Tenant has abandoned property

[AccidentalLandlord1]

Hi everyone. My tenant of 5 years has abandoned my property today. She text me to say that due to a change in circumstances, she has left the property and has posted the keys through the door and the stuff she has left behind can either be thrown away or kept. I went to check and she has left her all her furniture such as beds, wardrobes, etc. She had always paid her rent on time so admittedly I'd become a bit laid back with checking but I checked today and she has not paid rent for the last 2 months and she missed a payment in October last year too. She also had the cheek to give me her bank details to give her deposit back...! Where do I stand with getting missed rent back from this tenant? I have no idea where she has gone and she seems to of now blocked my number. I am an accidental landlord as you can tell from my username and also rather stupidly did not protect her deposit. Does this mean I have to give it back?! Even if she owes rent. Help desperately needed...

[monsterradeliciosa]

I’d leave it

you were required by law to protect that deposit and cold abs should be fined for not doing so

[isthisit83]

@rebeccachoc

She could sue you for 3 times the deposit back as you didn't protect it. So if you don't give her deposit back and she starts googling for help she may find this out, so best to pay her deposit back and lose out on the deposit and 3 months lost rent, than losing the 3 months lost rent and 3 times the deposit. Expensive lesson sadly.

I agree with this. Give her the deposit back and get the place re-rented asap

[Richhandcream]

As a landlord I can only warn Op to ignore a lot of the advice given on here by people who have no idea what they are talking about.
Op - either join the Landlordzone forum and be prepared for them to advise you and rip you a new one. Or recognise that you're in a very vulnerable position here, return the deposit and cross your fingers your tenant leaves it at that. I'm 99% sure Landlordzone will tell you the same.

[Emotionalsupportviper]

@malmi

If she owes you three months rent then I would be pointing that out to her if you could. In return, you not protecting her deposit means she could claim multiple times its value, if she decided to legally pursue it. But I would probably hang fire to see if she gets in touch so can have the conversation.

This.

IIRC she can claim 3 times the value of the deposit from you if you didn't protect it. Whether her not paying rent would be offset against this, I don't know. Possibly not because you did nothing about it at the time.

Being an "accidental" landlord doesn't mean that you can ignore the law. You had 5 years to rectify your error.

Personally I would be worried about this woman - to go off leaving such a lot of belongings is worrying.

[WeAreTheHeroes]

I was just thinking the same thing - so much misinformation on this thread. OP you have committed criminal offences. This is really serious. Get proper legal advice before you proceed and do things by the book now.

[WeAreTheHeroes]

I agree @Emotionalsupportviper - I'm wondering whether she has gone if her own free will or something terrible has happened to her. Easy for someone to send you a message then block your number. You have no idea whether that is actually her bank account for starters.

[Norriscolesbag]

Easy peasy this one- sell anything you find on eBay, cut your losses and leave her alone. She won’t be bothering you again if you don’t bother her. Learn from it for the next one.

[Emotionalsupportviper]

You have no idea whether that is actually her bank account for starters.

Good point @WeAreTheHeroes .

A woman and her young child disappear leaving everything behind? This is really not a good situation they are in.

[Tearsofgravy]

@Untitledsquatboulder

You give her her deposit back and hope to God that she doesn't report you.
The lost rent and cost of clearing out the property you suck up, think of it as a lesson learnt.
Then either start acting like a professional landlord or sell your property.

I am a landlord and in my opinion this is spot on.

[LakieLady]

@AccidentalLandlord1

I did do a gas/elec safety check when she moved in

But she moved in 5 years ago.

Did you do the gas check every year, as the law requires?

[prh47bridge]

@OldFan

These government-backed schemes ensure your tenants will get their deposit back if they:

meet the terms of your tenancy agreement
do not damage the property
pay the rent and bills

The deposit must be returned to your tenants within 10 days of you both agreeing how much they’ll get back.

www.gov.uk/deposit-protection-schemes-and-landlords

I.e. the landlord still decides how much (if anything) the person gets back, based on what the tenant's done or failed to do.
--
But obviously if OP hasn't done the basics such as safety checks a disgruntled ex-tenant could dob her in I guess..

Yes, the landlord can hold back some of the deposit provided it has been protected. As it hasn't been protected, the tenant can sue OP and the court would order full repayment of the deposit. The court is also likely to order OP to pay up to three times the deposit to the tenant as compensation for failing to protect it.

[LakieLady]

@IncompleteSenten

What you do is you put her full deposit into her bank account asap and pray she doesn't realise you broke the law and she could claim three times her deposit from you.

Eat the missed rent payments as a consequence for ignoring the law.

I think that's the best possible outcome for the OP.

There's no maximum to the fines that can be imposed on LLs for not having a GSC in place, so OP is getting off lightly by just losing a couple of months rent and having to clear out the property.

Pay back the deposit, suck up the missing rent, and think yourself lucky she hasn't come after you for the massive failings to comply with with your statutory responsbilities, OP.

Then sell the property, as you're clearly not responsible enough to be a landlord.

[prh47bridge]

@Kiopa

People on Mumsnet are mad! Don't pay the deposit back. Keep it to part cover the unpaid rent until/unless she takes you to court for it and then get some proper advice from a solicitor. She might win a claim against you for not protecting the deposot but you could counter claim for the unpaid rent. Realistically someone who abandons a rented property and doesn't pay rent for a few months is unlikely to sue you for their deposit. She's just chancing her arm.

No, people on Mumsnet are not mad. They know the law.

