[taxis]

I dont normally get involved with forums but having just read this post felt I had to say something, this person who is being slandered about in this post is renting from me now, I have only known her a short while but having seen all her dogs which are in immaculate condition, have wonderful temperaments and are all a very friendly clean bunch I cannot understand why anyone would say that they have been beaten ,kicked and lived in dreadful conditions, Surely anyone who went to buy a puppy and saw the so called conditions that the dogs were kept in would walk away and report them to whatever authorities they felt fit!  I am not getting into any liable matter with whoever it is that has a gripe against this person but I can assure them that the matter is already in the hands of a solicitor so  I would think twice about posting things on forums first. On a last note my house that is now being rented is immaculate!!!

[Sandy]

There are always 2 sides 

All people know is what they are told, maybe its a lesson to us all to think about both sides of the story and the reasoning behind things!!!!!!

Great if the dogs are fine, that can only be good news for all concerned!

[deepinthewoods]

well i never!!!! superinjunction anyone?

[Beewyched]

I dont normally get involved with forums but having just read this post felt I had to say something, this person who is being slandered about in this post is renting from me now, I have only known her a short while but having seen all her dogs which are in immaculate condition, have wonderful temperaments and are all a very friendly clean bunch I cannot understand why anyone would say that they have been beaten ,kicked and lived in dreadful conditions, Surely anyone who went to buy a puppy and saw the so called conditions that the dogs were kept in would walk away and report them to whatever authorities they felt fit!  I am not getting into any liable matter with whoever it is that has a gripe against this person but I can assure them that the matter is already in the hands of a solicitor so  I would think twice about posting things on forums first. On a last note my house that is now being rented is immaculate!!!

You are clearly a friend of this person & yours is obviously not a genuine post (afterall this is your first post on this forum) your profile is blank, but would it help if I send photographs of the condition of my house?  Very pleased to hear a solicitor is involved, as this means there will be a response to the legal notice that you will be aware was issued earlier this week.

[Cavendish]

It could well be the person in question who has posted posing as a friend.  

How did they get wind of this forum and in particular this posting, It's possible that someone on here know's them?

[doganjo]

Googling their own name or affix to see if anyone is speaking about them could have got them here.

[suziequeue]

Yes but nobody's mentioned the individual's name or affix on the forum.....weird

[Beewyched]

Yes but nobody's mentioned the individual's name or affix on the forum.....weird

I did SQ, on the 21st June - but you know what they say about hats 

[suziequeue]

Oh sorry - must have missed that 

Cancel my last 

[jaykay]

Just caught up with the latest on this (forum going slowly coincided with our Internet going slowly...) and am so glad you're making progress, after such a horrible experience  As for the one-off posts

[Slavo]

Sorry to be a little sceptical, I am in the process of becoming a landlord right now. I have had experience in both being a homeowner and a tenant and working for my landlord as a painter / decorator throughout university repairing their 50+ properties they rent to students so have seen both sides of the fence (and really seen some sights in these student rooms!).

The level of damage described could not have been done over a short period of time.

Who was managing the rental? Estate agent? Yourselves? How often was the house inspected, if at all?

I have heard many horror stories and my parents have also been burned by trying their hand at renting property. Many issues can be avoided or at the very least minimised by regular visits to the property, especially with DSS tenants (Please note, this is not a stereotype, but a fact. On average, housing rented to DSS require more maintenance and repair than those rented privately, aside from students). Take these opportunities to monitor the condition of the house, raise any issues you have and also receive any issues, questions from the tenant.

It needn't even be a knock on the door, simply walk past the house, peer over the garden fence.

If it was managed by an estate agent, they may be liable for neglect as they have not managed the property. In a contractual agreement with the agent it usually states an interval for which visits are performed to monitor the condition of the property.

The theft of your white goods are of significant value. Landlord insurance is the equivalent to buildings insurance for homeowners. This does not cover the contents and as such, you will not be paid a penny for that unless you have separate contents insurance on the property.

All insurance policies will list what is and isn't covered. It is extremely important to ensure you read the terms & conditions of insurance when it is taken out as a house is a considerable value, it is worth being 100% sure.

In future, I would suggest as a condition of tenancy, that the tenant has in place contents insurance for which a claim may be made upon termination of the tenancy agreement if they are not willing to pay for any damage caused.

