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...

[Coffeellama]

@AccidentalLandlord1

This is a genuine post. Clearly I have been very stupid and I will be selling the property. I'm not heartless and like to think I'm a good person. She has a young child and has left all her child's furniture behind so I imagine isn't in a great situation. She paid fairly low rent and I only increased the rent once which was only by 25 pounds a month. If she was struggling and informed me then I would of tried to come up with a reasonable plan.

Doubtful you would have tried to help her considering you didn’t give a shit wether the property was safe to live in or not.

[Blossomtoes]

@AccidentalLandlord1

To answer above question, the property is in good order.

You’re very lucky then. Pay her back the deposit and sell the property and hope she’s happy with that. You’ll need another gas check in order to sell, by the way.

[Blablablanamechangagain]

@Whatthefnow

@Motorcycleemptyness what an unnecessary and mean response.

No. Not really.

[LozzaChops101]

Hello OP. Another accidental landlord here (come on then) - I can’t urge you strongly enough to have the property managed in the future. I really wouldn’t be able to keep on top of what’s required if I didn’t. Of course it costs a bit, but I know that everything is under control and above board. Very much worth it if you’re not a “career” landlord, and if you can’t keep abreast of what you’re meant to be doing!

Hope your situation works out with minimum nightmare for everyone 😬

[Kerfuffler]

"I know I left a woman and small child at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning or gas explosion for years, but I could have charged more rent than I did" doesn't cut it.

[prh47bridge]

OP's tenant knows the deposit wasn't protected. If OP doesn't repay it in full, she could take her to court. OP would then be ordered to repay the full deposit, in addition to which she could be ordered to pay her tenant up to 3 times the deposit. Keeping the deposit would be a very risky move for OP. Even if she returns it, her tenant could still take her to court for more because it wasn't protected.

I am not "lower earning".

[istillmissmydad]

How would she know you didn't protect her deposit?

[Crikeyalmighty]

Whilst I think her behaviour is out of order, I do think OP you have kind of made your own bed by not doing things by the book. People who rent aren't automatically daft- as many on here seem to think-she will more than likely be well aware of this.

[Blossomtoes]

@istillmissmydad

How would she know you didn't protect her deposit?

She can check with the deposit schemes. There are only three so it’s pretty easy.

[Abracadabra28]

You need to give the deposit back given that you haven't protected it. I rented a property years ago and when we came to leave, part of the carpet under the bed was moth eaten, it had been out of sight no other signs of moths anywhere else. Landlord wanted to keep my 2k deposit to replace all of the carpets in the whole flat, despite this being a small patch in 1 room and not necessarily caused by me. Flat was furnished when we moved in.
Anyway I said I'd dispute it with the deposit protection scheme and then I discovered they hadnt protected my deposit. So once I confronted them they paid the full deposit back. They said that they didn't protect it because they never had with other tenants.
.

[CoedenNadoligLanOHyd]

Are you sure jt was her that messaged? If she's been a good tenant, and this is out of character I'd be wanting to know she is actually okay. Especially as she's left her belongings behind.

[EnthENd]

Nothing "accidental" about it.

IMHO. I assume the property is empty of general belongings with only furniture remaining. Along with the message and the keys being pushed through the letterbox, I'd say that's a clear-cut surrender of the tenancy.

Return the deposit, being sure that you can prove you did so, and hope to have no further dealings with your ex-tenant. You've been breaking the law yourself so you would be foolish to start anything that could put you in court.

If there's also stuff like clothes, gadgets, documents, etc then you should be more cautious - the tenant might come back claiming they never ended the tenancy after all, maybe they claim their stalker ex robbed their phone and keys or something like that.

[CandyLeBonBon]

@AccidentalLandlord1

This is a genuine post. Clearly I have been very stupid and I will be selling the property. I'm not heartless and like to think I'm a good person. She has a young child and has left all her child's furniture behind so I imagine isn't in a great situation. She paid fairly low rent and I only increased the rent once which was only by 25 pounds a month. If she was struggling and informed me then I would of tried to come up with a reasonable plan.

