Elderly parents non paying tenant.

[citychick]

My parents have a small flat they rent out. One family has lived there for 14 years. No issues at all. Son moved out, she divorced her husband and now lives alone in the flat. She has not paid rent since Feb 2024. Her son brings her food parcels. She has no job and will not apply for any benefits. Will not return to her homeland. Despite her mother pleading. Her son is upset and has asked her to live with him. She refuses. Local community mental health team were called. She turned them away. She sits in the dark all day. She does go out, apparently.

My parents are following legal guidelines for eviction. However, the stress of this situation is pushing them over the edge. I have stayed out of it, but continue to call and discuss, offer up potential solutions. I feel her ex-husband, who brought her to the UK, should step up. He's just flaked off but remains in the city.

This lady is not yet 50. She won't budge. My parents are falling apart over this. Their retirement nest egg has disappeared for now.

My question is, how can I support my parents. The stress is awful, and it's affecting our whole family.

They are in Scotland, so eviction is a lengthy process.
Thanks for reading.

I have power of attorney for my parent and was in a similar position. I liaised with the solicitor on behalf of my parent to minimise stress. My mum didn't have to hear about all the specific details. Eventually the tenant ended up in hospital so we could legally enter the property and change the locks. The tenant had already been rehoused but refused to leave. It is a costly process.

Is she actually entitled to benefits? If she could get housing benefit would they allow her to stay?
Maybe it's gone way beyond that but I'd be trying to convince her to apply.
If they're definitely evicting her then step away fully from the situation. Get a specialist eviction solicitor to have any further contact with her.
It's upsetting your parents being too involved in her affairs. She's refusing support, and hadn't paid. So she's leaving. Try and get them to delegate it and take away any emotion. They are not a charity.

My parents need to check the property every fortnight to check for maintenance , mainly because it's winter and the heating needs to be on to prevent burst pipes and property damage to this flat and other in the same building. Despite the fact that no bills have been paid by her , property maintenance is obviously highly important.

She has said she will not work, apply for benefits of any kind, or vacate the flat. She is Eastern European, and there are clearly cultural differences, aside from her potential mental health ones. She shows no emotion, speaks in a whisper, says virtually nothing when asked a question of any sort. Her ex-husband says he doesn't understand her behaviour, and her son is quite distraught (he's only early 20s).
Ex husband hasn't been involved much, but I wish he would be more proactive in helping the mother of his child, plus they arrived in Scotland due to his work.

Even though my parents are using a solicitor and following the law and all the time it's taking, it's stressful and upsetting. My mother was a nurse and is a very caring person. She can see this lady is struggling, but is also frustrated at the tenant's belief that she can live rent-free. For now. She will be evicted, eventually. But when this lady has family who want and need her, it seems odd that the fight to live where she is, is so strong.

I mean, this is part of what being a professional landlord is all about.

It's not just raking in money for years while doing relatively little. It's about dealing with people and all the problems that stem from that.

People should pay professionals to deal with situations if they cannot deal with it themselves. And consider that if the job of being a landlord is too much hard work then they need to employ professionals to deal with that part of the business for them.

Otherwise if they don't want to do that consider whether or not it is the right job for them.

gaspanic
Thank you for your somewhat unhelpful thoughts.
If you read the post, you'd see that they have professionals involved.
Not every landlord is a shark.
A 2 bed flat in a semi rural part of Scotland is hardly raking in money.
And when tenants stop paying, how are landlords supposed to afford the upkeep of a property? It's circular. It's not meant to be a parasitic relationship from either side.

Your parents are being more than reasonable landlords BUT they are causing themselves additional stress by staying in contact every two weeks… I’ve been a landlord for over 20 years and I manage my own portfolio and I certainly don’t have that much contact with my tenants and ONLY if there is an issue etc than I do…

It doesn’t take 10 months to do an eviction even in Scotland - why is it taking this long? I’d have had her out months ago! Your parents have helped /advised her to get a job but she doesn’t want it. They have to be firm with the legal process to get them removed from their property - there will be charities / shelter that will support their tenant.

What annoys me the most about tenants that don’t pay is that they don’t realise that landlords still have to pick up the costs and even to recover is a lengthy process!! One of the reasons why so many landlords are selling up, they simply don’t need the stress.

It is illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant in Scotland. Only the court (sherriff)can evict. Landlords need to apply for an eviction. Depending on how busy courts are, this can take a long time. If a sheriff decides a tenant can stay, then they stay. Long overdue rent is a reason to evict.

Of course, they would have evicted her by now, if they could. But Scotland has a very long and costly eviction court process. And some sheriffs may favour the tenant, no matter what the issue.

My parents are gathering paperwork for the court case. This is why she remains in the property.

Yes, she more than likely has mental health issues, but if they help her too much, then the court could lean in her favour.