Taking tenant to court for repossession but problems with house

tbs624

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

..EDIT: I have no idea why MSE has edited out the URL, .....

Possibly because they undertook some pretty relentless self promotion via this Board, poorly disguised as standard posts;)

tbs624

Landlords are, quite simply, legally obliged to keep the electrical system of the property in good, safe working order and, unfortunately for LLs, that applies even where the T is not paying their rent.

There is still a current tenancy: until you have properly had the T evicted you are obliged to sort this out and to do so with a "reasonable" period of time.

Although electrical safety checks are not generally required in the same manner as a gas safety check is ( unless the property is an HMO or under an approved LL scheme, or has to comply with an insurer's specific instruction) you do still need to be able to show due diligence.

Isatou, however hard you find it to do, you should thank the T for letting him know, confirm that you will call round today as an emergency and be getting it fully checked on Monday. (keep a copy). If the T claims against you, and you in turn need to claim against your insurers, you'd need to be able to show that you acted appropriately.

You need to be aware that you may have a "professional" tenant on your hands: you leaving a T without electricity once he has notified you of the fault, because he has failed to pay rent to you, can, as Lazy Daisy has mentioned, be construed as a form of tenant harassment which is a criminal offence. Cover your own back.

Debt_Free_Chick

Agree with TBS.

The eviction/repossession process is completely separate - in the meantime, you should behave as a "normal, good" LL. Tit for tat type behaviour will not hold up well should you have to go to Court.

silvercar

I would be suspicious that the tenant is causing trouble in the property in the knowledge that they are soon to face an evicition court case.

Jowo_2

By the sounds of it, you've served the tenant with an S21 to give them two months notice.

Are you aware of an S8 notice which is served on tenants that owe 2 months rent? (can be served the day after the 2nd month's rent has not been received, so can be served 1 month and 1 day into the tenancy rather than 2 calendar months in duration).

Judges do not have any discretion at awarding possession back to the landlord when at the time of serving and the court case, the tenant owes 2 months rent (or 8 weeks if paid weekly).

Tenants with significant arrears are usually evicted through the S8 route with the S21 served as a back up in case they pay down the arrears just before the court case.

And you are obliged to keep the house in repair whatever the status of the rent - get an electrician in asap. There is no requirement for an annual electrical inspection. There is an annual requirement for a gas safety certificate if the property has a boiler or gas appliances.

Was there a requirement for you to protect the tenant's deposit in a tenancy deposit scheme and did you? Because if you've failed to protect it when you were legally compelled to, your s21 is invalid. A professional tenant would know this.

Willsnarf1983

If you havn't replied to the text then wheres the proof to say you didn't get the text till monday?

The tenant sounds like an !!!!

Will