To think it's fucking shit if a tenant can get away with this???

[NamechangerRanger6]

My parents are landlords. My dad has unfortunately passed away so my mum handles it alone now. The last tenant was in the house for 8yrs. 3yrs ago being in and out of hospital and ill health meant that my mum stopped inspecting. There had been no issues at any inspections so it just didn't enter her head. She did however plan to inspect last year. I know this is heavily naive and if I knew this to be the case at the time I'd have advised her differently and offered to step in for inspections myself.

6 months ago the tenant very suddenly gave notice and moved out, mum went to inspect (I drove her) when the tenant had already left (the tenant wrote a letter and posted the key with it, so there was no time to inspect) What we found was absolute filth. Human and animal shit. Piss up the walls. Rotting food, the original furniture provided with the house was smashed to bits. Parts of the doors smashed in. The patterned red carpet was so dirty it looked a dark brown and you could see no pattern. There was a wet pile of bin bags up against the kitchen door, covered in fruit flies and maggots and god knows what else. I suspect this was the cause of the mold behind the door (the only mold on any fixtures we found - plenty of moody food, clothes and bits of carpet tho) Ashtrays turned up everywhere. The sofa had fag burns all over. Toilet ripped off the wall, bathroom sink smashed on the floor. Light fixtures hanging out by wires. There's more but honestly it would take all day to write it all. I can't think of anything that's been left undamaged.

Since then, the holes in the walls have been filled in and doors replaced. Carpets ripped up. A team of cleaners got the worst of the cleaning done. The total bill for this so far is £8000 (the cleaning alone was 2800, Trust me when I say I don't blame them for that price. It was horrific and I couldn't stand in the house for more than 10 seconds without heaving). Furniture cleared out etc etc.

My mum has sent the bill for all work to the now ex tenant, there was an initial response where they offered a £15 a month payment plan. My mum cried to me about it but accepted (fearing that if she pushed they'd pay nothing) after 2 months they stopped paying. She cannot at this time afford to have further works done. The total to have everything replaced even using the cheapest materials and not replacing like for like is about £35,000. She's looking at selling but has been advised that she'll be looking at maybe £45,000 as a sale price in the state it's in (in decent condition the house would be worth approx £150k).

My mum has been in contact with a solicitor but via some digging we've found out that the tenant has left the country - for Australia. Solicitor advises that if this is the case mum has an extremely slim chance of actually recovering any monies owed and chasing it across the globe would cost thousands upon thousands and likely require an international debt collection agency of some kind and the tenant can easily just ignore it.

Aibu to think this is fucking shit?
I know that my mum should've done things differently but it seems very unfair that you can just book a flight and go to skip out on your financial responsibilities

I just can't believe the costs of 35k. We did a complete refurb on a property which had no floor, central heating, kitchen, new carpets that only came to around 8k. Your Mum is being ripped off.

Why are you and your Mum wasting your time getting angry at someone who almost certainly had mental health issues?

How do you know the tenant had MH issues? Not all people with MH issues live like that! And the tenant managed to live normally for years. And, MH issues, or not, the tenant wrecked op's mum's house. She's entitled to be furious.

Sounds doubtful that that is an accurate bill.

Being a landlord isn't a magic way to make money, it involves risk.

Yabu.

if she hasn't got the basics such as insurance covered, she isn't fit to be a landlord

I agree with this.

The costs don't sound right to me either, particularly the 45k the house would supposedly fetch.

I have friends who have been in a v similar situation. They had to had the fumigators in, as well as replace kitchen, bathroom, plumbing, electrics, floorboards and completely recarpet, redecorate and refurnish. That didn’t cost them anywhere near £35,000. That’s outrageous! Definitely get more quotes - maybe you could help her with this so trades don’t try & rip off an old lady. However, having worked in Landlord & Tenant law for a long time (a few years since though now) I used to see it all the time. The last repossession we did for a landlord my boss had to burn her suit as it became flea infested after going round the house to inventory, photograph & ensure all was secure so we could report to the Landlord. In your mum’s shoes, I’d get the basic essential work done & then sell. It should then fetch near what it’s worth, without doing absolutely every tiny thing.

