Category Tenant

When you have a check-out report done at the end of a tenancy, it should be compared with the inventory done at the start of the tenancy, and it is going to highlight anything that is in the property that wasn’t there before; in other words, it’s going to highlight things tenants leave behind.

From large pieces of furniture to bags of rubbish to lost socks in the dryer, anything and everything that is in the property has to be catalogued.

Yet if there are things tenants leave behind (and it happens in around 52 percent of properties), what is a landlord supposed to do about them? It’s an annoyance at the very least, and if the landlord is searching for new tenants, it becomes even more of a problem. Those things tenants leave behind just shouldn’t be there, but since they don’t belong to the landlord, can they remove them? Dispose of them? Sell them? Read on to find out more.

Steps To Take With The Things Tenants Leave Behind

The very first thing to do – the first thing that you should do in any kind of dispute or area of concern, in fact – is to check the tenancy agreement. Ideally you will have a clause within that document that tells you exactly what you can and can’t do with the possessions and rubbish that have been left behind by tenants.

Remember; these clauses will need to be fair and they will need to be in line with the law. If you yourself have added a clause like this (or any clause) to the tenancy agreement, it’s best to get it checked over by a professional to ensure that you’re not going to have problems if you try to enact it.

What If There Is No Clause?

Not all rental agreements are going to include a clause about what to do with the things tenants leave behind – check yours now; if it doesn’t, it’s wise to add one, just to be on the safe side. Plus it will serve as a reminder for your tenants that they aren’t meant to be leaving anything of their behind when they do move out.

The main clause in a tenancy agreement will state that the property needs to be left in the same condition (or better) as it was when the tenant moved in. This is an easy clause to understand if the tenant has taken something away; a claim can be made on the deposit. But if they have added something, it’s much more difficult to work out.

In essence, the landlord becomes the ‘involuntary bailer’ for the things tenants leave behind, and it is their job to take care of those items. This is the law in the UK, but it’s a huge pain for any landlord, and they’re not going to want the hassle of dealing with it. Yet, without a clause written into the agreement, that’s exactly what they’ll have to do.

How To Act As An Involuntary Bailer

The landlord is going to want to deal with the issue of the things tenants leave behind as soon as possible once they have become the involuntary bailer. Here are the steps to take

Contact The Tenant

The first thing you will need to do about the things tenants leave behind is to contact the owner of those things. Find out what they want you to do with them. If they say you should dispose of them, get this request in writing, and ensure they know you’ll be charging them for the cost of that disposal – it can be taken from the deposit.

If the tenant chooses to come and take the items, you must let them. However, it’s a good idea to accompany them into the property.

Protect From Damage

Until such time as the tenant or their representative can collect the items, it is the landlord’s duty to protect them from damage. They might be things tenants leave behind, but you still need to ensure they are kept safe (even if they are going to be disposed of).

Take photographs of everything; this is your proof that all was well when you found the items. Also make a detailed list of everything that was left.

This can be an arduous task, and it’s what a check-out inventory is for, so even if you hadn’t considered needing one before, it would save you a lot of time and hassle to get one done now.

How Long Do You Have To Take Care Of Things Tenants Leave Behind?

This is a great question. The law says that you need to take care of things tenants leave behind for ‘a reasonable time’, but that is so vague as to be useless. In most cases, 21 days is a sensible time frame – that should give the tenant enough time to either let you know they want you to get rid of it all, or to come and get the stuff themselves.

After this ‘reasonable time’, the landlord can dispose of the items without permission. They can also sell them if they want to, but any funds that come from a sale like this will technically – legally, in fact – belong to the tenant for up to six years after the sale.

If you are intending to dispose or sell the things tenants leave behind because you haven’t had a response from your efforts at contact, you need to give written notice to the tenant telling them exactly what you intend to do. You are legally obliged to return the deposit within 30 days from the move out date. Giving a notice of 21 days for the collection of the items gives you up to a week to claim your loses if you move fast.

Legally the document to refer to is the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977. The notice must contain the following:

1.         Date of the notice

2.         The Bailor’s (tenants) name and other details if you have any

3.         The Bailee’s (landlords) name and address

4.         Your intention to dispose or sell the items if the tenant fails to collect them within the notice period

5.         The list and reasonable level of description of the items in question

6.         Instruction about how they can collect the belongings

7.         If you intend to sell, you must include the date and place of the sale. Also include that if items are sold cost for storage and selling fees will be deducted.

8.         Specify the amount, if any, which is payable by the bailor to the bailee in respect of the goods, and which became due before the giving of the notice.

What Else?

These are the first steps to take once you have had a check-out inventory and discovered that there are things tenants leave behind in your property. Part two will be out soon which will have some more specific examples of what else you might be able to do.

In the meantime, if you need any advice or assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact Looksy Inventories.

Whether you’re a landlord or a tenant, the specifics of your lease are there to protect you, therefore it’s essential to recognise what a break clause is and just how it might be used – if you need to.

