What are the 5 top mistakes that landlords should avoid? There is always something in the news about #tenants suffering at the hands of unscrupulous #landlords but what about poor landlords who suffer from #badtenants? Studies conducted recently show that landlords are either getting themselves in a mess with paperwork, failing to get the basics of managing a #property right – or both! This can often put them on the losing side when disputes happen. As more and more novice landlords appear on the scene in the UK, driven either by the wish to bolster their pension pots or #rent out their #homes to escape negative equity traps, this can leave many facing lengthy and costly legal battles that could have been prevented. pervaiz-naviede-family-trust-news.co.uk offers the following 5 tips provide covering some of the most costly landlord mistakes and how to avoid them: 1. Not checking the property before and after the tenancy begins Its easy to get distracted by all the form filling and preparing a property for rent, but checking on the condition of your property before and after a #tenancy begins is one of the most important tasks for a landlord or their #lettingagent. Yet damage to property is now the leading causes of landlord #disputes with tenants according to Online Letting Agents research. 58% of landlords surveyed reported #damage to property and 50% redecoration as the top causes of disputes. To avoid #costly #repairs, it is worth taking #photographs of the #condition of the property before the tenant moves in. Depending on what you leave behind in the property, it is also worth running a check on any items of value you may leave behind. Possession as they say is nine tenths of the law and it could be difficult to prove that you own something if the tenant decides to do a runner with it when their agreement with you comes to an end. 2. Failing to keep on top of #rental payments Landlords invest in property to make money right? You might think then that everyone gets a tenant that pays their rent on time every month with no problems. Sadly this is not the case for a sizable number of landlords faced with rent arrears. Rent arrears, according to national debt advice charity Money Advice Trust, are the fastest growing debt problem in the UK. To emphasise the problem, a study this year ound that a whopping 67,000 households owed more than two months rent according to the study by LSL Property Services. Thats a lot of landlords facing uncertainty and the stress of chasing payments or instructing their letting agent to do it for them. Worse still it looks like many tenants will try all ways to wriggle out of paying their rent on time and when their excuses are not accepted, they then enter into costly legal disputes. 42% of landlords report rent arrears as a leading cause of disputes with their tenants according to Online Estate Agents. Two thirds of those landlords have ended up in court trying to settle disputes with an even more unlucky 20% of landlords attempting to recover more than £1,000. To avoid these costly legal battles, landlords should chase payments as early as possible and importantly in a way that is not seen as harassing their tenant. Ideally a good letting agent should be doing this on behalf of the landlord but it is still worth checking that proceedings are in place for #latepayments. 3. Failing to fill in paperwork correctly Dont you just hate filling in paperwork? If you decide to become a landlord you will have plenty to do and you will need to spend some time on it to get things right, unlike the 62% of landlords who get it wrong. It might even be worth checking your letting agents paperwork just in case they too have made mistakes. Among the 62% of incorrect notices presented to tenants, a proportion of them were actually prepared by agents who should have known better. It can take months to evict a bad tenant and getting paperwork in order right from the start is the best defence against any problems later. 4. #Depositprotection A widely publicised loophole means that landlords thrown out of tenant deposit protection schemes can effectively run away with tenant deposits. This happens even if it is technically illegal not to protect tenant deposits. This can lead to the temptation to play the system and keep deposits, however anyone landlord attempting this is walking a fine line and could end up in a legal mess. Landlords who forget to secure a #deposit within 30 days of a deposit being received simply hand the tenant the right to remain in #possession while the Landlord foots the bill to try and remove them. This will be the case even if the person occupying the house turns out to be the tenant from hell. The best advice is dont try to be clever landlord and keep within the law. 5. Poor #communication with tenants and #agents Successful landlords need tenants and in most cases agents as well. Most of the problems highlighted above could be solved with better communication. This doesnt mean you should harass your tenants, which can risk committing an offence for harassment The Protection from Eviction Act 1977 states: The landlord of a residential occupier or an agent of the landlord shall be guilty of an offence if— (a) he does acts likely to interfere with the peace or comfort of the residential occupier or members of his household, or (b) he persistently withdraws or withholds services reasonably required for the occupation of the premises in question as a residence, and (in either case) he knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, that that conduct is likely to cause the residential occupier to give up the occupation of the whole or part of the premises or to refrain from exercising any right or pursuing any remedy in respect of the whole or part of the premises In all dealings with the tenant, a landlord should act with common sense and keep the lines of communication open without being seen as interfering. An agent too has a responsibility to make sure tenants are looking after the property and if they are managing it, ensure that they respond to any queries or reasonable requests from the tenant. Becoming a landlord means that there will be certain responsibilities and the happiest tenant landlord arrangements are the ones where everyone is clear on what those responsibilities are.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 13:24:15 +0000
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