to evict a family for not paying rent out of my house when they are spending money on other non essential stuff?

[CampbellsPoop]

A few things have irked about my tenants but nothing to unerve me (We've had three non payers (in the space of ten years)one tenant it took me 6 months to evict and he trashed the house)

I know from social media (open profiles) that the tenants are not living hand to mouth, I know they are both employed and are buying stuff for their children (bragged about on FB/photos) nights out/holidays and all the trappings.

Meanwhile, I've not only suffered abuse from the family's friend (this morning) for giving them notice but my children are going without because I'm paying the mortgage on that property and I now have a shortfall.

Surely four months is enough messing around and enough time for them to get their priorities in order!

op I've been where you are it's horrible and frustrating.

The excuses we have had are :

Can't pay the rent as we needed to buy a new tv (brand new plasma on the wall)

Can't pay the rent as its Xmas and need to buy kids presents

Can't pay rent as I'm in lanzarote

Not paying the rent as we put a new shower in (didn't say that old shower was broke and funnily enough has no receipts for installation or the product)

Honestly never known the cheek of some people. My Dh has got the patience of a saint though where as I lose my cool.

Hope all goes well for you

I think it IS relevant what they're spending money on. If they were really struggling due to a change of circumstances beyond their control then OP would probably be a lot more sympathetic. While that doesn't help her pay her mortgage, she might be willing to work with the tenants and benefit agencies to help them out. Tenants that just think they can get away with not paying are twats and you should have no qualms about legal proceedings.

I've rented all my adult life and no matter how bad my finances were (got into lots of debt with credit cards and pay day lenders, all fully paid off now thankfully), I always always always paid my rent. It just didn't occur to me not to!

Get them out asap, this happened to mil and as she's a soft touch she listened to all the sob stories ( while her tenants bragged about flash holidays and recent purchases on FB ) and agreed a payment plan - which they then didn't stick to. they then arrange for the HB to be paid to her direct but after a while that stopped too because their circumstances changed. It took her a year to finally get them out and totting up rent/damage it p probably cost her £10000. She hadn't even taken a depost because they couldn't afford it as their last landlord had kept it for absolutely no reason ( yeah, right) or more likely they couldn't afford it due to the 5* holiday in Egypt they he just taken.
The best bit is that mil is now being pursued by the council as the HB was claimed fraudulently and as well as them pursuing the Tenant they want to claim the bit mil got back from her as well.
Be tough OP, some people really do take the piss and if they think you are soft they will do so even more!!

You're not a charity so they should pay their rent. If not suffer the consequences - eviction. And I think it is the OP's business if they are not prioritising the rent. I would give leeway to a family where there was serious illness or other problems but not these freeloading chancers.

Just check that your section 8 is valid. Do not take the agent's word for this.

My understanding is that for a section 8 to be valid they need to be 2 full months in arrears. So, if your monthly rent is £600 and they paid:

December 550
January 500
February 450

That means that their arrears are now 300 in total at the moment. And that is not enough in arrears to get them out under section 8.

You would need to wait until they are 1200 in arrears and then serve another section 8. Even if they are currently in the full 2 months arrears, remember that they could pay a portion of it off and this would render the section 8 invalid. If they know what they are doing they could keep the arrears at just under 1200 and you won't be able to get them out.

Having served them notice, they may decide just to move on anyway. If they know that they will have to move on anyway, they might start looking around and be able to find a house quickly.

Yanbu, they are not paying their rent, so they shoukd go.

I had this with some tenants once, foreigners for whom proper references could not be taken, but they could show healthy bank statements and (as I was too trusting) the agent suggested I just asked for six months rent up front at a time and double deposit.

All was well for the first six months, although wear and tear on the house was huge as they were filthy bastards who let rubbish pile up, got rats, managed to break everything they touched, flooded bathrooms, totally trashed carpets etc, but I just gritted my teeth and counted my lucky stars that I at least had a double deposit. My agent was completely useless and was not on top of things at all, he should have started to kick some butt much earlier but left it too long so the damage was done.

The second six months came and they said they couldn't pay all six months upfront - every excuse in the book. A couple of months went by and I started to get some dribs and drabs of money but not the whole outstanding amount that was even due, never mind any upfront money. It went on like this until they had two months left to run and owed me several thousands of pounds. Then they just upped and left back to their home country leaving utilities unpaid, and told the agent that I could keep the deposit in lieu of owed rent - it didn't even cover it, never mind cover all the damage they caused.

I learned by lesson and next time tenants of the same nationality wanted my house I insisted on 12 months upfront, which I got. They are still filthy bastards who have trashed the house again though, so after they leave in two months I will NEVER take tenants from that country again.

Not unreasonable at all. Monitor the process v.v.v.v.closely because some agents are shite and can make errors that will cost you. Remember that you are responsible for the process, even if the agent is doing it for you.

I think what they are spending it on is relevant. Tenants who fall on hard times deserve a bit of compassion and whatever help they can be given. Tenants who just take the piss don't.

Not unreasonable at all to get them out ASAP. I had a similar situation, we did sell the house afterwards as I never want to go through that again.

nevertakeyourphoneinthebath

You're a landlord who has literally just stated out loud you 'won't rent to dirty foreigners'

You forgot to prefix your post with, 'I'm not racist, but ...'

Dress- I don't read it like that at all
Incidentally I'm not of your average white Anglo Saxon heritage and both of my parents are "forrin"

Actually most of my tenants have been foreign AND BROWN and will continue to be. So that is not the case.

Nevertake do you use a Lettings Agency?

yes I do because my houses are not close to where I live. They are useless though, I am in the process of changing which is a massive headache.

Don't you have to go through the legal channels before hand. I don't think you can just kick people out. I think a judge has to approve an eviction. I could be wrong though.

And just to put dress's mind at rest, I have had Arabs, Jews, Egyptians, Afghans, Black British, White British, Eastern European, Chinese and Indian tenants. So far they have been more often foreign born or ethnic minority than not. I don't care.

I am not a racist, I will take whomever I believe with keep my house nice and pay the rent on time. The only reason I even ask my lettings agent what the nationality of the tenants is, is because if they don't have citizenship in the UK it affects things like credit referencing and my ability to reclaim unpaid rent through the courts if necessary, which i have learnt the hard way and at great cost and stress. I care about nationality, (and to an extent cultural habits because it can affect the way the house is used that may cause greater wear and tear) but I don't give a stuff about ethnicity.

If I bought several Beko appliances and they all caught fire or broke down whereas my Bosch / AEG / Smeg appliances didn't give me any problems then I'd come to the conclusion that Beko were not very reliable and best avoided in future because I don't need that kind of hassle in my life.

I don't think it makes me a racist, it make me a realist. If I don't like the sound of a tenant I don't have to take them and neither do I have to say why I don't want to take them. I run a business not a charity. Believe me, there are plenty of white British people I won't let to either.

Make plenty of print screen of them buying stuff, just in case

The quickest way we were able to remove a tenant was by putting the house on the market. You would not believe the trouble she made: signs of damp turned out to be nothing but shadows, bought 4 dogs after we allowed her 1, took over our paddock without permission and then shouted at my dc or their friends if they tried to go in there to play.

As soon as she left we took our house off the market.