Like many landlords, I have heard stories about nightmare tenants who refuse to pay their rent and cause expensive damage to the property. Thankfully I have never had the displeasure of such tenants in my properties, but since I always check a potential tenant’s references carefully prior to the start of a tenancy agreement, the chances of such an unfortunate event occurring are slim to say the least.
However, nightmare tenants are not always easy to spot, and this is especially true for inexperienced landlords who are new to the property rental business, but even so, when I read a story in the press the other day about one poor landlord’s terrible experience, I was shocked.
The landlord in question had spent a huge amount of money renovating his property before letting it out through an agency. Tenants were found who duly provided references and moved in, but after a few months, the rental payments ceased and eviction proceedings were commenced.
But this was only the start of the nightmare. It took the best part of six months for the landlord to finally kick the tenants out of his property, and when he regained possession of the house, he was faced with an appalling sight. The property he had spent thousands of pounds renovating had been trashed completely: windows were smashed, the kitchen had been ripped out and carpets torn up. Lead flashing had even been removed causing the roof to leak, and a blocked toilet had leaked waste everywhere.
Maybe if the current court system had allowed the landlord to evict his tenants faster, this level of damage might not have occurred…
