Risks to novice landlords revealed

Risks to novice landlords revealed

9:11 AM, 11th May 2016, About 8 years ago 1

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Paul Shamplina

Paul Shamplina, Founder of Landlord Action, is due to appear in three separate stories in this week’s episode (Wednesday 11th May, Ep10) of ‘Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlord’ on Channel Five. The landlords in all three cases have little or no experience of the buy-to-let industry and this week the show shines the spotlight on just how severe the consequences can be.

Novice landlord, Dhiren Makhecha, bought a flat in South London at auction as a ‘pension pot’ investment. Since there was already a tenant in situ, he thought it would be the perfect option and a simple transition.  Unfortunately the tenant stopped paying rent, and although initially sympathetic to her situation, after 10 months with no payment at all, Dhiren was out of pocket and desperate for help.

In Kent, a retired builder bought a house for himself and his children following a split from his wife, but it never really felt like home, so he decided to rent it out.  However, after a health scare with his heart, the landlord wanted to sell the property and move on with his life. The only problem is that his tenants do not want to move and have also stopped paying the rent.

The final story sees a landlord, who inherited a property and subsequently rented it out, in battle with her tenants who are trying to sue her for tens of thousands of pounds.  With £6000 of arrears, the tenants appeared to have absconded.  Despite several attempts, the landlord was unable to make contact and proceeded to change the locks.  Weeks later, the tenants return and want to sue the landlord for unfair eviction.

With the cost of each of the cases mounting, Landlord Action is brought in to help all three landlords regain possession of their properties.

‘Nightmare Tenants Slum Landlords’ will air at the new later time of 10pm on Wednesday 11th May on Channel 5.

Contact Landlord Action

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


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Comments

Mandy Thomson

13:41 PM, 12th May 2016, About 8 years ago

Very few people try to do their conveyancing when buying or selling property - the main reason being the risk and lack of knowledge of the relevant legislation and procedures.

Why then, do so many people regard letting to tenants as just another investment, or something they just get on with when they can find the time within the rest of their busy lives?

Letting property to tenants is not like investing a relatively small sum you can afford to lose in stocks or shares or some other investment vehicle - it is something that requires extensive knowledge of legislation AND knowing how to pick the right tenants (more to this than someone who seems nice and passes a credit check) and managing the tenancy once the tenants are in place - which again, requires knowledge of the relevant legislation, among other things.

You'd get a solicitor if you were buying or selling, so likewise, get a letting agent who belongs to a recognised industry body like ARLA or UKALA when you let - unless you have prior experience and know your way around the legislation.

I'm an NLA accredited landlord with more than 5 years experience - I have a good knowledge of the legislation and what needs to be done to thoroughly reference a tenant, but "selling" is an entirely different discipline. Over the last 2 1/2 weeks I've being trying to find my own tenant, ending up pitching the property at the wrong demographic, and having many abortive offers (at least a couple from tenants who turned out to be high risk when I looked more closely into their backgrounds). I'm now about to engage a very good firm of local agents, and might have saved money if I'd done so sooner!

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