can i take tenant to court?

[robort]

I now realise that i should do things properly but being dumb I:

rented out my house to a friend of a friend. i made them sign a bit of paper saying that they agree to pay the rent and bills and must give a months notice. now i have been lax in collecting rent and bills although have constantly asked for them and he has paid some. however he has now left without giving notice, has left the house in a tip and owes me both bills and rent.

legally can i do anything or is my piece of paper worth nothing as i should have done a proper contract?

any help appreciated - so much for trusting people :(

[dazalock]

Can you tell us what this bit of paper said, does it contain any dates and did you take a deposit. As far as Im aware, you can have it written on a fag packet as long as certain information is detailed on the "AST". More info please.

[Paul_f]

You have definitely created an AST no matter what your bit of paper says.

If your friend has given you back the keys then I think you can safely put it down to experience and do it better next time.

If you don't have the keys you must get some written confirmation from your tenant that he has surrendered absolutely, otherwise you will have to go the court route probably under S.8 (look it up in the search facility). If the tenancy is still within the first six months of creation then you might have a problem if your friend gets awkward.

I wouldn't bother trying the get back your money if you manage to obtain possession as you will have been lucky.

You know you've made a mistake so no doubt you'll learn from it.

[robort]

paper said something like (dont have it with me ) I x agree to pay a rent of x at the beginning of every month and to pay all bills including council tax. i agree to give one months notice and to leave the property in the state i found it in. signed and dated by him and me

I have the keys but am owed about 2k so can i / is it worth taking to court?

[dazalock]

Mate, listen to the man, you have been very lucky the "friend" didnt stop paying you rent and decide to live in the place rent free, then you would have had a mare. What bills does he owe, if the utilities were in his name, the companies will chase him, council tax isnt your problem.

If you still want to go through the hassle of chasing him for money, and I understand it is infuriating, try https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

[Andy Parker]

Paul - If the paper signed creates a valid AST then why abandon the rent owed?
dazalock - If no rent had been paid and no tenancy had been created the 'friend' could have been evicted very easily as they would have been staying there under license.

[dazalock]

I assumed by the line "rent and bills although have constantly asked for them and he has paid some" that some rent has been paid, but fair point if none has.