a simple truth here which is this: people are feeling the pinch financially but they can't, for example, hope to leave the supermarket with their groceries without paying. They can't not pay their gas and electricity bills, not for very long anyway because the utility company in question will simply fit prepayment meters if necessary. So guess who is at the top of the list for not getting paid??? Yes, the landlord. And these people (the tenants) know it takes us months to get rid of them. One final point: does everyone know about the law passed a few months ago which entitles the water supply companies to claim from the landlord water bills left unpaid by the tenant? (someone has obviously been lobbying hard in Parliament) Can you imagine that when this becomes common knowledge which it undoubtably, will how many tenants will pay their water bill? That's right none. Thank god it is only a recent law and not retrospective as i had a tenant just leave a property after five years, no rent arrears, property well maitained, great landlord tenant relatiionship, so all good. Yes, except that on opening the post after he left i discovered he had a water bill outstanding for £4500. Yes you read it right £4500. He had never paid a water bill in all the time he had been there. If that had happened now i would be liable. If that happened at every property i own i guess that alone could near bankrupt me. 24 properties x 4500 = 108,000. Frightening. I have seen it all this past 15 years in this business. Rotten business and rotten people. In case that sounds naive my background was 20 years motortrade, 10 with my own dealership and 5 years with my own Upvc window company, both very successful. What an eye opener.

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