INTRODUCTION

The most important thing you can do as a landlord is to try and avoid the circumstances that might lead to you needing legal help.  A landlord needs to sign up the right tenants in the first place.  An essential part of this process is obtaining the correct tenant references to help you secure a reliable and financially stable tenant.  Have a look at our Landlord's Directory to see some of the best tenant referencing companies in the market.

New landlords tend to realise pretty quickly that owning a rental property is like running a business and with any business from time to time things go wrong.  Although thorough planning and careful research into the background of your tenants will keep this to a minimum but, occasionally, there will be problems.



What types of problems can I expect and how should I deal with them? 
I’ve listed below some of the most common legal problems that landlords encounter.  Remember though, you are not alone.  Many landlords have encountered these difficulties.  I’ve set out some basic tips on each of the most common problem areas that hopefully will allow you to resolve matters smoothly. 

However, landlords may feel that they are out of their depth or you simply don’t have the time to supervise the resolution of  the problem.  Don’t worry – we have pulled together a range of experienced organisations that have all proved themselves as being able to work with landlords to resolve these difficulties in our recommended links.

The main problems
Problems for landlords normally start and end with the tenants.  Here is a list of some of the most common difficulties experienced by landlords.  I go on to examine each in detail:

Non payment of rent
Getting your money back
The tenant won’t move out!
The deposit
The tenant does a bunk!
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