TRying to sell the house with tenants in - undisclosed dog

[Newbrummie]

So had a viewing at the house yesterday and the patio was covered in dog shit, as was the garden. I figured it would take a few months to sell so was happy for them to stay whilst it was on the market. Am now starting to think this is going to be impossible isn't it ?
Can I afl them to remove the dog for the rest of the tenancy ?

OurBlanche the amounts in terms of mortgage will be very different next time around. This property is not a cheap house to rent or buy

I'm so glad our landlord isn't a twat

phoenixnix you have dog shit all over your garden do you ?

I'd imagine my landlord is delighted I'm not a dirty bitch .... it's called respect

OP, I've lived in a rented house and I've rented out our house and fucking hell, I will never ever be a landlord again. The tenants made a mess of our house: holes in the carpet, burns on the carpet and doors, kids drawing on the walls and they even removed fittings when it came to the end of their tenancy (which they also skipped the last month's rent on, but we just wanted them gone) I will never EVER rent out our house again. Landlords are just scum in everyone's eyes, basically.

You could just wash your hands of them using one of these types of companies

www.propertyrescue.co.uk/faqs-and-advice/faqs/

Obviously you get less money but it's done in under a week and if the property has gone up in value a lot you can still make money.

Lots of bitter tenants on mumsnet.

And being evicted for non payment of rent is still intentionally homeless. Councils are then not obliged to house them. If they have children social services can then help but this could mean paying for a B and B whilst they find a private landlord to take them on.

I'd imagine my landlord is delighted I'm not a dirty bitch .... it's called respect You are still focussing on the wrong thing!

Take a step back, a deep breath and concentrate on how you will expedite them leaving so you can sell! That is all you have immediate control of... your own next step!

Your tenants are acting legally. Believe it and move on!

babychamcherryb I wouldn't wish a B and B or our local social housing on anyone nevermind these people, just wish that extended both ways

trainspotting of course you can enforce terms of a tenancy agreement, what a bizarre thing to write?!

I would serve notice on them and be rid - does your LA allow for some vacant property relief on the CT? I find selling is easier when it is empty, especially if they are a bit grotty.

Only if theyre legally enforceable frilly.

Just get them out. They don't deserve it.

trainspotting of course you can enforce terms of a tenancy agreement, what a bizarre thing to write?!

Frilly You would think so wouldn't you, but as I tried to explain in my post above this isn't actually the case. To do this you have to use a Section 8. Grounds 1-8 of a Section 8 refer to rent being unpaid. As you will see from the extract from the Section 8 form below, if that is proved, then the Court has to give the LL possession.

Grounds 9-17 refer to breaches of tenancy. As you will see below, even if you can prove these, the Court can still decide that it's not enough to warrant ending the tenancy.

So legal advice is always, if you want to use Section 8 for breaches of contract, you are much better to use Section 21 instead, which is no fault and just the normal two months notice which you can give at any time as soon as the initial fixed term is up.

Notes on the grounds for possession
• If the court is satisfied that any of grounds 1 to 8 is established, it must make an order (but see below in respect of fixed term
tenancies).
• Before the court will grant an order on any of grounds 9 to 17, it must be satisfied that it is reasonable to require you to leave.
This means that, if one of these grounds is set out in section 3, you will be able to suggest to the court that it is not reasonable
that you should have to leave, even if you accept that the ground applies.
• The court will not make an order under grounds 1, 3 to 6, 9 or 16, to take effect during the fixed term of the tenancy (if there is
one) and it will only make an order during the fixed term on grounds 2, 7, 7A, 8, 10 to 15 or 17 if the terms of the tenancy make
provision for it to be brought to an end on any of these grounds. It may make an order for possession on ground 7B during a
fixed-term of the tenancy even if the terms of the tenancy do not make provision for it to be brought to an end on this ground.
• Where the court makes an order for possession solely on ground 6 or 9, the landlord must pay your reasonable removal expenses.

But they haven't "sneaked" a dog in anymore than they sneaked in their sofa. They just have a dog, which their tenancy agreement allows.

Well they are doing plenty that the tenancy doesn't allow but I'm not going cut my nose off to spite my face so we'll wait

I have done everything I'm supposed to do legally

Clearly you haven't OP if you haven't placed their deposit with the DPS. One of my landlords did exactly the same - I went to the Small Claims Court for return of deposit plus 3 times the original sum and won. Seriously, the sooner you protect the deposit the better (you can still do this now).

She said she protected the bloody deposit!!!!

AHedgehogCanNeverBeBuggered you know what, my landlord hasn't protected mine but what the hell do I care, I'll get it back when I leave and I'm not a cnut looking to screw people over at any opportunity

So hang on, you don't care that your landlord isn't following the law despite being a landlord yourself?

Clearly you take your responsibilities seriously then

phoenixnix what my landlord does is not my responsibility is it

I'm sorry you are in such a precarious position, OP, but you are getting into a rage against your tenants for a lot of things they aren't guilty of.

You say they were sneaky because they have a dog. But you did not forbid pets.

You get in a rage about what you will do if they don't pay their rent, but they do pay their rent.

You criticise them for being bankrupt, but it sounds like you could also be tipped into bankrupcy if they didn't pay their rent.

For some reason you decided to rent for way below the market value, but that was your decision.

And you have been given lots of good advice about how best to deal with your tenants and sell the house, but you take it as people wanting your tenants to fuck you over.

Atenco I'm nowhere near bankruptcy but thank you for your comment

I'm not sure why people have leapt on OP saying she'll do a bank transfer as some sort of proof she hasn't protected the deposit. Most protection schemes are non custodial with the actual money held by the landlord or agent.

OP - in practice, unless you want to serve notice there's absolutely bog all you can do about the state of the property in the meantime. You might want to offer them a financial incentive to keep the property to your standards for viewings?

LamppostInWinter I thought the £400 cheaper rent might be enough you know lol
They've none about this since day one and knew that's why the rent was low