Non oaying tenants should be arrested!!

[JakieOH]

Just watching a programme about landlords and tenants. I know there are bad landlords out there, however, surely it should be a criminal offence not to pay rent on a property?? It can take months and months to evict a tenant from your property and it costs a fortune too. Meanwhile the landlord has to pay the mortgage etc. it's awful, these people should be arrested for theft because that's what it is.

More a rant than a question really, I rent out my old flat and it worries me a lot! If my tenets decided to stop paying rent I would most likely default on the mortgage and loose the property. There would be very little comeback to retrieve the money Owed.

I'm lucky because I have great tenants, they get a lovely oroperty at a very very reasonable rate (just covers the mortgage and any breakdowns/upkeep etc)

No problems are solved by squatting

If someone cant pay their rent, please tell me what their options are if not staying where they are until they are evicted?

They have no money to pay the rent, or to secure a tenancy elsewhere. The council wont house them if they leave the property themselves. They would be literally homeless.

What do you expect they do? What would you do in that exact situation?

I didn't suggest people should be imprisoned. Just that they shouldn't have the option to remain in the property. Eviction should be much quicker and not require a court.

I am sorry if it upsets people to confront this fact, but a tenant's financial problems are not the landlord's problems.

Eviction should be much quicker and not require a court.

Eviction that didn't require a court process would be open to abuse. We need safeguards to a certain minimum standard to be able to call ourselves a civilized society. Eviction by court order only is one of them.

I am sorry if it upsets people to confront this fact, but a tenant's financial problems are not the landlord's problems.

Landlording is not, by definition, a risk free enterprise. Throwing families onto the street in the first month in which they have financial problems is just not viable.

Some of the language you are using ( not about punishing people for being in difficulty, but stopping them from punishing others in the process ) makes it sound as though you consider rent difficulties and poverty to be deliberate acts of aggression.

I don't understand why the eviction process couldn't be something like this:
Clause in contract saying if rent not paid within X days, eviction can proceed. Both parties sign.
Contract logged with police
First day of nonpayment landlord brings evidence and logs with police.
After X number of days landlord logs eviction with police. Private company used to evict.
It's pretty much the same process as in the country I have just moved back from. I think it's far better.

I don't consider poverty an act of aggression but I do consider passing your financial problems onto your landlord incredibly immoral and indefensible.

It doesn't have to be the police. It could be town hall, private solicitor. It could even be the court. It just shouldn't need anyone to approve the eviction!

Yes, just like in the tenancy agreement the landlord promises to make good any issues like the boiler breaking down, infestations etc - what reparation should the tenant have then when they are stuck with a shitty landlord who doesn't carry out basic repairs as necessary?
I think that if a landlord (even accidental) decides to rent their property then they should be aware of the risks and take out insurance (or make sure they have enough to pay the mortgage set aside in circumstances like this). Or they could, in a large number of cases sell the property. At the end of the day, that tenant is effectively paying the mortgage that will eventually end up as an asset for the landlord - there is something wrong about that in my view and if the price to pay is a few month's mortgage then I think landlords should suck it up tbh.
It's a shame there isn't a right to buy with discounts for private tenants - that would burst the btl bubble and rebalance the housing market.

Carries, Town Hall and local authority staff are being culled in places due to austerity. As an LA worker, I'd be damned if I would support us going out to help private landlords evict a family.

Would the same apply for everything given on any type of credit? All paperwork logged with the police and private companies used as bailiffs to collect on non payment? Or just tenants?

If I couldn't get in touch with my LL because they were on holiday and a pipe burst should there be a warrant for their arrest on their return? What about if a LL decides that, say two weeks isn't too long to go without hot water should the tenant be able to go to the police station "holding" their tenancy and demand bailiffs go to the landlords home and demand plumber money??!!

I don't think it would be wise for landlords to basically be able to rock up to a house and turf people out. Far to open to abuse. It's a far bigger issue to be homeless, then to be out of pocket. I think considering how badly some landlords behave, giving them carte blanch to throw people out would be ridiculous. It would leave vulnerable tenants with no recourse.

just like in the tenancy agreement the landlord promises to make good any issues like the boiler breaking down, infestations etc - what reparation should the tenant have then when they are stuck with a shitty landlord who doesn't carry out basic repairs as necessary?

