Vile tenants ganging up on me, please HELP!

Vile tenants ganging up on me, please HELP!

11:39 AM, 18th May 2015, About 9 years ago 46

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Long story cut short … the last tenant (A) to move out of one of our small portfolio of 5 houses failed to pay her rent for the last month, left some minor damage etc etc and so this weekend we claimed the full amount of her deposit back from the DPS. Vile tenants ganging up on me, please HELP

Her response was to send me a batch of obscene texts and Messenger messages and then, worse to post a vile message across local social media – naming me as a thieving landlord who doesn’t arrange repairs, leaves the property unsafe etc etc – and describing our property (which she lauded on the same social media sites when she moved in as being ‘lush’) as a dangerous s**t hole.

She (tenant A) is blaming all kinds of supposed damage to her property, accidents she apparently sustained and her daughter’s ill health on the house – well, you get the picture of the weekend we (well me really, as this was all aimed at me personally) have endured.

By yesterday evening she (tenant A) had made contact through Facebook with the last tenant (tenant B) before her – who left the house in a disgusting condition btw and also forfeited the majority of her deposit, and believes she (tenant A) has ‘confirmed’ with her (tenant B) that the repairs that she (tenant A) is now claiming weren’t done were left over from then – which is an easily demonstrable lie as we have receipts and communications from both of them detailing what issues had ever been reported to us, and when each was dealt with.

I suppose apart from the vile personal attack the main thrust of tenant A’s argument is that a ‘roof leak’ was not dealt with. There WAS a leak through the roof that damaged the upstairs landing ceiling in the house in 2013, so a year before tenant A moved in. That leak was eventually located and traced to the neighbour’s chimney and fixed. The neighbour in question paid for 50% of the repair.

Tenant A caused a leak in the bathroom which damaged the kitchen ceiling (which has now been repaired and we didn’t charge her for that) and they are both now screaming all over social media that the 2 unrelated leaks are the same and were not dealt with.

She (tenant A) also seemingly now believes that the first month rent she paid us (in advance) entitled her to assume that would not need to pay for the last month she was living in the house – enabling her to allege (on social media, so the world and his wife have suddenly become legal experts advising her how best to ‘bring me down’) that I have stolen her first month’s rent money that she paid ‘up front’ (and which she is now saying I told her would be lodged with the DPS with her deposit – obviously untrue.)

Our Tenancy Agreement clearly states that rent is due each month in advance. She (tenant A) was given a receipt for the initial cash payment she made (deposit + first month’s rent) and her other rent payments have gone straight into our bank.

To make matters even worse (if that is possible) our next prospective tenants (tenant C) who were due to move in early in June, have seen all the nastiness emblazoned across Facebook and have decided they don’t now want to live in our house for fear of this last nasty piece of work (tenant A) taking repercussions against us by damaging the property – and so they have withdrawn and they have requested their deposit back (which I have just repaid)

My question is this: what do we do next??

All constructive feedback with me much appreciated.

Thanks

Denise


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Comments

Mark Alexander - Founder of Property118

8:21 AM, 19th May 2015, About 9 years ago

It is probably fair to say that the people who cop for the worlds most aggressive hate campaigns are David Cameron and Barrack Obama. They live with the constant real threat of some idiot wanting to assassinate them!

Nevertheless, they were elected by a majority to govern their countries which tells me that you can't please all the people all the time and if nobody is talking about you at all then you must be a nobody. Even God himself has more than his fair share of critics.

Moral of the story is this, ignore them to a point but if their threats go beyond a certain level to what Cameron and Obama would do. Hire professionals to sort them out. I'm not talking about special ops teams, that would be a step to far for a tenant, but a decent lawyer should sort it. From what Denise has said though, I suspect her enemies are relishing in the attention and more of it will just fuel their heated passion for hatred. Again, do what Cameron and Obama would do, ignore it and stop fanning the flames. Least said, soonest mended.

If you need to defend in Court, that's when you go on the attack as a counter-puncher, not before.
.

9:26 AM, 19th May 2015, About 9 years ago

Thanks everyone. I’m feeling a bit better today and am confidently expecting to bounce back to my old (OLD) jolly self anytime soon now.

All ex tenants are now un-friended, and/or blocked or have blocked me (I actually think Tenant C has just removed herself from the whole thing and blocked everyone because she didn't want to get involved).
I have not communicated with anyone or made any comments or replied in any way to any posts or personal attacks on Facebook - although it is quite hard to stay quiet when what is being written about me is SO vile, unfair and untrue - however that is the position I will maintain i.e. I will contribute nothing to their FB 'discussions' and know that we are in the right.

