Adam Church - Landlords Letters: Plugging the communication gap beyween landlords and their tenants for successful property lettings

PROPERTY SERIES

Adam Church

Landlords Letters
by Adam Church

1st edition 2005
2nd edition 2007
3rd edition 2010

2010 Lawpack Publishing

Lawpack Publishing Limited
7689 Alscot Road
London SE1 3AW

www.lawpack.co.uk

All rights reserved
Printed in Great Britain

ISBN: 978-1-906971-78-6

Exclusion of Liability and Disclaimer

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that this Lawpack publication provides accurate and expert guidance, it is impossible to predict all the circumstances in which it may be used. Accordingly, neither the publisher, author, retailer, nor any other suppliers shall be liable to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused by the information contained in or omitted from this Lawpack publication.

For convenience (and for no other reason) him, he and his have been used throughout and should be read to include her, she and her.

Since graduating from university in 1998, Adam Church has worked extensively in the property industry and has offered his property management services through both independent and corporate offices in the South West of England. In addition to his property experience, he has qualifications from the Guild of Letting and Management and the Association of Residential Letting Agents. He now works mainly from his home in Bristol where he writes full time and offers independent advice to private landlords of residential tenancies.

As a landlord you have a great deal of responsibility. On a daily basis you face juggling a business-like attitude whilst complying with ever-changing legislation as well as dealing with challenging tenant issues!

Keeping all of these balls in the air can be difficult. Whilst a good understanding of your legal responsibilities will help you to remain within the law, knowing how to communicate effectively with your tenant will ensure that you implement your duties in accordance with Government regulations and at the same time maintain a healthy working relationship with your tenant.

Many landlords have, because of a lack of understanding on how to communicate with their tenants, found problems that have escalated way beyond necessity. In cases where landlords think that they have followed their legal responsibilities correctly, failure to communicate effectively with their tenants has affected their chances to regain possession of their properties, even when the tenants have been in breach of the terms of their agreements.

Being let down by inaccurate, misleading or a complete lack of effective communication can be time consuming and cause financial losses.

This book has been created, therefore, to provide landlords of residential tenancies with a practical guide to many of the instances where written communication should be sent to the tenant. It demonstrates, with useful information, tips and facts, when letters should be written and why its important to correspond accordingly with the tenant. Also, included within the book are over 80 helpful letter templates. These have been designed to make it easier for landlords to send clear, accurate information without personal or unnecessary comments which can cause inflamed emotional situations and lead to poor landlord and tenant relationships.

Whilst this book forms a comprehensive tool for landlords in communicating with tenants and can be used in association with a variety of different tenancy agreements, it should not be considered as a guide to the entire lettings process. There are books available, such as Tessa Sheppersons excellent Residential Lettings (also published by Lawpack), which explains how to create and manage short-term residential lettings and I recommend that landlords refer to such guides to suit their purposes.

If youre unsure of a situation or you have a specific problem, you should seek independent legal advice rather than rely solely on information contained within this book.

My thanks go to my editor, Jamie Ross, for giving me the opportunity to write this book. My professional experiences in the lettings industry have been the inspiration behind this project and in addition to the many landlords that I have been fortunate enough to work with, I would also like to thank Benjamin and Ruth Dembo, who, although not directly linked with this book, helped me understand the importance of effective communication and maintaining good landlord and tenant relationships early in my career.

Adam Church

So youve bought your property, youve got permission from your lender to let it and youre ready to be a landlord. The only thing you need now is a tenant!

Finding the right tenant for your investment can be time consuming and labour intensive, but, like many things, if its done correctly from the start, you can save a lot of money later on. If you dont take the time to reference potential new tenants thoroughly, you could be leaving yourself open to uncreditworthy or dishonest tenants who may not pay the rent and could leave you with damages.

Some tenants will try to find a property with a private landlord rather than go through a professional agency because they are less likely to be referenced if they avoid agents. These are the tenants its most important for you to reference and they could be heading your way!

A lot of the paperwork involved with running a tenancy comes before an agreement is signed. If a potential tenant goes to a professional lettings agent and wants to rent your property, he will be asked to fill in an application form. The agent will then send out reference letters for the applicant and wait for satisfactory written responses. Only on successful completion of the application will the applicant even be offered the chance to rent your property.

An agent will try to find out as much information as possible about the tenant in order to secure your investment. Knowing where to get this information and what questions to ask will help you, as a private landlord, to reference your own applicants successfully.

The TENANCY APPLICATION FORM (1.1) asks your applicant to provide all the relevant information so that you can carry out as thorough a referencing procedure as possible. Clarify which references you require with the applicant at the viewing stage and make sure each applicant completes the form in full and signs it where required.

The first step is to acquire all of the applicants immediate personal details, such as his name and contact information. If you want to get in touch with your applicant during the referencing procedure, you need to know who he is and where you can get hold of him.

When trying to find a secure tenant there are three or four reliable references that you should expect to carry out:

If your applicant is currently in rented accommodation, you will need to contact his landlord to find out if the tenancy has been conducted in a satisfactory manner and if he has paid the rent on time. If there have been any problems during the tenancy, detailed information about this will help you to make an informed decision as to whether the applicant is suitable for your property, particularly if there are reports by the previous/current landlord of damage. Ideally, you should try to obtain details of the applicants past three years in rented accommodation and apply for references from all his relevant landlords.