Updating post from Reddit.
Curious as to how being a landlord and having to go through the eviction process has impacted your sanity?
I can’t help but think it’s designed to make you give up on ever wanting your property back.
Tbh with more landlords than you'd think it'd rather lead to illegal eviction or even violence against the tenant rather than depression. That said, it probably would lead to some depression in my case and it has already in a friend's case.
Hire eviction specialists and join the NRLA and read their advice. You can also ask in this sub if you're not sure about something but mostly yeah, it does just take forever.
100% drive you out of business
Yes.
The courts don't care or think about you at all. It's a process that you have to go through and tick all the boxes, or it will throw you out to start again. Therefore, it's best to hire professionals and keep your personal connection distant from it.
Use this as a learning experience to improve tenant vetting and ensure the right protections and insurance are in place. If that's unworkable, it's a bad investment that you need to exit.
It's rater enjoyable and challenging without the personal connection. When its your own money being wasted, its such a drag!
The thing is you hear all the time that the professionals also get it wrong meaning you have to start the process over again. Really sucks and needs streamlining/investment.
>hear all the time that the professionals also get it wrong
I often hear estate agents being referred to as professionals, when this is a separate legal process.
When it goes wrong for 'professionals' is when they have been dealt a bad hand - the landlord did not provide evidence they provided the prescribed information in time, doesn't have certificates or secure deposit correctly. etc..
Exactly this which I agree with but i think people who hire professionals expect 100% of the work dome because they themselves do not understand the process. When you dive deeper it is usually paperwork wasnt done by landlord/agent correctly so the solicitors have no option but to restart the process. I do feel though that a solicitor shouldnt start the process until all the paperwork that is requested is done.
As someone who hasn’t hired professional help through this, I have to say the toughest part was not understanding the distinction between a S21 and a S8, the guidance on the Gov website is not clear at all and would send me in loops. It’s only on 3rd party sites and landlord forums where I began to read and understand the process.
Overall I can’t complain about the formality of the process itself, it’s just the timescales, the blatant lack of investment and resource needed, but it isn’t in the courts best interest to process these things in a timely manner
Yeah annoyingly a tenant who knows how to play the system can buy more time by issuing breathing space which prolongs the eviction process and as a landlord there is nothing you can do about it. Tenants also get free legals.
Thanks for the advice. I am looking to sell the property, hence the eviction, and the tenants are happy to leave, but they want a council house.. so I’m stuck in the middle of a family who can’t afford increased rent, and a court system which I have been navigating for the past 16 months. Im not ashamed to admit that I don’t think I have the mental fortitude to be a landlord again in the future. It’s just not for me.
Did you send your notice or hired a professional to do it?
Iv managed all of it myself. Does hiring a professional change timescales? This is my first time being a landlord
It doesn't change timescales but they are much more likely to get everything right and not be sent back to the beginning of the process.
That. And I think the tenant is likely to know you mean business.
It’s making a point to the tenant that you have someone professional to handle this. Higher chance for them to let go as they know you are determined to evict them. And you get support from the eviction firm as well throughout the process. Like you said the eviction can be stressful depending on the circumstance and it is very important for you to know someone is walking along side with you.
Certainly when Selective Licensing came in where I rented out a house and I got my first threatening letters (they're all threatening, the council only has one speed it seems) I had to go and take a long sit by the sea and contemplate if it would be less complicated to liquidate my estate if I wasn't alive or if that would just cause more trouble for my family. That's pretty dire and I got past that moment - partly, as someone suggests, by joining the NRLA who are helpful and compassionate. Going through an eviction process now and the council are already retaliating with 'advisory invoices' (£525) so yes to depression but the decision I made whilst I sat by the beach is that if it gets that bad again i'm selling all my properties, liquidating the company I have with a friend and moving on with my life. Whether that means evicting, selling with tenant-in-situ or losing all the money I invested - fundamentally this investment was intended to make my life easier, if it makes it that much harder then it's not worth it, losses be damned.
Considering that you peope are a leach on society I think you have it pretty easy.
For now.
This is a community for Landlords. You can be anti-landlord in other places like /r/HousingUK/
It's designed to protect people from homelessness. If it sends a landlord into depression then renting out property probably wasn't the best choice for them.
I understand the need to protect them from homelessness. But, for example, for it to take 4-5 months to respond to my letters/emails pleading with the courts to contact me and take my payment seems more like pure negligence toward the landlords needs.
I mean that's a valid opinion.
I disagree personally. As a landlord I have planned to *never* evict a tenant barring long term rent arrears or deliberate property damage. If I thought I ever might have to sell a property with tenants in it I'd have invested in something different.
As a landlord, I'm providing people's homes. They should feel secure that they can stay for as long as they want. The law should protect that and make it very difficult if not impossible for a landlord to evict tenants without good reason.