Serving Section8 - dates?

clutton_2

this tenant h as no intention of paying you. why are you allowing him to run rings round you ? he owes you nearly £2k and you still want him as a tenant - r u mad ???

whoever downloaded that tenants need to be 3 months in arrears is wrong - it is 2 months and in effect that means 32 days

rent due Jan 1 - not paid - tenant one month in arreas
rent due Feb 1 - not paid - tenant now two months in arrears - issue Section 8 immediately

have you already issued a Section 21 ?

the trouble with section 8s is that you take a tenant to court - he pays off half of what he owes the day before court, he then spins the judge a tale about my auntie died and i broke my ankle and it wont happen again and the judge gives them another chance - its cost you £150 and then you have to start all over again with another £150 court costs when they dont pay next month


if you have not issued a SEction 21 then do so at the first opportunity and at least you can take him to court and get him out and get someone in who does pay the rent - after that take him to court for rent arrears and get an attachment of earnings - or just write it off to experience

you need to get rid of this tenant asap - he's taking you for a ride

BUT - join the national landlords association (fee is tax deductible) and get all their help sheets as to how to fill in court forms properly - if you dont fill them in accuratly they j ust get thrown out and you have lost £150 for no reason - they also have a fabulous legal help line

Premier_2

ncooper1974 wrote:

I found the info about citing the full text in the section 8 notice on the following web site:...
...surely this can't be right? I thought it was only 2 months arrears if paying monthly?

The Housing Act 1988, Schedule 2, Ground 8

Ground 8

Both at the date of the service of the notice under section 8 of this Act relating to the proceedings for possession and at the date of the hearing—
(a) if rent is payable weekly or fortnightly, at least thirteen weeks' rent is unpaid;
(b) if rent is payable monthly, at least three months' rent is unpaid;
(c) if rent is payable quarterly, at least one quarter’s rent is more than three months in arrears; and
(d) if rent is payable yearly, at least three months' rent is more than three months in arrears;

and for the purpose of this ground “rent” means rent lawfully due from the tenant.

Source: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/ukpga_19880050_en_14#sch2

But ... amended in The Housing Act 1996, s.101

Grounds for possession

101 Mandatory possession for non-payment of rent: reduction in arrears required

In Part I of Schedule 2 to the Housing Act 1988 (grounds on which court must order possession) in Ground 8 (rent unpaid for certain periods)—
(a) in paragraph (a) (rent payable weekly or fortnightly) for “thirteen weeks”' there shall be substituted “eight weeks”', and
(b) in paragraph (b) (rent payable monthly) for “three months”' there shall be substituted “two months”'.

Source: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/ukpga_19960052_en_9#pt3-ch2-pb2-l1g103

HTH

guppy

ncooper1974 wrote: »

But i didn't, as I didn't want to appear confrontational.

The tenant is taking advantage of your good nature, and will continue to do so as long as you let him.

Personally I doubt you will be able to stop him without evicting him. He sounds like a serial bullsitter and is unlikely to change.

If you put the notice through the door, he will no doubt claim he never received it.

The tenant can either afford the rent or not. If he can't afford it, he needs to move on before he gets in to even more financial difficulty. If he can afford it, then he is really taking the mickey, spending money that should be in your pocket.

This is a business arrangement - start treating it like one!

clutton_2

two months notice is all it needs as per my post #12 - get rid of this tenant - how much more money do you want to lose ?

put your section notices thru his door - take a mate with you for a witness and get the mate to sign a Statement of Truth saying that he saw this letter put thru the door on x date at x time - that will be evidence enough for the j udge


in case you are worried by court - its all done my email/letter/court docs unless the tenant defends it - in which case you have to go and the court room is very small, informal, two tables - one for the judge one for you and him - no wigs no formality - my guess is that this guy will leave without your having to go to court

as soon as he sees the section 21 he may well leave of his own accord

ncooper1974

Update :
Tenant didn't call at 10am like he promised. I called him at 10:30 to chase it up but no answer.

He did call me after lunch saying that he left his phone at home while he went to the bank, and says that its all been sorted. But he did say that he has the cash at home now and I can pick it up tonight.
So i'm going round after work, along with my updated copy of my s8. If he pays up what he owes (for June at least) then I wont be able to serve notice. If he doesn't, or there is another claim of "i'll run it over" then i'll serve it there and then.

He reckons that once he sells his car (a porsche boxter which he paid cash for about 5 months ago) then he'll be ok. He could be telling the truth. He could have a serious cash flow problem and it will all be sorted out in a few days.

some of you have commented that he is taking advantage of me. I do agree to an extent. I think he does have cash flow problems, but rather than be honest with me I get one story after another. If he was honest I'd probably give him some time to pay. Its the lies that I dont particularly like

I'll let you know tomorrow how i get on.
Thanks so far for all the comments i've received - particularly regardint the s8 notice

clutton_2

the section 8 notice needs to include a schedule of arrears

lay it out like a rent book showing the date at which rent became due, the date rent was paid and how much, the arrears for each due date

the judge needs to see a clear pattern of payment and arrears


surely you dont believe his latest story ????

ncooper1974

Part of me WANTS to believe his story. i've got nothing to loose by going round to collect the cash tonight (the flat is on they way to my own home).

This is what i've put in section 4 of the s8 notice:
Ground 8:
Rent due on 1st June 2008 and 1st July 2008 remains unpaid

Ground 10:
Rent due on 1st June 2008 and 1st July 2008 remains unpaid

Ground 11:
Tenancy commenced on 1st November 2007. Rent is payable on the 1st December, and each month thereafter subsequent to this. Below are the dates at which I received cleared funds:
Date Expected Date Cleared
1st November 2007 1st November 2007
1st December 2007 21st December 2008
1st January 2008 9th January 2008
1st February 2008 13th February 2008
1st March 2008 20th March 2008
1st April 2008 3rd April 2008
1st May 2008 9th May 2008
1st June 2008 No cleared funds – awaiting payment
1st July 2008 No cleared funds – awaiting payment

MissMoneypenny

ncooper1974 wrote: »

Ground 11:
Tenancy commenced on 1st November 2007. Rent is payable on the 1st December, and each month thereafter subsequent to this. Below are the dates at which I received cleared funds:
Date Expected Date Cleared
1st November 2007 1st November 2007
1st December 2007 21st December 2008
1st January 2008 9th January 2008
1st February 2008 13th February 2008
1st March 2008 20th March 2008
1st April 2008 3rd April 2008
1st May 2008 9th May 2008
1st June 2008 No cleared funds – awaiting payment
1st July 2008 No cleared funds – awaiting payment

You have a wrong date.

ncooper1974

crikey! thanks MissM
I've been a landlord for over 8 years and have never had any problems from anyone before.

clutton_2

you need to do a list of £ amounts -

dates from 1st Jan-30 Jan - rent due £xxxx rent paid £xxx Arrears
from 1st Feb- 28th Feb - rent due £xxxx rent paid £xxx Arrears

with a final colum for the cumulative total of each month arrears so that the judge can see exactly how many months he is in arrears and by how much each time

there is nothing stopping you issuing both a SEction 8 and a Section 21 - so that even if he pays up all the rent - the 21 kicks in and you can still have him out

do you have details of his employer - National Insurance no etc ?