tenant always pays late!

[pippala]

WWYD we have a tenant that the agent put in situe but we were told that his credid rating wasn't good as he was a divorcee.
They asked him for a guarantore who was at the time his boss. He has since left that job and set up on his own.
The contract run out with the agent after six months and we renewed his contract for a further year.
He has never paid his rent on time ever! It is always two weeks late.
So when the agents contract run out and we renewed his contract he told us it would be helpful if he could change the payment day to the middle of the month not the first.
We agreed and he paid us cash for the two weeks from a bulging wallet.
since then he has been up to three weeks late every month!
excuses range from his bank won't set up a standing order, direct debit, he has been ill, he is out of the country etc.
We seem to run from one month to another with late payments although he always pays for that month before a new month IYSWIM?
Now the neighbours( victorian four floor house split into four flats) have complained to us that;-
1, He is home all day, never seems to leave his flat (top floor) but has visitors coming and going all day long. up until 2am
2, smokes in the flat, whereby the smell permenates the rest of the building.
3, wedges the front door open to let his "friends" in. Security entrance with buzzer entry. which leaves the other three flats open to security issues.
I have suggested to my DH that we give him two months notice, but if we do we have not a hope in hell of being paid for the next two months nor see the previous months rent he owes us. The deposit he paid via the agent would not cover the rent he would then owe us or to clean the carpets that now need cleaning (hall and four floors of stairs) from his many visitors. Also the holes in the walls (bedrooms) from doors being slammed against the plaster, that we noticed on our last visit. We have told him to make good but doubt that he has!
Any advice would be appreciated.

[ClareMarriott]

I think this is a case where you, your DH and the agent have to get directly involved because there may be a perfectly reasonable explanation for all the "visitors " coming into the building albeit a little on the late side, or something like cannabis cultivation !!!!! The other flat owners will be paying maintenance changes for all the things including the security ones and if these ( the security ones ) are being breached on a regular basis then I would be as annoyed as they seem to be. Also if your tenant is given notice and does go, you will have to sort the flat and other cleaning BEFORE you can relet it. Do you also want to stick with the same agent ? Good Luck

[specialsubject]

In my opinion, cut your losses and give notice before he does any more damage. Do you have any insurance against malicious damage, or legal cover against him not leaving?

he's not going to improve and is taking you for a ride.

[PigletJohn]

if you're going to get rid of him, the sooner the better.

He won't change.

[pippala]

Thanks to you both!
We had a txt at 7.30am saying he is in hospital! He has an excuse every month why he has not paid.
Rent was due on the 27th of the month but he asked to pay on the 14th but still it is never paid on time.
The agent are not involved as we just paid a one off introduction fee/ contract/references etc.
My Dh says he does pay albeit late so if we serve notice he won't pay at all and then leave owing two months rent.
We then may be stuck with an empty flat for three months as winter is a bad time to be looking for tenants.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[pippala]

I have just looked at the guarantor contract.
Unfortunatly it was only for the six month contract that the agent set up. We renewed his contract in sept for a further year with our own contract.
Prehaps we could contact his old boss and if he thinks he may have to pay he will also put pressure on the tenant to pay on time?
Last month he paid three weeks late. this month he is coming up to a week late.

[nocake]

He's broken the contract by paying late so it doesn't matter that the contract is for a year. You do, however, have to go through the correct process to evict him. Don't make any mistakes as you could end up in an expensive mess.

[pippala]

Thank you to those who posted on my thread earlier this week.
We made contact with the tenant and have arranged a meeting tomorrow afternoon.
We have decided unless he pays us the rent owed in full tomorrow we are going to serve him with a letter giving him one months notice to leave. (one months notice to each party on contract)
In the meantime we have had a very serious complaint from one of the other owners in the house.
Aparantly several parcels delivered have been signed for over the last few months but not left outside doors. Including a laptop!
Earlier this week a very expensive xmas present was delivered. Signed for with the owner/occupiers name(although he was at work!)
When he got home the wrapping and labels were in our tenants dustbin!!!!
He called the police and have an appointment for them to come out to discuss on Tuesday next week!!!!
We have had complaints over the last few weeks of our tenant having up to 25 visitors a day coming and going to the flat. Up to 2am. These visitors leave the front door unlatched (normal buzzer entry)
The other tenants/owners are now telling us they are convinced our tenant is a drug dealer and want us to get rid of ASAP!!!
Since we contacted him earlier today to say we are coming tomorow to do an inspection, there has been a hive of activity there today with him and his friends "tidying up"
I am not looking forward to our visit.