Evicting a tenant - advice needed please

far2812

Thank you for reading my post.

As ever I have googled and phoned around but I have come back here for the best advice.

I have a tenant in my property who moved in on 1st July 2010 and to say she has been a nightmare is an understatement.

On 1st December she refused rent on the grounds that she was COLD! I provided her with 2 additional heaters.

She then took it upon herself to order a calor gas heater in MY name and I have received the bill.

I confirmed to her in writing that I had accepted her notice due to not paying rent.

I then paid for a company to serve her Section 21 and Section 8 notices.

I received a text from her saying "I AM GOING NOWHERE. HA HA".

I have now recontacted the solicitors and they want £600 to get an eviction notice.

Any ideas how I can get her out of the property without having to spend that kind of money.

It is now 5th January and she has refused rent payment again.

Very grateful for your advice.

N79

If you wont pay the solicitor's fees (600 for a contested eviction is not unreasonable, especially if in includes court costs) then you will have to go to court yourself (and will still incur the court costs).

far2812

It's not that I wont N79 - its just I was trying to save money! Do you know how much it would cost doing it myself? I have to say,the solicitors were a great help!

N79

It will only save you money if you don't make any mistakes that cause your action to be thrown out you induce delays (or allow the T to create delays) caused by your lack of knowledge. It will also only save you money if the time you will need to invest learning about and conducting the eviction costs less than the solicitors fees.

If you are going it alone you need to understand the law around evictions and court procedures. You should have membership of either the NLA or the RLA at the minimum so that you can use their legal helplines for support.

G_M

This sounds like a 'professional' tenant. She will know eviction law backwards, has probobly done this before to some other poor landlord - and will do again!

ANY mistake you make, she will use as an excuse in court to cancel/delay the eviction. How much is the rent? An extra 2 months+ delay will cost you more in rent than the solicitors fees I'd guess. Plus increased stress. And time.

Do you have the support of a landlord's association?

BitterAndTwisted

This tenant ha seen you coming from a long way off, probably from day one of their tenancy.

Pay the solicitors and rely on them to serve all the documents properly. From the sounds of it, it will be money well-spent.

mlz1413

Have you done an inspection since she moved in? Its probably worth it at this point so you can see if anything needs repairing and therefore taking out of the deposit - which will need registering with the deposit scheme if you are giving her notice.

Keep all the texts T sends to you but stick to WRITTEN communications with T ie letter.

If there are broken or missing items from the moving in inventory then write to the tenant giving them x days (say 7 days) to repair / replace and do a reinspection.

If you really do have a professional T the best you can hope for is that they move out, I really doubt you will see any money.

far2812

It is really getting me down to be honest - I will take the advice and go with the solicitor! Thanks again!

Trollfever

Professional tenant meets amateur landlord.

Join one of the professional landlord associations.


And...................


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2724837

tbs624

far2812 wrote: »

Thank you for reading my post.

As ever I have googled and phoned around but I have come back here for the best advice.

I have a tenant in my property who moved in on 1st July 2010 and to say she has been a nightmare is an understatement.

Did you properly "vet" this T before signing up ?

far2812 wrote: »

On 1st December she refused rent on the grounds that she was COLD! I provided her with 2 additional heaters.

Is the heating system in good safe working order? Gas safety check/cert in place?

far2812 wrote: »

She then took it upon herself to order a calor gas heater in MY name and I have received the bill.

In which case, refuse to settle the bill and report the matter to both the supplier and to the police.

You may find that your LL insurance specifically excludes the use of Calor Gas heaters inside the property btw so you should clarify this.

far2812 wrote: »

I confirmed to her in writing that I had accepted her notice due to not paying rent.

?? A T not paying you rent does not constitute them giving you notice. The tenancy still exists until it is ended by mutual agreement or by court order

far2812 wrote: »

I then paid for a company to serve her Section 21 and Section 8 notices.

I received a text from her saying "I AM GOING NOWHERE. HA HA".

If this property is in Eng/Wales have you scheme registered any tenancy deposit paid? S21 notice will be void if you haven't. Presumably the company you used for service of notices checked this with you?

far2812 wrote: »

I have now recontacted the solicitors and they want £600 to get an eviction notice.

Any ideas how I can get her out of the property without having to spend that kind of money.

It is now 5th January and she has refused rent payment again.
.

It's clear that you are an inexperienced LL. If you have a T in place who knows how to "play the game", rather than one who has simply fallen on hard times and may still cough up, the more quickly you can evict (following the legal route) the better. The bills are likely to mount the longer the T is in there - unpaid rent, possible damage to the property etc.Bear in mind that the costs incurred in removing a difficult T can be set down against your rental income on your tax return.

Note that even if you take this T to court for the unpaid rent/ any damage over and above that covered by a tenancy deposit, you may get a judgement but then have difficulty getting that judgement enforced. This is particularly so if the T is on a low income - you may end up getting paid off at stupid £ per week. Some LLs always pursue it so that T is landed with a CCJ, others decide they don't want to "throw good money after bad". Some LLs wait a few months until after judgement, until T is settled somewhere new and then follow it up.

As N79 has suggested - LL associations can give you support, so can signing up to LandlordLaw (run by a specialist LL& T solicitor) Membership fees are tax deductible, you can obtain discounts on LL insurance premiums and get much useful advice. There are also specialist tenant eviction firms who spend their days doing nothing else but serve notices and obtaining court orders.

Just make sure that your own legal obligations have been fully met or you may be on the receiving end of a court action from the T.

amjustagirl

tbs624 wrote: »

Some LLs wait a few months until after judgement, until T is settled somewhere new and then follow it up.

How would a landlord do this? as the chance of finding a tenants forwarding address is highly unlikely?