Tenant not handing back keys in HMO?

Tenant not handing back keys in HMO?

11:26 AM, 2nd February 2017, About 7 years ago 14

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I have recently taken a tenant to court 26 Jan 2016, for non payment of rent, and we won, and he has 14 days to move out. He texted me on Fri 27 Jan, to say he had moved out that day and just left some bedding and food that he would collect the following day and he would leave the keys.keys

He has not done either. I have sent him a nice reminder, but got no response.

This is a room in a house i.e. an HMO,with 2 other tenants.

Can I give him 7 days notice to collect belongings and then change main door lock. I am happy to bag his bedding and keep it for him..

There is no deposit as we fell foul of the prescribed information, so he has had that back before we took him to court.

I know this is a bit of a grey area, But we have already spent a lot to get him out and can’t really afford to throw more good money after bad!

Is there a period of time that lapses that after the locks have been changed and no access from him it would automatically be surrendered.

Please advise
Thank you

Felix


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Comments

Jamie M

9:50 AM, 4th February 2017, About 7 years ago

Just to be clear? Tom (you sound like a shelter operative)

Read the whole article, follow the context, note "the new key" to missing tenant etc

It's not difficult

Or are you a bitter troublemaker?

How many times have you had to deal with your own tenants owing thousands, playing games, disappearing, thieving, vandalising, growing drugs, dealing with courts that ignore the landlord their predicament and favour the feckless, and the many organisations like shelter who haven't a clue how much damage they do to the PRS as they sit there getting their pay with no skin in the game and no financial imperative. The list is a way lot longer than this. and you haven't had to deal with this once is my guess

All the very best in your reading and comprehension lessons.

Thom Hill

10:50 AM, 4th February 2017, About 7 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Jamie Moodie" at "04/02/2017 - 09:50":

You told him to change the locks prior to the expiry of the court order and then just make up a scenario which could have been true and which people might believe and tell him that's what happened. #alternativefacts

If you feel that course of action is justified because the system is hard to you and you think that you should have more rights than you actually do, then that's fine. Felix is presumably interested in what his legal rights are, for which I can't improve on Ian's comment.

Robert M

10:51 AM, 4th February 2017, About 7 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Jamie Moodie" at "04/02/2017 - 09:50":

Hi Jamie

I think you are being unfair on Thom, and I don't think this should drift into personal abuse. I can easily see that the way your comments read, it does (perhaps mistakenly) come across as you wanting to unlawfully evict the tenant, but I also accept your point about offering the tenant a new key. Personally, I would wait until after the possession date set by the court, but in a HMO you can change the locks whenever you wish, so long as you give the residents a new key, because that is not an "eviction", that is simply a lock change. You don't need to give any excuse or lie about someone breaking the key off in the lock, you are ENTITLED to change the locks on your property with or without any objective reason, so long as you give the residents a key to the new lock.

Regardless of how experienced Thom may or may not be, I am an experienced landlord, and I have dealt with tenants owing me thousands, playing games, disappearing, thieving, vandalising, growing drugs, and I have dealt with courts that ignore the landlord's predicament and favour the lying cheating feckless tenant. - This of course is not all tenants, but I've certainly had plenty of them who are like this, so I have every sympathy with landlords facing this situation.

Jamie M

13:36 PM, 4th February 2017, About 7 years ago

yawn

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