Possession won but things have got worse

[Molly]

We gained possession of our property last Friday following a court hearing and were told by neighbours that the tenants moved out that day. We waited until Monday to go into the property, as we were concerned because all the uptairs windows had been left wide open. We were accompanied by our letting agent and whilst there was some furniture left in the house and plenty of rubbish, there were no beds, the gas had been cut off etc so we all agreed from the condition that the house had been abandoned. Our agent took photos and made an itinerary. We posted a notice on the door stating that goods will remain in the house for 14 days, and to contact us for collection, changed the locks and started what will be a lengthy and expensive clear up.
However, today our tenant has called threatening us saying we have illegally evicted them and stolen his goods. He is demanding from 8 am Friday until midnight Saturday to collect his stuff, and saying he will charge us for his inconvenience (a joke as they owe over £7000 in rent). The amount in there would only take 4 hours max to remove. We do not want to hand over our new keys and he is known to be violent so we are frankly scared to be near him. What would be the best course of action??

[justaboutsane]

He is trying to intimidate you! What you have done is correct. I would notify him that he can have access on Saturday to remove his belongings and that you will wait with him while he does so. Notify the police that you could have issues and they sometimes issue a number you can use when calling to notify them of an emergancy.

Then on Saturday let him in sit in your car and wait for him to remove his belongings.

[Bel]

Is it safe to let him in the house on his own? What if he decides to change the locks etc?

[Molly]

We are very worried about letting him in the house - he is very unstable and the house is trashed as it is, but I suppose we have to. We are thinking of moving everything into one room which can be locked from the inside but accessed from the integral garage - don't know if we can this?

[Esio Trot]

You have to allow him to recover his belongings but that does not mean you have to allow him access to the property. If you do this, it defeats the object of getting you getting a possession order.

He can arrange for a contractor/friend/relation to recover the items, BUT NOT HIMSELF.

[Tweedle Dum]

Leave his stuff outside in the skip and let him get it from there.

[Ericthelobster]

We are thinking of moving everything into one room which can be locked from the inside but accessed from the integral garage

Well why not just move everything into the aforementioned integral garage, and lock him out of the house? Rubbish and all - then he can't claim he wanted something which you had diagnosed as rubbish, as an excuse to access the property again.

Have you got a couple of large hairy friends you can take along for moral support?

[DianeB]

Have you got a couple of large hairy friends you can take along for moral support?

Eric, I was just going to say the same thing!

BTW, should Molly be charging the ex-tenant for storing his goods?