Landlord's Letters sample chapter - Lawpack …

1 Ordinary landlords who do their own paperwork can look forward to amore fruitful relationship with tenants thanks to the book Landlord's Letters ,which aims to help landlords by providing ready-drafted Letters for dealingwith the usual lettings niggles. The Times ChurchLandlord s LettersMany of the problems that arisebetween landlords and theirtenants can be put down to auniversal human failing: lack overcontractual rights and obligations,for example relating to propertyinspection and repairs, can resultin situations and incidents thatproduce at best a state of ill-feeling on both sides and at worstthe breakdown of therelationship. Letting a tenantknow in advance about mattersaffecting the property and thetenancy can diffuse tension fromthe start. This book can help. Itcontains ready-drafted Letters fordealing with commonly-occurringletting situations. Guidance onwhen to use each letter and theprocedures to follow are included,along with tips and backgroundlegal than 80 template lettersincluded for: Vetting your tenant Gaining access Rent arrears Responding to your tenant srequests Complaints and breach oftenancy Handling notices Check-out and deposit return,including using tenancy depositschemesLANDLORD S Letters An indispensable and easy-to-use reference tool for National Landlords AssociationThe author:Adam Church works inproperty management services and hasqualifications from the Guild of Letting andManagement and the Association ofResidential Letting B652 2010 11/5/10 13:51 Page 1 landlord s Lettersby Adam Church1st edition 2005 Reprinted 20062nd edition 20073rd edition 2010 2010 Lawpack PublishingLawpack Publishing Limited76 89 Alscot RoadLondon SE1 rights reservedPrinted in Great BritainISBN.

2 978-1-906971-78-6 Exclusion of Liability and DisclaimerWhilst every effort has been made to ensure that this Lawpack publicationprovides accurate and expert guidance, it is impossible to predict all thecircumstances in which it may be used. Accordingly, neither the publisher,author, retailer, nor any other suppliers shall be liable to any person orentity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused bythe information contained in or omitted from this Lawpack convenience (and for no other reason) him , he and his have beenused throughout and should be read to include her , she and her .This is an excerpt from Lawpack s book landlord s get more template landlord Letters and advice,click the authorviIntroductionvii1 Vetting your tenant1 The application form2 Previous landlord2 Employer2 Financial status and history3 Personal/character 3 Accepting an applicant subject to conditions5 Considering an applicant5 Preparing for the tenancy6 The check-in6 Collecting money7 Tenancy deposit protection8 Welcome to your new home82 Gaining access27 Arranging a general visit28 Routine visits28 Viewings29 Contractors29 Access for maintenance/repairs30 Gas safety inspections31 Protect yourself32 Emergencies333 Rent arrears49 Stay calm!

3 49 Keeping track49 The arrears procedure5002 B652 11/5/10 13:27 Page iiiiv| landlord s LettersDay 150 Day 750 Day 1450 Day 2151 Two months overdue51 Next steps52 Protect yourself524 Responding to your tenant s requests59 Decorating60 If it ain t ! 61 Installing a satellite dish or cable television62 Head lease and covenants63 Pets64 The problems associated with pets64 Changing the locks665 Complaints and breach of tenancy77 Talk to your tenant77 Noise complaints78 Gardens80 Satellite dishes81 Property damage81 Exterior damage82 Internal damage82 Threatening or antisocial behaviour83 Smoking84 Pets84 Vehicles85 Unauthorised occupiers86 Repairs87 Changing locks896 Handling notices107 Notice to terminate a tenancy107 First steps107A satisfactory offer to terminate the tenancy10802 B652 11/5/10 13:27 Page ivContents | vAn unsatisfactory offer to terminate the tenancy109 Insufficient notice period109 Tenancy still in fixed term109 Joint tenancies110 Change of tenants111 Replacement tenants111No replacement tenants112 Breaking the Check-out and deposit return131 Tenancy deposit procedure 131 The check-out procedure 133 The Check-Out Report135 Making deductions136 Chasing acceptance of the claim138 Dispute138 Acceptance of the claim139 Continued dispute1398 Utility letters155 Electricity and gas155 Council Tax156 Water and sewerage1579 Directory163 Index17102 B652 11/5/10 13:27 Page vHandling notices | 107 chapter 6 Handling noticesThe nature of the lettings business is that tenants will come and go withsome frequency.

4 Sometimes landlords are lucky enough to have tenantsthat stay in their properties for a number of years, but, at some pointduring the term of the tenancy, your tenant will decide to vacate theproperty and will serve you notice to terminate the chapter deals with how you should approach the receipt of notices toterminate from your tenant and what to do if the notice is unacceptablefor any reason. Also, you will find out how mutually to agree to surrendera tenancy and what to do if you think your tenant has abandoned to terminate a tenancyIn order to give you notice successfully to vacate a property, your tenantmust fulfil certain obligations in order to satisfy the terms of theagreement. Some of these terms will be different for each type of tenancyand you should check your agreement to find out the terms that arerelevant in your stepsWhen you receive a notice offering to terminate the property from yourtenant you should check a few things before responding:08 B652 chapter 11/5/10 13:39 Page 107108| landlord s Letters Has the tenant told you the exact date he wishes to vacate?

