Paphos People

My tenant is 2 months in arrears and does not have a tenancy agreement.

I live in the UK and my rental agent has more or less washed their hands of it, telling me I have to take legal action.

Has anyone got experience of evicting a tenant themselves or does anyone know a rental company who could do this for me?

Regards

Michelle

1. Have you ever had a tenancy agreement with the tenant?

2. If there is no agreement, can it be assumed that the tenancy isn't registered?

3. Is the tenancy income declared on your tax return?

If the answer is no, yes, no then you may have a problem. Going to court, or employing a lawyer, may open you to action by the authorities, aside from the time it might take.

I am sure many will say otherwise, but the employment of some large eastern Europeans to evict the tenant may be your only option.

Also, if you have a rental agent, why don't you have a tenancy agreement?

As I understand it, the Law in Cyprus is definately on the side of the Tenant, trying to evict them "by post" will not work I'm afraid.

Good luck.

Alan

Hi Michelle22cat,

Firstly if you have let your property via a legally licensed agent, he is obliged to put an agreement in place, which you should have had to sign as Landlord. At the point this document is signed by the Landlord & Tenant, the agent can take a fee for his services, the amount nominally equal to one months rental.This document needs also to be signed by two witnessess to have any legal standing.
If you do not have this document, I'm sorry to say your case is at best weakened.
This link will provide the legal position regarding Landlord & Tenant;

http://www.tenlaw.uni-bremen.de/Brochures/CyprusBrochure_09052014.pdf

After reading it, you will hopefully have a better understanding of your position.

Good luck, hope you can effect an eviction,but be prepared for a long journey.

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I'll be back!

I own rentals both her and in the UK and my UK agents are superb, I wish there was a similar level of service offered, but there isn't so I do it myself!

Here the wisest thing you could've done would be to have kept the water in your name so that when a situation like this occurs you can get them disconnected and force them out! If they leave then the water bill is the cheapest one for you to have to sort out!

I have a rental agent and there is a tenancy agreement. The agreement expired at the end of February but the tenant has not moved out or paid the rent.

I don't particularly want to go down the legal route as this will take too long

Michelle

There's a couple on our complex who gave their tenants 3 months notice as per agreement. They want to sell their property and the tenants have wrecked it. They are a couple with 2 very unruly kids and the garden is full of doodoo as well.
We on the complex would love them to be gone.....but they have refused to leave, they say they can't get anything else, which is total rubbish.
The lawyers have said that there is nothing the owners can do, as there are children involved....even though the children (if you want to call feral animals children) are 15 and 12.

I know if it was in Liverpool I know a few people who would make them happy to leave. Not in with the Pafos mafia yet though....

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Age improves with good wine

That does not leave much choice, you need to employ someone large and ugly who will visit your former tenant very early in the morning and politely explain the situation.

Is your tenant Cypriot? that will complicate things as they know the law and will call the police if your agent gets too heavy. I had this problem with a holiday let and the police were very supportive of the Cypriot even though it was a holiday let. Luckily the electric was in my name and I made it obvious I would smash the EAC fuses and pay the fine, rather than let them stay.

Ultimately the law may be your only option, but it will be expensive and your rental will probably be wrecked before they leave.
You have to be very careful who you let property to and that may mean leaving property empty for a very long time, if the right tenants don't appear. If in any doubt I just say "no not suitable for you."

Your original post appears in conflict with your latest post Michelle;



Are you sure you have an apartment?

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I'll be back!

Maybe I am reading it incorrectly but as I see it
1. There WAS a tenancy agreement which expired at the end of February.
2. There isn’t a new agreement.
3. The tenants are still in the apartment and therefore own rent for March and April.

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Dave
Moira And Dave

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

Lets give the lady the benefit of the doubt. She says "My tenant is 2 months in arrears and does not have a tenancy agreement." I think she meant to say was "current tenancy agreement". Only one word and basically if you were not familiar with tenancy terms, an easy omission.

Let’s NOT be questioning a members truthfulness or integrity without hard facts.

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Dave
Moira And Dave

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

MAD, you can surely see that I simply copied the OP & subsequent post from Michelle.
As to hard facts, well maybe they are, maybe they aren't, only Michelle knows!

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I'll be back!

Just to clarify.

The tenant is from the UK and she has a 5 year old.

She had a tenancy agreement which expired at the end of Feb. The agreement was for one year. She has not paid the rent in March and April but has not moved out; there is no current agreement.

I have a rental agent but they have not sorted it out for me.

I feel my options are go out there and change the locks or cut the water off. This may seem harsh but the tenants mother lives in Cyprus and is refusing to help!

Regards

Michelle

Looks like you are between a rock and a hard place.
Which area of Cyprus are we talking about?
I presume you either don’t want a new agreement with the tenant or they won’t sign a new one and therefore the rental agent won’t get involved.
Did / do you have a contract (that you were paying for) with the rental agent that states their responsibilities on your behalf?
Have you actually spoken directly with the tenant to try to resolve the issue? Presumably you have since you say her mother lives in Cyprus but is refusing to help.
You could be on a sticky wicket with the authorities by turning off the water with the summer approaching and a child in the house.
Is the electricity in your name? Having that turned that off might be an alternative option and much more difficult for the tenant to have re-connected.
Changing the locks will inevitably result in a ‘face to face’ at some stage. If you change the locks when she is out, you will have to allow her access at some stage to collect their things.

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Dave
Moira And Dave

“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”

Looks to me that Topgun wasn't far off the mark with his earlier posts!
I doubt tough tactics (strongarm, cutting services) will work.
But the whole thing is messey, and a lesson for all prospective Landlords!
If it was me I would bung her (the "tenant") a grand to leave, thereby cutting my losses and putting it all down to experience.
Geoff.

I sympathise with your frustration Michelle, but recommend you read the information in the link I provided, then take a deep breath before choosing a course of action.
If you speak to the utility companies, if the accounts are in the tenants name, they will understand your problem, but are constrained to act immediately.
They are obliged by their working procedures to wait until the tenant debt reaches a certain level, before discontinuing their supply. For water I'm not sure they will act in this respect at all, particularly considering the young child is in residence.
I would advocate trying to meet with your tenant & see if an arrangement can be made between you, before taking any steps to escalate the situation.

Don't go armed with 'bar room bravado' BS, you are bound to fail. Unfortunately this is one instance where a 'slowly, slowly, catchee monkey' approach works best.

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I'll be back!

Thanks everyone for your advice. I will keep you posted.

I feel the issue is that the rental agent has not dealt with this properly. They want your money initially then are not interested.


Regards

Michelle

Exactly so!

Applies in general in respect to post-sale' customer service in Cyprus, though there are the odd few that are now behaving correctly.
To protect your own interests, remember this is the situation here.

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I'll be back!