Scummy neighbours.

[Mr Speirs]

I live in a nice quiet cul de sac (which quite literally means bottom of the sack incidently) in a secluded part of a small village and whilst house prices are low rents are relatively high due to location and style of property.

Until recently when my dipstick of a neighbour decided to rent his place out informally/privately as he got a job over in Milton Keynes. As his place was a **** tip and despite me advising him that he could get £200 a month more by giving it a lick of paint and going through a proper lettings agent he asks around at the pub if anyone is interested in renting his place for £400 a month.

Low and behold he gets a nibble from a mother and daughter from the dodgiest part of Northampton. They tell him they own a cleaning business together (they don't).

Moving in day comes and they 'forget' to bring the first month rent and deposit. He lets them move in anyway.
A few weeks later he still hasn't got his deposit and subsequently finds out they have no intention of paying anything and have done this numerous times before to other landlords.

Now my old neighbour is a idiot but no one deserves to be left with the mortgage to pay whilst these scummy bottom feeders live in his house for nowt! To top it all they changed the locks and issued him with an harassment order after getting in contact to find out where his deposit was! It's not like he has other houses and make a lot of money renting property he literally was just asking for his mortgage to be paid whilst he had to rent somewhere in MK to work.

They also don't work and claim benefits, now whilst they are big fat bitches they are still fit enough to take their dogs for a walk a few times a day so I'm sure there must be something in the working world they can do.

Worst thing is I see them everyday and all the neighbours know what they are doing but they don't seem to have any shame.

I was racking my brains trying to figure out a way for him to get them out then I realised it wasn't my business and I didn't actually care much as tbh he bought it on himself so I'm not really after suggestions as I frankly don't care. It's more the shock that I now share the same street as people who think it's ok to do this and they are 'just playing the game'

Incidentally they are also not paying any bills whilst they are there too.

Thieving *********

[yorkie_chris]

When the dogs go out walking their pets nip in with locksmith, pick and change locks.

[Bri w]

He needs to wait around the corner for when they both nip out with the dogs. He nips in and changes the locks...

Chris beat me to the draw

[yorkie_chris]

On the practicalities of the matter, is the harrassment deniable? Can he just say "what tennants, it never happened"?

If he goes down that route he may struggle to use the opposite argument to avoid paying bills they have racked up. Did they have any sort of tenancy agreement/contract?

[Mr Speirs]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

When the dogs go out walking their pets nip in with locksmith, pick and change locks.

If it were me I'd probably go round and smash the windows on the front door and a couple of windows. Make it inhabitable and refuse to repair them.

[Mr Speirs]

The staggering is the tenants aren't doing anything illegal. They know the law inside and out. Entering the premises and changing locks would be considered trespassing. With or without a tenancy agreement.

[yorkie_chris]

The problem is he's damaging his own stuff. Better to get back in, chuck everything out. If there's no contract or other evidence then the job is a good un. He needs legal advice, preferably the sort who will give him down to earth advice about the likely result of any slightly unorthodox methods.

They'll be doing some right damage inside, no doubt, so need to act fast.


I would suggest going in stealthily and disabling everything, power, water, heating, cooking facilities etc. but you'd need to do it safely. Dogs make it difficult depending how extreme he's willing to be. The just way to do it would be a sledgehammer at 5am and turf everything out into the street.

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by Mr Speirs

The staggering is the tenants aren't doing anything illegal. They know the law inside and out. Entering the premises and changing locks would be considered trespassing. With or without a tenancy agreement.

Load all property in a waiting van "we were helping them move officer"


I am not a lawyer... but I reckon you need to be far enough outside the system that they don't even consider trying to "play" you as part of it. Just do as you wish... if there has been no tenancy agreement, no money changing hands... are they entitled to the rights as a tenant? In court could you reasonably deny they were ever tenants and were just unwelcome guests? Lodgers? I dunno.

[Mr Speirs]

Yeah but the cost of him replacing a few windows far outweighs the lost money on deposit and 8 months of rent.

He's taken legal advice. Heres what it has told him. From what he's told me you understand.
He has to let them stay the agreed term: 6 Months. He then has to wait 2 months of non rental paying before he can issue an eviction notice. If they don't leave willingly he has to pay for a bailiff to turf them out forcibly. Even then whilst legally they have to pay for all legal proceedings and rent it's unlikely they pay up.

If it was me I'd hire my own *rent collectors*, in a place like Northampton I suspect there's a thriving business doing just that.