Self-managing landlords panic when their tenant appears to have moved out of their property without giving notice.

It’s a frustrating and financially-draining situation when the rental payments stop and you can’t reach your tenant or relet your property.

How we deal with this issue for our clients:

If we suspect a tenant has vacated the property without giving proper notice, we follow this tried and tested method to determine if they have vacated and regain possession for our landlords.

We access the property and assess the following 5 points:

👉 1 Is there post on the floor? What’s the oldest item?

👉 2 Does the property have a television?

👉 3 Is the food in the fridge out of date?

​​👉 4 Has the water level in the toilet dropped and evaporated?
👉 5 Is there a bed? Does it have bedding on?

IMPORTANT ⚠️ We take photographic evidence and properly document all of the above checks. This evidence tends to stand up in court if the tenant ever claimed to be wrongfully evicted.

What happens next?

If we’re satisfied the tenant has left, we sellotape a notice to the front door and post a copy through the door too. 

The notice gives the date the initial inspection was carried out and our reasons for suspicion of abandonment. It then gives the details of a further second and third inspection which we carry out each a week apart. 

The notice states that by the third inspection date if we still deem that the property is vacant, the locks will then be changed and tenancy terminated.

The notice on the door will also include a Tort Notice where applicable. It's an inventory of all major items left behind in the property and informs the owner of these items they have 14 days (running alongside the abandonment) to remove them or the landlord has the right to dispose or sell the goods to recoup lost costs.

Once this process has been followed and the property is clear, we begin remarketing so you can start generating rents again.

Looking for support on issues like this?

Dealing with repossessions comes as a standard part of the service we offer our management clients. We're always on hand to help should any issues arise. Contact us if you'd like to discuss our management service in more detail.