Please, please, please, don't go with "various quotes, from various tradesmen". You need to get a specialist contractor in who will do EVERYTHING, down to the last screw on the letter-box. That way, you will honestly find the quote dramatically lower than all the others added together, and you will have only ONE company to deal with. TBH it sounds very much to me, like the original tennant "sub-let" and then scarpered. It doesn't make sense that he was a good tennant for many years, then all of a sudden turned into a tennant from hell. Can't blame it on ill health (mental issues) either, as he wouldn't be able to gain entry to Australia!

I bet your tenant sub let without you knowing it. I’d be very surprised if the house is worth £45k if it would be worth £150k with £30k work. It doesn’t add up.
You could still look to get a judgment against the tenant and then try to enforce. It would make any citizenship application in Australia difficult and it would also cause them problems if they return to the uk. It’s just more money down the drain though because if they haven’t got any assets in England you won’t get your money back.

I feel your pain, l had scumbag tenants a few years ago that left 45 bin bags of crap, dog shit everywhere and the toilet actually made me throw up - so upsetting. Theu too had moved out but barely took anything so l had to clear the whole house. I was so stressed as the council said l couldn't kick then out due to squatters rights. Hubby went round and scared them so the left but it was shocking. Sold the house inntue end as it wasn't worth the hassle. Disgusting how many rights they have got.

I wonder whether he was subletting the property to others? Also, beware that he may have other debts with the registered address at the property. We had that with previous tennants, bailiffs even came to the house and we had to prove they had been evicted.

I have had a couple that did this but not to this extent. Unfortunately you are not being unreasonable at all but it's really difficult to claim the money back - especially if they have moved abroad or declared bankrupt or not working. Like others say landlords insurance should be taken out. Also their deposit should have been taken. Mine also stopped paying - £8 a month - because they declared themselves bankrupt. I belong to the RLA and put the property in hands of proper letting agent with insurance. It's shit and the law is actually more on their side than ours. It should not cost £35,000 to put right??? Mine owed £8000 in unpaid rent and I had to take to court to get rid of them, much better now I am not stressing or managing it as they will take the piss unless you get good ones. Ask your solicitor to see if they can do something if they ever return to this country. It's really frustrating as we are not mega rich and just trying to raise a pension but insurance is necessary and initial checks. Also leave the minimal
Amount of furniture as they should bring their own. I was told they won't take care of your stuff so it's better if they have to bring their own. I really feel for you, it's shit x

I would advise getting a few more estamates, for the work and a few more valuations for the property. It is unfortunately not unknown for agents to 'keep their eyes open' for cheap property for a developer.

Once you have a range of valuations, try putting it on purple bricks or on Sarah Beaneys agency.

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Very definitely sounds like a sub let or even a sub sub let
Its hard but you have to let it go esp as they seem to be on the other side of the world
I have a friend who has 17 houses and unfortunately this is more common than you may think
I agree with the posters who suggest giving the complete job to one firm-surely cheaper
Then sell and get the 150K

I'd track them down via Facebook and send photos of the destruction to them and all their friends. Wouldn't help financially, but may shame them so they don't ever do it again.

This is painful to read - what’s up with people?! No common decency. I’m disgusted when I see stuff like this. After my divorce 10 years ago my ex ran with all our money (I was so numb and stupid!) and the children and I lost our own home so I had to private rent. We’ve just signed a new tenancy after being at the last one for 7.5 years. We’ve taken care of it like it was our own. Just got on with most jobs rather than bother the landlord. This is a disgraceful situation. So sorry for your Mum. Some people are great at playing the trustworthy game when they couldn’t give a .... Not had a chance to read through every post but I’m guessing no landlords insurance. I just can’t imagine leaving a house looking like a tip. Ours was spotless when we left. I mean how hard is it?! You clean! Vile people. 😡 No wonder the checks are getting tighter. I hope there’s some way you can get this sorted out. Best wishes, Luna

firstly i am sorry you are facing these issues but i find the quote of 35,000 absoloutly crazy . you may think i am mad but seriously watch a few episodes of homes under the hammer and you can get an idea of realistic costings .
if the house is going to be sold on once sorted out all you need is a basic functional kitchen from somewhere like b and q and a basic functional bathroom it does not need to be fancy , entire house painted in magnolia / cream and white , some kind of cheap flooring . i would say a reasonable amount being around 15,000 that includes new floors , ceilings re skimmed.
and if a all possibe i would get a male involved in the negotiations it amazed me how much quoes changed for things on my own house when dad got involved .... single woman knows nothing charge her the earth !!

