NC for this. I know landlords aren’t always popular here.
I own and manage a few HMO’s in a nearby city. All legal requirements fulfilled, and normally have long term tenants.
I woke this morning to a host of missed calls.
One of the tenants, who has been fine for several years, invited his friend/ relative to stay for a temporary period as she was having issues with her landlord.
He did not discuss this with me or the other tenants.
Tenants are of course allowed visitors, including overnight for a day or two ( longer if they are visiting from abroad, etc. it’s pretty flexible).
The Tenancy Agreement is very clear that visitors visit the person, and they should never be left unsupervised in the property or given a key.
Around 6 weeks ago I was at the property for a routine treatment. The visitor was there alone. I had to ask her to leave as harmful chemicals were being used.
I had a chat with the tenant later and he explained it was a one off emergency.
It later transpired after complaints from other tenants and some unexplained damage that she was living in the property.
That was a problem. She had no primary address elsewhere and her presence took the property into the next level of HMO, meaning it needed to be registered.
The penalties for not registering when required are severe.
I told the tenant he needed to tell her to leave.
He did so and was met with a lot of resistance, but eventually she went, only to return in the early hours some days later. He felt he had to let her in.
He asked for my help to get her to leave. She refused, saying the council had told her that I’d have to get a court order to evict her.
Legal advice was that he invited her in and once he told her she was no longer welcome we could change locks when she was out.
She actually went out without a key and whilst she was gone he put her belongings in a locked shed outside, offering to open it when she needed.
That was about a week ago. I thought it was sorted. The calls in the early hours were from my tenant and the police asking if I would agree to her staying the night.
I would have said no and fortunately as they couldn’t reach me she was not allowed in.
This woman clearly has problems. I’d say she is vulnerable, but the same council that was advising her not to leave my property, whilst refusing any sort of practical assistance, would also be the ones taking action against me for running an unlicensed HMO.
The tenant is being bullied by so called friends to let her stay. He is under a lot of pressure but I’ve had to tell him that if he lets her stay I will have to take steps to evict him.
I have told him that I will speak to any official bodies that are trying to pressure him, and to the ‘friends’
I wasn’t expecting to speak to the police at 2-3 am though. Apparently they weren’t happy with me and thought the tenant should be able to take her in.