How to Deal with Difficult Tenants

Damage that costs you thousands. Ever increasing rent arrears. Refusing you access to inspect the property. There are any number of ways a tenant can be difficult – but how do you handle it?

Working with people can be tricky and encountering issues with your tenants can be really stressful, so we’re here to help.

We’ve previously looked at the issues landlords can face with tenants (and the issues that tenants can face with landlords). We’ve had a landlord face £30k in rent arrears because of fraud and another left with £25,000 of damage by tenants just before they moved out – unfortunately, there’s a lot that can go wrong!

Rent arrears

Rent arrears are a big issue. Being a landlord doesn’t mean you have endless financial reserves, your money is likely tied up in your investment. Whilst it might be tempting to use your savings, with mortgage rates so much higher than they were, it’s not a sustainable answer.

So – what should you do? Luckily there are a few options!

• Lay good groundwork. Now, if you’re already in rent arrears, this isn’t going to help you. But, if you’re not, or you’ve experienced rent arrears before and want to protect against it in the future, the time to act is now! Rent Guarantee Insurance is your go to here – it will cover the rent, so you don’t have to worry about the mortgage repayments and will therefore buy you the time to figure out your next move.
• Keep a close eye on your rent. If you are self-managed, don’t be complacent – make sure that you’re checking that the rent has arrived when it is supposed to and, if it doesn’t, reach out to your tenant to resolve this as soon as possible, as it could be a simple admin error on their side, perhaps they changed banks and forget to re-set up the direct debit for example.
• Act quickly. If, however, it’s not an admin error, you need to have that conversation with your tenant as soon as possible, so that you can understand what is going on. It might be a short-term hiccup due to changing jobs, in which case you might be happy to organise a repayment plan with them if they’ve otherwise been a great and reliable tenant. If you do decide this, be sure to get it agreed in writing and keep a close eye on things to make sure that the agreement is being adhered to
• Make the difficult decision. Sometimes though, there is no rescuing the situation. Your tenant may have had their salary cut and can no longer afford the monthly rent. In this instance, you can hopefully come to the mutual decision to release them from the tenancy, if it’s fixed term. This allows the tenant to move as quickly as possible and you can start to look for a replacement. However, if your tenant is simply refusing to pay and doesn’t want to speak to you about it, now is the time to reach out for legal advice regarding possible eviction. If you’ve got legal expense cover, now is the time to action it. Alternatively, you can speak to Landlord Action (we’ll leave their details in the description box below).

Ultimately, rent arrears is stressful for both the landlord and the tenant. Doing your due diligence before a tenant moves in and maintaining a professional, but approachable, relationship with them throughout the tenancy will hopefully mean a smoother ride should rent arrears throw a spanner in the works.

Damage

Damage is a pretty terrifying prospect. We’ve covered tenant damage that is so horrendous that it actually hits the headlines and leaves landlords footing the bill for tens of thousands in repairs.

But how can you protect against it? Well, there are a few ways…

• Prep your property. When you’re getting your property ready to rent, think about what you’re putting in your property. Invest in hard wearing floors and carpets that are easier to clean, for example. Wear and tear is considered fair – NOT damage – when someone is living in your property, but investing in smart choices to begin with can minimise that wear and tear and prolong the life of the most easily damaged bits of your property
• Check in. When your tenants move in, be sure to establish a professional but friendly relationship. Let them know straight away that they can let you know about any small issues in the property – this will mean you can nip problems in the bud, before they develop and grow worse (and more expensive). It’s also worth setting the expectation at the outset that you will be coming by on an annual or bi-annual basis to check the property and that an annual gas safety check will be required. You do need your tenant’s permission to do this and you must get 24hrs notice, but it’s worth setting the expectation early – and sticking to it!
• Raise concerns. If you have any concerns about the state of the property at these check ins, raise them immediately. If laminate floors are lifting, for example, it could be that your tenants are being too enthusiastic with the water when cleaning the floors, so raising that concern as soon as you notice it can nip potentially expensive – but accidental damage – in the bud
• Get a professional inventory. A professional inventory is a good investment because it’s likely to be far more thorough than one you’d do yourself and outsources the decision regarding return of deposit to a third party, so that it’s totally fair to landlord AND tenant
• Seek legal advice. All of the above rests on having a good relationship with your tenants, assuming best intentions and accidental rather than deliberate damage. But, that’s not always the case. Sometimes the damage is wilful and deliberate. In these cases, it’s highly unlikely that the tenants are letting you in for inspections (we’ll talk about access issues shortly) or, in the case of landlord Tariq Parvez (linked above), the damage happened at the end of the otherwise smooth 5 year tenancy. In these instances, we recommend that you seek legal redress as soon as possible

Access

What if you can’t even get into your property to do a regular inspection?

Now, the first thing is to understand your rights.

Yes, you own the property, but this does not give you unlimited access to the property, your tenants have the right to quiet enjoyment. You must give reasonable notice for any visits you want to make and actually, you are supposed to give at least 24hrs written notice.

If those visits are not convenient for the tenant, they can refuse. So a single refusal doesn’t necessarily mean terrible things are happening in your property, just that the timing wasn’t right.

There are some instances where you don’t need that content or notice including:

• Fire
• Urgent structural damage
• Water flowing from the building
• A strong smell of gas
• Suspicion of a violent or criminal incident
• A serious concern for welfare

But what if the tenant refuses permission consistently and it’s not just a timing issue? It’s understandable that this would be a bit of a red flag and you could be imagining all sorts – from not wanting you to see that they’re treating the property poorly or because they are undertaking illegal activities.

So what do you do about it?

Well, first, let’s not jump to conclusions! It might just be that they don’t understand why you’d want or need to access the property – this is why we recommend that you let them know you like to do annual or bi-annual inspections when you introduce yourself to them. It’s also a good idea at this point to tell them about the annual gas safety inspection.

So let your tenant know the reason for requiring access. Remind them, for example, about the annual gas safety certification check. If you have in writing that you have tried to get access to the property to carry it out and were refused – the liability falls on them.

This might be enough to convince them to give you access to the property.

However, if you can’t get access even for something as important as a legally required gas safety check, the time has come to consider legal action. Let your tenants know in writing that you will be beginning a formal route to gain access.

• Write to your local environmental health department and explain the situation so they can get in touch and urge the importance of the issue. The introduction of a higher authority might be all you need to get things moving in the right direction
• Apply for an injunction, which is quick but requires a court fee and you will have to prove that you have taken all reasonable steps, so ensure you have proof before doing so
• Serve a Section 21 if at the end of a fixed term tenancy (but be quick, as this could be on the way out before the next general election!)
• Serve a Section 8 if you are in the middle of a fixed term tenancy. You may need to go to court and again, make sure you have evidence to back your claim

Other ways to support yourself

Running a rental business can be tough, particularly if you run into these issues with tenants. If you need support or the benefit of experience to guide you through these pitfalls, book a call with us and we can put you in touch with the right letting agent for you and they can take tricky tenants off your hands, so you can focus on other things.

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