You've been taking rent for 5 years.

I'm not a landlord and even I know you have to do a regular gas safety check and put a deposit into a proper scheme.

Ffs

[Soakitup37]

So you’re basically asking Wwyd now you’re in the shit?

after taking rent for 5 years as an “accidental” landlord and not protecting the deposit, now instead of checking on the tenant you’re asking now to reclaim money you shouldn’t keep?

yeah that’s shady.

[MoreSleepPleasee]

Give the deposit back ASAP and hope she hasn't reported you. The fact she's asked for it and said she knows it isn't protected shows she knows you can get in trouble for withholding it.

[stayathomer]

NorthernDrizzle
No-one is an accidental landlord and certainly not for 5 years


What planet do you live on? We’ve been accidental landlords for 12 years now- bought an apartment, moved out when we both got jobs we could no longer commute to as we had kids , paid 4 times what is was worth only months after we bought and was told by the bank they’d take us to court if we tried to sell for anything less than what we owed. We’ve been renting it out since and will be able to sell within the next ten years (thank goodness!!) we rented for ten years while our tenants paid half of the mortgage payment, and were poor for about five of those years. And it’s not an uncommon story. If you try to sell in negative equity your options are be sued or never own again. Op am no help but best of luck

[stayathomer]

By the way are still renting out but getting full mortgage price now thank goodness!

[Thesharkradar]

@Undisclosedlocation

The term ‘accidental landlord’ is really ticking me off here.
OP, you were happy enough to ‘accidentally’ collect rent for 5 years while dodging your legal responsibilities.
Bit of a nerve whining now it’s come back to bite you imo

I agree, 'accidental landlord' is an insulting and ridable misnomer!
However...'accidental landlord' has a bit of a red meat vibe about it on this thread😶

[Thesharkradar]

@stayathomer

NorthernDrizzle
No-one is an accidental landlord and certainly not for 5 years


What planet do you live on? We’ve been accidental landlords for 12 years now- bought an apartment, moved out when we both got jobs we could no longer commute to as we had kids , paid 4 times what is was worth only months after we bought and was told by the bank they’d take us to court if we tried to sell for anything less than what we owed. We’ve been renting it out since and will be able to sell within the next ten years (thank goodness!!) we rented for ten years while our tenants paid half of the mortgage payment, and were poor for about five of those years. And it’s not an uncommon story. If you try to sell in negative equity your options are be sued or never own again. Op am no help but best of luck

'accidental landlord'?
hmm, in your case that sounds like code for 'made bad financial decisions'?

[Boogismyname]

Oh dear, landlord karma. No sympathy given the fact that you didn't protect her deposit.

[SoShallINever]

@CoedenNadoligLanOHyd

Are you sure jt was her that messaged? If she's been a good tenant, and this is out of character I'd be wanting to know she is actually okay. Especially as she's left her belongings behind.

Yes this. I'd be concerned for her welfare. She's paid you reliably for 5 years, this is very out of character.

[AccidentalLandlord1]

I actually was also concerned for her welfare as it is so out of character and strange so knocked on the flat next door to see if they knew anything and they had no clue she was moving out.

[AccidentalLandlord1]

She has literally just disappeared and left all their furniture. All clothes/toiletries/toys gone though. She's even left wall art up.

[CoedenNadoligLanOHyd]

Well in that case, ask the police to check on her welfare. Have all the clothes/paperwork/toys gone?

It could be that she's had to move quickly, or maybe she has come to harm. I'd be worried about her to be honest.

[Mayflier]

This thread is strongly telling me I need to evict my once-lodger-now-tenant and sell the property I'd really like to be shot of but keep on because he can't afford to buy it and I don't want to kick him out of his home. I've been compromising my life choices for years and now it turns out I was the "bad guy" for letting him stay and taking rent from him all along. Thanks mumsnet for a moment of much-needed clarity.