How to Deal with Difficult Tenants – Increasingly, landlords are being held responsible for the behaviour of their tenants. Many local authorities are bringing in licensing schemes for some, or even all, of their landlords. In part, these are designed to make sure that landlords check references and generally try and deal with the anti-social behaviour that can blight some neighbourhoods. But even if you have checked tenant history, you can still end up with people living in your property who cause problems for both you and those around them.
Problems and solutions
There are plenty of ways tenants can cause problems for you as a landlord, and they all need a different approach when dealing with them. Some tenants might fail to look after a property, not cleaning it or leaving rubbish outside. Some may pay rent late, leaving you with difficulties paying your mortgage. Some might move extra people in who are not on the rental contract, or have pets when they are under contract not to. Some may have all-night parties and disturb the neighbours. It can be very difficult to predict whether tenants will cause you these kinds of problems or not, particularly if you have let through an agency and have not even met the tenants yourself.
So what to do? It is often best to take a softly-softly approach at first. Some tenants might not realise that they are causing a nuisance to neighbours, or perhaps need to change the date on which their rent is paid to make sure they have enough money in their account. It is always worth speaking to tenants and trying to come to an agreement with them before you look at costly legal action. At the same time, don’t leave it too long to deal with issues. Make regular inspections and listen to complaints from neighbours. Be aware of what is happening in your property. You should make sure you keep your side of the bargain too: keep the property well maintained and carry out repairs on time. Tenants are more likely to respect the property if you do too.
Legalities
If all else fails and you do need to evict, then you must get send them a legal notice of eviction. If you don’t, then you are likely to find yourself on the wrong side of the law yourself, however strong you feel your moral position is. If your tenants ignore an eviction notice, then you can get a posession order from the courts. If that’s ignored, then it’s time to get the bailiffs. It’s important to follow legal procedure, as an unlawful eviction can even land you in prison, or at least see you face a hefty fine. Of course, all this costs money. Good landlords insurance can help you cover the costs of lost rent and court fees.