She told how the ‘penny dropped’ when police swarmed the property late at night
It was her first time renting out her home – but everything that could have gone wrong, went wrong(Image: Getty )
A Derby woman says she is nearly £10,000 out of pocket after her tenant was charged in connection with a serious crime in the city.
Katy Wilson took on her first-ever tenant in June last year after moving into her partner’s home, hoping a tenant in her property would help cover her mortgage.
But things took a turn for the worse just months later. The man had missed a number of rent payments, and Katy was in the process of repossessing her home when he was charged with an incident.
She’s since been told to “write off” the thousands of pounds she’s owed and has been left dissatisfied with the way her situation has been handled by both her letting agent and the police.
“We’d already had issues with him as a tenant before he was charged,” said Katy, who works as a tennis coach. “It’s been a bit of a disaster, really.
“He stopped paying rent in December, and because it’s my first time renting out a property, I wasn’t really sure what was to come next.
“I was told by Leaders, the letting agents, that we were unable to repossess the property until we hadn’t had payment for three months, so we were just waiting for that to happen, really.
“I think he knew what he was doing, because not long later, he gave a partial payment, meaning we’d have to wait another month.”
Katy said she also found out the man had been in arrears on his rent before, after spotting discarded mail demanding money in the bins outside the home.
Things continued to get worse, and Katy eventually had to pay “£2,000 to £3,000 for solicitors”, but refrained as the solicitors would cost more than what she was owed – something she’s since described as “the wrong choice”.
She eventually gave in, and a court date was set, and on one morning, she received a message from a neighbour at the tenant’s property saying there had been police outside all night.
She called the same neighbour back and asked a few questions, and not long later, the “penny dropped” about which incident her tenant had been involved in.
“I thought ‘Oh my God’, I couldn’t believe it,” Katy added. “I was busy all day, and I had no time to get any answers. I just had to find out what was going on.
“I rang the police, who couldn’t tell me anything, even though they’d broken my front door down. They just wouldn’t tell me anything at all. I was completely in the dark. It was all just spiralling out of control at this point.”
Katy said that what followed were hours of trying to get information on what to do next. She didn’t know if the tenant was due to return or if the property would be deemed unsafe.
“At this point, it was all a bit of a mess. My solicitors had repossessed the property, and the tenant owed me around £5,000 in rent and legal fees, but there was no way of getting it since he was in custody, and I was essentially told to just leave it because he had no money.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was advised to take him on through solicitors, only to be told that I’d have no way of claiming back the thousands of pounds that I’m owed.”
More challenges came after the property was repossessed, for which Katy still had to wait 14 days, even though he was in custody.
She returned to the property to find empty beer bottles and rubbish “everywhere” as well as a garden that was “in a mess” and a fridge full of rotting food.
Her front door, while it was still on its hinges, needed to be replaced after being “barged down” by police, and all the tenant’s belongings had to be collected by bailiffs, meaning more costs for Katy.
In total, as well as the £5,000 she’s owed from the tenant, Katy must also pay another £3,000 for solicitors, nearly £500 for bailiffs, and around £1,500 for a new door. Other costs, including clearing of the property, bring the total sum to nearly £10,000.
“I always thought it would be simple and straightforward to rent my house out, but I think everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong,” said Katy.
“The money I was owed by the tenant for rent never really existed in my mind, but everything else had been paid for by me.
“It’s a disaster. What was supposed to be a simple way of paying my mortgage has turned into a bit of a nightmare, and I really don’t know what to do next.”
She went on to say she was disappointed that the tenant was allowed to rent out the property, despite being in arrears.
“I will probably stay on with Leaders going forward, but their vetting process is flawed,” she added.
“We found letters in the bin showing that he’d missed payments before, which is certainly something I’d have expected the vetting process to pick up.
“If I were to go to another letting agent, it would end up costing me even more money to get pictures and various other checks, and, if I’m honest, I really doubt anything could go worse than it has done with this tenant.”
Derbyshire Live approached Leaders letting agents for a comment, but we did not receive a response.
Derbyshire police has explained why it was unable to give Katy the information she requested, with a spokesperson saying: “In the immediate aftermath of any incident, the priority of officers and staff is on safeguarding victims, protecting the public, and the live police investigation.
“Any enquiries outside of these areas are dealt with as soon as possible afterwards.”
Speaking on the broken front door, the force added: “The force has an ongoing claim in respect of this matter, which was received on 31 March.
“The building owner was written to on 10 April to acknowledge receipt of this claim.
“This letter outlined the next steps in the process and gave a date by which the claimant could expect a response from the force, as all claims of this type are subject to a standard three-month response period.”
