Rogue tenants – the police won’t protect you, but we will
We’re doing what we can to promote a responsible, fair and professional property rental sector. Sadly, there are still landlords whose standards are poor, dangerous and unfair to tenants but, as the TV programmes show, there are plenty of rogue tenants too.
If you’re unfortunate, and you fall victim, there’s no point running to the police. They’ll view your problems as a civil matter, not a criminal one and that’s the case even if the tenant owes you thousands in rent and has scarpered with your furnishings.
Your only way of getting your money back is to go through the courts, but even if a judgement is made against your tenant, there’s no guarantee they’ll pay up. After all, they didn’t pay your rent, did they?
We’d all like to think that these rogue tenants are few and far between – we’re trusting them with our investment, giving them keys, letting them use our boilers – but statistics show that we should be very cautious. A National Landlords Association survey showed that one-third of landlords experience the problem of rent arrears and another report showed that 30% of tenants thought it acceptable to make off with their landlord’s possessions!
It’s all shocking stuff, but there are things you can do.
If things go wrong, act fast
Problems have a habit of escalating. Arrears can mount up very quickly, and if you think you’re being given the run-around, you probably are.
Legal help doesn’t have to cost a fortune. In fact, we offer a . If it turns out you need to evict your tenants, our are a brilliant option. We know exactly what we’re doing and will get on the case right away.
Protect yourself before you re-let the property
It might be a case of bolting the door after the horse has gone, but you can protect yourself from future holes in your income stream. Naturally, you’ll get a thorough tenant reference before you let anyone across the threshold again, but , is also available and it’s very affordable. It can give you complete peace of mind during the lifetime of a tenancy – a great comfort if you’ve got a mortgage payment going out of your bank account every month.
Keep your eyes and ears open, help each other out
If that dodgy tenant is still in the area – and they may well be if they work locally – it’s worth sharing what you know with other landlords. Maybe they’ve had a similar experience or know something about your next prospective tenant.
With property, we may not be able to rely on the police for help, but we can support each other.
If you’re having issues with a tenant or would simply like more protection,
