Dear Barry

Hi Barry, I came across your blog around a year ago when I first started looking into the possibility of renting property in Belfast as a source of income. I now own a terrace house in South Belfast which I rent out to three young professionals. Two of them are friends and the third is someone they found through online classified ads. I vetted all three according to your advice and have tenancy agreements in place. The two friends pay by cheque and the third in cash - one of them will drop it to me at the beginning of the month as I live near the property, or sometimes I'll arrange to pick it up. Anyway, I've just been to collect rent and only the two cheques were to be found. The two friends, upset, explained that their housemate has 'gone off the rails' and after some sort of falling out, they have left, saying it's up to the two housemates left to pay his rent. Obviously, I will be following your previous advice on this and pursuing the individual's guarantors etc - but am I right in thinking that they are actually right? The tenants do indeed share responsibility for rent payments? All the best, Sheila.
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Hi Sheila, 

Sorry to hear that you are facing a sticky situation with your very first batch of tenants! This is exactly why so many landlords end up turning to an agency to manage properties - these awkward problems take up so much time and money that your DIY saving just disappears.

But it is possible to untangle this, and that's exactly why this blog exists - to be a free resource to the many entrepreneurial landlords out there going it alone. And it sounds like you have already used the advice and information to educate yourself on tenants' rights and responsibilities.

You are absolutely right, and sadly so is your rogue tenant! Much as I feel sorry for the folks he's left in the lurch, when multiple tenants are named on a tenancy agreement, they are considered jointly and severally liable for the obligations of the tenancy - including rent payments.

This comes up more often during disputes over who has the responsibility to pay for or make a repair if damage is caused to the property by one tenant - or perhaps a friend/enemy of one tenant. And the answer is that even if one tenant caused the damage (or invited the cause of the damage to a party...) then all of them bear joint responsibility.

Most of us are decent humans and if we broke something in a house we rented with our friends, we'd automatically assume the responsibility for putting that right ourselves.

However, if I've learned anything in 20+ years of sales and letting in Belfast, it's that living together will test even the strongest friendships - and we don't all act like decent humans when those relationships break down.

And that's why we have tenancy agreements!

Good luck with this one - give me a shout at the office if we can be of any further assistance to you with it.

 

If you have a question or a problem you think I can help with, drop me a line to info@thebelfastpropertyblog.com

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Hi, I'm Barry Corscaden and I've worked in Residential Lettings, Sales and Property Management for 20 years during which I have�spent a lot of time sharing my thoughts and insights on the property market in Belfast. I have two decades' experience in letting homes to thousands of people. I've learnt that new, experienced and aspiring landlords alike appreciate honest, practical investment, sales and management advice, and I'm always happy to provide it.

So I have decided to write a blog. Every week I will bring you investment advice, landlord Q&A with an expert member of my team, and all the market information, insights, news and views a landlord could need to get the most out of Belfast's thriving, dynamic residential sales and lettings market.

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Barry Corscaden