To evict my tenants?

[iloveeverton]

We rent a flat to a couple who are having a baby end of January. They have a six-month contract that ends at the same time.

The rent is always late and underpaid each month.

I want to serve notice to leave at the end of tenancy. Dh thinks it's unfair due to baby arriving at the same time. I have allowed then to pay weekly and they will be given two months notice.

Dh thinks they will have nowhere to go and I'm being heartless. Am I?

HerScaryness thank you thats good advice I will speak to my solicitor.

Minus273 thats what I'm worried about putting my family at risk.

"Hand on heart, I would not evict someone with a newborn."

When would you evict them? After how many months of non-payment?

YANBU.

Empjusa, as I said, I would wait until 2 or 3 months after the baby is born, so they have a better chance of getting a flat, the mum can get another job, etc.

It's not that they weren't paying rent at all, they were paying it late -- I know, it's not right, but a softer approach might have meant they would catch up and the OP would have had minimal overall losses. Now she is likely to lose months of rent.

kick them out!!!!!! if you are having problems already it will get worse, we served noticed and it was another 9 months of no payments while they were claiming housing benefit and having a good time, after 15 months of no payments i couldn't afford the mortage and it got reprossed - if your ppl are claiming housing council its ment to get payed straight to owner if they miss two payments - but the council wont talk about your house as it confidental. still upset at these low life ppl.

I moved house 2 weeks after my son was born (I wasn't evicted, the house had no heating). She's pregnant, not ill.

FWIW, there's good landlords and there's bad ones. The agency that 'look after' my house do nothing. My kitchen window doesn't close properly because it needs new hinges (£125), I've reported it, they sent someone out to fix it and he just screwed the screw in a little more It still won't close properly. Some are just after the income (and they owe me money as I've overpayed them. I'm not expecting to see it). I still pay the sods rent though.

BatsUpMeNighti - I do not feel under any obligation to these tenants or any other because I HAVE NOT CHOSEN TO BE ANYONE'S LANDLORD. Sorry for shouting, but is that not obvious? I thought I had made it quite plain that I thought landlords have a responsibility because they have chosen to provide (along with food) one of life's two essentials. I think that is a huge responsibility and one that is undertaken far too lightly. It is not one I would ever choose to take.

Re those claiming it is all the tenants' fault - well, as stated above, we only have this landlord's word for that. As the tenants have not given their side of the story,I am not sure how we can know that there is not an extremely good reason for their not having paid rent. Yes, they may be feckless scroungers - but maybe they have been ripped off by a supplier? Or any one of an infinite number of other possible reasons that aren't actually their deliberate fault. We don't know. Even the landlady doesn't appear to know as she doesn't appear to have asked.

I am sympathetic with the landlady but the point is that all she now needs to do is contact the council and arrange for housing benefit to be paid direct to her. And then the problem will be resolved. She doesn't need to come on here and moan.

Even her husband is happy with this.

Yet apparently some of you aren't.

So very glad I don't have some of the bloodsuckers on here as landlords. The kind to whom tenants aren't people. Just £ signs.

that is quite offensive. I honestly don't think any of the LL on this thread have come across as blood suckers. (yes I know there are bad ones out there). To be perfectly honest in this particular situation it strikes me that that the tenants who are acting like blood suckers.

It doesn't matter why they haven't paid, they haven't and not done anything about it so tough basically.

The council will only re-house them if they have made themselves 'involuntarily' homeless (i.e. you have simply decided not to renew their contract- you don't have to give a reason for this). If you evict them for non payment of rent, they will be deemed to have made themselves volunatarily homeless, through not paying and the council have no obligation to rehouse them. Hope this helps. What they'll no doubt do, (I've had two lots of dodgy tenants in two years) is keep their final month's rent payment as deposit for new place, in which case you can keep the deposit they paid you, which works out fine so long as they haven't trashed the place!

I am loving the casual, throwaway references to waiting "a few months". That will almost certainly run into thousands which the OP would have to find out of her own pocket. How many people have that kind of money just lying around waiting to be spent on supporting people who have, on the basis of the information available, made some unfortunate choices and made no attempt to sort the situation out.

The OP is under no obligation to sort out these people's financial problems for them. The baby won't be born "in the gutter" as the couple will be prioritised for housing by the LA. That is, of course, if they don't actually turn out to have funds available and are just trying their luck.

I briefly rented out a studio flat that I had lived in prior to moving for work. I was on a very low wage and struggling to pay my own living expenses in London. My tennants both decided to quit their jobs and "take some time out" shortly after moving in. They claimed benefits for a while but then their benefits were stopped due to an investigation into their claim. They simply stopped paying the rent and casually informed me that they wouldn't be able to pay until it was "sorted out". I got heavy-handed pretty damn fast I can tell you. Fortunately they left when I asked them to leave but I was several hundred pounds out of pocket which made life very, very tough indeed for a while.

