My Tenant Has Left the Property in a State - What Should I do?
It’s a situation that no landlord ever wants to find themselves in, but one that is all too common. We’ve heard numerous horror stories over the years of tenants leaving properties in varying states of mess and chaos. “Tenant aftermath” is a cold reality of the buy-to-let world - so what’s a landlord to do?
Firstly, though you may rightly be feeling angry and frustrated, it’s best to approach this whole thing calmly and pragmatically. You have rights as a landlord, and you have security deposit for this very reason - these will prove far better weapons than an emotional response.
So let’s break down what you can and should do if a tenant has left your property in a state.
Personal items
Let’s start with the most complicated: possessions. To be blunt, this process is a complete headache, and you probably won’t get anything out of it. It’s quite rare for landlords to return to their properties to find that tenants have left things behind, but it does happen, so here’s a quick breakdown of what to do.
Your immediate instinct may be to either dispose or sell everything that’s been left behind. However, you can only do this once you’ve observed the correct legal procedures.
Goods (or “chattels”) left behind by a tenant are protected by the Torts (Interference with Goods) Act 1977. This basically means that anything left behind still belongs to them, so you can’t lawfully immediately dispose of them.
The first thing you should do is secure the goods in a safe place either at the rental property itself, or at an alternative location such as a secure garage, a storage facility, or in your own home.
Then you need to make reasonable efforts to track down and contact the owner of the items. Provided you gathered enough information regarding points of contact for the tenant, this shouldn’t be too difficult, even if you don’t have a forwarding address for the tenant. If you’re struggling to track them down, you could use a no-win-no-fee tracing company - this type of service shouldn’t be too expensive.
Note: if the tenant has truly vanished and you cannot track them down despite your best efforts, then you are allowed to dispose of or sell the items. Just make sure you can prove that you did everything in your power to contact your former tenant, otherwise you might be at risk of civil action later down the line.
If you do manage to get hold of the tenant, they can give you permission to dispose of or sell the items. If they don’t give you permission, you can serve a Schedule 1 Notice. This basically gives notice to the tenant that you intend to dispose of or sell the good they left behind. The tenant will then have 21 days to collect their goods, after which time you are free to get rid of them.
If you sell the abandoned goods, unfortunately the proceeds don’t go straight into your pocket; they must be properly accounted for.
You can deduct your costs from the sale proceeds (i.e the cost of storage and sale proceeds). If the tenant owes you money, you can deduct from the remaining debt. Any money left over must be returned to the tenant - yup, even if you can’t find them. You have to set the money aside for the tenant for 6 years, then it’s yours.
But unless the tenant unwittingly left something really valuable behind, you’re unlikely to make any significant amount of money when all is said and done. So, yeah… let’s just hope you never have to go through this process. Like we said, it’s a complete headache!
Property Damage
This is quite a bit more straightforward (albeit equally, if not more, frustrating). Any damage incurred to the property by the tenant should be repaired using the security deposit.
If the tenant denies responsibility for the damages, it will be up to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme to decide the outcome of the claim. You’ll need to provide proof the tenant caused the damage. Hopefully, you conducted a property inventory before the start of the tenancy - that will help.
If the deposit doesn't cover the cost of the damages, you can apply to a county court to file a claim for a larger amount.
Cleaning
This can be tricky, because what constitutes ‘reasonable wear and tear’ is often hard to define. When it comes to things like carpet wear, paint, doors and cabinets, you need to take the length of tenancy into consideration.
Some things, like dirt and cigarette burns, are not considered wear and tear. You should use the security deposit to cover the cost of having carpets, walls and units cleaned. Make sure you keep the receipts of the cleaning you expect the tenant to pay for.
There’s a chance the tenant will dispute the cleaning charges. If so, pictures will come in handy here. Showing before and after pictures to your Tenancy Deposit Scheme should work in your favour.
Prevention is the Best Cure…
There is a fairly consistent way to avoid any of this happening in the first place: tenant referencing.
Thorough tenant referencing will almost always flag a potentially disastrous tenant. A bit of extra time and energy spent here could save you a world of trouble later down the line.
Moreover, you’ll want to keep on top of routine inspections. This is the best way to identify, prevent and limit any damage that may be done to your property.
And finally, make sure you compile a detailed inventory before the start of every tenancy. This helps to eliminate grey areas when it comes to claiming for damages.