Complaint against Tenant

George12

Registered User
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New tenants moved into my newly refurbished house a few months ago.

They pay the rent on time and are suspiciously good at fixing things themselves.

They have four children so more than average wear and tear can be expected. They have a 12 month lease. A visit to tidy the garden before the winter revealed that the house is in a very bad state and it looks like quite a big job will be required to get it back to normal.

The biggest issue is that the neighbours who I have no reason to doubt are making complaints about the parenting skills of the tenants. The mother works a lot and the dad appears to be struggling. It seems he resorts to locking the children outside the front door. Another neighbour phoned me to tell me this but I did not pay much attention until the second neighbour verified it yesterday without prompting.

I phoned them and advised that I wanted the house to be tidied up by next week and an inspection would take place. I was told this is unfair as the wife is working (the husband does not work). I also advised that I had received complaints. Needless to say they were shocked!

The sad thing is the wife may not actually realise the extent of the issue given she is never there it seems.

Any ideas?
 
Take the first step and inspect the house. Bring someone with you as an independent witness. Reassess the social services issue then.

If you have serious concerns about the welfare of the children report it immediately.
 
The children range from about 4 down to an infant and it would seem not to be all of them at once. One of the children has special needs - autism or ADHD if I remember rightly so I suspect things could get pressurised
 
OP, all very distressing about the children, but is your business with them as a landlord & tenant issue or social worker matter ? Do what you have to do to ensure your rights as the property owner.

Leave the social work to the experts.
 
Hi George 12, A home with 4 children under 4 is going to be a bit chaotic ie wear and tear, scattered toys, clothes, bedlam etc unless there is a strict regime in force.

You say the wife in this situation is a nurse and is never there and that the husband is is stay at home dad ? Now, having 4 children in as many years, must mean that this lady must have been home for maternity leave etc so it is odd that she 'never seems to be there ' ?

Are you sure the children are being locked out, or are they being sent outside to play ? Are they distressed, crying, neglected ? Do you know ? Perhaps the dad is watching from inside ? I'm saying this before jumping to conclusions. Neighbors can have personal reactions to others behaviors coming from subjective viewpoints. I have had experience of this in my neighborhood .

I am aware of a privately rented house which is ,from the outside , unkempt, tatty, embarrassing to the the locality, but the family functions extremely well. (Landlord is the one who does not care by the way, in contrast to yourself).

So I would take a careful path on this, but if you think your neighbour's fears are justified ,of course you have a responsibility to contact social services. It is a huge undertaking and responsibility.
 
The maternity leave was over before they moved into the house- they are only there a few months. The children are distressed outside. Also there is an enclosed back garden which would be safer to send them as the front gardens of the houses are open plan. Overall my concern is not really the children though when people are going to the trouble of finding out who owns the house and then what their number is to call them I have to at least think about the the children - if they moved out tomorrow my thoughts on the children would disappear. My biggest worry is that the house will be wrecked beyond just cleaning and wear & tear. I spent 10k on the house this year so I don't want to spend another 10k in a few months replacing furniture, beds etc. I guess the inspection in a few days will reveal the scale there.
 
the dad appears to be struggling.

. Should they be reported to social services, this would probably not be ideal given the wife is a HSE nurse. Any ideas?

Are we talking damage or untidyness? 6 people in a house, with one adult at home and 4 children under 4 is going to be chaotic unless you are a very organised person. Quite clearly it seems this father is strugglign as you mentioned. Then he needs help it would seem. And I guess his wife working so many hours is to keep it all going financially.

I wouldn't involve social services just yet. See what the house is like when you visit, maybe the man needs a helping hand, that's what it certainly looks like from what you've posted. He certainly needs to understand that putting very young kids outside is not acceptable behaviour. But it is also true that children have to be disciplined.

I would be worried if they leave your house that they will get 'lost' somewhere else. It is good that they have a decent house, and that neighbours are there to oversee the situation.

If it's more than untidyness, then it would not be acceptable.
 
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