People don't all choose to become "blood-sucking" landlords - many people fall into renting out a property because their circumstances change. There is absolutely no reason why one private individual or family should have their financial security placed below that of another simply because they happen to be the landlord rather than the tennant.

breadandbutterfly, you're being deliberately obtuse. The OP did not "choose" to become a landlord, it was forced upon her by being unable to sell the property. She's not doing it as a business, just trying to pay the mortgage and not have it repossessed, leaving her deeply in debt.

The tenants, on the other hand, DID choose to resign from their jobs and declare their business start-up failed before it had a chance to get off the ground.

kungfu I'm not saying wait a few months casually. As others have said, there is a good chance that now the tenants will simply stop paying rent at all and refuse to leave, which means that the OP will not be getting any rent anyway for the months needed to get them out. Whereas if she had decided they could stay for a bit after the baby comes, the tenant probably wouldn't have freaked out and she would at least be getting partial rent.

I do feel sorry for anyone who has to deal with nightmare tenants. I agree these people here are nightmare tenants. But having rented to them, she is stuck with them until the situation is resolved, and I think a more conciliatory approach to them would not only get her more money but be a bit less morally problematic.

kungfupanda - yes, there is a difference. Everyone has to rent (unless they own) in that everyone has to have a roof over their heads. Not everyone has to rent out a property. I personally think this country would be a far nicer place to live and far better off economically if there were far less people who owned 2+ properties, so that these tenants could own their own home - and face the consequences if they don't pay the mortgage - and the OP could pay her mortgage without worrying about her second mortgage.

By the way, those who say that the landlord has jo responsibility because they are only an 'accidental' landlord - how does that work then? There is no such thing - the OP could have sold at some price, but decided to hold out for more money, and get someone else to pay off her second mortgage. That was her deliberate choice - not an accident of fate. If she didn't want to be a landlord, with all the responsibility for someone else's home and well-being that entails, she needn't have made that choice. It's like 'accidental' landlords who are unaware that gas safety checks need to be done, or deposits held in a deposit protection scheme. The fact is, being a landlord is hard work and a big responsibility, and should not be undertaken by those not prepared to take that responsibility seriously.

I should just add that as a tenant and a taxpayer, I pay for all those with mortgages who cannot pay because they lose their jobs etc to stay in their 'own' homes for UP TO TWO YEARS without paying a penny. Would all those explaining why these tenants should be out on their ear in two months explain why that is fair??

Bread, you are talking utter rubbish and I think you are just here to wind people up. Most landlords are responsible, however, we are not responsible tonpay the tenants rent, that responsibility lies with themselves.

You come across as saying that tenants have no responsibility, but the landlord has it all, sorry doesn't make sense, and you also come across as making out that all LLs are in it for the money, if you have read the comments on this thread you will know that that's not true. Yet still you post to your own agenda - strange.

Bread They tried 'everyone was equal' in communist Germany, it didn't end too well. The whole of the world is split into those who have and those who don't. It's simple economics. These landlords do provide a service, what about those who are unable to get a mortgage? What about those who don't want a mortgage? Your one home for all is nice in theory but won't work. It's not the OP's fault she has rented out a flat she couldn't sell, she has provided a couple with a home that they may not have otherwise but they have chosen to take the piss by paying her late and not paying her enough. They could have claimed housing benefit but chose not to. You're being incredibly hostile towards her and it's unnecessary. You're coming across as someone bitter because they are unable to get their own home and you need to stop.

Bread - as a tenant, where would you be living if there were no such things as landlords?

I think you are either on a wind-up, or you are wierdly viewing landlords as some sort of parent figure who can afford to pay for their own place to live as well as a total stranger's. Even if the landlord could afford to cover the costs for a non paying tenant for a month, there's not that many who could carry that on for months and months, maybe years. and it's really odd that you think they can. Do you seriously think all landlords are super rich?

I'm a Landlord. A responsible one. I provide the accommodation, make sure all repairs are done promptly, provide gas safety certificates annually and replace anything which gets broken (including stuff the tenants break like sofas and washing machine doors ). In return, I expect the rent to be paid promptly and in full. What is wrong with that agreement, Bread? I don't care about excuses for non payment/late payment. I'm not a charity. It's not my responsibility - it's the tenant's responsibility to pay. If they don't pay, I am out of pocket, and repairs etc won't get done.

I have a friend who rented out her house when she went to live overseas. The tenants simply stopped paying rent. They were both teachers and employed a full time live out nanny to look after their baby, so not short of cash. My friend was unable to pay her mortgage. The couple were quite surprised to hear that if they didn't pay up, they would be made homeless because the house was likely to be repossessed. And paid up, finally, after four months of not paying. She gave them two months notice after they had paid up. And guess what? They stopped paying rent again. IME - problem tenants just get worse, not better.

