being evicted for a few late payments of rent

generaloneill

A workmate of mines is in a rented accomodation and know there landlord well. Their landlord has informed them that she wants the house back as she has been abroad and is coming home soon.

Now I asked them if they have had any problems and the husband has been made redundant and the wife has had her pay changed to the 28th. The rent should have been paid on the 25th, but it has been recently getting paid on the 28th or later. Note, at this point there are no rent arrears.

I asked if they have a contract and they have a 6 month one ending in april, but the landlord is taking them to court based on the fact they have been paying 3 or more days late. And is going for eviction I believe.

Another thing, they have sent the recent rent away and the landlord is not accepting it, what should they do?

Please ask any question and ill relay them and post the answers here.

Jowo_2

Here are the grounds that a landlord can cite as reasons for possession. What is on their notice?

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/grounds_for_possession.htm

How do they pay their rent?

They should keep good records of all contact with the landlord by communicating to them in writing and keeping a copy.

If the property is in England and Wales, is their deposit protected in a Tenancy Deposit scheme?

theartfullodger

Assuming this is England&Wales and an AST the grounds the Landlord will be using will be..Grounds 10&11...

Ground 10 - This ground covers arrears of rent being in arrears less than the times specified in mandatory
ground 8. This ground also, with the consent of the court, allows rent recover by distress.
Ground 11 - This ground covers persistent delays in rent payment. However, being a discretionary ground the court will take into account factors outside the tenant's control, for example, delays in housing benefit payments

These are both "Discretionary Grounds" meaning the court has discretion to grant possession but the Tenant & LL get the chance to make their case, then court decides..., unlike say Ground 8 (Mandatory) behind 2 months behind with the rent where if the paperwork is correct the court has to grant possession to the LL.

Your mate should be alright but... turn up in court, smart, calm, polite (to everyone, including LL), bring bank statements/receipts proving what has been paid & when, explain problems (redundancy etc) & promise you will do whatever in future & will keep the LL informed if T will be a day or so late...

However it is also possible (if LL is smart enuf) LL is using a "Section21" notice which would have to have already been served after which a court MUST order possession for the Landlord but no reasons are needed. Jowo mentions deposit etc. If deposit has not been protected & T informed about where it is keep before S21 notice is issued then the S21 notice is invalid..

You say there were no rent arrears: Sorry, there were. If rent was due on 25th but not paid until 28th the the rent (for the month) was in arrears on 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th until paid....

Hope it works out: Cheers!

Lodger

tbs624

You say that the LL is abroad - has your friend been given an address at the UK at which Notices in relation to the Tenancy may be served (this may be in the tenancy agreement under a clause which refers to S48 of the LL & T Act 1987)

You also say that the T has "sent their recent rent away and the LL is not accepting it"
How do they normally pay? Is there someone in the UK who is responsible for collecting the rent?

The reason she needs to check this one is that if there has not a UK address given for whilst the LL is abroad then the LL may not lawfully collect rent until such time as an address has been given.This doesn't mean that the T can spend the rent money - they should keep it a separate account for now.

On a general note - if a T has a payday change then s/he should always *discuss* it with the LL and ask the LL if they would agree in writing to a change of rent due day. Its not acceptable to just pay late.

A Ground 8, S10 and S11 notice of intent to repossess the property is what's called a Discretionary Ground, ie eviction is not always granted, as Artful says.If the LL has refused to accept a recent rent payment then the T needs to write formally stating that she has tried to pay ( & on which date) and that she will keep the funds available in a deposit account.

She should take the notice, her tenancy agreement etc and get an appointment with the CAB.

tbs624

Picking up Artful's comment about deposit registration - if your friend doesn't know if her tenancy deposit has been registered she can check at each of the three schemes see here for more info . The S21 Notice would be used to seek to repossess the property (or asap after) the expiry of the Fixed Term, ie in April

Fly_Baby

It might be too late now but your friend's wife could ask her bank for an overdraft that equals the rent amount so she would be able to pay on the 25th - she might need to explain to the bank why she needs it. Then her wages would come in on the 28th. The authorised (!) overdraft fee for those 4 days should be a few pence. And everyone is happy.

Fire_Fox

What do you mean the landlord isn't accepting the rent? If rent day is the 25th the money should be cleared in his bank account by then, so cheque would need to be sent a week beforehand otherwise the rent is one month in arrears (not three days in arrears). If they are sending the rent by post they should keep trying using recorded delivery.

princeofpounds

The judge will almost certainly not evict for rent arriving 3 days late on a couple of occasions. Depriving someone of their home is treated as a very serious matter. All they would have to do is turn up and explain why this has happened, and demonstrate some kind of plan to get back to on-time payments. The judge may even express displeasure at the case being brought for such a trivial matter, so I doubt that it will even go to court.

If it is a section 21 they will have to leave, but only at the end of the fixed term, and only if the notice is valid. It won't be valid if the deposit is not protected, it won't be valid if the dates are wrong etc.

The landlord will not be able to get them out before April as long as they pay their rent.

mynameisdave

I'm confused.

They have a 6 month contract that ends in April? Its only four months away it ends on the 1st. Presumably they have paid a month upfront so it can only have been one month payment that was late.

Edit: Do you mean 6 months left of a longer contract?

N79

mynameisdave wrote: »

I'm confused.

They have a 6 month contract that ends in April? Its only four months away it ends on the 1st. Presumably they have paid a month upfront so it can only have been one month payment that was late.

This contract could have been a renewal of a previous contract.

Neil