Notice to Tennant

mr_nice_5

I have a tenneant who is falling behind in their rent. I have a fairly standard contract Assured Shorthold Tenancy - under Part 1 of the Housing Act 1988 as amended under Part III of the Housing Act 1996.

I have given my tennenat 1 months notice, she has been to the council and they have advised her that she should be given 2 months notice, my contract clearly states 1 month.

Any ideas where I stand ???

clutton_2

legally you have to give her two months, irrespective of what it says in your agreeement. May i suggest you join National Landlords Association - you are about to enter an incredibly tricky and very expensive process and you need exact legal help. If you give her two months notice on the wrong date in the month, your suit will be thrown out of court, and you will have to start all over again.

There is always a reason why tenants stop paying rent - have you talked to her to find out why ?

mr_nice_5

Thanks ....

missk_ensington

The reason for falling behind in rent is usually because they got p1ssed every night last week and spent everything, bought a pair of shoes costing a months salary or just didn't pay if they thought they could possibly avoid it. The problem is if this tenant refuses to move after the notice is up, you should issue County court proceedings asap to recover unpaid rent and an eviction order.

Kaminari_2

That is a very general statement. The tenant could also be sick, unable to work so unable to pay the rent. Not all tenants are irreponsible or bad and you really shouldn't be judgemental about the circumstances.

The fact is that the tenant is not paying for the service so the LL must go through the standard proceedures. As Clutton says join the National Landlords Association and follow the legal process to the word, i can be long and costly but it needs to be done. It is not the LL's problem the reasons why the tenant can't pay.

missk_ensington

I still think it is irresponsible to just not pay your rent (regardless of why) and not write/call/visit the LL with a full explanation of why he hasn't got his money.

My Mum rents a lot of properties and she gets it nearly every month with some tenants, they ahve no money, totally skint, but she see's them every teatime having 3-4 pints after work in the local 5 nights a week!

What tenants forget, is that LL's often have a mortgage to pay on that property and the tenents view is often 'The LL can afford it, they've got loads of money and loads of properties not getting one moneths rent wont make a difference' but the loan payments could be 90% of the rent, putting the LL severely out of pocket.

If the tenant is out of work etc etc, they should be claiming HB and telling the LL the situation, that they're waiting for the application to be processed and the rent will be backdated.

realwildone

I suggest the tenant stay put and lets the court sort it out. This will give her 9 months to sort herself out.

missk_ensington

realwildone- so the Landlord has no rent for 9 months!!!!? And that is fair because?

Me_Myself_2

Miss K - Don't bother responding to such ignorant, juvenile comments.

Kaminari_2

The reasons why are not an issue and assumptions should not need to be made. The FACT is that the rent has not been paid and the standard legal path should be sort.

stphnstevey

See what you can work out with the tenant - it's a HECK off alot better than the costly legal proceedings and lost rent.

If you can't come to a comprimise, then a solicitors letter notifying them of pending court proceedings, a potential CCJ on thier record and unlikely to be able to rent privately again, normally does the trick.