£4500 Outstanding Cash - how do I get at it?

ross1979

I'm sorry if this has been asked elsewhere but I've came across a funny little situation of which I have no experience. At the moment I have 7 properties but I have been extremely lucky indeed in that all my tenants have been exemplary - rent on time every month for the last 18 months.
However a business colleague of mine has become so busy with other things that he has asked me to look after his houses for him for a small fee. He also has 7 houses. 5 are no trouble at all but two tenants are way behind on the rent - both to the tune of about £2250.
He was going to let this situation run on but I've explained to him that he now needs to cut his losses. My issue is that I've not got a clue where to start. One tenant is still within a 6 month AST. The other is month to month.
Can anyone give me an idiots guide to getting them out and retrieving my mates cash - or can anyone recommend a website that gives a simplistic, step by step plan?

Debt_Free_Chick

Getting the money will be the difficult issue. Even if you take court action and get a CCJ, the money still needs to be physically paid. Your best bet is to talk to them and agree a payment plan.

Getting them out of the property is easier. The tenant on a "month by month" tenancy - I assume that the fixed period in the AST has expired? If so, just issue a section 21 notice of repossession. You need to give them two months notice with that notice covering two rent months, as set out in the AST. If the rent is due on the 15th of the month, you issue the notice 3 or 4 days earlier than that date, with the notice starting on the 15th and running for two months.

The other tenant within the fixed period - same process, but the notice cannot expire before the end of the fixed period.

m_13

ross1979 wrote: »

My issue is that I've not got a clue where to start. One tenant is still within a 6 month AST. The other is month to month.
Can anyone give me an idiots guide to getting them out and retrieving my mates cash - or can anyone recommend a website that gives a simplistic, step by step plan?

I think your first step should be to join one of the Landlord associations. You can take the full amount back as allowable expenses and you can then benefit from their free advice lines and helpful forums. If you are in England or Wales there are two:

• National Landlords Association - www.landlords.org.uk - £70 membership plus £18 administration fee for one year
• Residential Landlords Association - www.rla.org.uk - £85 for one year's membership taken out online, discounts available if pay on direct debit

If you are in Scotland or Northern Ireland then there are different organisations:

• Scottish Association of Landlords - www.scottishlandlords.com - £90 membership for one year
• Landlords' Association of Northern Ireland - www.lani.org.uk - £75 per annum

You can also find advice on the free landlords' forums such as www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums.

You can use Section 8 Grounds 8 or 10 or 11 to evict a tenant whose rent is more than two months overdue but the AST must mention Section 8 (which most standard forms do). I'm guessing £2,250 for each is more than two months? With Section 21 you are giving two months notice and so will continue to lose money. Section 8 is 14 days notice. There's a step by step guide here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/116385-shorthold-tenancy-posession-eviction.html. It may be that once you send the notice they will realise how serious the situation is and make attempts to pay.

You don't need a solicitor to do this but must used the prescribed form for it to be legal. You'll find the wording here: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/residential-commercial-lettings/116263-landlords-claim-possession-example.html

Debt_Free_Chick

Although the section 8 route requires a Court Order - and it will be thwarted if the tenant makes a payment to bring the arrears under 2 months, before the court hearing. Hence, the section 21 route is easier and clearer. Of course, a s21 can be issued at the same time as a s8 notice, in case the s8 route fails.

tbs624

Were deposits paid by these Ts and, if received after 6 April 2007 , have they been scheme-registered and the prescribed info passed to the Ts?

Has your friend already given these Ts a written statment of rent paid/rent due and made specific requests for payments to be brought up to date? - if not you could first try letting them know there is a new property manager (you) and that rent arrears are to be brought up to date by xx/xx/09

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

.....Getting them out of the property is easier. The tenant on a "month by month" tenancy - I assume that the fixed period in the AST has expired? If so, just issue a section 21 notice of repossession. You need to give them two months notice with that notice covering two rent months, as set out in the AST. If the rent is due on the 15th of the month, you issue the notice 3 or 4 days earlier than that date, with the notice starting on the 15th and running for two months.

The other tenant within the fixed period - same process, but the notice cannot expire before the end of the fixed period.

Couple of points - a S21 may already have been served earlier in both tenancies and when a T is owing rent you use a Section 8, G8, 10 and 11, as m-13 describes. Although G8 is a mandatory G for repossession, it can be defeated if the T pays off all or some of the overdue rent immediately prior to a hearing, which is why you would also use the discretionary Gs10 (rent lawfully due) and 11 (rent persistently late.) S21 can only of course be validly served if any tenancy deposit has been scheme-registered.

You would then need to pursue the outstanding rents as a separate issue via the small claims track but , as DFC says, even when you get a judgement, that judgement may still need to be enforced. Are there any repairs issues which may give rise to a counterclaim?