Tenant 'A' started their tenancy with us at the property concerned in 2009.
It was on a six month short hold assured agreement.
'A' came to us from the council, who at the time said they would guarantee the bond.
'A' has been in arrears over the years but has, in the past, with help from the council, got up to date. Since 2017 there have been constant arrears on the account, we have tried to discuss this with the Tenant, but getting in touch is very difficult.
There has not been one occasion over the last 11 years where 'A' has got in touch with us on any matter. 'A' has never given us a phone number for contact or the number is out of service.
This has caused us issues with Gas certificates and EPC's. (no epc has been completed at this property)
The council payments stopped in May this year, but we assumed, as has happened before, that 'A' was being re-assessed. We contacted the council (who have been helpful in the past) who said they could not tell us anything.
We went to the property on the 21/08/2020. There was no answer and all the curtains were pulled closed. After speaking to a neighbour, we were told that 'A' had not lived there for months.
With this information we went back to the property on 24/8/2020 and gained access. As soon as we were in the property it became apparent that there was a lot of stuff in the house. We changed the damaged lock, securing the house and advised the neighbours that 'A' would need to contact us to get access to the property.
One of the neighbours we spoke to had been in touch with 'A' to advise them of the situation and called us saying that 'A' does not expect to get access to the property or belongings.
This does not bode well for us as we are over £5K out of pocket.
The property has been badly damaged internally, every door has holes in, walls have holes in and the kitchen ceiling is damaged. The kitchen and bathroom needs replacing.
I look forward to hearing from you with regards my next steps.