Bread - if there were no landlords, you wouldn't be able to rent a house. I'm not sure what your problem is...

I'm a tenant, and a rather skint one at that. When I have been working, my FIRST bill was the rent. And I have always got my HB paid directly to the LL. IMO, as a tenant, the OP is NBU to kick these tenants out, the tenants are taking the bloody piss.

No-one else is offering to pay the OP's mortgage for her, are they? So why the fuck should the OP pay housing costs for a couple that have deliberately misled from the start? They signed the tenancy as both being in employment, then promptly gave up their jobs. At a time when the lady tenant MUST have already known she was pregnant. After a pie-in-the-sky abortive attempt to get a business off the ground, they now expect their LL to let them live rent-free AND extend their tenancy. WT actual F??? (Can I find a LL like that, pretty please??!!)

The council WILL tell them that if they leave before the baillifs come, then they will NOT get housed by the council as they will be deemed to have made themselves intentionally homeless - so don't expect it to be a quick fix if they DO refuse to leave, they are doing this so that they can get a council house IMO, probably because they will get a larger council house, with a more affordable rent, than they could afford privately.

But none of the TENANT'S personal circumstances is the LL's problem. And, IMO, those upthread that are saying that the OP should consider that the tenants are going to have a baby before evicting them - well that baby's parent's didn't fucking consider it before they decided to rip the OP off, knowing full well that there was a high chance that the end result would be making themselves homeless, why is this baby the OP's responsibility?

The OP is providing a house to live in in exchange for RENT MONEY. If the rent money is not forthcoming, then neither is the bloody house to live in - I should think that's pretty obvious, even my 7yo with SN could tell you that if you don't pay your rent then you get kicked out of your home, so it's hardly fucking rocket science, is it??

Yes if they go to council for advice they will be placed on the housing register and will be in prority but will be TOLD under no uncertain terms to move out until a COURT ORDER has being issued otherwise they will loose their priority status and will go to the bottom of the queue. They could be arses and chose this route if they decide to get legal advice from CAB/Shelter/Council.

Be careful.

We went down this route, we had no other choice. We got our court date and within a week of that letter coming we had a new property from the local council.

I'd quite like a "bloodsucker" like the OP as a landlord thank you - sounds like she's been more than considerate and been mucked around for months putting her at a personal loss for a pair of idiots who cannot seem to grasp the fundamental concept that, however grand your dreams of whatever, you don't put the fucking roof above your head at risk. The OP, if she's in the same sort of situation as the last place I rented, is using the rent to cover the mortgage on the house... so their pratting aboutary is putting the OP's financial stability at risk as well and it sounds like it's been going on for months.

I just don't get this whole "we'll stop paying rent and pay some completely random amount" and the assumption that it's ok to do that - would it be ok for me to walk into Currys and decide to randomly pay 80% of the price for a telly? Yet people still think it's an ok way to behave with renting (and I've had a relative who's done just that in the past - not for lack of money but for blowing it on stupid crap). I just don't get that - you sign a contract, you agree to pay X, the landlord agress to do Y - that's the way it works. If you fall on hard times, you ring the landlord and explain and you move heaven and fucking earth to get your arse in gear and get the rent covered - you certainly don't sit there not even putting together applications for benefit - especially not with a baby on the way... unless you're taking the piss completely and trading on goodwill and seeing the landlord as a soft touch who won't do anything about it!

Having had the "pleasure" of renting from some complete tosser landlords in the past - I get incredibly annoyed seeing people take the piss because it means that it gets shittier in the long-run for ALL those who rent as landlords get burnt, tighten up, start to view all tennants in the light of those who burnt them in the past. It makes it crapper for all those who have to rent when people pull this sort of shit.

You're going to have a bugger of a time getting them to leave anyway if they end up going through the homeless system - odds are they'll be advised to stay put for every single possible second and drag it out till the bitter end - so, yeah, I'd be starting the wheels in motion asap - as long as you can afford to cover if they get pissed off and stop paying the rent altogether out of spite.

bread you're a pretentious PSEUDOSOCIALIST arse
OP : YANBU

I despair. Who do these people who simply stop paying rent , think they are? And as for the poster who forced their LL to take them to court, you and your ilk disgust me and it's why most of us LL will now no longer ever rent to those who don't have a decent and permanent job.

I do agree with the folk saying it's time to give notice. Might as well do it now as it will only get harder and harder. If they refuse to leave it will take some time but they will eventually have to leave.

I think you might have to be prepared to lose money, have renovation costs, see them stop paying rent from as soon as you give notice. But you can't go on like this. You need some reliable tenants.

You'll never be able to recover funds if you do lose money. I'm sorry to say but there's not much fair about it and you'll just have to suck it up. But you need someone who'll pay the rent.

The family will be looked after. Maybe in their next place they'll pay the rent but they won't learn that they have to if you carry on.

Am a former tenant and landlord.