Yep this^

Contracts are a two way street. If you want police to step in and evict a non-paying tenant a week/month after non-payment then the tenant should have the same right to have the police frogmarch the LL to the property with boiler engineers, electricians, damp repair specialists etc to fix all repair obligations within the same time frame.

I think renting out substandard property should be a criminal offence.

The place logging the contract isn't helping to evict. They are there as the step that stops people abusing the system.

I'm pretty sure (I never did it) that the tenant also has the right to take evidence of the contract breach to the police and they can order the LL to pay a fine amount (this was written into my contact as one month's rent). So AFAIK it is still a fair way to do things, and one that is quicker for both parties.

Not being able to afford rent doesn't make you a criminal. I live in london, my rent is double the amount of a morgage I could get if I had £60,000 deposit. I have to work exceptionally hard to afford the life I want. If I fell ill, or pregnant or couldn't work (I'm self-employed) I would struggle after a month. In fact, I would be skint. I rent my property via an estate agent and they are pretty good, much better than the private landlords I've had. I don't know where I would stand legally if I said to them I can't pay next month. I certainly wouldn't have anywhere else to go, family lives abroad, I have one elderly mother, if I couldn't pay one month I would have to hope letting agent is kind enough to Come to an arrangement with me.

Just a side note, someone mentioned about poor landlords, it's in my experience if you find a landlord privately you have very little protection. Estate agents are expensive but I will always always rent a property through them as they protect the tenant (and my money) I would like to see stricter laws around tenancy and renting to eradicate the ruthless LL that happily let you live in squalor providing they are make a quick buck. Again, this is purely based on my experience living in london

I also appreciate that budgets for LAs are being cut, but I'd be willing to bet that cort is quite a wasteful process.

I feel that malicious damage to property should be a criminal offence. Ie. No one accidently smashes up a kitchen.

On eviction councils should not require families to stay before they are re housed. It causes unnecessarily expense and stress for everyone. In fact that is why I do not rent to families. My tenants would never be entitled council accomodiation so have no moviation to try and get evicted.

It is quite right that a landlord should have go to court before someone is evicted. A home is a necessity and throwing someone out on to the street should only ever be a last resort.

I'm pretty sure (I never did it) that the tenant also has the right to take evidence of the contract breach to the police and they can order the LL to pay a fine amount

Wow! Really? Where are you?

I am in NI. Here i need to report repairs to LL, give them reasonable time to respond. If they dont i cant go to my local environmental health team and request they do an inspection of the property (the landlord may be liable for the cost) they do an inspection, if they find that the repairs are having a proven effect on mine or my family's health they can issue a not fit certificate and give landlord time frame to repair. They can also issue a restriction on how much rent LL can charge for property until repairs are done. However, LL is under no obligation to do repairs, can continue to let it and be paid rent and even re-let it in same condition should i give notice and leave. More than likely though LL would give notice to me for causing him hassle and just re-let. It is also worth noting that many repairs dont actually cause a provable or any effect on health. So no not fit certificate would be issued. Throughout this all i would have no right to withhold any rent. So yeah, like it or lump ut basically.

I don't want to say exactly, because I name changed when I came back to stop being too identifiable. It was a middle income developing country in Asia.

Ah ok, i thought you meant in the UK.

With the housing crisis in this country I'm beginning to think that owning extra properties for profit/capital gain is immoral. It's certainly a massive contributor to the housing issues we have - those who have equity in property can buy more and more and those who haven't find it harder and harder to get own even the one place they need to live.

So like all "investments" there is an element of risk involved. If you don't want the risk, don't be a landlord!.

Most private tenants have fuck all rights and security in this country - we are talking about people homes and LL's need to remember that. Your "investment" = someones family home!!!

I think YABU. Will you be demanding poor houses and debtors prisons next?