Section 8.

Florrie97

I have issued a section 8 notice on behalf of, and in the name of of my ageing aunt, on a tenant from hell! He has an assured tenancy since 1990 so I cannot issue a 21 as well. I tried
He has unpaid rent of £2635 totalling an incredible 40 weeks rent! which he says he paid cash for when he didn't pay into the bank. Bank statements prove he paid rent sometimes, partly or not at all from jan 2005 to april 2007. My aunt was confused and didn't realise it that much. She knew he wasn't paying and asked for the arrears
On 5 July 2008 I issued a 21 but was rejected by his solicitor (legal aid) on August 15th who slapped a list of repairs on her.
A builder went round but could not assess due to the unbelievable amount of rubbish in the house and in the yard. He could not get to the kitchen roof which was leaking badly. The tenant was told that repairs would be assessed and done when the builder could get safe access.
We heard nothing, on Sep 29th I called round (with notice) with the builder and the yard was cleared (he hadn't told us)
The builder said he would do the repairs asap.
On 25th Sep we issued a Section 8 citing 6,8,10, 11.12.13,14.
All with proof

On 23rd Oct my aunt received a Pre Action Protocol for Disrepair letter. I think it was an early notification but it didn't follow any set form and anyway the photocopy of the protocol sent was illlegible.

The builder is going in on Thursday to complete the repairs anyway.

That's the history.
Has anyone any ideas on this?
He is claiming compensation and my aunt is expected to assess this apparently.
How?
She has till Nov 20th to respond.
Is this legal after issuing notices to quit?
Will it affect the Section 8 procedure?
Can he use a legal aid throughout the whole processes?
Can the solicitor really authorise an expert and make my aunt pay half the cost. The one chosen is not local and will no doubt cost a fortune which legal aid will pay his half.
The tenant refuses to communicate and his grandaughter passes on messages which we are not sure really are from him.
It's lot I know but if anyone can help on any bits I'd be grateful.

silvercar

try posting on the forum on landlordzone.co.uk, there are solicitors on there who specialise in this sort of thing. If you can scramble through the search engine on there, I have seen posts about disrepair notices.

On the face of it, it sounds like the tenant has professional advice and your aunt may need the same. I would have thought that the section 8 runs seperately from the repair issues, but I can't be sure.

N79

I agree with Silvercar. This is probably a bit specialist for MSE. Try LLZone.

T clearly has specialist advice and I agree that your aunt will probably also need a professional on this one.

Silvercar, I agree that the S8 issue should be seperate but I have a suspicion (and nothing more) that the T is trying to set up a defence to the S8 on the basis that rent has been withheld pending maitainance issues in an attempt to muddy the waters. With a good lawyer, a bit of pleading and a sympathetic judge I have known this to defeat a valid S8 G8!

I would guess that the rent is below market value (and will be difficult to get to market value) so T would like to stay.

OP I assume that your aunt did not issue a S20 notice at the start of the Tenancy? Finally, a lot of the grounds you have used are very difficult to prove. Stick with proving the G8 - this is likely to be the easiest win. But do take professional advice!

stevetodd

At what stage did the repairs become apparant, ie did your aunt know about the required repairs and do nothing about it or did it only come to light when he attempted to defend his non payment of rent.

There will be an obligation in the tenancy agreement for him to notify your aunt about any necessary repairs, if he hasn't done this, it may come back to haunt him, rather than your aunt

Florrie97

He only notified any repairs 6 weeks after the section 21 (invalid) was issued.
He says his now dead wife told her of the repairs previously but she did not.
He cannot say he withheld rent as it was long before he disclosed the repairs.
All the repairs in question will have been completed by tomorrow, they could not be done before because the builder would not start until the tenants dangerous waste in the yard was cleared.

stevetodd

Florrie97 wrote: »

He only notified any repairs 6 weeks after the section 21 (invalid) was issued.
He says his now dead wife told her of the repairs previously but she did not.
He cannot say he withheld rent as it was long before he disclosed the repairs.
All the repairs in question will have been completed by tomorrow, they could not be done before because the builder would not start until the tenants dangerous waste in the yard was cleared.

I don't think that you have much to worry about from the legally aspect. To any outsider it will appear quite clear that the repairs have been dealt with fairly promptly (after notification) whereas the rent has not been paid promptly

N79

Florrie97 wrote: »

He only notified any repairs 6 weeks after the section 21 (invalid) was issued.
He says his now dead wife told her of the repairs previously but she did not.
He cannot say he withheld rent as it was long before he disclosed the repairs.
All the repairs in question will have been completed by tomorrow, they could not be done before because the builder would not start until the tenants dangerous waste in the yard was cleared.

Like I said he is probably trying to build a sympathy defence. He is claiming that repairs where notified and no doubt will use this. It is not even a T says this LL says that case as conveniently the person who notified the repairs is dead (more sympathy building?).

I agree with Stevetodd that this case should be simple.

I am just cautioning that I can see one possible way that the T might be thinking of going. The court will only have the LL's word that the repairs were notified after the rent was late.

Finally, I assume that you have checked that your aunt did not issue a S20 notice at the start of the Tenancy or a notice that G1 might apply?

Florrie97

An s20 wasn't issued as it was a verbal agreement. She gave up her house for her adopted daughter (now dead) and husband because they had nowhere to live after being evicted a few times for......non payment of rent!
But this was back in 1990. The solicitor has acknowledged it was a verbal agreement Apparently he seems to be claiming that the disrepairs killed his wife. The leaking kitchen ceiling (which he covered with lino!) gave her respiritory failure!