If a break clause is added to a lease, it means that either party – landlord or tenant – can end the lease early should they wish to. It might be that a tenant wants to renegotiate their lease and they use the break clause to do it, or it could be that the landlord isn’t happy with the tenant (perhaps due to complaints or late payments) and decides it’s easier to break the lease than continue with it.

The Lettings Industry

With more emphasis being put on helping people to buy property, the letting market isn’t what it used to be, and landlords are often feeling progressively anxious. When this is in addition to tenants feeling the touch of difficult economic problems, it’s not surprising the break clause has been invoked a lot more recently.

Remember that even with a break clause, there might be conditions that either party has to go through before they can be successful in breaking the lease without penalty.

Serving The Break Clause

All clauses will vary, and if you want to use yours, you will need to establish exactly how the notice should be served. Check the lease and, if you have one, check with your letting agent – getting this right will avoid any nasty confrontations and it will save you money too because if you break the lease in the wrong way, you could be liable for the rent that’s due.

It’s wise for landlords to check in with their tenants on a regular basis. After all, knowing that there’s a problem and pre-emtping any request to leave can put you in a stronger position to either agree to new terms or fix the issues and stick with the original price or other terms.

When To Deliver The Break Clause

The choice of when you should use the break clause is going to depend on several variables. This might be after a particular time period has elapsed and there might be specified dates when it is able to take place. It’s crucial that this is completely crystal clear in the conditions of the lease.

Tenants must understand the dates specified in the clause and also aim to discuss the options no less than a year prior to the notice period commences. If you’re uncertain of the dates on the break clause, you need to find clarification. Don’t do anything at the last second, as any plans you make might fall apart if the break clause isn’t what you thought it was or can’t be used for some reason.

As a landlord, a greater connection with the tenant is going to allow you to foresee whether a rent increase will mean they invoke the break clause, and therefore provides the opportunity to decide whether to invoke the increase. This can be a big reason why many tenants decide to leave.

The Problems Of A Break Clause

All tenants should make sure to pay any outstanding bills and rent up to the break clause. If anything is left outstanding, they might find it is taken out of their deposit, and that can lead to issues if they were expecting to use that money for something else. Remember, just because you decide to invoke the clause, that doesn’t mean your responsibilities are ended.

Landlords and tenants alike have to be careful when it comes to changing the locks on a rented property. Although the landlord might own the property (or at least have a mortgage on it) they are renting out, they have to aware that this is someone’s home, and that the person living there has a right to feel safe and secure. Tenants are, in fact, granted a ‘right for quiet enjoyment of their rented property’.

Equally, although the tenant lives in the property and calls it home, they have to understand that, ultimately, it belongs to someone else, and that someone else – the landlord – must be in control of the property.

This means that, apart from in a few situations and usually with the tenant’s permission, the landlord can’t change the locks in the property and vice versa.

So just when can the landlord or tenant get away with changing the locks on a rented property? Read on to find out.

Changing The Locks On A Rented Property Between Tenants

The ideal time for a landlord to carry out changing the locks on a rented property is in between tenants. Despite the fact that the rental agreement may well have said that no copies of keys should be made, it could be that this has happened, and that keys have been given to friends and family members, cleaners, contractors, or anyone else who might have needed to access the property when the tenant wasn’t home.

The fact that the tenant has moved out should mean that none of these people need to use the keys anymore, and ideally they will either be handed to the letting agent or inventory clerk at check out, or disposed of.

Yet sometimes this doesn’t happen. And to be on the safe side, and to ensure your new tenants are completely safe and secure, it’s a good idea to change the locks. Everyone’s happy, there can be no issues, and you have control over how many keys there are again (for now, at least).

Changing The Locks On A Rented Property If Keys Are Lost

What should a landlord do if a tenant loses their key and can’t get into the house? In most cases, they don’t need to do anything – the tenant will need to fork out for a new lock and they will also need to inform the landlord. Sometimes this just can’t be helped; if the tenant needs to get inside because they’ve lost their key or locked themselves out and they’ve exhausted all other options, there is nothing else to be done.

In this case, it will be down to the tenant to organise changing the locks on a rented property, and they will need to pay for it too.

What If There Has Been A Break In?

If someone has broken into a property changing the locks should be a priority. The lock itself might be damaged so that the property is longer secure, or the thieves might have stolen keys (or have a key) enabling them to return… either way, changing the locks on a rented property if there has been a break in is essential.

But who is responsible?

Well, this one is going to depend on the circumstances. If the lock or door was damaged during the burglary, it is most likely to be the landlord’s responsibility to fix the damage and change the lock at the same time – and this is probably going to be covered by insurance. If there was no damage (or if the door had been left unlocked, for example), it is probably down to the tenant to deal with.

This is why it’s important to have a good relationship between the tenant and the landlord so that, should any issues occur, they can quickly be discussed and a course of action decided on.