Tenant Pays no Rent and Leaves Landlord with a Hefty Bill

An Ayrshire landlord has been left with an unwanted bill after her tenant stole the cooker, boiler, fridge-freezer and washing machine when they were evicted. The tenant also smashed up the microwave and ripped out a log effect fire.

The man never even paid a penny in rent to Loretta Wight, despite living in her Ayr flat for four months. He showed her the letter from the housing benefit office confirming they had his claim but when a cheque was sent to the tenant he did not pass it on to Loretta. When the landlord got suspicious she approached the housing benefits department, who informed her that they had started payments but could not transfer the rent to her without the written consent of the tenant. The entire ordeal has left Mrs Wight more than £4000 out of pocket and it’s unknown if she’ll ever see a penny of it back. Property investors with a landlord insurance quote are usually shielded from such situations and most landlords take out an appropriate policy.

Loretta Wight said: “That flat was my holiday home and I was forced to rent it out when I had to leave my job for health reasons. I relied on the rent to feed myself and pay bills and other than a deposit at the start I never received any money at all. The deposit is nowhere near enough to cover what I lost. On top of taking all the electrical equipment the condition of the flat was a disgrace. Dirty marks on the wall, carpets wasted with cigarette burns and dirt, two sofas from a three piece suite had to be flung out because they were ruined. We had to repaint and replace the curtains and blinds because they were damaged.”

Loretta contacted her tenant over one-hundred times by phone, letter and visits to try and find a resolution. But she was left with no other option when three months passed without any sign of the rent being paid. Loretta blames the system for making it easy for dodgy tenants to scam a landlord. Police are investigating the theft and damage and they are trying to track down Loretta’s old tenant who they suspect may be doing the same to another landlord.