** EDIT: This matter has now been resolved. **
I have been renting my garage (which is in a block) for many years, without an issue. I had a new tenant take it on at the beginnig of Sept, he paid me deposit, but forgot the month's rent in advance, I text him, he immediately replied and paid.
Begining of Oct, no rent, I gave him a number of days, then text... no reply... then email... 4 days later a reply apologising and stating that he would pay later that day... that was 4 days ago. I have sent one polite email, tried calling (got through, bad line, then cut off, no call back, - so I text again).
It's not looking good. A bit of communication wouldn't hurt. Any thoughts on what my way forward should be here? I am thinking to give him until the end of the month, then give him a week's notice to vacate the garage for non payment of rent?
If he doesn't move out - what can/shall I do with his stuff?
We have a contract which he agreed to.
Never been in this situation before, - would appreciate any advice - thanks.
Last edited by PJdB; 16th November 2020 at 17:51.
I'd give a bit more time for comms before doing anything drastic. Stuff happens, there may be a reasonable explanation.
For rental houses/flats you need to go to court to get someone evicted, you can't just chuck their stuff out. Not sure if that would apply with a garage though, given it's not a home.
Just a thought and no idea of its legal.
Give him another week to pay and he does not come up with the rent, change the locks but leave possessions inside. When he tries to open the garage and finds his key no longer works he has no choice but to contact you.
When he does you can furnish him with the new key on payment of the rent or failing that offer to let him have his stuff back and say goodbye to him.
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
If he is unreliable from the start it probably won’t get any better....usually worse....
Should be on a DD ideally...
Anyway do you really want to spend time and effort and stress every month chasing him ??....
Get rid get someone else in who will pay regularly.....
I have a portfolio of garages that I rent out. This does happen now and again. Unfortunately you’ve got yourself a bad tenant. He won’t get any better. A text and email stating unless payment is made within 7 days for the time unpaid, you will be forced to leave his possessions outside the garage and reclaim the garage. Regardless I’d be giving him notice. My advice is to get rid of the tenant asap and get a more reliable tenant in. A quick advert on gumtree will solve this problem.
Many thanks everyone.
Is it legal for me to remove and leave his possessions outside of the garage?
Yes, I don't need this hassle, - it's not as if I am asking for a fortune, the garage is somewhat tatty and as such, it's 30% cheaper than any other garage that i've seen advertised within a fair distance.
I won't remind him for payment anymore, but I think I will give him until the end of the month (although in my heart I am sure things wont improve).
I don't want the hassle of creating an enemy (he lives local), who knows what revenge tactics some people may go to.
Terminate the contract as per the terms he signed. If you’re bottling it you can always claim that you have decided he was too much hard work and you’ll work on it this winter instead.
In any case be civil but stand firm: if he sees that you are afraid of him you’ll be lucky if he doesn’t charge you monthly for your garage.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Pretty much what happens at a self storage unit. No payment they put a padlock on your unit until you pay.Originally Posted by ben4watches
id be tempted with this also.... When he does finally make contact you can act surprised and say you thought he must of died or something as you seemed to nice a fellow to just flout rent and not answer calls. Now pay up! or F off
But those terms are in their contract...
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Indeed, the OP says he has a contract...worth slipping a clause in next time perhaps if it’s not already there? Presumably the contract covers non-payment?
It isn't a dwellinghouse - it is a storage facility.
You can just fling his sh*t out.
Be a normal person, give him 7 days to pay, times are tough, change the locks until he does.
Just crossed my mind: is it wise/not wise to tell him you've changed the lock until he pays?
Menno
Send a recorded letter giving him 7 days to pay the month due and a warning that not paying within this delay, OR not paying next month by the contractual date would void the contract.
Change the locks on the expiry date of either default.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Comes back to the contract. If you can terminate for any reason then do so and move on.
You’ve been patient enough, terminate the contract and give him 7 days to collect his belongings. Dumping them on the street will likely cause you more problems.
Cheers
Rory
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Had something similar myself a few years back which resulted in the police becoming involved.
I am not sure if this helps or not, but:
If you lock his stuff in the garage then he cannot break the lock/bolt-cut the padlock/or similar as that would be criminal damage to your property, meaning the police could be called and he could be charged for criminal damage.
For you to 'confiscate' his belongings with no intent to steal them, that is treated as a civil matter however, so he would have to involve solicitors to get his stuff back.
Ie, it is in his interests to play nice and keep you sweet - if he has any sense.
Lock his stuff in. Give him an ultimatum. Then get rid.
Many thanks again everyone, appreciate your input, all comments read with keen interest.
I copied a template garage agreement off the net, however, upon reading it again, it does NOT cover non-payment. It does state that I can use his deposit for repairs, however it doesn't mention unpaid rent.
I will report back wit the next installment in due course!
I would view things like this, like shit employees................
There is the temptation to hold off from following the disciplinery procedures, but usually 6m later - you wish you had.
Next time - get 3-6m rent in advance, and have a clear written agreement on non-payment.
But does it say you can terminate the agreement at any time on say x days notice or is it for a fixed term that neither party has the ability to terminate early?
Post a link to the agreement you copied off the net
Going forward I will definitely amend the contract. As it stands today, these are the releavant parts of the contract, so I will give him 4 weeks notice to vacate and pay.
For the Landlord to cancel this contract, the Tenant requires 4 weeks notice.
