to ask for good luck vibes as in court tomorrow evicting non-paying tenant

[fatnfrumpy]

I am so stressed- have been since Oct when our tenant decided if he didn,t pay any rent the council will rehome him!
I have no idea what will happen in court tomorrow. Our solicitor says tenant will be a no show and if evicted will sit there till baliffs appointed by the court go round in another TWO weeks.
All the while he is there not paying to use our brand new washer/dryer, dishwasher, fridge/freezer, oven etc.
Nor paying any bills or council tax.
We have worked hard/paid tax all our working lives for some 25+ years.
Got some inheritance sadly as my DM died and as the banks are paying peanuts we decided to invest it in a flat on a buy to let mortage for our pension/childrens inheritance etc.
Bought smart flat, bought new carpets, kitchen, bathroom. Top notch with all built in appliences etc
Hoped to attract a professional couple as two bedroom near station to commute to London , all good!
Agent finds us a tenant- newly seperated man in 40's who needs two bedrooms/garden so he can have son at the weekend. Earns 40k as chef in town. no references as he lived with wife before.
Trusted agent to check his salary etc.
They move him in whilst we are on holiday, before we even had a chance to meet him.
He says he has problems with direct debit with OUR bank so his first 3 months rent are LATE. Don't worry he says! we accept his offer of bank transfer in future.
Next 3 months rent are LATE but he now offers to pay us cash.
Neighbours complain he is threatening them with violence, stealing their parcels ( signed for a laptop and sportsbag in their name but said he hadn't . Police called nothing done!)
and drug dealing from our beautiful flat!
Police have staked out our flat from neighbours flat for days on end, but not arrested him, even though he has up to 30 visitors a day there for less than ten minutes!
Asked neighbours if they have seen underage girls going in our flat!
Turns out when I checked, he doesn't work, hasnt paid any bills,gas meter has been changed to a prepaid card meter, council tax are after him etc etc
In court tomorrow to evict him as he has not paid any rent since last October although we have a mortage to pay!!!
Turns out he has been getting £560 per month HOUSING BENEFIT from last APRIL He has told the court he NEEDS to be evicted by bailiffs 30days after the court date otherwise HE has made HIMSELF homeless and won't get a council house!!!!!!
He is not from the UK nor from the EU so how can that be?
I am dreading tomorrow especially not knowing what state our flat is in as we have not been allowed in their since October as we were HASSLING him!
Please send me good vibes!
Thanks

[FreyaTheFairy]

YANBU he is a horrible guy and I hope he gets his comeuppance.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

Hope he does not turn up,if he does he will just ask for the notice to seek possession to be suspended.

But on the upside no matter what he will be found intentionally homeless by the LA as he's made himself homeless by not paying so they can discharge any duty to house.

[AdoraBell]

Good vibes heading your way. Yep, he'll get what he wants re being homeless, but he won't be your problem then. FX for you.

[Iactuallydothinkso]

Is it an assured short hold tenancy?

If so, I shouldn't worry, court will get him out as there is no defence after being asked to leave. He can't get a council house until you actually evict him. At the moment it's just possession right? Not the same as eviction. You'll get two dates, one for possession (he's meant to leave) and one for eviction (he's forced to leave) hopefully both within the month. He looks like he'll sit it out until he actually gets the notice of eviction (which is what councils need to rehome) but there's no guarantee they'll actually rehome him. But that's not your problem. On the date of eviction he probably won't be there anyway, he'll have gone as soon as he gets the eviction notice if that's his intention.

There are ways of delaying unless its a short hold tenancy.

And utter shame on your letting agency for not going through the peer checks. How was he claiming housing benefit on a 40k salary? They should have been better at their job. I'd be asking them for my costs to be honest.

[Iactuallydothinkso]

**peer??? Proper!

[Tenacity]

Wish you all the best in Court today.
It sounds like you've been let done by your letting agent big time. Is there any legal recourse to this?
I am also shocked about the advise the Council supposedly gives to private tenants regarding staying until evicted. What on earth! How is that legal?

[Beatrixpotty]

Been in your situation too.They will order eviction,but then you have to wait ,and still pay the bailiff.Sometimes it feels like even though have done nothing wrong then the law doesn't protect you and you are left out of pocket as the landlord.Does he know that if housing benefit people know he hasn't paid the rent they will stop it?When my tenant was told that they did start paying but I was left being owed money anyway which would have cost even more time & money to retrieve.Good luck

[Iactuallydothinkso]

I'd say it was unlikely the council gives this advice to people (to stay put until they get the eviction notice) it's just the only way of jumping that ladder is to have a notice of eviction. Sometimes people know what they're doing and sit it out. I'm just warning the op of the process and why the tenant might choose to do it.

[Theicingontop]

Surely if he's not paid his rent he's made himself intentionally homeless? Therefore ineligible for council assistance.

What a scumbag. Good luck OP.

[JakeBullet]

OP, you are SO not BU!

I hope to God that when the council investigate WHY he is homeless (and believe me they WILL) that this will find him intentionally homeless.....certainly with my local council eviction for non payment of rent is an "intentionally homeless" offence and he'd get nothing except hostel accommodation and the offer of help to find a private rental...which wont want him because he has a poor history of paying.

