The Reluctant Landlord - part 5

My tally of tenants was now down to 24! An improvement but still a headache. A row of garages in close proximity to a row of terraced houses had guaranteed zero vacancy for the time I had owned them. Even before I knew it, word got out that there would be one available and the phone started ringing.

A couple of the tenants approached me about buying the one they rented but since there were 8 in all and attached, I wasn't keen on selling just an odd one here and there. They persisted and rallied the other tenants around and before I could catch my breath, I had 8 buyers. It took several months but when the papers were finalized, my load was lighter and my bank account, healthier. Those were good sales!

In a back lane near where my father's business began was another group of 8 garages. 5 were in one block and 3 in a separate block. Again, I had very little turn over in tenants but two were delinquent in their payments. Miss Marjorie Phelps was quite elderly when first I took ownership and had paid annually until she stopped. My attempts to contact her went unanswered so I enlisted the help of a neighbor, who was also a tenant. Two more years were paid up and then nothing.

Around the same time a second tenant stopped paying. The rents were small and didn't justify hiring someone to try to collect so for a while I did nothing. Well, not quite nothing. I fretted, often during the night when I should have been sleeping. Had Miss Phelps died? Had Mr Kemp departed and left me all his trash?

During this time, all remaining properties were being transferred from the company that had been formed, to me personally. This turned out to be an agonizing process that continued for more than 2 years. It seems that two of these garage (2 out of a block of 3) had no recorded deeds and nothing to prove that I owned them. The property in question backed up to the business premises owned by my great grandfather and had been passed down through three generations. At some time, probably in the 1960's my father had built the garages on every available square inch of what he believed he owned.

Proving you own property without documentation is quite daunting. I had been collecting rent for more than 10 years and nobody else had claimed them but that was not enough for the Land Registry. Petitions were filed by my solicitor but no give. We were at an impasse.

To top it off, a certain, rather pompous gentleman contacted me to buy all my remaining property, It was time to cross the Atlantic and face a myriad of issues.

 

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The Reluctant Landlord - part 4

Sometime had now passed since the last sale and rents were coming regularly. The economy had taken a downturn so I was happy to sit tight for a while. One of my tenants paid twice a year and never quite the amount he owed but he was affable enough so I kept track and left him alone.

A total of 3 tenants lived at the Birches. A single man in the cottage, an elderly widower in the downstairs flat and a younger woman upstairs. Apparently the widower was a lovely gentleman with all his marbles intact while his upstairs neighbor was much younger but missing a few. They had worked out an ideal arrangement whereby the woman cleaned and cooked and Mr Nightingale balanced her checkbook and paid her bills.

The cottage tenant had paid regularly by direct payment through his bank until suddenly payments ceased. November's payment didn't arrive and nor did December's.. My only way of contacting him was by mail: no email and no phone. By mid January, still no word so Phil was dispatched to investigate. Phil had done some odd jobs and small building projects for me in the past and not too much had surprised him to date. However, on this day, finding no one in residence, he jimmied the lock on the front door and was greeted by a flood of water pouring down the stairs. Water from a frozen pipe had been spilling out for some time it seemed. The whole downstairs was underwater and trash, furniture and even a TV was floating. The tenant was long gone and never to be heard from again. Thanks a bunch!

Another bargain sale ensued and I was rid of one more.

Rents had not changed for several years so I thought a minor increase across the board would be fair. My two Birches' occupants, I knew were on assistance from the state but one pound a month (less than $2) shouldn't break the bank. Huge mistake! Any rate increase immediately triggers an inspection. Within a couple of weeks I had received an official letter telling me that the living conditions were below par and that unless I made major repairs to the floor (it seems it was about to collapse into the cellar) the property would be condemned! Now the second time I had heard those words.

It wasn't that I was opposed to getting the work done but the logistics of a fairly large renovation and quite possibly more rot discovered once the ripping and tearing had begun, was mind spinning. I was informed that if I didn't do the work, it would be done for me and a bill presented.

While still contemplating the next move, a follow up letter arrived stating that the tenants would be relocated to a town council house and would not be returning. What luck! Maybe not such a bad mistake as I had thought. Now I had a vacant property and could sell it 'as is' plus these two nice people had been moved together into a much better situation.

Soon I found an ambitious builder, accepted his low offer and much relieved, pocketed the change.

 

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