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Dealing With Problem Tenants
Every professional landlord is likely at some point to have to deal with a problem tenant or tenants. Dealing with bad tenants can be both costly and infuriating particularly when you simply see the tenant to be enjoying the benefits of your property at your hard earned expense. The following represents a check list on how to avoid letting out your property to problem tenants in the first place and how to get rid of problem tenants should this be required.
Avoiding Problem Tenants From The Start
If tenants from hell came with horns and a tail then life would be easier for landlords. Unfortunately many tenants that later turn problematic can initially appear to be professional and upstanding community members and provide a landlord with no reason to suspect anything otherwise. This is why is is so vitally important to undertake ID Verification and Credit Checks in respect of prospective tenants before they take possession of your property. The Rent Management Service can help you with this - Click Here
Obtain Employer and Previous Landlord References
A good prospective tenant with nothing to hide will have no problem with you asking for employer or previous landlord contact details so that you can make some reference enquiries to help assess the suitability of the tenant. Simply obtaining a single ID verification check or a credit check alone does not provide you with a more rounded assessment of a tenants character or suitability so the more time taken to obtain this basic information beforehand is time well spent. The Rent Management Service can help you with this - Click Here.
Should You 'Pigeon-Hole' Tenants?
It is worth remembering that it is often inaccurate to 'pigeon-hole' tenants based on one particular piece of information. For example, many landlords that will happily offer tenancy agreements to bankrupts whilst many other landlords would see bankruptcy as a serious reason not to offer a tenancy agreement to a prospective tenant. However when you look at a persons ability to pay their monthly rental commitments a person who is bankrupt will not have any unsecured debts to service unlike many 'solvent' individuals. It could thus be argued that bankrupts actually are attractive tenants on that basis. The rule here is to look beyond the story provided by a single piece of information and invest in a wider range of tenant checks to arrive at a more considered decision about the suitability of a perticular tenant.
Dealing With Problem Tenants
Despite the frustration and costliness of dealing with a problem tenant that has stopped paying your rent for whatever reason it is always worth remembering that all tenants are well protected by law and you should restrain from acting impulsively. It is always a good idea to communicate both verbally and in writing and ensure that you keep copies of all written communications and record a note of the time and content of verbal conversations with the tenant when attempting to resolve matters. This information can be very supportive of your efforts to be reasonable if court eviction procedures are required.
The Section 8 Court Eviction Process
Before starting the process of tenant eviction landlords should be very mindful of the fact that it is a criminal offence for a landlord to evict a tenant without the appropriate court order in place and landlords are often well advised to seek professional legal help regarding tenant eviction matters. The Rent Management Service can help you with this - Click Here
The law in England and Wales that governs private landlord tenant evictions is covered in The Housing Act 1988. If a landlords tenant owes more than 2 months or 8 weeks rent, then a Judge is bound to award a repossession order in favour of the landlord unless exceptional circumstances dictate otherwise.
Starting The Eviction Procedure
In order to progress with property repossession proceedings the landlord needs to issue a Section 8 Housing Act 1988 notification to the tenant. This then provides the tenant with 14 days to respond formally to the Section 8 notice issued by their landlord.
If a landlord does not properly serve this the Section 8 notice correctly then this may serve to delay the property repossession action and it is often advisable for the landlord to obtain professional legal advice or intention from a solicitor with this procedure.
Asking The Court To Make An Order Against A Tenant
When a Section 8 notice has been correctly issued and the reply time period has passed , if the tenant has failed to pay the outstanding rent arrears and has refused to vacate the landlords property then a landlord may apply to the local county court for a repossession hearing whereby a judge will be asked to issue a Repossession Order. Provided that the rent arrears relate to a period of 2 months or 8 weeks on the day of the repossession hearing then a judge should award the repossession order in favour of the landlord. A judge can make exceptions and not award a repossession order if the landlord is viewed to have neglected their statutory obligations. For example, if a property is in disrepair or if the tenants rent arrears has come about because of a demonstrable delay in a Housing Benefit claim made by the tenant and the tenants Local Authority have not been approached by the landlord regarding the rent arrears situation accordingly.
Executing A Repossession Order To Evict A Tenant
When a landlord is successful in obtaining a repossession order from the a local court the majority of tenants choose to move out of the landlords property as instructed by the repossession order from the court. In cases when a tenant refuses to move out of the landlords property in line with a court repossession order then the landlord has the right to ask the court to assign a court bailiff to visit the landlords property and formally evict a tenant by visiting the landlords property and in some cases being accompanied by local police officers.