There is no "might" about what would happen if this goes to court. The tenant would win a claim against OP for not protecting the deposit. That would result in OP being ordered to repay the deposit plus compensation of up to three times the original deposit.

In this case, the tenant has made it clear she knows the deposit was not protected. I would view that as a warning that she will sue the OP if she doesn't get her deposit back. Given that OP has also failed to carry out regular safety checks, the tenant is in a very strong position.

[IncompleteSenten]

@Pupinski

The OP would most likely lose that legal battle. Not protecting the deposit is a serious error. The tenant could countersue for 3 times the deposit and would win - there is no defence. The tenant may claim breach of contract, and therefore the terms of the contract (rent) are null and void so not payable. The OP could additionally be facing a fine (max £20000) for not protecting the deposit.

The OP's position is not strong to say the least!

Plus she could be prosecuted for failing to do annual gas safety checks.

[YetMoreNewBeginnings]

@IncompleteSenten

Plus she could be prosecuted for failing to do annual gas safety checks.

Exactly.

Accidentally or otherwise the OP is one of the landlords these protections were put in place for…

[LakieLady]

@mrsmoppp

Lots of people on these type of threads mention reporting landlords for things have have been done that have not been legal. Who exactly do you report them too? My landlord has broken many laws. Police not Interested, local council aware. But how exactly do the laws become forcible?

The council do it where I live. They have someone who deals with disrepair in rented properties and all the legal stuff that goes with tenancies, including GSCs, EPC's etc. Oddly, based in the environmental health department.

She's shit hot, too. When one landlord made some alterations to a building in a conservation area, she got her planning colleagues on the case and the LL had to undo everything he'd done and do it properly.

[LakieLady]

@HatHairDontCare

This.

How are people believing it? 🤭

It's perfectly believable, I'm afraid.

I used to work in homelessness prevention and had a fair few cases where the LL had effectively prevented evictions by not doing the paperwork properly, protecting deposits etc.

[LakieLady]

@AlmostSummer21

Of course there are accidental
lsndlords. A poster before you explained how her sister died & thus her mother became an accidental landlord.

it's not all about money!

I might go to another country where my mum lives to look after her, basically until she dies. But England is my home, this house is my home! I'd be coming back to my home!

so I can rent it out - providing a nice home for tenants, and having the property lived in.

OR

I can leave it standing empty while people are homeless.

So I guess it's not 'accidental' but it's not like I'm doing it because I want to own rental properties.

maybe 'unintentional' is a better phrase?!

Inheriting a property with a tenant in situ is the only way someone can become a LL "accidentally" imo. Even then, they have a choice about whether to carry on being a LL or to sell the tenanted property as an investment property.

In your situation, @AlmostSummer21 , renting out your UK property will be a conscious choice, there's no accident or lack of intention involved.

If there was such a thing as an investment vehicle that would give you the same income, and allow your capital to grow in line with UK property prices, so you could buy a similar property when you return to the UK, would you bother with the hassle of renting it out?

[Savoury]

Anyone who is stuck in a cladding nightmare may be an accidental landlord. They can’t sell their flats as there is a huge wait for documentation and/or repairs, and often need to move out of their studios/1 beds as their circumstances change.

So yes it’s very possible to be an accidental landlord.

[User6495321]

As you haven't done the proper procedures, probably best to just give the deposit back, forget the missing rent and hope that is the end of it.

[ladyofshertonabbas]

People making much of the deposit scheme- has anyone used it to successfully get back 3x deposit? It sounded pretty useless when introduced tbh.

[Murphyturphy]

@ladyofshertonabbas

People making much of the deposit scheme- has anyone used it to successfully get back 3x deposit? It sounded pretty useless when introduced tbh.

Yes. My previous job was in Lettings/estate agency and yes. It happens a lot.

it’s certainly not useless. Landlords are now held accountable. They can’t just walk off with a deposit.

[Sosbanfachtheresatellyinmybath]

@malmi

If she owes you three months rent then I would be pointing that out to her if you could. In return, you not protecting her deposit means she could claim multiple times its value, if she decided to legally pursue it. But I would probably hang fire to see if she gets in touch so can have the conversation.

I wish I'd known about this. When I left my previous home due to DV, my landlord refused to give me my deposit back. It's been over a year now so no chance of getting that back 😕

[ladyofshertonabbas]

@Murphyturphy

Yes. My previous job was in Lettings/estate agency and yes. It happens a lot.

it’s certainly not useless. Landlords are now held accountable. They can’t just walk off with a deposit.

Thanks. Had assumed I’d another useless scheme, but clearly not.

[Franceen]

The deposit is protected by statute law. It is not yours. Only a court or the tenants voluntarily "gift" of it can be acceptable.
Concentrate on the rent, money owed, and her property in your house first then worry about where she is.
I would tell the police your tenant has suddenly disappeared - just for the record.
You have to decide if civil court is a path you wish to go down. Tenants have rights as do landlords.
Rent is an income and must be declared to the Tax department. It is a criminal offence not to declare rent income. So, are you a lawful landlord? If not then forget the rent owed.

Write down dates and tenancy agreement salient points. Rent owed - deposit due.
Find out where she is then write to her re the property inside the house. You should give her a written warning it will be removed within 14 days. set an actual date.
Then say you are allowed to use the deposit to offset the costs of removing the property and finding her. Etc

Remember: You can never take action off your own bat. The law and courts are very strong and necessary when dealing with rights, property, money, contracts etc.