What are the laws in the uk regarding unpaid rent to a landlord?
Asked by
Jay170590 (
335
)
June 13th, 2010
from iPhone
I own a house which I rent out to tenants. They stopped
paying the rent about 3 months ago and when I went to the house i discovered they had left the house and later found they had left the country. I also found various bills for different credit cards which they had used to buy a number of laptops , phones, and other electronic items. They have also failed to pay gas and electric bills for the past 3 months. One of the tenants is still in the country but he says that he paid his share of the rent to the other tenants to pay to me. He does not have any credit cards to pay off as far as I am aware. This man is also the brother of one of the people who have left the country but he says he didn’t know they left until 2 days after. Am I able to hold him liable to pay the rent that is owed to me? Am I liable for any of the bills that are coming to the house. They are not in my name.
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
6 Answers
You are liable for council tax, but very unlikely you will get unpaid rent.
As a general rule in common law countries, and I see no reason why the UK would be unique in this regard, whoever named on the lease would be liable. If there never was a lease, there must have been a verbal agreement with a tenant – that one would be liable. If you had no agreement with this individual, even verbal, tough luck for you.
This does sound like a shell game though. Perhaps you can prove fraud, but it would be difficult.
We had a contract which states that they have to give at least 2 weeks notice before they leave, the problem is that the people who signed it are not in the country, his brother is still here but he only stayed there for 6 months, the others were there for 3 years. To be honest I’m more worried about the other debts they have and whether I will be liable to pay any if them.
@Jay170590: I don’t know enough about UK law to say for sure, but I really doubt it. They screwed over those companies the same way they screwed you over. You’re liable for what’s in your name – so if any utilities were in your name, sure, you might be liable. But the credit card debt certainly can’t be held against you.
@mammal: I suppose it is the same within the Republic of Ireland? I have an uncle there who rented out a flat over his restaurant, and when the crisis came, the tenants couldn’t afford anything so my uncle had to pay it all. Shouldn’t there be any sort of safety for stuff like this to happen?
Same remedy as any contract, except they are gone abroad, you’d be throwing good money after bad! Call and explain to other creditors- and next time, use an agent!
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
