26 October 2006
On tenants and trust…
Posted by Aled under: house; rant .
I had to drop the car off at the garage today, and on my way got a phone call from my tenant, Alex. He said that he owed a taxi driver money, and that if he didn’t pay, the driver was going to drop him at a police station. I pointed out that I a) wasn’t his bank, b) didn’t have any spare to lend and c) was on the way to Llantrisant.
So after taking the car over, I headed back to the office, where Alex rang to say that he’d like a lift home. So I picked him up and headed home….to find the front door wide open and a wheelie bin in the doorway. This is where Alex starts telling me what’s going on…
Apparently the taxi driver came back to the house and took my TV, amp and speakers instead of taking Alex to the police station. At this I was not amused. Additionally, he’d left the door unlocked since he’d left the key with another taxi driver.
…
So, the police came around, unfortunately there’s some kind of armed incident in Caerphilly tonight, so after checking the place to make sure there was nobody there, they legged it back to the joy that was the armed incident (possibly involving a Tazer from an overheard conversation, though one of them indicated it was a “gun” instead).
So I’m working from home tomorrow, the house is secure (mostly) for now, I think I’ll change the cylinders in the locks tomorrow. I really don’t know what I’m going to do about my tenant. Two good things - firstly his father’s a Guarantor, so he’s an option. Secondly, this isn’t an assured tenancy agreement. I think we might come to some “gentlemanly agreement” like - get out now and I won’t hold you to the rest of the 6 months.
I so really don’t need this right now. I need to get up to Aber this weekend to see Sean, and that’s a definate “need” now, but I don’t trust him in the house anymore. Housesitter maybe?
Aw, crap. The sucks, bigtime. *hugs*
Man oh man.
Did you get your stuff back from the taxi driver?
Taking someone’s stuff is NOT legal - I don’t care what justification they think they have- not that way, anyway. That’s what courts and court orders are for.
Kick Alex out, get your stuff back. Change the locks. Get his father to pay your costs for recovering your stuff and changing the locks and the rent he owes you to the end of the month, and tell him he’s lucky his son doesn’t end up with a criminal record because of his stupidity.
That’s theft pure and simple.
Korenwolf: Yup.
Elaine: That is indeed The Plan. His father has signed a guarantor agreement so he’s jointly and severally liable for everythign that Alex does in this house…which is good. The police are supposed to be coming around this morning, and my response is that the Taxi driver story smells, especially since Alex refuses to identify him. So, as far as I’m concerned, Alex is the only suspect.
Fortunately, after researching last night, I found that my doors have euro-cylinder-style locks, so I can replace the cylinder for about £10 per door.
Man, that’s awful. How on earth are you going to get up to Aber this weekend w/ Alex still in the house? A housesitter’s not going to be sufficient. It’s time to get rid.
Don’t worry about things here @ work. Make sure Judy knows what is going on, and I’ll make sure the rest is covered.
Get this sorted out. Now.
Looks like this is what was goin on last night:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_east/6086534.stm