serving notice/tenant arrears

amjustagirl

hi, tenancy began in july 08 and tenant didnt pay me 1st months rent until aug 08, all rent payments have been made up until now but recently my tenant lost their job and is trying to claim housing benefit at what point can i serve s8/s21? Last payment i received was in Oct 10, nothing this month. Whilst i sympathise with my tenant am obviously not a charity and just want to know where i stand if i don't get any payment off them soon.
Thanks

Wee_Willy_Harris

amjustagirl wrote: »

hi, tenancy began in july 08 and tenant didnt pay me 1st months rent until aug 08, all rent payments have been made up until now but recently my tenant lost their job and is trying to claim housing benefit at what point can i serve s8/s21? Last payment i received was in Oct 10, nothing this month. Whilst i sympathise with my tenant am obviously not a charity and just want to know where i stand if i don't get any payment off them soon.
Thanks

You're obviously not a landlord either! Join a recognised landlord association, soon.

BitterAndTwisted

Section 8 once the tenant is two months in arrears. If there's no current AST serve a Section 21 at the same time but this assumes their deposit is protected in one of the schemes and that the property is in England or Wales.

On a personal note, you've had over two years of continuous rental income with no voids so I think your tenant deserves a bit of patience and the milk of human kindness to get this sorted out if they've been looking after your investment properly.

tbs624

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Section 8 once the tenant is two months in arrears (a) . If there's no current AST (b) serve a Section 21 at the same time ..

My bolding - (a) rent unpaid (b)AST continues as a stat periodic after Fixed Term expiry.

OP - have you written to the T, enclosing a Rent Statement for the full length of the tenancy, ie rent amount , due date , date actual payment made? Enclose with a letter asking the T to contact you within the next 3 working days, explaining that the tenancy is at risk.

Do you know if your T has signed to say that you may discuss the LHA claim with the HB officers?

If no response from the T then serve S21 and Ground 8, S8. If you have not scheme registered the tenancy deposit (if one paid) then the S21 will be invalid until you do. Be aware that if, prior to the court hearing, your T pays down (even partially) the amount of rent owed then you will have to start over again.

You may want to have a look at the Landlordlaw site or the NLA site so that you can familiarise yourself with LL& T notices.

amjustagirl

My bolding - (a) rent unpaid (b)AST continues as a stat periodic after Fixed Term expiry.

OP - have you written to the T, enclosing a Rent Statement for the full length of the tenancy, ie rent amount , due date , date actual payment made? Enclose with a letter asking the T to contact you within the next 3 working days, explaining that the tenancy is at risk. Yes already written to him with outstanding rent amount, and am going to follow that up with a call to ask him to give me an update on the situation

Do you know if your T has signed to say that you may discuss the LHA claim with the HB officers? No he hasnt, i only wanted employed tenants only but obviously this was unforseen. Can i ask him for the hb officers contact number to discuss his claim??

If no response from the T then serve S21 and Ground 8, S8. If you have not scheme registered the tenancy deposit (if one paid) then the S21 will be invalid until you do. Be aware that if, prior to the court hearing, your T pays down (even partially) the amount of rent owed then you will have to start over again. Yes deposit is protected, what do u mean by start over again?

You may want to have a look at the Landlordlaw site or the NLA site so that you can familiarise yourself with LL& T notices.Yes am going to do that thanks as am an accidential landlord so no expert as it were

Blackpool_Saver

is there a contract?

BitterAndTwisted

In order for the Section 8 to succeed the tenant will need to be two months in arrears on the day you issue it and two month's in arrears on the court date.

Ergo, should you issue your Section 8 and the tenant pays down the arrears to less than two months before the court date then the Section 8 will fail.

Which is why you have been advised to issue a Section 21 at the same time.

BitterAndTwisted

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

is there a contract?

Of course there is a contract: the landlord provides a property and the tenant in return pays rent to occupy it.

amjustagirl

so what date is the tenant classed as 2 mths in arrears? tenancy started 18th july 08 and last payment received 18th Oct 10
If you mean a tenancy agreement as oppose to contract then yes there is one

BitterAndTwisted

Depends on what date the rent falls due. If the next rent payment was due on 18th of November and the tenant fails to pay the rent again on the 18th of December then you issue your Section 8 on that date.

amjustagirl

yes 2 months falls on 18th december, do you get s8 from the courts or the landlord association?
thanks for all your advice