Getting rid of bad tenants

This chapter is entitled ‘Getting Rid of Bad Tenants’ but we should first consider the kinds of things that we should ensure as landlords should be done to get good tenants into our properties. The most important factor is to make sure you have a good letting agent who actually cares about the job they do and are also good at their job. If you are new to investing it is best to try and get recommendations from other landlords. If this isn’t possible a few simple tests will help to discover whether they are organised (probably the biggest skill a letting agent needs) and whether they know their job. I would suggest ringing three letting agents to begin with. Have a general chat with them but also ask them to do 3 things for you. My three would be:

1.    Send a copy of the letting agent agreement and AST (tenancy agreement) to your home address.

2.    Ask them to e-mail you something by a certain date (2 days time).

3.    Ask them to suggest another one of their landlords that you can speak to. Ask them to ring the other landlord first and then get them to call you to confirm that it is OK.

If they can post/e-mail/ring all 3 items then that does show good organisation and attention to detail. If they can’t be bothered or only do one or two how are they going to cope with more complex letting issues that arise? Only use an agent who does all 3 or informs you of an item that they haven’t managed to complete due to xyz (if they do this they are managing your expectations and are keeping you informed).

When you have short-listed the letting agents I would suggest meeting them face to face, even if this means a trip of several hundred miles. Ideally you would meet two letting agents face to face. When you meet them you need to get a feel for who they are, who works there, how many properties they manage etc…. This may all sound a bit long winded but letting agents are a critical component of being a landlord. It is the letting agent that has the relationship with the tenant, they make sure the rent arrives and most importantly they make sure that you get paid and that the mortgage gets paid!

However even if you have carefully selected an agent and they are doing a good job for you things can go wrong. If things do go wrong you need an agent who is used to dealing with evictions and can manage the process for you or (if you have the time – as agents will normally charge for eviction work) can advise you how to manage the process.

There are two kinds of tenancy notice that are related to gaining possession of your property. They are:

Section 8 - this is served when the tenant is 8 weeks in arrears. This is a notice of the landlord requesting possession back from the tenant. After 3 weeks, if a satisfactory response hasn’t been received by the tenant, then an application to the courts can be made for repossession.

Section 21 – this is a possession order which can be made at the end of a tenancy. Under AST (Assured Short (Possession order) served normally at the beginning of a tenancy which gives the tenant a notice – 2 months notice for possession of a property at the end of a tenancy – whether tenant is in arrears or not. Serve at start of the tenancy – lets them know that we are serious about notices.

There are two kinds of repossession process that you can undertake through the courts. These are an accelerated possession order and a standard possession order. The main difference between them is if you use the accelerated possession order is that it is much quicker than a standard possession order but you do waive your right to claim any outstanding rent that is due to you. I have only used the accelerated possession order and have no experience of a standard possession order. I strongly recommend that you take legal advice on a tenancy issue. My letting agent managed the process for me but only did this as he was experienced in doing so.

I am not going to write more about the repossession process as I am not an expert in this area. I would welcome a contribution from anyone who is.