sab
01-02-2005, 10:00 AM
:confused:
I am sorry if you've read this on the "old" forum. I am posting it in a hope that more readers mean more advice! There it goes again:
I have received a letter from my tenant in which she tells me that she won't be able to pay rent for 2 upcoming months. She claims that she has just found that that she will be unemployed in a month and that she has no savings. She is a lone parent of two children and she says that her wage doesn't allow her to save enough money to dip into her savings whilst she looks for a new job or until the housing benefit kicks in. She tells me in her letter that, although her tenancy runs till 29th of April, she will move out in the end of February so I could rent it to someone else and get paid. She says that she needs this time to be able to save enough money to move somewhere cheaper, to pay the deposit and rent upfront. She also says that she would need for me to give her a good reference, as otherwise no other landlord would take her on.
To be fair, I had no problems with this tenant for last two years and she paid whole first year rent upfront. She looked after the property and paid on time.
I am not sure as to the bargain she proposes- loss of three months rental (as she also did not pay for December, claiming family problems), offset by 6 weeks deposit and then she is out of my hair OR court proceedings with time delays and costs involved. I am aware that I could have the costs and interest awarded but having a judgement is one thing and actually getting the money is another, as if she is on low income or not working at all, instalments may be set quite low. The housing benefit takes ages to get sorted in my borough, which is Ealing, London and they won’t rehouse her till I have the possession order.
Do you think quick possession of the property may be a more realistic, "cut my losses" option or shall I issue a notice and start legal proceedings just in case but still give her a good references so someone else could take her on? She is not really a tenant from hell but I need to safeguard my income. I would appreciate your experienced advice, maybe you have been a party to such a bargain or maybe there was a thread about it before which you could point out to me?
I am sorry if you've read this on the "old" forum. I am posting it in a hope that more readers mean more advice! There it goes again:
I have received a letter from my tenant in which she tells me that she won't be able to pay rent for 2 upcoming months. She claims that she has just found that that she will be unemployed in a month and that she has no savings. She is a lone parent of two children and she says that her wage doesn't allow her to save enough money to dip into her savings whilst she looks for a new job or until the housing benefit kicks in. She tells me in her letter that, although her tenancy runs till 29th of April, she will move out in the end of February so I could rent it to someone else and get paid. She says that she needs this time to be able to save enough money to move somewhere cheaper, to pay the deposit and rent upfront. She also says that she would need for me to give her a good reference, as otherwise no other landlord would take her on.
To be fair, I had no problems with this tenant for last two years and she paid whole first year rent upfront. She looked after the property and paid on time.
I am not sure as to the bargain she proposes- loss of three months rental (as she also did not pay for December, claiming family problems), offset by 6 weeks deposit and then she is out of my hair OR court proceedings with time delays and costs involved. I am aware that I could have the costs and interest awarded but having a judgement is one thing and actually getting the money is another, as if she is on low income or not working at all, instalments may be set quite low. The housing benefit takes ages to get sorted in my borough, which is Ealing, London and they won’t rehouse her till I have the possession order.
Do you think quick possession of the property may be a more realistic, "cut my losses" option or shall I issue a notice and start legal proceedings just in case but still give her a good references so someone else could take her on? She is not really a tenant from hell but I need to safeguard my income. I would appreciate your experienced advice, maybe you have been a party to such a bargain or maybe there was a thread about it before which you could point out to me?