A landlord in Warrington has been left with a loss of around £30,000 thanks to a terrible tenant. The tenant in question completely ruined the buy-to-let property by leaving an absolute mess everywhere. Food was left in the kitchen, boxes were strewn all over the place, it looked as though nobody had cleaned the house for years. To make matters worse, the tenant ten vacated the property while still owing £29,000 in rent.
As per the law, David Wright – the landlord – sent is tenant a notice to vacate his house after multiple missed payments. The problem was that his tenant happily obliged, but still didn’t pay back any of the rent. Mr. Wright is now in a position where he can’t get that money back. Sadly, this type of thing happens all the time as tenants take advantage of friendly and lenient landlords. They’ll miss a few payments, then when things start getting serious, they wait for the notice to vacate and leave.
At this point, Mr. Wright was already down £29,000 in missed rental payments. Upon gaining access to the property, he was met with a staggering scene. The entire house was a complete and utter state. The carpets were stained, there was dust everywhere, the bathroom and kitchen were filled with mould and damp. The shower was no longer usable, there was dirt everywhere, and it will cost an estimated £2,000 to clean all of this up.
It’s believed that Mr. Wright was aware that the tenant had missed a few payments, but he didn’t fully understand the full scope of the problem. He’d asked for some money before, but his tenant made it seem like she was in a tough position. So, he took pity on her and let her continue renting the place for the foreseeable future. When pressed about this, he said that he shouldn’t have taken so long to take action. He let this tenant take advantage of him, and now he’s £30,000 worse off.
After this catastrophe, Mr. Wright says that he is going to sell the home and won’t rent again. Unfortunately, this happens to a lot of landlords – particularly those who are renting their first property. When you don’t understand all the different laws and rights in place, it’s easy to be taken advantage of. Landlords are perhaps guilty of being too lenient and a little bit naive. As such, they don’t always act as quickly as they should, and they don’t take the correct steps to try and regain their lost rent. By the time they try and take action, it’s too late – as Mr. Wright knows all too well.
Stories like this can put a lot of people off the prospect of becoming a landlord. However, it’s still a very profitable idea – but only if you do things correctly. Thankfully, you can avoid drama like this! If you contact SmartSpace, we can help you manage all of your rental properties. As a result, our team will stay on top of rental payments and ensure your property is kept in excellent condition!
