tenant now nearly 8 weeks in arrears

Brenny

speedtwin wrote: »

www.all4landlords.com All the info, forms and docs you will ever need and a someone at the end of a phone for advice when ever you need it. They will even talk you thro any court case at no extra cost. Speak to Adrian

Just thought of another question - the tenancy agreement states that the rent must be paid in advance. Because this tenant is on benefits and the LA only pay in arrears (I believe), I accepted the fact that I would get the payment in arrears. As I did this have I "overwritten" the original agreement? (Hope that makes sense!)

speedtwin

What ever the tenancy agreement states is what the terms are. Unless you have given any other writen agreement changing that.

dealornodeal_3

olly300 wrote: »

And the reference check is useful as...?

All the references will prove is the tenants didn't have any previous problems. As with with investments it is not a predictor of future problems.

Well! with Bank references etc, you can go down the avenue of blacklisting them; cant you?

speedtwin

Also if you have their bank details and then get a ccj against them for rent arrears you then can apply to the court to have the money taken directly from their bank a/c without them knowing untill its too late.
No good if they have no money in there though.

littlemissmoney

Brenny wrote: »

Just thought of another question - the tenancy agreement states that the rent must be paid in advance. Because this tenant is on benefits and the LA only pay in arrears (I believe), I accepted the fact that I would get the payment in arrears. As I did this have I "overwritten" the original agreement? (Hope that makes sense!)

This is good as it may mean they are already 2 months behind with rent (cos they are always one month behind) so you can apply under section 8 now?

tbs624

Brenny wrote: »

Please can you advise me of a Landlords Association that you would recommend. And any HELPFUL advice really appreciated.

The two big ones are :

Residential LLs Association - http://www.rla.org.uk/

National LLs Association/Nat Fed of Residential LLs http://www.landlords.org.uk/index.htm

There also may be a local LL association that is an affiliate of one of the national ones.

Also worth signing up to is Tessa Shepperson’s LandlordLaw site

Membership fees for any of the above can be set against rental income for tax purposes. Your membership will also get you reduction on some LL insurances, as well as advice, proforma documents & up to date info on changes to rules & regs.

pink30

Brenny wrote: »

Can I join this thread as I am in a very similar situation so can I add some queries to the answers given please?

The tenancy ends 9 January so I understand that I should serve a S21B.
If the tenant is 1.5 months behind with rent can I still serve S8, or do I have to wait for her to be 2 months behind?
If I serve a S8 can I apply to court for her to leave before 9 January?
I never got her deposit from her!! Does this make any difference to my situation?

To explain the above, I have let this house out for five years to my daughter with no problem. She moved out at quite short notice and arranged for sister of her partner to move in. BIG MISTAKE!

One further bit of help would be appreciated. Please can you advise me of a Landlords Association that you would recommend. And any HELPFUL advice really appreciated.

Yes you need to issue a section 21(b) on the 9th November which will expire on the 9th January. However if you issue a section 8 notice the tenant must be 2 months in arrears, once the section 8 notice expires (14 days) you can then apply to the courts for possession even if the tenant is still within their initial tenancy period.

neverdespairgirl

bindiboo wrote: »

if the 6 months ast ends next week anyway, do we still have to give 2 months?? they owe £1200 atm and we have been as patient and as understanding as possible, but we still have the mortgage to pay on the house...

Yes, you do. You need to issue a section 21 notice, which is very specific - get anything wrong, and it's invalid and yuo need to start all over again.

It's 2 months to end on a rent day. So if rent day is the 30th of he month, you need to give notice before that this month to get the tenants out at the end of December.

You should do both - s.21 and s.8 (which is the rent arrears). You can then go to the County Court to get eviction.

neverdespairgirl

Brenny wrote: »

I never got her deposit from her!! Does this make any difference to my situation?

No. You have to protect a deposit if you get one, but if you don't get one, you don't protect nothing (-:

speedtwin

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

It's 2 months to end on a rent day. .

Not strickly correct. If using a section 21(1)(b) which is used during the fixed term of the tenancy as long as the 2 months notice starts inside the fixed term and the end of the 2 months notice ends no earlier than the last day of the tenancy it doesnt matter what day it falls on

If using a section 21(4)(a) which is used for a periodic tenancy (month to month ) the dates are important but you can get s21(4)(a) forms which dont have a space for the date to go in, it has what is known as a saving clause which just mentions about 2 months notice falling in line with a rent period.