Tenant abandonment can be one hell of a headache. Deal with it the wrong way and you could end up spending a lot of time and money in the process. But get this stuff right from the get-go and you can avoid finding yourself out of pocket for too long. First things first…

Why-oh-why do they do it?

Who knows?! Although rent arrears is often a fair guess at the reason behind a tenant doing a moonlight flit. Whatever their reason, if your tenant does a runner before the end of the tenancy, and without letting you know what they’re doing, it’s called “tenant abandonment”.

Maybe they lost their job and could no longer afford to keep up with the rent…

Maybe they got a new job far, far away and thought it simpler to up and leave without giving you proper notice…

Either way, sucks for you. And you’ve probably only noticed because the usual rent payment hasn’t appeared. But what other problems could you face?

Dealing with tenant abandonment isn’t always straightforward

Don’t be fooled into thinking you can simply whack your rental property back on RightMove and bring in new tenants to keep your void period to a minimum. That would be way too easy.

Before you can even think about doing that, you need to be 100% sure that the tenant has definitely upped sticks and left for good. Doesn’t matter if they’re not there; if they’re officially a tenant, they still retain their legal rights and you can’t simply retake possession of your property.

Sounds totally unfair, doesn’t it? Until you consider the fact that they could be lying in a coma somewhere. Would be pretty awkward if they eventually arrived back home only to find you’d changed the locks and moved someone else in.

That’s why it’s crucial to establish what’s happened, and quickly.

• You can minimise void periods
• You can stop your property becoming a target for vandals or squatters
• You should be able to maintain your landlord insurance

Fail to act quickly and fall foul of any of these three issues and you could have some serious financial consequences on your hands. And that’s without taking the time, effort and stress that you’d have to put into resolving them.

So what do you do?

Let’s quickly run through the steps you should take to ensure you all move forward as quickly and quietly as possible.

1. DON’T enter the property!

Might be a hard pill to swallow but you can’t enter the property based on a mere suspicion that it’s been abandoned. Legally, you can only enter without permission if you think the property is insecure or unsafe. If you do do that, make sure you take an independent witness with you!

2. Try to contact the tenant

Use email and telephone to attempt to contact the tenant and ask that they send you a new forwarding address, and the keys of course!

3. Remind them about rent

Don’t be shy about reminding the tenant they’re still liable for paying their rent until the end of their notice period has been reached. (And if they haven’t even served notice yet, remind them that they should do that ASAP to avoid falling further into arrears.)

4. Talk deposits

If things have started getting awkward at this stage and the tenant’s refusing to pay rent or return the keys (or both), let them know you’ll probably have to use their deposit to pay for damages, new locks and outstanding rent.

5. Inspect!

If your tenant isn’t responding or has made it clear you’re not getting the keys back, change the locks (but leave a note on the door to tell them where they can get a new key if they return). But if they have sent the keys back, great! Either way, it’s time to carry out an inspection and conduct the check-out (or get your management team to).

6. Store their belongings

I know, what you really want to do is shove everything in a bin bag and drop it off at the tip. Won’t go down well in court though so you really are best off carefully and safely storing their possessions in case they do return.

7. Contact your contractors

If your inspection showed up any need for repairs, get your quotations quickly and instruct for the work to be carried out. If new tenants are on the horizon, you’ll want the place looking spick and span.

8. Sort out the deposit

Contact the Deposit Protection Scheme and let them know all the details of your case to begin your claim for the AWOL tenant’s deposit.

9. Contact your rent guarantee insurer

Speak to your rent guarantee insurer and begin a claim with them for any rent remaining, plus the second month of notice (if it hasn’t been provided already).

10. Keep in touch with the tenant all the while

Even if they aren’t responding to you, keep reminding the tenant that they are legally responsible for the rent – you never know when they might do a U-turn and pay up!

A good management team should help you through this complicated situation every step of the way. If you want to work with a friendly bunch who’ve got your back and who have plenty of experience with awkward situations like these, let’s have a chat with some tea and biscuits. Give us a call on 020 3432 3888.