Your poor mum I hope it can all get sorted somehow. Let's hope those arseholes that fled to australia get bitten by a black widow taste of there on poison so to speak!!!.x

Can you help her with some of the work? Can you decorate it for example. That will save a few grand I expect.

An extreme case and hopefully quite rare. Honestly this is one of the reasons I never recommend buy to let unless you have your eyes wide open and are totally aware of the risks and how you might manage them. You end up throwing good money after bad when it goes wrong, something which is not true in most investments, you just lose your initial investment. Add some leverage into the mix and it can be a recipe for disaster.

Lots needs doing, unfortunately. The floorboards upstairs are damaged, the carpets had been ripped up and piss has seeped through the floorboards and come through the ceiling. So most of the ceilings are covered in huge patches of piss.

We has this issue in a property we rented years ago. Not good, but piss patches on ceiling do dry out quickly and can be painted over and smell eliminated with good emulsion. I’d also not accept that evaluation- £150,000 down to £45,000

You have my sympathies. Frankly, even if the culprits were still in the UK - while winning the case would hopefully not have been a challenge (particularly since their offer of / and payment of £15 a month would seem to infer acceptance of liability and responsibility) you would still have the challenge of actually getting the money out of them (plus costs of enforcing any award). Maybe the best you can aim for here is to try to stop any future landlords having the same experience.

I am assuming that you could demonstrate they are at fault and are liable and that your legal advisor is reasonably confident that you would win a Court case. All the following assumes this and I would not do any of it if that assumption is false - it is about causing problems for the culprits until they clear their debt to you (but you do not want to cause more problems for yourself / your mum).

If so, perhaps spending a bit more money to trace them and push for settlement (without going to Court) might be worth a shot? If they suddenly find it difficult to rent in Australia or their existing rental in Australia is thrown into queston perhaps they might be encouraged to do the decent thing? Also, if you can get an employer's details and address I would be tempted to write to the employer asking it to forward on the bill. Then, I would be inclined to contact the local credit bureaux in Australia and provide the details of the individuals concerned (names, address, dob, employer etc) and the defaulted liability. Finally, find out which companies offer landlord's insurance in Australia and write to all of them with as much detail as possible about the culprits.

This level of damage sounds malicious to me. Without wishing to be unkind, because I appreciate your mother is vulnerable and has been under stress, could there be another side to this story? Not condoning criminal damage, obviously (before someone bites my head off), but is it possible that the tenant repeatedly asked for maintenance and repairs to be carried out and, over the course of 3+ years of being ignored, developed a fuck you attitude?

Sounds to me like the original tenant sublet the property and has probably been in Australia for a while.

Sympathies to the op, but if you do just sit back and take the money without actively managing the property, the capacity for things going wrong is pretty huge. Always do a thorough check walking through the property with the tenant and pointing out any issues every 6 months. If you are not proactive, when things start to deteriorate, you miss it and this can be the end result. The problem is with some landlords is they think providing the money keeps coming in each month there is no problem. There are also other issues, caused by failing to keep a regular check on the property including the possibility of failing in your statutory duties.

I work in insurance and unfortunately even if a policy was in place it would likely not be covered. Most landlord polices cover for the main perils such as fire and flood, malicious damage or even accidental damage are usually excluded. I can't speak for every insurer but I know our policies would have unfortunately declined it.
Landlord policies are very basic in what they cover.

What the tenant has done is terrible OP

We had this, the state of the place made me weep. You’d be surprised what insurance doesn’t cover so there’s no guarantee they would have paid out anyway, they didn’t in my case - she needs to get it now though and tell them the place is empty. We spent around 7k on ours doing it up with help from family and friends with a handyman in to do some of the bigger stuff like kitchen. I learnt a lot of skills in those 4 months, tiling, pointing, plastering etc. I sympathise, it’s utterly soul destroying 😩 in our case it was a tenant who had been there similar to your mum for a few years and all was well, they then spiralled into criminal behaviour and drugs culminating in them being arrested and bailed away from the property and us discovering the weed farm they had been cultivating in the loft😡.