HA tenant and growing rent arrears!!

Jowo_2

Geenie wrote: »

The fact you state the tenant has a "partner" rings alrm bells to me. Do you know that if said partner has been living in your property they can claim squatters rights even if you evict the named tenants on the AST?

That's not my understanding though the OP should verify this.

My understanding is that a landlord only has to serve notice on the tenant(s) named on the AST and the notice and subsequent possession order won in court applies to all occupants. If a tenant does not move out when the possession order expires, the landlord arranges a court appointed bailiff and they will clear the entire property.

N79

Geenie wrote: »

The fact you state the tenant has a "partner" rings alrm bells to me. Do you know that if said partner has been living in your property they can claim squatters rights even if you evict the named tenants on the AST?

Oh come off it - this is rubbish. If the partner is not on the AST then they are an excluded occupier and when the AST ends they would have not rights to stay in the property. If they did then they could be evicted very quickly, provided that the LL does nothing to imply the creation of a new tenancy.

Edit: I see Jowo got there first

N79

tabskitten wrote: »

I have applied to Bristol council both by phone and now in writing and any rent now will be paid direct to me - I hope.

Tried CAB wrt the arrears but not very helpful, looking for some advice on taking it to court if need be......

CAB help people. They are not set up to help businesses and you are a business.

I strongly advise that you employ a company like eg LL Action (http://www.landlordaction.co.uk/ - but do not take this as a recommendation of them as a specific company as I have had no dealings with them but they are the sort of company you need to help you) to do the eviction for you - you are clearly out of your depth and unhappy and your losses are mounting.

It is always a false economy to think that a bad T is better than no T. With no T you can quickly recover the situation, relet to a good T and stop losing money.

Good luck.

N79 - a LL who has been there, done that etc with hundreds of Ts over many years.

Jowo_2

tabskitten wrote: »

Tried CAB wrt the arrears but not very helpful, looking for some advice on taking it to court if need be......

I wasn't aware that CAB helps landlords. I could be wrong but I thought they gave advice on tenants housing rights, rather than Landlords rights. I know that Shelter only offer advice to tenants/home owners and not landlords. Landlordzone is excellent, so too are the landlord associations who often offer legal services to their members, such as RLA. Join one.

When does their tenancy agreement expire or are they on a periodic tenancy?

This is important because if the tenant should pay off the rent arrears below 2 months (if the rent is paid monthly) by the time the court case takes place, they actually sabotage the effectiveness of the S8. The judge has no choice but to award possession of the property to the landlord if at the time of the S8 notice AND at the court hearing, the tenant owes 2 months rent but most other grounds are discretionary and possession is not usually awarded on discretionary grounds.

A professional tenant (i.e. one who knows their rights and housing law better than their landlord) will already know this and will pay off a sum shortly before the court hearing. Ask your agent for a copy of the tenant screening report which should cover previous landlord references, credit check, previous addresses, photo ID, etc, to satisfy yourself if they did it thoroughly and that if you did it now, you would not uncover a tenant with a history of CCJs, eviction,etc.

This leaves you with serving an S21 (2 months notice to quit) which is why it is important to understand if the tenant has a lot of time left on the contract because it can only take effect when the fixed term expires.

Quite often a landlord/agent will serve the S21 at the outset of the tenancy (effectively serving notice at the start) so that they can apply straight to court for a possession order at the end of the fixed term if the tenancy isn't working out. It saves 2 months in the legal process. Has your agent served your tenant with an S21?

Is their deposit protected? Again this is important because if this isn't done, it invalidates the S21.

SouthCoast

Professional tenant meets amateur landlord.

From CAB:

Can I claim money I am owed by taking a case to court?

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_rights/legal_system/faq_index_legal_matters/faq_legal_matters_court_action__to_claim_money_owed.htm

tabskitten

As far as I am aware there is no set tenancy and If the flat sells I have to give her 2 months notice and that is it.

I have spoken to LA and a solicitor is acting on my behalf to warn her that unless the arrears are formally and realistically paid then we will be issing her an eviction notice.

Her rent at least should now be paid direct to me.

Jowo_2

You've indicated previously that the property is for sale.

Realistically, what are the chances of someone on benefits coming up with 2k at short notice? And how do you propose the tenant will react to property viewings in the future once she realises her accommodation is in jeapardy?

Think what can happen when an offer is accepted by yourself, you serve 2 months notice and the tenant will not or cannot find onward accommodation because you can't give her a good reference and/or she fails a credit check?

Your sale could fall through once the buyers are informed by their solicitor that it might take you another 2-4 months to get her out of the property if she doesn't cooperate with the notice you serve and you have to seek a possession order in the courts. If its her strategy to seek rehousing from the council, then she'll stay put after notice is served because they'll instruct her to do so.

Tenants that are being evicted can ask for extra time from the judge. Therefore in a worse case scenario, your timings could be something like this, which is why it can actually take around 6 months to get a bad tenant out:-

2 months notice (timed to expire with the rental period, so can actually be closer to to three months if the last period has just been missed).
4-6 weeks to get a court hearing when the notice is ignored by the tenant
2-6 week period for the tenant to remain in the property until the Possession Order takes effect if it is granted at all by the judge.
2-4 weeks to get a court appointed bailiff to enforce the Possession Order if the tenant still doesn't leave.

Jowo_2

tabskitten,

Blimey, Is this the same tenant who last month demanded a rent decrease and informed you that she was struggling to pay the rent?

And yet somehow is convinced that despite her arrears to you that she is in the position to buy it off you?

Or is this another tenant?

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2279157

tabskitten

The very same tenent!

Jowo_2

Great - she has currently underpaid her rent by around 25% and she appears to be under the impression that she is in the position to buy the place (albeit for around 20% less than the sale price)...

Get her out.