I know this won't help your current situation now, but could help you in the future if you wish to continue as a landlord.

I sincerely hope you receive some compensation for your losses but seeing that even if you do catch up with them, the best you will get is a £1 a week taken from the persons benefits and it is likely that you are not their only creditor and also likely that you are not a "preferred creditor" as per citizen's advice.

Best Regards,

John

[SallyintNorth]

I have had just one foray into the 'buy-to-let' arena, and found a local housing association were offering reasonable guaranteed rental on fixed-term contracts - 2, 3, or 5 years.  The rent they offered was maybe 7-9% lower than the market rate for the property - but it would be guaranteed for every month for the whole of the contract, no agent to pay, no empty periods, no worries about tenants defaulting, leaving, etc.  They wanted it completely unfurnished, just carpets and curtains.  I had to have landlord's insurance, of course, and also a gas service contract etc.  Other than that I had no costs (only any repairs to the central heating, that kind of thing - but if I wanted the association would organise any work and just deduct the cost from my next rental payment), and the association were bound to return it in as original condition allowing for wear-and-tear.  I knew it would be DSS tenants, and that it was likely to be short-term and emergency housing, so could be families with problems, and could be a lot of changes of tenant in the period.  But I felt that the hands-off guaranteed income plus the nice warm feeling that I was providing a home for someone who was in need more than compensated for the downsides.

At the end of the period the association repainted throughout and replaced curtains; the carpets were still ok.  (They hadn't been new.)  I don't think the house was worth any less at the end of the period than it would have been on any other kind of rental.

I know this arrangement would often not suit any individual at a point in time where they are needing to rent a property out - but I did think it was a super arrangement if you knew you wanted tenants for 2 years or more and didn't need to be leaving the house furnished.  Oh, and because the income was guaranteed, the bank were happy to take it as security for a mortgage on the property too.

It's rare, and very nice, when it's an everybody wins situation!  (And I never had any complaints or worries from the neighbours, either.)

[Beewyched]

Thanks Sal - that sounds like a great idea for us. As it is such a long way for us to travel back & forth, we were only doing annual checks ourselves & relying on the tenant to tell us if there were any issues (last check being last September). 
The problems only seemed to arise when something inside the house required attendance & the contractors refused to return to the property because of the "loads of dogs running around the place" & it being a "health & safety concern because of the dog sh@te in the house".
When we contacted the tenant about this, she started to get funny with us - pulled her "Devonelite" website homepage & left owing 2 months rent (even though Housing Benefit had been paid into her bank account to cover this) & wouldn't give us a forwarding address. 
The neighbour who had seen her kicking the dogs saw the people who helped her move-out, but didn't realise what was going on at the time - but she did take photos of the vehicle - it has the "Holcroft" Labradors on it.  I am surprised that someone who shows their dogs has anything to do with her considering the conditions the dogs were kept in, but I notice they bought a puppy from her last year & seem to have been doing fairly well with it in the show ring.
Update: because the furniture etc was on the inventory, as part of the Tenancy Agreement - it IS THEFT!

[Bionic]

So does that now mean the police have to get involved?

Lets hope so 

[MarkJG]

Though I have been watching this discussioin for a while and I had until now no intention of posting to it. 

To the original poster, you may or may not have a case with regard to your dispute with your former tennant, that is for the police and the courts to decide and both parties will be subject to any ruling on that.

The only reason that I now post is that you have named in this discussion another party who has had no involvement in your disbute, who you don't know and doesn't know you.  You have the right to state your case with regard to your former tennant, but this is not the place to name names or name other people who are not involved in your disbute.  In naming "Holcroft Labradors" in your last post and in the manner you did, I can only assume that you wish to tarnish the good name of that person in the eyes of fellow Labrador people and the Show Dog community at large.  They have not committed any wrong against you and therefore I suggest that you remove any mention of Holcroft Labradors in respect to your disbute in this and any other discussion board that you may or may not be disucssing your dibute with your former tennant.  Failure to do so or any further mention may result in action being taken against you.

To other contributors,

There are always two sides to a disbute, you have only heard one and though you may have sympathy for the original poster, I would think that an open mind is the best thing to have.  As the original poster has indicated that legal procedings are in the works it is now for the courts to decide who is right or wrong in this disbute, once that has been settled then you will have all the information you require to come to your own conclusions or the rights and wrongs of the case.

Regards

Mark