To wonder what to do about my tenants?

[namechanger1981]

Hi long time poster but name changed as this will mostly out me.

I am the landlord of a property that I used to live in, when I moved in with my partner I rented it out.

I currently have my 2nd lot of tenants living there. It is 3 woman, 2 in a relationship (might be relevant later). They have always seemed like decent tenants, there has been a few issues with the house and they have always been good about me getting repairs sorted etc. When I have been to the house, it seems fine. They have a large dog but I know about it and have been fine with it.

They have recently signed a new 6 month contract.

I went into my other box on fb today and in my message requested had the following message.....


namechanger1981, are you the owner of XX house If so, as a fellow landlord and resident of XX street, I think it is important you are aware of the appalling conduct of your tenants.

The police have been called on at least three separate occasions owing to noise disturbance. The local Neighbourhood Watch Group, which had been dormant for the past five years, was reconvened two weeks ago in response to the noise created by your tenants. At least one other neighbour has taken matters into her own hands and spoken directly with the tenants, to little effect.

Last night after an argument at approximately 1.00pm one individual stormed out of the property. Over the next two hours the tenant played music at an unacceptable level, further shouting and hostile exchanges occurred and inappropriate conversations of a personal nature. I am sure you will agree this sort of behaviour is totally unacceptable.

Apologies for having to track you down via Facebook. If you wish to discuss any issues raised in this message please do not hesitate to contact me via Facebook in the first instance. We have a mutual interest in seeing the issue resolved expediently and are more than happy to work with you. If you are not the owner of XX XXX please accept my sincerest apologies.

Kind regards

XXXX


I have replied acknowledging the message and saying I am taking the matter seriously.

The message has come from an annom facebook page(cant see any of his details and no picture etc)

So what do I do now? I am thinking of ringing and first of all asking if what he is saying happened at 1am did happen?

I could maybe also get in touch with neighbourhood watch? Am I able to give them any sort of warning about their behaviour?

They are quite young and I like them but in no way do I want tenants causing issues on this road as I had similar issues in the past when living there myself.

Any advice would be greatly received

[Mellowautumn]

Your thier landlord not thier mother - not any of your buisness - especially from an anonymous source on Facebook!

[IceRoadDucker]

Oh dear. You shouldn't have replied. If they really wanted to find you they could have paid £3 to check the land registry - this Facebook thing is all kinds of wrong.

Now that you have engaged, I'd reply again and say you've received no complaints and they should contact environmental health if there are noise issues.

[MyKingdomForBrie]

Of course it is OP 'business' - she can't inflict tenants who behave like this on the neighbourhood. Are they out of their fixed term OP? I would have your managing agent do some investigating and if the claims are substantiated then in the dirt instance write a letter asking them to observe the nuisance clause in the lease, if they don't curb the noise then serve notice when they're out of their fixed term.

[MyKingdomForBrie]

first instance

[Bravada]

Are you letting it through an agency at all? I would take it all with a pinch of salt really, from an anonymous source.

[ChatterNatterer]

There's nowt worse than anti social neighbours and I would want any landlord (social or private) to be concerned that the tenants are making a nuisance of themselves.

I would investigate as much as possible and get the complainants to report it to the council if it's bad enough and noise is an issue too. When you're satisfied it's true I would definitely speak with the tenants.

[namechanger1981]

Thanks guys, I am sat in the middle seeing both sides. I had problems with neighbours when living there (its mostly rented terrace houses) but also part me sees the other side that says its for people to work directly with them.

[Dontlikejam]

I wouldn't trust an anonymous Facebook message at all. The correct route for dealing with noise disputes is the council, that's where I'd start.

[namechanger1981]

Chatted to tenants, they said the police have been round once about noise and the tenants denied it to the police and it was all sorted.

The main tenant said she doesn't know anything that happened last night but is going to speak to other girls and get back to me.

I just said that its in their interest if their is a problem to get it sorted as the neighbours are escalating it and we all want to see this resolved.

[RepentAtLeisure]

This isn't random stirring, if the police and the neighbourhood watch group are involved, it sounds very credible.

And as landlord the OP does have some responsibility to not allow her tenants to make the local community miserable.

[LIZS]

Usually the lease will include a clause about not disturbing or causing nuisance to the neighbours. If the police have been involved in surprised this is the first you've heard about it. Do you use an agent?

[namechanger1981]

Hi. No I don't use an agent. All done direct.

Apparently there was an argument last night between the other girls.

I have reminded them of their contract and suggested they need to think more about their neighbours.

They have apologised to me.

I think I'll just have to monitor it. I do want to have good tenants for the sake of the neighbours.

Thanks for the help everyone.

[Roystonv]

We always ask any complainers to formally put their complaint in writing and advise that we will follow it up once received. Usually if it is trouble making we hear no more but if we receive a letter we act on it. The police do not tell landlords but you could ring and ask for details. Councils have so few staff nowadays it is quite difficult to get minor complaints acknowledged.

[atomsatdawn]

Can you not check with the police? They probably won't be able to tell you full details but may be able to confirm how many times they have been out?

Please monitor it. We lived above similar neighbours, loud music in the middle of the night, shouting and fighting. It was awful. My dd was terrified everytime they kicked off. It is the ops responsibility as the landlord to deal with it.

[Doinmummy]

I'd put it in writing to the tenants , reminding them of the terms of the contract about not being a nuisance and stating that if there are any more complaints you will regretfully have to give them notice .

If they are holding their hands up to the police attending then you can bet your bottom dollar it's not the first time they've been loud .