Evicting Tenant on Periodic Assured Shorthold Tenancy - Dates

LandLord101

Hi,

I am a landlord who is in the process of evicting a tenant.

The first step I have been told to do is issue the tenant with a notice requiring possession. This will be under the periodic assured shorthold tenancy as the fixed term has expired.

I am a bit confused as to the 'date of expiry of this notice' part.

The term of the contract was from the 8th August 2008 to 7th August 2009..
So I wanted to find out whether I put down 3rd February 2011 (2moths notice) or 6th February 2011 (2 months + the completed current period)

Also, following this would I need to get a N5B filled after the notice expires?

Thank you

BitterAndTwisted

Neither! If you can get your S21 in before 8th of December you'd be giving them notice to vacate by the 7th of February.

n.b You have got their deposit protected in one of the protection schemes, haven't you?

jebervic

go to www.landlordzone.co.uk and get onto the forum, plenty of advice on there.

theartfullodger

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Neither! If you can get your S21 in before 8th of December you'd be giving them notice to vacate by the 7th of February.

n.b You have got their deposit protected in one of the protection schemes, haven't you?

I thought "expiring after 7th Feb". was the right wording... and if deposit ain't protected the S21 will be invalid.

The sort of notice you are wanting to issue is re.[FONT=&quot] Section 21(4)(a) of the Housing Act 1988

Your comment [/FONT]

The first step I have been told to do is issue the tenant with a notice requiring possession.

- er.. no, not quite: It's a notice telling the Tenant that the LL may apply to the court for possession after the notice expires. It doesn't end the tenancy nor oblige T to leave at notice expiry. The tenant does not have to leave when the S21 expires. You then have to apply to the court after the notice expires.

If you get all the paperwork right the court may grant you a possession order. You still do not get possession always, but may need to wait until the tenant is carried out by the Bailiffs: Probably about 7th May 2011 (if you got the paperwork right, later if not)

Until then the tenant is a valid tenant. The property is still his property, his home. No, not your property, only your investment.

You must not harass or bother the tenant or the judge may decide to allow the tenant to stay even longer, and you might end up in court, get fined, and be in the local papers.


Cheers!

Artful

LandLord101

Okay so Im going to serve the tenant with the notice today in person and write down 7th February as the expiry of the notice , should I post it myself or actually hand it to the tenant as I was thinking that if I post it via recorded delivery, they may not answer the door - they tend to do that alot.

Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

Serve it by hand and take a witness

LandLord101

There was no deposit, the tenancy was through the council, and and incentive payment was given on behalf of the tenant through the 'finders fee' scheme. Is there anything I need to do with regards to this?

Jowo_2

You need proof that it's been served. Many possession cases fail in court because the landlord has filled in the notice to quit incorrectly. Do thorough research on the landlordzone about how to word the notice - one minor error and you have lost months in the possession process as you will have to start again. The forum members there will give you the exact wording to stop your paperwork from being rejected by a judge.

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/notice_to_quit.htm
http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/Possession.htm

tbs624

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Neither! If you can get your S21 in before 8th of December you'd be giving them notice to vacate by the 7th of February.

Nope,as Artful says, this is not right ( although the dates are)

An S21 is merely a notice that the LL would like repossession of the property after expiry of the relevant rental period/Fixed Term. T does *not* have to vacate at that point and the Notice is not telling them to do so: if T chooses not to LL must then proceed to court for a Possession Order and the Notice should advise the T of this.

OP - make sure you that use the correct S21 - different ones for Fixed Term or Stat Periodics.

tbs624

OP - as you seem so unsure of how to deal with this perhaps you should consider signing up to Landlordlaw or the NLA. Tax deductible membership fees, LL training sessions, discount on LL ins premiums and much useful guidance on how to do things properly. Your local Council may also run accreditation courses for rookie LLs.

These are the sort of issues with which alll LLs should familiarise themselves, before they actually get to having to use that knowledge in practice.