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...

All of the facts are not going to stop the OP from getting absolutely reamed.

You'll have to refund the deposit because you didn't protect it, and you can sell the furniture to help towards missed rent. In future pay the minor protection amount, it takes ten minutes to do the form, and check the rent each month. Gas check should be every year too.

This is really strange though and I'd want to know she's safe. Do you have a reference contact for her, who might be someone she still knows? Payslips for a company who can be contacted? Info on where she was from, where you can check electoral roll for a family home? What is in the drawers? What did the neighbours say about her? Depending on how unusual the message seemed, I might contact police to ask about a welfare check.

Just be thankful they are gone.

It is far worse to have a tenant who cannot pay and who refuses to leave.

Next time, if you rent again, join the NRLA and do it properly. There are a lot of boxes to tick: Right to Rent leaflet, EiCR, energy rating, gas safe, properly held deposit etc. You need to tick each and every one, and be responsive to requests for repairs etc.

You need to see it as a profession.

You have saved a lot of money on letting and management fees. You have not had any voids for 5 years. Treat this as a business cost. Give her her deposit back, be thankful that she has formally said you can dispose of the furniture (otherwise you would have had to store it for 60 days), and inform utility companies that she has gone, with no forwarding address, and that you are taking over from the date she departed.

Then you have your clean break with little more than the loss of three months rent.

And show a little kindness. Things are almost certainly tougher for her than you.

Give the deposit back. Start proceedings against her for the rent she owes and for leaving stuff in the property

I would pay the deposit back, get it in writing that she has ended the tenancy and cut your losses.

You stand to lose 3 x deposit, fines and or possible prison term for failure of gas safety checks
Did you inform your mortgage company that you were leasing ?
Did you inform the tax that you were making an income from leasing
Did you inform your insurance companies regarding your builings and contents insirance?

You cut corners for years and saved money by doing so, so just pay it and thank your lucky stars you didnt get caught out.

Just pay it back into her account and chalk it up to her experience.
You was wrong not to keep an eye on the rent account but even more wrong not to legally protect the deposit. You don't have a leg to stand on.

I think the most serious element of this legally is that you haven’t protected her deposit… legally you are obligated to do this and there are consequences if she comes looking/asks for proof.

I would seek legal advice from a solicitor.. you will likely have to shell out and wait a long time before you get any money back from the missed rent etc.

If you want to pursue a big headache and risk being uncovered that you didn’t protect her deposit, seek legal advice. If it’s not a very large amount in missed rent, I would say you’re better off selling her furniture and drawing a line under it all and finding a new tenant.

She can't because she didn't even do the legal yearly checks, so the tenancy is void and null.

The most serious element is that the OP did gas safety checks “when she moved in”.

suggesting that on top of that corner cutting with them deposit they haven’t done them since.

That can land you in prison.

For those telling the OP to sell all her stuff - there are legal requirements around this too. She should send formal notice requesting the removal of her stuff - she needs to list what is there and give a deadline date for collection (i think it's about 14 days) after which she can warn she will dispose of it. She cannot sell it and keep the money though. Any money she makes legally belongs to the tenant.
We had to deal with this when we were landlords. All this information is available online if you make the effort to do things properly 🙄

And that’s well deserved for any landlord that doesn’t bother protecting the deposit and seemingly considers themselves exempt from laws like annual safety checks…

Id bet there are multiple other things the Op hasn’t done either. It’s always the way with corner cutters.

There are no complications or unfairness. The law is clear.
Both sides enter into a contract. You are both presumed to be adult and capable. You agree to the content of the rental agreement. Its that simple.

Example; If you are a landlord and you refuse to learn the law on Carbon Monoxide Alarms - you WILL go to prison if a person suffers harm from Carbon Monoxide poisoning - if you have not kept alarms working to perfect order. IT MEANS A PRISON SENTENCE. Not a fine. This is not a game. Both sides sign an agreement covered by strict laws.
It's the same principle in regard to rent payments, deposits, care of property etc.

If she’s blocked you I doubt she’ll chase you for the deposit. Just do nothing and accept you won’t get the rent.

How can you be an accidental landlord for FIVE YEARS?
At no point in that time did you think to look up what your legal responsibilities were? Did you do all the annual checks required etc?
She can take you to court for 3 times the deposit if it wasn’t protected. I don’t think you can just sell or dispose of her furniture either.
Did you have a tenancy agreement what does that say with regards to deposit / rent / ending the tenancy?

No she won’t. She’ll just take her to court for not protecting it and get awarded three times the amount. They always find for the tenant.

You will get in big trouble for not protecting her deposit. You’re going to have to suck it up and send her the money. Otherwise you risk having to pay her up to 3 times the amount back! My landlord once had to do this as he didn’t protect mine good as he’d kept the property in a shit state. Only telling you as the TDS are hot on it and usually side with the tenant. You could try selling any of the good quality items to recoup some of the losses? Next time you’ll have to do it by the book I’m afraid.

I agree to an extent however, the worst thing to do is presume a friendly approach in a matter covered by strict laws.
I would get my ducks in a row... to the finest detail .. and do what I MUST do according to law. Thereafter I can choose to do more.

I would presume the tenant will be an arsehole and act accordingly. If she is not then I am OK. If she is I am still OK.

She’s very clearly stated in the communication with the OP that she knows it’s not protected - she doesn’t need to chase the Op for it. If the OP doesn’t pay it back she can just launch proceedings without any further contact with the OP

You’ll have to give the deposit back, or you could check the property is in order and deduct accordingly. I assume you had a contract?

I wouldn't send it back and leave it at that. She either takes you to court, in which case, you can also take her to court for unpaid rent, failure to give notice, and the cost of removing everything.

You'd owed her 3 months rent, plus return of the deposit, she'd owed you 3 months unpaid plus 1 month of failing to give notice plus removal and disposal costs.

She has more to lose by doing so.

Big big lesson learnt though.

Agree. One can not say.. If you do not adhere to the rental agreement and the law - then neither do I.
It does not work like that. I worked in the civil courts. I used to see 50 tenant/landlord disputes a day. (Many dealt with in a batch) I have never seen a judge who was not absolutely fair according to the law.

She has more to lose by doing so.

I don’t think she has, particularly if she chooses to exploit the lack of gas checks for five years.

I should read this, and hope your tenant isn't aware of her rights. Not protecting her deposit is taken very seriously, as are gas and electricity servicing.

www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection/information-landlords-must-give-tenants

These people might be able to help:

www.landlordzone.co.uk/information/tenancy-deposit-protection-2/

They didn't leave everything, they left big items but took clothes, paperwork etc. I know what you mean though, when I read the OP it crossed my mind something bad might have happened to her. Or it could be she has escaped DA and gone somewhere where she couldn't take large items. If there's a way to check on her welfare, OP should.

I think you're really in the shit IF the tenant goes after you, they can throw the book at you for not protecting the deposit and not doing annual gas safety certificates/boiler servicing.

You need legal advice on how to proceed and if there's any chance at all of you keeping the deposit in lieu of missed rent payments, no notice given and disposing of the furniture left behind.
It's quite an unusual situation
I think it's probably best on balance that you pay up. I'd be furious with myself for not having my eye on the ball and getting into this situation in the first place.
I think probably you're going to have to give her the money back