5 Has the tenant given you the proper notice period? Is the tenant still held under a fixed-term contract that doesn t allowtermination of the tenancy for some time? Have all tenants given you notice andsigned the notice letter ?By answering the above questions you will be able to establish a responseto your tenant which will inform him of the next steps your tenant is held on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreement, hemay have rights to vacate the property on the last day of the fixed termwithout offering you any notice. Make sure that you keep in touch withyour tenant towards the final couple of months of his agreement sothat you know whether he intends to leave or not, thus giving you thechance to plan satisfactory offer to terminate the tenancyIf you receive a notice to terminate the property from your tenant whichfulfils all of the necessary criteria, you should write to your tenant toconfirm what date the final day of the tenancy will be and to advise thatyou are likely to require access to the property to carry out RECEIVED CONFIRMING TENANT S MOVE-OUT DATE ( )

6 From this point you will need to arrange a check-out with the tenant onthe final day that will allow you to go through the Inventory and Scheduleof Condition to determine the return of the tenant s order to help the tenant to fulfil the criteria required when moving outof your property and to ensure that there are no claims against his deposit,it s useful to give the tenant clear guidelines, stating what is expected ofhim on the day of the NOTES FOR TENANTS VACATING A PROPERTY ( )08 B652 chapter 11/5/10 13:39 Page 108 Handling notices | 109 NoteYou cannot ask the tenant to leave the property in a better condition thanwhen he moved in and your tenant is not liable for fair wear and tear thatmay have occurred during the tenancy. When asking your tenant to carryout tasks detailed in the Guidance Notes you should always consider thestandard of the property at the time the tenant took occupancy and beaware that the tenant is not obliged to improve the sending this information to the tenant you are ensuring that there isn tany confusion over the tenant s duties and you are much more likely to getthe property back in a condition which is ready for unsatisfactory offer to terminate the tenancyIn some instances you may find that the notice offering to terminate theproperty that you have received from your tenant doesn t fulfil all of theobligations as stated in the tenancy should identify where the tenant has failed to meet the relevantcriteria and respond notice periodIf your tenant hasn t given the proper notice period.

7 Write to himinforming him of this and telling him that he can vacate on the datespecified but that he will be responsible for rent up to the end of the noticeperiod he should have given. Tell him that unless he lets you know to thecontrary you will assume that he still wishes to vacate on the date specifiedand will be responsible for the rent to the end of the proper notice NOTICE PERIOD GIVEN ( )Tenancy still in fixed termSome tenancy agreements contain clauses that allow landlords and tenantsto give notice to each other during the period of the fixed term. Usually08 B652 chapter 11/5/10 13:39 Page 109110| landlord s Lettersreferred to as break clauses , they are often found in agreements that havehad a tenant in occupation for some time and are designed to giveflexibility to both the agreement doesn t contain a break clause and your tenant wishes tosurrender the tenancy during the fixed term of the agreement, normallyyou won t wish to agree to it.

8 However, under the law there should be somemechanism to allow the tenant to be released from his obligations beforethe end of the tenancy agreement so long as your rights are not affected,and unless you provide one the tenant may be entitled to assign thetenancy to another tenant. You will not want this, so it s best to permit thetenant to end the tenancy early if he can find a suitable alternative should therefore write to the tenant telling him that you don t consentto him ending the agreement early, unless he is able to find a suitablereplacement tenant, who must pass your referencing RECEIVED BUT DATE UNACCEPTABLE DUE TO FIXED TERM( )Joint tenanciesWhere you have two or more tenants signed up to the same tenancyagreement, all occupants must be considered as a single unit, joint andseverally liable . This means that if either party wishes to vacate theproperty, they must alloffer notice to terminate may, however, decide to be flexible with the tenants if: they find a new tenant to replace the outgoing one and sign a newfixed-term contract; or the remaining tenant is willing to take the tenancy on in his you receive a notice from one of the tenants in the property that informsyou of his wish to terminate occupancy, you must respond to allof thetenants informing them of the above conditions under which the noticecan be NOTICE ON A JOINT TENANCY ( )08 B652 chapter 11/5/10 13:39 Page 110 Handling notices | 111 Although it s unlikely, you may be unable to accept notice under the aboveconditions and you may require all the tenants to give you notice toterminate the property and vacate at the same time.

9 You must inform themin writing of your position so they will be able to make the necessaryarrangements. You need to make it clear that they are all liable for thewhole of the rent until you have received the property back with TENANTS MUST GIVE NOTICE AND VACATE ( )Change of tenantsIf you re willing to allow your tenants the option of replacing outgoingtenants or taking the tenancy on in the remaining tenants names only, it sadvisable that you re-reference the tenants. If you do allow a changeover,it s best to set out the terms clearly for this to take place and supply yourtenants with the necessary tools to complete the tenantsFind out the name of the person your tenants want to move into theproperty and send a letter to all existing tenants advising them that you areaware that they wish to make a change to the names on the OF TENANT/S WITH REPLACEMENT/S ( )Remember to include with this letter enough Tenancy Application Formsfor alltenants to complete and sign as you will need to reference everytenant again before a new tenancy agreement can be should also send with the above information a form which detailswhat the tenants must do to satisfy the terms of this transaction.

10 This formalso states what will happen with the outgoing tenant s deposit money, andmust be signed and dated by all new and existing tenants and returned toyou OF TENANT/S FORM WITH REPLACEMENT/S ( )08 B652 chapter 11/5/10 13:39 Page 111112| landlord s LettersNo replacement tenantsSometimes a tenant will wish to leave the property and those who want toremain will request permission to take the tenancy on in their nameswithout the need for finding any is often a simpler transaction, as all you need to do is have all partiesto be in agreement with the proposed changeover and re-reference theremaining to all your existing tenants confirming the planned changes to thosenamed on the agreement and enclose the necessary Tenancy need to make it clear that the outgoing tenant will remain liable forthe rent until a new tenancy agreement has been signed by the OF TENANT/S WITHOUT REPLACEMENT/S ( )Also enclose with the above the necessary form which details what willhappen to the outgoing tenant s deposit and the terms for the transactionto take place successfully.