I hope to God he is not trashing your flat in petulance.....just a warning as that happened to me in the days when I was a LL with a non paying tenant.

This is crap, I am so sorry you are having to go through it. Do you have any kind of cover to help with this situation? I kw some Letting Agents offer insurance etc.

[EhricLovesTeamQhuay]

He won't get a council house regardless. In order to be in housing need you have to be evicted through no fault of your own, ie landlord wants to sell. Getting evicted for not paying rent means he will be turned away. Best case scenario for him is he becomes street homeless and gets a place in a homeless hostel (the glamour)
Idiot could have actually paid the rent to you and continued having a nice house to live in.

[EhricLovesTeamQhuay]

Oh the council do give that advice, but only if there is no likelihood of being found IH. I got a section 21 notice while on mat leave and went to the council for advice, hoping to get into the deposit guarantee scheme. They advised we would get no help if we left on the date our notice expired.

[CerealMom]

Where do you stand with the letting agent? It sounds like they didn't do their due diligence properly/at all. Can you make any claim on them/their insurance?

[NotTreadingGrapes]

YANBU. Hope it goes well!

[MammaTJ]

He has one hell of a shock coming to him. The council will say that he has made himself homeless by not paying the rent and therefore they have no obligation to rehouse him!

Good luck!

[verytellytubby]

Can you sue the letting agent?

Good luck. Hellish situation.

[janey68]

Best of luck. I would also investigate what action you can take against the letting agent, even if it's just going to the local press
With your story . It's outrageous that they didn't check work references. That's exactly what you're paying them for. Did you pay them an ongoing management fee or just an initial tenant finding fee? Either way, you have paid hundreds of £ and they've failed you.
It sounds like a high spec property in a convenient location too so the irony is the agent probably had quite a few potential tenants lined up, and let this idiot sign for it without doing proper checks or you meeting him.

Hope he gets his just desserts.

[Ilovesunflowers]

Make sure you change ALL the locks when he's evicted. What an absolute tw@t.

[Ilovesunflowers]

and if he's trashed the place go to the police.

[HoHoHoNoYouDont]

OP, I really feel for you and wish you all the best. This nightmare is drawing to a close for you, just keep thinking it will soon be over. I have experienced similar circumstances from tenants over the years and it's heartbreaking to find your property is damaged or left in a disgusting state. But, don't let it grind you down, the worst is almost over and you'll get your property back soon and that utter scumbag will be out of your life for ever.

[WilsonFrickett]

Good luck and I agree with pp that your Letting Agent is partially liable for this. If you don't fancy taking them to court, I'd be having stern words about what they can do to fix this situation - for eg, they will have tradespeople and cleaners on their books and I'd be looking for a deep clean and any % of work needing to be done to put the place right free of charge.

[DreamsTurnToGoldDust]

Op, I feel for you, but, the councils advice is to stay put and wait for eviction BUT he is still meant to pay the rent, they won't help him if he's withholding rent, there's a lot of misinformation out there. Stupid man. Hope it's over soon for you.

[Twattybollocks]

Good luck With the eviction, he sounds like a prize twat. If its any consolation the council won't house him if he's evicted for non payment of rent so that should piss on his bonfire nicely when he finds out. Karma and all that.....

[fatnfrumpy]

Tenant phoned the court this morning to ask what time he had to be there- 3.30pm.
The judge waited till 4.15pm for him but he was a no- show.
Court papers show he receives £871 per month in JSA and HB yet he is Algerian.
He owes us to date £4,789.00 so now has a CCJ however our solicitor says he will not pay it voluntarily so to enforce it we would have to get him made bankrupt.
He has until 16th April to move out. Then we have to go back to court to get court appointed baliffs.
I asked the solicitor if I could go round and see him after court. She said I still had to give him notice to inspect the flat but if I asked to be let in and he agreed that would be fine.
My husband refused to come with me, thinks we should just leave him alone in case he got violent etc.
ig row and I went on my own.
Rang the security entrance three times, no answer. So left my hand on it and he answered.
I asked if I could come in and he buzzed me in. I had my keys but didn't use them.
He stood in the doorway and I asked him if I could come in and he said no. He said this is my flat and I have rights.
I walked down the stairs telling him I was giving him 24 hrs notice and I would be back with my keys tomorrow. He then let me in.
The stench of skunk was repellant! The flat is absolutly disgusting. Couldn't even see the kitchen work surfaces.
The heating was on full blast and all the curtains shut with all the lights on. Yet he is not paying his bills.
He looked unkempt and dirty.
He said he did,nt come to court because he was embarrased, we are decent people and he has hit a bad time, he is owed £70,000 from the restaurant he works at as a Michelin starred chef!!!!!!!!
He will pay us back if we let him stay, he has no where to go and is ill.
I was shaking when I left and had to go and buy 10 cigs ( I gave up a year ago!)
So it remains to be seen if he will pay us the money. He seems to think if he pays it he can stay?
We won't hold our breath I guess we will be back in court end of April.