For the Tenant to cancel this contract, the Landlord requires 2 weeks notice.
The Tenant agrees that the deposit or rental payments may be used by the Landlord at the termination of this lease for the cost of repairs, if any, to the premises caused by the intentional or negligent acts of Tenant
In view of your contract it looks like your only option is to give 4 weeks notice.
Could you go to a debt collection agency to recover any owed monies?
If he doesn’t vacate at end of the 4 weeks then change the locks.
Then definitely rewrite the contract before renting to a new tenant.
Not a legal opinion but I’d think that the tenant has broken the terms by not paying and the contract is now void.
Pretty sure he is not a ‘tenant’.
Thankfully.
It's just a matter of time...
Have I missed something? That’s how the OP described him.
Thinking about it further, I guess maybe the agreement does/could have tenancy. I lease out agricultural land, and ensure that it does not become considered a SLDT or convey tenancy.
It's just a matter of time...
The occupant is (or should be if it is correctly documented) a licensee, not a tenant.
Very different in law.
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Last edited by gerard; 16th October 2020 at 19:40.
Tenant seems to cover this situation https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tenant.
Licencee is a misspelling of licensee.
I am very surprised that nobody has mentioned 'poo' and 'letterbox' yet...
just give him four weeks notice that you've decided not to rent it out anymore and that you will change the locks then and leave his belongings outside.....
get a new tennant with direct debit and generous security deposit
Yes, I will issue the 4 week's notice. Citizen's advice have said that if he does not vacate I can then give him further notice of X days that I can sell his stuff to cover the shortfall. Hopefully it won't come to that, and I won't mention that in the termination letter either.
Hopefully I can put this to bed and move on with my life... another lesson learnt.
Anything else in particular I should state in the termination letter?
PS - The deposit that I have from him will in fact cover the rent shortfall, even though the contract does not explicitly state that I can use it for rental shortfall..
It is, but I didn't think that 'tennant' was correct for a lock-up use, and can imply a whole heap of protection for the person using the lock-up which does not exist.
I think if you rent out somewhere for 'active business use' then there will be some tennancy rights.
You’d be in breach of contract then, might get messy?
I spoke to Citizen's advice, - they said that atlhough it's a grey area given the contract, I should be okay to do that. They also said that if he does not vacate after four weeks I can sell his stuff to cover any costs that I've incurred.
I don't think it is that simple. You'd need his consent, or may need to take it to SCC...
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
First thing's first, I'll issue the termination notice. I'm thinking that I will state that the rent is still owed, note the occasions that he has said that he would pay me via BT and by cash, but did not because of problems with online banking etc etc, - and that I am still happy to take the money via either means, or, also happy to retain part of the deposit to cover the shortfall.
Don’t forget the costs to change the locks for when you relet it.
Good luck with getting this sorted out soon. The time and hassle alone just not worth keeping him, let alone the money.
An obvious question but I’ll ask it: have spoken to the guy about it? I’d at least give him chance to explain why he’s missed payment. There are ways and means to have these conversations, ideally you want him to pay promptly till the end if the tenancy and avoid the hassle of terminating contracts and swapping locks etc.
Yes, I have tried calling, can't get through. He said (email) the issue is that he's changed banks, but would pay later that day (5 days ago). He then said text yesterday and said it's a problem with online banking and that he'd like to come over and pay cash, I immediately replied saying that anytime is fine as I am working from home.. no answer since.
My gut feeling is that he's just messing me around and delaying it.
I don't understand people like that, it's just not how I operate - I have never been in debt, and I hate messing people around. Just strange really.
Sell the garage to someone that wants to use it?
or keep the asset and keep renting it.
I once had a tenant who kept telling me that it was the banks fault. They always had very plausible reasons why the bank had made mistakes. They eventually got to four months in arrears. I called round on a weekly basis to collect their rent and agreed overpayment until the debt was cleared. I then gave them notice to quit.
People like this will continue until you put a stop to it. If you show any sign of sympathy/empathy, they’ll exploit it to the full.
Fortunately, there are far more decent people than rogues.
Yes strange, but there are a few people out there who think that the world owes them a living. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing I was stitching someone up, others couldn’t care less. Fortunately most people are decent.
.....
Last edited by PJdB; 16th October 2020 at 17:31.
Broken is the habit of taking 2 - 3 days to get a reply... Within 20 minutes of the Termination letter I he replies, asking why I am cancelling!?!?!?
It's like dealing with a different species.
I’d be very surprised if there’s anything left in the garage when you finally open it. In my experience they do a runner for whatever reason and take there possessions with them leaving you out of pocket for the unpaid rent.
People act in weird ways. I’ve been letting garages for 10 years and was a site manager for the largest lock up garage landlord in the country. The tenants that tend to leave stuff in garages are the ones that don’t communicate with the landlord and for some reason just disappear for whatever reason..
The company I worked for which I would say has the most experience in this field, would overlock the tenant therefore denying a tenant access until they called the office and paid the bill. We then gave access once the debt was paid. If they didn’t pay they was given notice informing them the contents of the garage would be going to landfill.. Well officially the contents went to landfill..you lot would be surprised what I’ve found in garages! Storage wars uk springs to mind!
Appreciate I made a spelling error and corrected, thanks.
Tenant and licence have very specific legal definitions in English law outside of a (US?) dictionary definition.
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