Renting out property

[Ducati]

I have a little one bedroom flat which I rent out privately to a divorced guy: about eight months ago he phoned me to let me know that his ex-wife was financially crippling him, and therefore could he possibly have a bit of a payment holiday. Having been  divorced myself, I took pity on him, and gave him three months to sort himself out. After three months no money was forthcoming, and he kept on pleading poverty, so continued to defer the rent.

A week ago, while on my way to work, I noticed there was a brand spanking new Audi TT in the designated parking spot, but thought nothing about it thinking he must've had a visitor. Anyway, the long and the short of it is that this car is his - I saw him driving it and confronted him, his excuse being it was such a fantastic deal that he couldn't pass it up. I asked for my rent, but he said he couldn't afford it. So, possibly a little hot headedly, I threw him out - literally, changed the locks and told him he can have his TV etc... back when he's paid me my rent.

 

Anybody any idea what the ramifications are? Can I be accused of theft by holding his TV etc... to ransom?

I don't care that I've left him without a roof over his head, because I feel he has taken the complete p155 out of me.

 

I naively thought I was being a nice guy!

[jake-the-peg]

I think you're in trouble.

There are legal procedures for eviction and extracting repayment and that isn't one of them!

I think you'll shortly get some better qualified answers from some other ABers soon but in the meantime try this link.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/rent_arrears_evictions.htm

[silly moo]

I quite understand why you did what you did , but you are almost certainly in the wrong legally.
The CAB may be able to give you some free advice as a first port of call,

[DaveW]

I also have a flat which I rent out. First of all your'e a bloody idiot for letting him not pay. These people will take you for a ride the first chance they get, be tough and take no crap (but you know that now).As for your'e legal position, if you sell or chuck his stuff out your'e in the sh1t, you can however store his stuff safely without any comeback. Chances are he won't have the balls to do anything about it anyway. You don't say wether you have a contract, if you have that may be a snag.If it comes to anything, deny everything. A bit scary I know,but trust me it works.Good luck 

[samz90]

I had the same problem with a tenant. Owed me �900 in rent. I got a ccj against him. That way he will have the money deduced from his account every week until the debt is paid off. He also has to pay the court costs.

[mufcnumber18]

You have a problem. There is a little thing called the Protection from Eviction Act 1977, which makes it a criminal offence to evict someone from residential accommodation without a Court Order. You have therefore already committed a criminal offence.

There are also sanctions under the Housing Act, which also sets out the damages due to a tenant for unlawful eviction. At their worst (for you) they are the difference in value between the flat with vacant possession and with a sitting tenant. There have been cases where that has been �20,000!!

I would suggest you get advice from a Solicitor immediately, get the tenant back in (which cuts down on the damages he could claim), and evict him properly

[welshlibranr]

You were being a nice guy, but he was taking the pi55, so don't worry about him, he'll be off ripping some other nice person off as we speak!.......