Troublesome tenants

You’ve met the prospective tenant and they seemed polite. They passed the credit check and are in gainful employment. Most importantly, their references came back with the green light, so it comes as a shock to find a trashed property during the mid-term inspection or receive complaints about heavy metal music being played beyond midnight, every night. Tenants can be the master of disguise, they may lose their way during a let or invite cohabitants with less than desirable characteristics, jeopardising the property and exposing the agent to unsavoury situations. Here, we discuss the most common bad tenant behaviours and offer advice on the courses of action that can be taken. Sub-letting behind closed doors Sub-letting is a real scourge. From the trivial, such as a tenant allowing a friend to crash on their sofa and using spareroom.com to fill a bed, to ‘professional’ sub-letters and sophisticated holiday lets via Airbnb – all sub letting is illegal unless a landlord has granted permission and the tenancy agreement reflects this. An agent working on behalf of a landlord can start legal proceedings as soon as sub letting has been identified – often when an inspection is carried out or when a…

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