is it too late to change mind

st1979

Friend has a rental property and agreed to take on tenant on Saturday. Checked reference and seemed to be fine but yesterday signed 12month lease and accepted deposit. And last night found out he has been a real problem tenant in previous house and wrecked it.
I reckon she is too late now deposit and lease is signed. Tenant due to move in during week

Squall Leonhart

Don't let them move in! The best way to get rid of them is not have them there in the first place. No way would I allow a known trouble tenant move in.

duffman13

Are they fake references or what? If so that would be grounds to get out of the contract. Discuss with a solicitor but if they've been mis leading then no way would I let them move in.

TheShow

Tear up the contract and give back the deposit. Just make up a story about a family member emergency or something.

Teyla Emmagan

Major structural damage discovered. Health and safety issue. Insurance company say the place is to be uninhabited until it is resolved. Will take months. Do not let them inside the door.

dubrov

Your friend would be better off taking a fine than letting them in the door.

As the other poster said, make up a story to kill the deal

Baby01032012

I presume you haven’t given them keys yet. Return deposit as quickly as possible ideally by bank transfer but if cash or cheque get receipt from them. Use excuse noted above. Don’t give them chance to question.

ELM327

Just don't let them past the door or give keys whatever you do.
A fine is exponentially better than a problem tenant.
Well done on checking the references, could ahve saved yourself many thousands

Henry Ford III

How did this new info emerge? Just wondering.

seamus

Yep, as others say, once they're in the door, he's boned.

Cancel the lease, return the deposit, and they have no leverage.

You don't even have to make up an excuse - "Additional reference checks have yielded unsatisfactory information".

If they're not moved in yet, then the cancellation of the lease is a breach of contract issue, and not in the remit of the PRTB.

mrcheez

st1979 wrote: »

Checked reference and seemed to be fine

st1979 wrote: »

last night found out he has been a real problem tenant in previous house and wrecked it

huh? Why did the landlord give a good reference in the first place, then a bad reference later on?

s7ryf3925pivug

I'd ask a solicitor. If they have handed in notice in their current place since signing contract they could be significantly out of pocket and in a difficult situation if you reject them now. It seems to me they could look to sue you for that.

pc7

mrcheez wrote: »

huh? Why did the landlord give a good reference in the first place, then a bad reference later on?

Cause they wanted them out of their hair, you really need to do your checks, social media the works.

s7ryf3925pivug

I certainly wouldn't try deception, which will be easy enough to see through later, especially aftter posting this here.

Edgware

mrcheez wrote: »

huh? Why did the landlord give a good reference in the first place, then a bad reference later on?

Maybe the present landlord saw a chance to get rid of the troublesome tenant and gave a good reference

Edgware

st1979 wrote: »

Friend has a rental property and agreed to take on tenant on Saturday. Checked reference and seemed to be fine but yesterday signed 12month lease and accepted deposit. And last night found out he has been a real problem tenant in previous house and wrecked it.
I reckon she is too late now deposit and lease is signed. Tenant due to move in during week

This cant be true. Havent Threshold, Paul Murphy etc told us all tenants are wonderful human beings and all landlords greedy evil moneygrabbers?

mrcheez

Edgware wrote: »

Maybe the present landlord saw a chance to get rid of the troublesome tenant and gave a good reference

Curious then who gave info about the trashed house.

tvjunki

st1979 wrote: »

Friend has a rental property and agreed to take on tenant on Saturday. Checked reference and seemed to be fine but yesterday signed 12month lease and accepted deposit. And last night found out he has been a real problem tenant in previous house and wrecked it.
I reckon she is too late now deposit and lease is signed. Tenant due to move in during week

Dont let them in. Ring to say that you will not be renting to them. You do not have to give a reason. Often references are fake or a friend pretends to be their landlord. Dont forget a landlord could give a bad reference just to get rid of a bad tenant. Always look at the previous reference. If they have given a deposit give it back as soon as you can.

Edgware

mrcheez wrote: »

Curious then who gave info about the trashed house.

Landlord can hardly go back on his reference so might be a neighbour

st1979

Seems misinformation. Digged around more. And the problem person was his brother who he doesn't talk to.

Pkiernan

Glad to see you might be ok OK.
But this is a good reason why landlords should not offer 1 year lease.

Under the current law a landlord can end any tenancy In the first 6 months without cause.

Signing a 1 year lease negates this right which is the only right you have as a landlord.

the_syco

st1979 wrote: »

Seems misinformation. Digged around more. And the problem person was his brother who he doesn't talk to.

Keep digging.

Pkiernan wrote: »

Under the current law a landlord can end any tenancy In the first 6 months without cause.

The LL can end the tenancy, but it doesn't mean the tenant will leave.

mrcheez

st1979 wrote: »

Seems misinformation. Digged around more. And the problem person was his brother who he doesn't talk to.

So the brother got in and trashed the place?

Sounds well dodgy. Surely there are 100s of "normal" people out there looking to rent at the moment?

s7ryf3925pivug

Pkiernan wrote: »

Glad to see you might be ok OK.
But this is a good reason why landlords should not offer 1 year lease.

Under the current law a landlord can end any tenancy In the first 6 months without cause.

Signing a 1 year lease negates this right which is the only right you have as a landlord.

It's the norm in my experience renting. What sort of lease can you offer to avoid negating it? No fixed term at all, or just a 6 month one?