A warning to owners in south Vendee

[Fumanzoku]

I've just had the misfortune to have a 'delightful' middle-class family of five, with dog and two cats rent my place for six months. I describe them in that way because that's how they will come across to you, in fact I think they believe themselves to be quite respectable. Anyway to cut a long story short, and of course name no names, they pulled a number of cons on me. They said they'd be staying two years at least, they only stayed for the summer, thus I lost the higher income I could've got for a summer-only rent, and turned other, probably more honest people, down. When they did pay the rent it was always late for a variety of reasons, so I had to reluctantly remind them to pay it. They stopped paying the rent two months before they left so as to use the deposit up, and now have left me with unpaid bills, and no forwarding address. There is more, damage to the property etc. but I'll spare you the details. You're probably thinking the contract will help, in fact I sent them the contract twice and they said it hadn't arrived, I am a very distant landlord you see.

Well I know what I have to do next time, and trust, as ever, is the victim. I'm writing this for two reasons, 1) Appearances mean nothing. 2) These people are now renting another Brits' property somewhere in this area so if you're unlucky enough to be their next victim you may want to take some precautions. Feel free to PM me if you are concerned.

[Athene]

What a horrible experience and thank you for your warning! There always has to be some element of trust in a rental situation and no-one would want your experiece!

[Fumanzoku]

I'm going to have to find out where these people are renting now. I

suspect it's the Coulonges sur Autize area. What are

the most popular websites for Gites in the area? I'll try contacting all the Gite

owners with a warning, and also to get a forwarding

address to send these bills.

[Frederick]

I am very sorry to hear your tale ....but not surprised ....I have had years of experience of renting on short term letting argreements to people in the UK ( Dorset ) who on first appearance seem to be the ideal tenant..only to find they are a nightmare... I am talking Bank and Insurance Company  employees and the like......... people you would think you could trust ..I could write a book on bad tenants I have had so many....even via agencies ..May I suggest that when sombody wants to stay for six months or even more  you start thinking references..and credit checks.....Dont take anything that they could run off a computor with decent desk top publishing software as genuine .Tell them you  want checkable references ...  more than one ....and do phone people they have rented  from.... find out all about them.  I have had employers references guaranteeing payment...and praising the tenant as one of their finest workers which you would think were fine ....and  then ended up telling employers if their worker did not pay their rent I would be getting an attchement of earnings order for what they owe plus court costs  after I had thrown them out . The hassle  from dodgy tenants was one of the reasons I packed it in and bought the house in France.......they can  make you so angry . and in the end you get fed up listening to lies .

 . I once had a woman with 3 children ask if they could rent my house as she said her mother was ill and she needed to move into the area  to be on hand to care for her. At the viewing she arrived with her ..."Mother " ....the children were calling her "Gran ".....I rented her the house .....9 months later after a court case she was gone ....so was the man she moved in .... after the Police had kicked the front door in and dragged him off..... back to the prison he had recently come from ...The" mother " I had spoken to  was a front ..... her  real mother was living  in London where she had to flee from ......I later learned that some of her family had homes on wheels  .Most people who want long term rental have a history ....why do they want to live in your place for two years ?  I would need to know a lot about  them .

 

[Fumanzoku]

Thanks for the advice Frederick, and sharing your experiences. It all helps in making better decisions in the future. In fact I  found that I miss the summer at my place, and will now keep July and August for my daughter and I, regardless of loss of income.