My partner, who seems to have so far escaped their vitriol, has communicated with Tenant A in an amicable way to explain why we believe she owes what she owes - and so far although stating on FB that she has started the process to challenge our claim, the deposit status is still recorded on the DPS website as ‘awaiting tenant response’

FB e-mailed me this morning to say that the last remaining post and comments/responses that I can see (and of course there may be others I don’t know about) has been reviewed by them and ‘since it violated their Community Standards, they have removed it. They have let Tenant A know that her post has been removed, but not who reported it.

I only wish I knew Mick how to block her on Messenger – I’ll have to ask my daughter and then get that done too.

We are prepared to do as Mark A advises and get professional help should the need arise and are already I believe doing as he further advises and not fanning any flames (apart from having her post removed by FB which I suppose may reignite her fury and start her off again – but we felt it had to be done.)

With regard to finding Tenant D – we are sleeping on that one, as we are thinking now that now, as we retire could in fact be the right time for us to start to downsize our portfolio, and so we have initiated the valuation process. That should help us decide do we want to sell this one now rather than in a year or so – because, despite it being so recently described as a s**thole, it is in fact a nice little property in a good location. It’s in the best condition it’s been in since we bought it in 2007, and would in our opinion be a perfect home for a first time buyer.

We came to that decision of course before even reading Mick’s assertion that many people say that Landlording really is a young man’s game! 

9:53 AM, 19th May 2015, About 9 years ago

Generally sound advice from all the contributors on this one IMHO.

If you really don't want the hassle employ an agent - we accept this sort of thing as part and parcel of the job.

Caroline Read

13:27 PM, 19th May 2015, About 9 years ago

Oh Denise,
Facebook comments like these can strike right into the heart of you. I have 2 businesses that are very customer focused and Facebook can work very well for us bringing new customers and spreading the word about offers and services but unfortunately Facebook gives a voice to the cruel, the weird and just plain spiteful.
Make a promise to yourself to..
1. Decide if FB is for your social life or your business (i.e property)
2. Take 1 week away from FB if its only for your social like, a little distance from the whole thing will let you see its all a bit Eastenders!
3. Remember, people hardly ever blame themselves for their own short comings.
There are lots of tenants waiting for a great landlord like you that can prove they do repairs to their property's and protect the tenants deposits.
Block them from your FB page, and block their texts too. Hold you head high, you are a property professional, and move onto the next loony tenant knowing you have weathered the worst kind
Caroline 🙂 🙂

Luke P

14:41 PM, 19th May 2015, About 9 years ago

I have this on a regular basis. My name is mud across social media and whilst you could pursue a libel claim, you probably don't know the person giving out the abuse's address and they're also likely to have nothing in the event you successfully sue them.

Locally we have a Scumbag Landlords Facebook group and even when one of our tenants defends us (all off their own back and not coerced by me), the admins delete the 'positive' comments.

We have contemplated setting up a Scumbag Tenants group and posting embarrassing photos of how tenants leave houses. They'd be absolutely up in arms if we did the same back and no doubt someone (Police, council, Trading Standards, CAB, Social Services) would come to their defence and order it be taken down.

14:52 PM, 19th May 2015, About 9 years ago

Oh Luke - if only I could share the picture on there (or here) of the maggot infested dead rat Tenant B left squashed under the filthy, grimy clogged up and busted washing machine on the filthiest, food littered floor I have EVER seen in my life, in the scummy mess that had been our lovely fitted kitchen (and, of course was again, before tenant A moved in).

And tenant B wanted me to sell that machine to Tenant A for £25!

Tenant B is now of course Tenant A's new BF!

Luke P

15:05 PM, 19th May 2015, About 9 years ago

I'd be more than happy to start a group...bit tit-for-tat, but should a Scumbag Tenants group gather interest from outside, it might also help to highlight their libellous group. My would only contain truth and fact.

All a bit daft though and I have no problems re-letting so just let it wash over. It is annoying when they tell a blatant lie.

Once, I had a tenant who reported her boiler not working. After some initial establishment of the issue it was determined that her gas was turned off (I'd assumed the main valve was in a box on the outside of the property and possibly some prankster had done it). Turns out the lever was INSIDE and could only have been her/her dog/her kid/her guests, but we took the flack for 'leaving her with a broken boiler'.

She was a scruffy cow as well.

15:07 PM, 19th May 2015, About 9 years ago

just joshing Luke I'd personally never want to sink to that level 🙂

Luke P

15:09 PM, 19th May 2015, About 9 years ago

I'm just pontificating too. I have too much on to run a group. It would be nice to see their faces when photos of their crap that's left behind is made public.

15:09 PM, 19th May 2015, About 9 years ago

never mind the content of this article which I would never dream of commenting on - just have a quick look at the state of the 'council house' where she lives

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3087519/So-m-effing-dole-Mother-ten-children-five-fathers-wants-50-grandchildren-benefits-rolling-in.html?ito=social-facebook

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