Useful Resources and Articles
Rent Management Service Gold Plan For Landlords
Frequently Asked Questons & Answers Section
Landlords News & Articles Sections
Avoiding Problem Tenants From The Start
If tenants from hell came with horns and a tail then life would be easier for landlords. Unfortunately many tenants that later turn problematic can initially appear to be professional and upstanding community members and provide a landlord with no reason to suspect anything otherwise. This is why is is so vitally important to undertake ID Verification and Credit Checks in respect of prospective tenants before they take possession of your property. The Rent Management Service can help you with this - Click Here
Obtain Employer and Previous Landlord References
A good prospective tenant with nothing to hide will have no problem with you asking for employer or previous landlord contact details so that you can make some reference enquiries to help assess the suitability of the tenant. Simply obtaining a single ID verification check or a credit check alone does not provide you with a more rounded assessment of a tenants character or suitability so the more time taken to obtain this basic information beforehand is time well spent. The Rent Management Service can help you with this - Click Here.
Should You 'Pigeon-Hole' Tenants?
It is worth remembering that it is often inaccurate to 'pigeon-hole' tenants based on one particular piece of information. For example, many landlords that will happily offer tenancy agreements to bankrupts whilst many other landlords would see bankruptcy as a serious reason not to offer a tenancy agreement to a prospective tenant. However when you look at a persons ability to pay their monthly rental commitments a person who is bankrupt will not have any unsecured debts to service unlike many 'solvent' individuals. It could thus be argued that bankrupts actually are attractive tenants on that basis. The rule here is to look beyond the story provided by a single piece of information and invest in a wider range of tenant checks to arrive at a more considered decision about the suitability of a perticular tenant.
Dealing With Problem Tenants
Despite the frustration and costliness of dealing with a problem tenant that has stopped paying your rent for whatever reason it is always worth remembering that all tenants are well protected by law and you should restrain from acting impulsively. It is always a good idea to communicate both verbally and in writing and ensure that you keep copies of all written communications and record a note of the time and content of verbal conversations with the tenant when attempting to resolve matters. This information can be very supportive of your efforts to be reasonable if court eviction procedures are required.
The Section 8 Court Eviction Process
Before starting the process of tenant eviction landlords should be very mindful of the fact that it is a criminal offence for a landlord to evict a tenant without the appropriate court order in place and landlords are often well advised to seek professional legal help regarding tenant eviction matters. The Rent Management Service can help you with this - Click Here
The law in England and Wales that governs private landlord tenant evictions is covered in The Housing Act 1988. If a landlords tenant owes more than 2 months or 8 weeks rent, then a Judge is bound to award a repossession order in favour of the landlord unless exceptional circumstances dictate otherwise.
Starting The Eviction Procedure
In order to progress with property repossession proceedings the landlord needs to issue a Section 8 Housing Act 1988 notification to the tenant. This then provides the tenant with 14 days to respond formally to the Section 8 notice issued by their landlord.
If a landlord does not properly serve this the Section 8 notice correctly then this may serve to delay the property repossession action and it is often advisable for the landlord to obtain professional legal advice or intention from a solicitor with this procedure.
Asking The Court To Make An Order Against A Tenant
When a Section 8 notice has been correctly issued and the reply time period has passed , if the tenant has failed to pay the outstanding rent arrears and has refused to vacate the landlords property then a landlord may apply to the local county court for a repossession hearing whereby a judge will be asked to issue a Repossession Order. Provided that the rent arrears relate to a period of 2 months or 8 weeks on the day of the repossession hearing then a judge should award the repossession order in favour of the landlord. A judge can make exceptions and not award a repossession order if the landlord is viewed to have neglected their statutory obligations. For example, if a property is in disrepair or if the tenants rent arrears has come about because of a demonstrable delay in a Housing Benefit claim made by the tenant and the tenants Local Authority have not been approached by the landlord regarding the rent arrears situation accordingly.
Executing A Repossession Order To Evict A Tenant
When a landlord is successful in obtaining a repossession order from the a local court the majority of tenants choose to move out of the landlords property as instructed by the repossession order from the court. In cases when a tenant refuses to move out of the landlords property in line with a court repossession order then the landlord has the right to ask the court to assign a court bailiff to visit the landlords property and formally evict a tenant by visiting the landlords property and in some cases being accompanied by local police officers.
Useful Resources and Articles
Rent Management Service Gold Plan For Landlords
Frequently Asked Questons & Answers Section
Landlords News & Articles Sections